The EUNICoast Alliance has published a joint position and commitment paper which defines community engagement – social engagement – as a key institutional remit of its member universities. The document, drawn up by the Community Engagement Commission, sets out shared guiding principles, specific commitments and policy recommendations for the further development of the Alliance.
The starting point is the special role of universities in island, port and coastal regions. They are rooted in places where land and sea meet, where different habitats, economic systems and communities converge. The areas surrounding them are facing rising sea levels, shrinking populations and fragile economic systems. Yet it is precisely in these places that new approaches to shared challenges can be developed, which can then be shared with the rest of Europe. EUNICoast’s partner universities are located in these areas. This location is both a responsibility and a resource. Community engagement has often been viewed as a supplementary task within the higher education sector. An article on the Alliance’s website explains:
“However, this proximity has not always translated into a partnership. Social engagement in higher education has long been regarded as a secondary matter: as a public event, as a reporting obligation, as something to be dealt with after the actual work is done. The gap between what universities claim about themselves and what society experiences is structural in nature and is embedded in evaluation systems, funding cycles and career incentives that prioritise research output over social engagement.”
With the new voluntary commitment by the partner universities of EUNICoast, which includes Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, social engagement is to become a core mission that shapes research, teaching and institutional development in equal measure.
The document is based on three pillars: territorial anchoring, reciprocity and transformation. Six guiding principles give these pillars institutional form: reciprocity between higher education institutions and local communities; anchoring in the specific reality of each region; epistemic pluralism; inclusion and equity in participation, institutional autonomy coupled with accountability, and a long-term commitment to relationships rather than a project-based approach focused on short cycles.
Eight operational commitments are designed to put these principles into practice. Each partner institution is expected to develop an institutional plan for societal engagement, establish and maintain sustainable relationships with local stakeholders, integrate community-based learning into its teaching programmes, train staff in participatory approaches, create shared platforms for ongoing dialogue with communities, document and evaluate the outcomes of partnerships, allocate specific resources to social engagement activities, and contribute to political advocacy for structural change so that civil society engagement is recognised by higher education systems.
The declaration is binding on all partner universities, from the Baltic Sea to the Caribbean. It is currently being implemented at all partner universities and will shape the alliance’s work until 2027 and beyond.
EUNICoast, the European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Regions, brings together thirteen higher education institutions committed to delivering real benefits to the communities in their local areas.
