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University Sains Malaysia (USM) Penang hosted the first Asian conference on University-Community Partnerships last year; present in that conference were a number of grassroots community groups and medium-sized manufacturing companies from Penang. We learnt about the manner in which partnerships around training and employment of people with learning disability have been successful there.
A partnership of three universities and seven colleges alongwith local civil society and local government has been working together to find sustainable solutions to problems of homelessness in Victoria Islands of Canada.
In the Cape Town region of South Africa, universities, colleges, community groups, NGOs, faith institutions and municipalities have come together to find ways to enable every personâs access to affordable services for prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS.
The days of working alone to generate knowledge, to prepare professionals and to address problems of human development are long over. But, the inertia for âdoing it ourselvesâ rolls on, just as the self-defeating belief that âwe know the answers.â As each of the above illustrations demonstrate, alternative ways of working together are being tried out around the world. These alternatives are based on âreimaginingâ universities as spaces for learning and sharing not only amongst the academics and students but also amongst the larger society. The knowledge resources available in such institutions of post-secondary education can then be mobilized to serve larger societal goals of human development than merely career advancement of professors and their formally registered student body.
It is this perspective that has been inspiring CU Expos in Canada during the past decade. Community-University Expositions are occasions to share practical experiences in promoting such a perspective of partnership in actually solving problems in communities. They bring together several hundred practitioners, researchers, policy-makers and administrators every three years. The next CU Expo is being held in the Waterloo Region of Ontario state of Canada during May 2011 on the theme âBringing Global Perspectives to Local Actionâ. It is being co- hosted by a consortium of NGOs, community organizations, university departments and others; the lead organization is Centre for Community Based Research in Waterloo, which has been working with this methodology for the past three decades.
As post-secondary educational institutions begin to reorganize themselves to meet the growing demands of Indian economy, it may be important to learn from the Canadian and global experiences in this regard. As new policies for establishing and financing universities are being framed, it may be worthwhile to consider incorporating such perspectives of partnerships in communities to define their priorities and agendas.
Indian experiments can be showcased; university associations and NGOs can be mobilized; resources can be generated.
The question is our own will; our readiness to embark upon a new way of producing knowledge and mobilizing it for learning and change.
Rajesh Tandon
23 August 2010
This blog, by Dr. Anshuman Karol, explores why the future of higher education depends on community-engaged research, global collaboration, and knowledge democracy. It highlights how Community-Based Participatory Research enables universities and communities to co-create solutions for today's interconnected social and environmental challenges.
EpiNet: Education, Epistemic Justice and the Knowledge Commons
Reflecting on conversations at the Silver Jubilee of APMAS, Dr. Rajesh Tandon revisits five decades of collaboration between civil society and government institutions. Drawing on experiences from education policy, participatory planning, Panchayati Raj, and voter awareness initiatives, he highlights how mutual respect and shared expertise have been the foundation of impactful partnerships.
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