Second Global Dialogue Communique - How Should Universities respond to global pressures for social and economic change?
A new communiqué setting out a range of measures to sustain university engagement with communities has been published following the most recent meeting of the ‘Big Tent’ group of community university engagement networks hosted recently at the University of Glasgow by PASCAL International Observatory.
The communiqué urges universities around the world to respond to important global phenomena, associated with the emerging citizens’ movement, demands for post-secondary education, and for deep societal transformation in many areas of social and economic life to address issues of sustainability, poverty and social justice.
Noting demands for an emerging knowledge democracy, the communiqué sees the university of 2030 including the currently ‘unreached’, promoting social responsibility in all its activities, developing inter-disciplinary networks to tackle deep-seated problems, and acting as centres of thinking and renewal, creating cultural and social capital and active citizenship.
The communiqué urges universities to put in place structures and models to support this increased community engagement. These would include:
- Developing large-scale collaborative structures for dialogue with community partners as the normal way of universities doing their business;
- Community-based research units, science shops and similar arrangements to facilitate knowledge brokerage and action research engagement;
- All students to have opportunities for experiential learning;
- All staff to be trained in the principles of effective community engaged scholarship; and research funders to support projects with both scientific and social impact and projects with civil society partners.
NOTES TO EDITORS
This statement has been facilitated by the ‘Big Tent’ group of international networks and the in collaboration with: the Asia Pacific University Community Engagement Network, Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios, The Association of Commonwealth Universities: Extension and Engagement Network, Research, Global, Living Knowledge Network, Participatory Research in Asia, PASCAL International Observatory and the Talloires Network.
For further information: New Delhi: Dr. Rajesh Tandon-rajesh.tandon@pria.org, Glasgow: Professor Mike Osborne- Mike Osborne-m.osborne@educ.gla.ac.uk Victoria, BC Canada: Professor Budd Hall- bhall@uvic.ca
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COMMUNITY-‐UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT IN 2030 A SCENARIO
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE "BIG TENT" GLOBAL DIALOGUE ON COMMUNITY-‐UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT ON OCTOBER 17, 2010 This is the second global statement by the "Big Tent" group of international community university research and engagement networks. This statement has been facilitated by the PASCAL International Observatory and the Global Alliance on Community Engaged Research, in collaboration with: the Asia Pacific University Community Engagement Network, Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios, The Association of Commonwealth Universities: Extension and Engagement Network, Global Universities Network for Innovation, Living Knowledge Network, Participatory Research in Asia, and the Talloires Network.
BACKGROUND
Around the world, three phenomena have suddenly gained attention of political, economic and social leaders of our times. The first, of course, is the intensified, vocal, visible and powerful citizens’ movement—from Senegal, Thailand, India, Tunisia, Egypt, UK, Chile and the USA—everywhere. At the base of these movements are young people from all strata and spaces of society. The message from these citizen movements is clear— young citizens want to be engaged in the political and social transformation of their nation and local communities. The second phenomenon is the increasing—rapidly increasing—demand for post-‐secondary education in all its myriad dimensions, forms and contents. Millions of aspirants are queuing up for enrolment, but among the constraints are cost, quality and delivery. Educational administrators, planners and policy-‐makers have yet to figure out how to respond to this surge and the diversity of demands from all societies. The third phenomenon is the expression of need for a deep transformation of society in all areas of activity and across all issues related to how we organise ourselves as a collectivity. Issues such as sustainability, poverty, peace or social justice cannot be treated in isolation in the call for a new era for humanity. A common element in these phenomena— citizens’ movements, the call for deep transformations and demands for post-‐secondary education—is the youth of today. Irrespective of the percentage of young people in a society’s population, the young are a thinking differently, feeling and taking action in new ways. Most existing institutions in modern societies—governments, businesses, universities and colleges—are not able to understand or fully respond to the aspirations of the young.
1
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT?
Several interesting developments are happening at this time as we are writing. First, many national governments and policy-‐makers are beginning to think of devising appropriate supportive policies in this regard. The Planning Commission, Government of India, has recently constituted a task force to make recommendations to ‘strengthen community engagement of Higher Education Institutions’ for the 12th Five Year Plan. There have been similar initiatives in Malaysia, South Africa and Tanzania. The government funders of research in the United Kingdom, for example, published a “Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research” in 2010, stating the clear expectation that UK research organisations make a strategic commitment to public engagement and that researchers be recognised and valued for their involvement with public engagement activities. Importantly, several networks and alliances have emerged which are exclusively and largely focused on community-‐university partnerships. The Talloires Network of university presidents began in 2005 to promote civic engagement of universities; it now has more than 230 universities from 60 countries as its members. Its new publication—The Engaged University—includes case studies of community-‐university partnerships from around the world. In June 2011, the Talloires Network convened 180 member universities in Madrid to advance discussions about civic engagement. A series of dialogues and conferences are being convened dialogues and conferences on this and the related theme of civic engagement of universities. The Global University Network Innovations (GUNI) is planning its annual conference and book on this theme for 2012; the British Council is convening an international conference in March 2012 where this theme is centrally included. The Asia-‐Pacific University-‐Community Engagement Network (APUCEN), launched in July, 2011 with the VC of Universiti Sains Malaysia as President will organize their second conference hosted by Thammasat University Jan 9-‐12, 2012 in Chiangmai, Thailand with the theme “University-‐ Community Engagement for Empowerment and Knowledge Creation”. The Global Alliance for Community Engaged Research is just completing a book on the 'Knowledge Democracy Movement" where community-‐university research partnerships from around the world are analyzed. In Europe, the Science Shop movement has grown and has its own international space—the Living Knowledge Network. The Living Knowledge Network will host the 5th Living Knowledge Conference May 9-‐12 2012 in Bonn, Germany on the theme "Re-‐imagining Research Relationships-‐Co-‐Creating Knowledge in a Democratic Society". Under the banner, PERPARES, the LK network has been the recipient of a 2.7 million Euro grant to support a joint community and university research agenda. The PASCAL International Observatory is turning it attention to matters of particular resonance to young people. It has also conducted studies across the world on the role of universities in regional engagement, including focused work conducted in Africa. A notable recent project supported by Pascal and funded by the European Commission is to build community engagement capacities amongst six universities in Palestine.
2
COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT IN 2030 A SCENARIO
A WORLD OF KNOWLEDGE DEMOCRACY
There is universal recognition of our communities as a source of knowledge production. Respect for and recognition of knowledge contributions of all parts of the world and all linguistic groups, of Indigenous Peoples, the poor, those differently abled and those who were considered 'excluded' in the early 2000s A 'knowledge commons' of open access to all forms of knowledge representation now functions all human knowledge belongs to all people The research and partnership capacities of community organisations have been dramatically strengthened for them to be effective partners. The idea of an "Intelligent Society" has gained recognition, which is to say; we have passed from a society of intelligent individuals to an intelligent society capable of supporting resilience and well-‐ being Community University Engagement and the co-‐construction of knowledge with community partners is now mainstream: supported by globally accepted developmental ranking systems that prioritise engaged scholarship Half the countries of the world, and all G20 countries, have formal policies that support and finance Community University research and engagement
THE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY IN 2030
The 'unreached' of the early 2000s are now included in our universities. The Millennium Development Goals of the early 2000s have been met, but universities are still focused on continuing challenges of inequality and justice for all Social responsibility is a universal element in the understanding of university functions Sustainability, fairness, respect for religious diversity, peace and non-‐violence are integrated into the full teaching and research functions of the university. There are permanent clusters, ad-‐hoc clusters or complementary networks in which interdisciplinary partnerships can be formed for specific projects. They Higher education institutions have become post-‐cosmopolitan centers of social thinking and renewal creating cultural and social capital and active citizenship.
3
STRUCTURES AND MODELS SUPPORTING COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT
Large scale and on-‐going collaborative dialogue structures between community partners and universities on critical and complex issues are now part of the way that we do business Community-‐Based Research Units, Science Shops and similar structures providing brokering support and action research engagement are part of the knowledge architecture of all universities. All students have opportunities for engaged experiential learning in community settings. All academic staff are now trained in principles of effective community engaged scholarship and civic engagement Large scale and on-‐going collaborative dialogue structures between community partners and universities on critical and complex issues facing our communities are now part of the way that we higher education institutions do business. Excellence in CUE is recognized for merit and career incentives for students, academic staff and administrators. There are national and international networks providing communities of practice and coordinated advocacy for Community University research and engagement including alternatives to the Higher Education ranking tables of earlier days, which focus on developmental and supportive ways to strengthen all universities. Journals showcasing theory and practice have proliferated and both university-‐based and community-‐ based practitioners and scholars publish together. Research funders provide support to projects that have both scientific and societal impact and give special attention to joint research projects between civil society organisations and traditional research institutes. International funding agencies supporting higher education in lower-‐income countries place a high priority on helping to strengthen university-‐community engagement channels Research funding policy incorporates concerns, needs and knowledge from civil society and its organisations in research agendas; there are programs and facilities for joint agenda setting BH/November 1, 2011
4
COMMUNITY-‐UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT IN 2030 A SCENARIO
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE "BIG TENT" GLOBAL DIALOGUE ON COMMUNITY-‐UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT ON OCTOBER 17, 2010 This is the second global statement by the "Big Tent" group of international community university research and engagement networks. This statement has been facilitated by the PASCAL International Observatory and the Global Alliance on Community Engaged Research, in collaboration with: the Asia Pacific University Community Engagement Network, Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios, The Association of Commonwealth Universities: Extension and Engagement Network, Global Universities Network for Innovation, Living Knowledge Network, Participatory Research in Asia, and the Talloires Network.
BACKGROUND
Around the world, three phenomena have suddenly gained attention of political, economic and social leaders of our times. The first, of course, is the intensified, vocal, visible and powerful citizens’ movement—from Senegal, Thailand, India, Tunisia, Egypt, UK, Chile and the USA—everywhere. At the base of these movements are young people from all strata and spaces of society. The message from these citizen movements is clear— young citizens want to be engaged in the political and social transformation of their nation and local communities. The second phenomenon is the increasing—rapidly increasing—demand for post-‐secondary education in all its myriad dimensions, forms and contents. Millions of aspirants are queuing up for enrolment, but among the constraints are cost, quality and delivery. Educational administrators, planners and policy-‐makers have yet to figure out how to respond to this surge and the diversity of demands from all societies. The third phenomenon is the expression of need for a deep transformation of society in all areas of activity and across all issues related to how we organise ourselves as a collectivity. Issues such as sustainability, poverty, peace or social justice cannot be treated in isolation in the call for a new era for humanity. A common element in these phenomena— citizens’ movements, the call for deep transformations and demands for post-‐secondary education—is the youth of today. Irrespective of the percentage of young people in a society’s population, the young are a thinking differently, feeling and taking action in new ways. Most existing institutions in modern societies—governments, businesses, universities and colleges—are not able to understand or fully respond to the aspirations of the young.
1
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT?
Several interesting developments are happening at this time as we are writing. First, many national governments and policy-‐makers are beginning to think of devising appropriate supportive policies in this regard. The Planning Commission, Government of India, has recently constituted a task force to make recommendations to ‘strengthen community engagement of Higher Education Institutions’ for the 12th Five Year Plan. There have been similar initiatives in Malaysia, South Africa and Tanzania. The government funders of research in the United Kingdom, for example, published a “Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research” in 2010, stating the clear expectation that UK research organisations make a strategic commitment to public engagement and that researchers be recognised and valued for their involvement with public engagement activities. Importantly, several networks and alliances have emerged which are exclusively and largely focused on community-‐university partnerships. The Talloires Network of university presidents began in 2005 to promote civic engagement of universities; it now has more than 230 universities from 60 countries as its members. Its new publication—The Engaged University—includes case studies of community-‐university partnerships from around the world. In June 2011, the Talloires Network convened 180 member universities in Madrid to advance discussions about civic engagement. A series of dialogues and conferences are being convened dialogues and conferences on this and the related theme of civic engagement of universities. The Global University Network Innovations (GUNI) is planning its annual conference and book on this theme for 2012; the British Council is convening an international conference in March 2012 where this theme is centrally included. The Asia-‐Pacific University-‐Community Engagement Network (APUCEN), launched in July, 2011 with the VC of Universiti Sains Malaysia as President will organize their second conference hosted by Thammasat University Jan 9-‐12, 2012 in Chiangmai, Thailand with the theme “University-‐ Community Engagement for Empowerment and Knowledge Creation”. The Global Alliance for Community Engaged Research is just completing a book on the 'Knowledge Democracy Movement" where community-‐university research partnerships from around the world are analyzed. In Europe, the Science Shop movement has grown and has its own international space—the Living Knowledge Network. The Living Knowledge Network will host the 5th Living Knowledge Conference May 9-‐12 2012 in Bonn, Germany on the theme "Re-‐imagining Research Relationships-‐Co-‐Creating Knowledge in a Democratic Society". Under the banner, PERPARES, the LK network has been the recipient of a 2.7 million Euro grant to support a joint community and university research agenda. The PASCAL International Observatory is turning it attention to matters of particular resonance to young people. It has also conducted studies across the world on the role of universities in regional engagement, including focused work conducted in Africa. A notable recent project supported by Pascal and funded by the European Commission is to build community engagement capacities amongst six universities in Palestine.
2
COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT IN 2030 A SCENARIO
A WORLD OF KNOWLEDGE DEMOCRACY
There is universal recognition of our communities as a source of knowledge production. Respect for and recognition of knowledge contributions of all parts of the world and all linguistic groups, of Indigenous Peoples, the poor, those differently abled and those who were considered 'excluded' in the early 2000s A 'knowledge commons' of open access to all forms of knowledge representation now functions all human knowledge belongs to all people The research and partnership capacities of community organisations have been dramatically strengthened for them to be effective partners. The idea of an "Intelligent Society" has gained recognition, which is to say; we have passed from a society of intelligent individuals to an intelligent society capable of supporting resilience and well-‐ being Community University Engagement and the co-‐construction of knowledge with community partners is now mainstream: supported by globally accepted developmental ranking systems that prioritise engaged scholarship Half the countries of the world, and all G20 countries, have formal policies that support and finance Community University research and engagement
THE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY IN 2030
The 'unreached' of the early 2000s are now included in our universities. The Millennium Development Goals of the early 2000s have been met, but universities are still focused on continuing challenges of inequality and justice for all Social responsibility is a universal element in the understanding of university functions Sustainability, fairness, respect for religious diversity, peace and non-‐violence are integrated into the full teaching and research functions of the university. There are permanent clusters, ad-‐hoc clusters or complementary networks in which interdisciplinary partnerships can be formed for specific projects. They Higher education institutions have become post-‐cosmopolitan centers of social thinking and renewal creating cultural and social capital and active citizenship.
3
STRUCTURES AND MODELS SUPPORTING COMMUNITY UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT
Large scale and on-‐going collaborative dialogue structures between community partners and universities on critical and complex issues are now part of the way that we do business Community-‐Based Research Units, Science Shops and similar structures providing brokering support and action research engagement are part of the knowledge architecture of all universities. All students have opportunities for engaged experiential learning in community settings. All academic staff are now trained in principles of effective community engaged scholarship and civic engagement Large scale and on-‐going collaborative dialogue structures between community partners and universities on critical and complex issues facing our communities are now part of the way that we higher education institutions do business. Excellence in CUE is recognized for merit and career incentives for students, academic staff and administrators. There are national and international networks providing communities of practice and coordinated advocacy for Community University research and engagement including alternatives to the Higher Education ranking tables of earlier days, which focus on developmental and supportive ways to strengthen all universities. Journals showcasing theory and practice have proliferated and both university-‐based and community-‐ based practitioners and scholars publish together. Research funders provide support to projects that have both scientific and societal impact and give special attention to joint research projects between civil society organisations and traditional research institutes. International funding agencies supporting higher education in lower-‐income countries place a high priority on helping to strengthen university-‐community engagement channels Research funding policy incorporates concerns, needs and knowledge from civil society and its organisations in research agendas; there are programs and facilities for joint agenda setting BH/November 1, 2011
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