International Community Engagement Conference 2026

At the International Community Engagement Conference hosted by Rhodes University, Dr. Rajesh Tandon delivered a compelling keynote address titled "Youth Citizenship, Ecologies of Knowledge and Higher Education: Pathways to Transformation".

Drawing from global social movements and struggles such as Occupy Wall Street, Narmada Bachao Andolan, and AIDS activism in South Africa, Dr. Tandon reflected on the growing disconnect between community realities and university education systems. He urged higher education institutions to critically re-examine the relationship between lived realities and academic curricula, as well as the connection between citizenship practices and classroom pedagogy.

A major focus of the keynote was the concept of epistemicide — the historical erasure and delegitimisation of diverse knowledge systems through colonisation. Dr. Tandon discussed the role of British universities in the slave trade, the dominance of European languages in higher education, and the ongoing systems by which knowledge is validated and legitimised today.

Using a powerful “map of knowledges,” he illustrated how knowledge systems continue to be shaped by colonial structures through:

• Publication in colonial academic journals
• Certification and validation by traditional academic gatekeepers
• Restrictive systems that privilege written forms of knowledge

Aligned with the conference theme of Reparative Justice, the keynote called for embracing “ecologies of knowledge” — recognising multiple ways of knowing through cognition, emotion, and action. Dr. Tandon highlighted the significance of lived experiences, oral traditions, storytelling, rituals, arts, and ceremonies as valid and essential forms of knowledge for creating more reparative and transformative futures in education.

The session generated thoughtful discussions on how universities can move towards more just, inclusive, and community-rooted knowledge systems.

Click here to watch the session.