16 Sep Taster article from the new Issue of Transform
Two major international conferences this year explored the role of future civic universities. The Global University Engagement Summit (GUES) held in Manchester UK earlier this month, successfully built on the inaugural GUES gathering hosted by Melbourne University two years earlier. GUES 2 saw 65 leaders from 14 different countries gather at Manchester University to explore a shared agenda for meaningful and effective engagement with their communities, cities, regions and nations at a time when there is increasing public scepticism towards universities and the ‘experts’ who inhabit them. Last month Engagement Australia’s conference themed the Role of the Modern Civic University in Australia: the Making of a City Region galvanised and inspired leaders and practitioners committed to advancing new approaches and opportunities for civic engagement and social responsibility by Australian universities in their surrounding communities, cities and regions.
It seems timely then for a detailed examination of the University’s Social and Civic Role. Professor Jim Nyland and Professor David Davies provide such an appraisal here