Observatory PASCAL

The Conference will showcase research and practice of what in North America is called ‘Service to the Community’. Although newly discovered by some universities, service to the community, has a long tradition in others and, in many cases, is recognized as an explicit mandate in the university charter. Service is understood to be the third mission of univer-sities, alongside Teaching and Research. Service and community engagement takes many different forms. Examples are community-based research and learning, assistance in regional development, continuing and community education, technology transfer, and other forms of knowledge sharing and linkages.

 

The conference will be of interest to the research and academic community working in these fields but will also be of significant interest to practitioners in these areas particularly from cities and regional development agencies, local and national government agencies and organizations working in the field. The structure of the conference will facilitate the sharing of experiences and research findings across a wide range of interest including:

Presentations on all forms of service to the community are invited, especially if they focus on one of the three sub themes:

Of particular interest will be studies that focus on the impact of collaboration by universities and regions, and the local and regional development that has resulted from this collaboration.