Academic and Community Partnerships and Social Change

Reach out and touch: student training community projects for sustainability - a case study

“…These results were derived from discussions on intermediate reports between the students and their academic supervisor, from sections of the final report and from an informal discussion with the participants during a feedback session directly after the final presentation. (Marullo and Edwards, 2000;Thompson and Hood, 2016;Wilson, 2004) Staff involvement dependent on short-term research grants (Mobjörk and Linnér, 2006;Velazquez et al, 2005;Wals, 2009) Faculty either takes control or is disinterested (Leal Filho et al, 2018;Martin et al, 2005) Stifling university bureaucracy (Martin et al, 2005) Power imbalance between university experts and community (Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2015) Lack of continuity and staff turnover (Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2015) Student training community projects…”

“…In the context of sustainable development, academic capacity building and empowerment can be defined in terms of partnership in regional networks and cooperation with other stakeholders in local communities (Copernicus Alliance, 2011). The existence of varying partnerships between universities and communities has been extensively documented in the health literature, revealing that such partnerships are predominantly focused on capacity building and empowerment for social sustainability and well-being (Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2015;Thompson and Hood, 2016).…”

“…Universities are institutions represented by a colourful mix of professors, research and teaching staff; students at BSc, MSc and PhD level; and managers, administrators and supporting staff, who each set their own priorities with respect to sustainability and each have their own weaknesses in managing these priorities (Ferrero-Ferrero et al, 2018). Similarly, "the community" can be represented by community members, community organisation leaders and other community-based stakeholders who each have their own priorities and expectations (Thompson and Hood, 2016). Consequently, joint efforts of academic institutions and communities to address social issues easily fail because of differences in academic and community priorities and because of imbalances in power and knowledge (Craig, 2007;Kindred and Petrescu, 2015;Nieusma and Riley, 2010;Thompson and Hood, 2016).…”

“…Similarly, "the community" can be represented by community members, community organisation leaders and other community-based stakeholders who each have their own priorities and expectations (Thompson and Hood, 2016). Consequently, joint efforts of academic institutions and communities to address social issues easily fail because of differences in academic and community priorities and because of imbalances in power and knowledge (Craig, 2007;Kindred and Petrescu, 2015;Nieusma and Riley, 2010;Thompson and Hood, 2016).…”

“…Following the triple helix model of academy-industrygovernment relations (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2000), such collaborations can result in tight and mutually beneficial relationships between academia and industry within the region (Drucker and Goldstein, 2007). For example, community partners can benefit from access to university resources and expertise, enhanced capacity and legitimacy and improved rigour and quality (Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2015;Thompson and Hood, 2016). Moreover, studies on the effectiveness of the plethora of capacity building initiatives appear to be lacking.…”