2006-11-17 Engagement Down Under
A couple of weeks ago I had a visit from Dr. Michael Cuthill, Director of the UQ Boilerhouse Community Engagement Centre at the University of Queensland, Australia. It's encouraging to get more evidence of the international spread—see my October 27, 2006 blog—of the public engagement movement, and to recognize both the fundamental similarities and local differences of different institutions. The web page about the Centre has a nice summary of the basic purpose and philosophy that could be used by many of our organizations:
The purpose of the Boilerhouse is to facilitate just and sustainable community outcomes. To achieve this purpose, the centre engages with diverse stakeholders from the private, public, and community sectors in developing informed and collaborative responses to both existing and emerging community issues.
Why do we want collaborative responses? It has been argued that no single entity, be it public, private or non-government, can deal effectively with the complex interweaving of issues confronting modern society. Limited knowledge, time, abilities and energy constrain any one organisation in its efforts to build a just and sustainable society. Collaboration however opens up new possibilities for innovation - responsibility is shared, diverse perspectives are heard and resources can be used more effectively.
The following principles provide a clear philosophical foundation for our work. These include our commitment to:
Collaborative responses to local issues;
Active citizenship;
Personal relationships as a basis for collaboration, and
Sustainable development incorporating a balance between
- Social justice
- Economic stability and equity
- Environmental protection, and
- Participatory governance
The UQ Boilerhouse is undertaking an audit of UQ Community Service/Engagement Activity. One of its hoped-for outcomes is an identification of "[b]enefits to both University of Queensland and external stakeholders (including economic value of UQ community service/engagement activity." This will be tough to obtain, and we'll be looking with interest at whatever methodology may be used, in hope that we might replicate it.