Spend time with a leading sustainable development organisation, overseeing multiple city-wide sustainability projects and build your work-experience portfolio in the sustainable development industry. We collaborate with engineering firms, NGO’s, research institutes, consultancy firms and renewable energy companies.
The best sustainable development internships in Cape Town? We think so. We pride ourselves on delivering customised internship placements and on the ground support that offer life-changing, valuable professional experiences.
The depletion of the world’s natural resources and the aim of a sustainable future are hot topics in most countries and cultures around the globe today. South Africa is no exception to this because of the need for social and economic development, which usually has a negative impact on the environment.
We collaborate with grass root NGO’s aiming to educate local communities on sustainable living, large corporate companies researching renewable energy on a national scale, sustainable architecture and design firms, renewable energy engineers, research centres, national parks and environmental consultants.
As an intern in this field you could be involved in research, environmental education, design, hands-on field work, renewable energy engineering, exploring and promoting sustainable economic development practices, consulting and much more!
Read on for a full overview of the best sustainable development internships in Africa.
Here's what you can expect from the programme in a nutshell!
Of course, the list is much longer - but these are the skills our intern alumni reported back that they grew in the most!
We managed to grab some detailed interviews from previous interns on this programme, you can click on them below.
What might your programme in this career field look like? Here's how it has typically shaped up for our alumni!
Arrival & orientation. Introduction to Cape Town, your accommodation and your internship host organisation and colleagues.
Get stuck into your sustainable development internship placement and establish yourself with your organisation. Come to our free social events.
Enjoy a great work-life balance, getting out and about to see the sites alongside working hard on your internship.
Pick up more responsibility in your internship as you prove your capability. Enjoy regular activities in Cape Town outside of work. Come to another social!
Now you're flying (metaphorically) at work, you'll be more and more autonomous. Expect to pick up even more challenges!
Internship is going swimmingly, now go and do something crazy like swimming with some great white sharks or abseiling off of a mountain.
Regularly enjoy the benefits of Cape Town and at work, gather materials needed for portfolio (e.g. references from us and provider).
Putting the finishing touches to your internship and gathering feedback from us and your internship provider for use in your academic / career portfolio. Finalise paperwork for university (if needed)
Here's what others said when they applied. Some of these people came just for this career area, some mixed it with other career fields too...
What makes our internship programmes a worthwhile investment? Here's a swift overview of what you can expect!
We have two primary programmes to suit your needs. In some instances we also offer virtual placements.
You can come for as long as you need without paying any extra fees.You'll receive the same level of support.
We are 100% on your side. We guarantee every aspect of your trip with unrivalled promises.
Need to focus on a precise niche or two? No problem! Your programme can focus on your specialist areas.
We'll help you engage with the culture and personal benefits of being in a foreign country.
Save on travel and accommodation costs, pay a far lower fee. All while building your professional network.
We will handle all aspects of academic accreditation, including direct liaison with your tutors and academic staff.
We will write full reference letters for your placement(s) to optimise future employers' first impression of you.
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Here are some current or recent internship job opportunities in this career area. We do not publish all openings - so please contact us to hear about others.
Get in touch.
We have worked very hard to streamline our process to make your experience easy, fun and highly rewarding personally and professionally. Flick through the steps below, or read about our process in more detail.
Getting your dream internship all starts with you saying hello! Just pop your details into our enquiry form and we'll reach out to schedule a conversation with you that we call a 'discovery call'.
In your discovery call, you can ask us any questions you still have. We'll talk about your options in the career fields you've told us you're interested in to help you imagine your placement and decide if our service is right for you.
If everything sounds good to you, complete your application to put into words your dream programme. This forms the basis of the 'design' of your customised placement and will be the primary framework against which we validate potentially suitable opportunities.
We maintain a large and varied network of the best organisations in Cape Town. We will identify the best potential fits for your programme goals and preferences and reach out on your behalf to assess those organisations for suitability (learn about their current projects and initiatives).
Once you've confirmed which placement offer you prefer, we'll start helping you plan the rest of your trip. We'll book your accommodation, help with your travel arrangements and provide extensive advice and information on how to get ready for your time in Cape Town. Your Bridging Gaps mentor will be on hand to make sure you're fully prepared for your placement.
Finally, every member of our team will move mountains to make sure you get what you came for and MORE! It's essential to us that you're safe, you're learning and growing in confidence and developing the most important skills for your future career.
Our programme fees are shown below, for a full description of our service offering please click to view the programme or a side-to-side comparison.
Comprehensive support
Visa & travel assist
Accommodation assistance
Social events & excursions
... and lots more
We've answered some specific questions about this internship programme below.
There are a number of environmental careers one can pursue if you are passionate about helping the planet, these include; conservation scientists, environmental lawyers, geo-scientists, hydrologists, environmental engineers, wildlife biologists and urban planners.
There are many paths one can take in order to get into the sustainability field, often, the first aspect to consider is a field of study. Some universities offer a degree in sustainability, other popular fields of study include: engineering, law, ecology, international development and many others..
There are many jobs within the sustainable development sector, a few of these include; environmental scientist, policy adviser, sustainability consulting, environmental engineer, ecotourism coordinator, sustainability officer and an environmental lawyer.
Economic developers' salaries can vary quite drastically depending on the position. Higher paying career opportunities could be to work for the government on international relations/policies. Other roles could include working in economic consulting which can be very profitable as well.
Our engineering internships are a minimum of two weeks, however we suggest at least four weeks or more to give you the necessary time to get involved with the company's projects and gain more confidence in your work.
There are a lot of different possible careers in science. Some of the highest-earning positions in science include; physicists, astronomers, pharmacists, geoscientists, biochemists and medical scientists. Chemical and nuclear engineering are also lucrative career paths.
This completely depends on your personal and professional goals- we base our internship search on you! Some of the local organisations we collaborate with include; NGO’s, government organisations, policy organisations, research centres, renewable energy engineering companies, architects and design studios and educational institutes.
We collaborate with a wide range of human rights organisations and NGO's here in Cape Town that focus on the promotion of women's rights, equal access to education, HIV/AIDS prevents and education, anti-trafficking, refugee rights, youth development, LGBT rights, improved healthcare, social justice and economic development.
Send it to us below and we will answer ASAP.
Hi, we're really sorry but we are no longer offering internship opportunities in this career field. However, we wish you the best with your search.