Universities and Regional Engagement

The growth and significance of universities and education more widely, has become ever more important in stimulating innovation and economic developments across nations and regions. This edited book provides a perspective into how higher education institutions and other agents operate by using a unique three tier macro, meso and micro lens to view such relationships and the interplay of universities and educational providers with their external environment. This book is both timely and rewarding to the reader in providing such a rich conceptual framework and it covers a wide and diverse set of case studies across the globe. - Jeremy Howells, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth For too long, the academic and practitioner debate on the role of universities has focused on a narrow view of commercialisation and knowledge exchange, drawing from a limited number of 'best practice' cases. This edited book offers a necessary and timely counterview to this idealised picture. It focuses instead on the 'mundaneness' of universities' regional engagement, unpacking their complex and context specific institutional arrangements, practices and interactions. It is a must-read for scholars and practitioners interested in understanding regional development, innovation and higher education in real places. - Elvira Uyarra Professor of Innovation Studies, University of Manchester This is a very welcome book which expands the discussion of universities' regional engagement both thematically and geographically by going beyond the well-known cases to explore the mundane, but important, regional engagement activities of a wide range of universities. Universities and their academics engage with regional actors in a myriad of ways, most of which go under the radar both in policy-making and in research. This book is a step towards redressing this imbalance. - Rune Dahl Fitjar, Pro-rector for Innovation and Society and Professor of Innovation Studies, University of Stavanger This book is important because it conceptualizes and provides examples of the broad range of mundane activities that makes up the majority of linkages between a university and its region. These everyday engagements connecting universities with their region are often neglected, while the attention has been on extraordinary cases of highly innovative regions and the commercialization of research with high economic impact. The chapters in this book are of great value for understanding how typical universities can engage with their region in a profound way. - Einar Rasmussen, Professor of Technology Management, Nord University