New resource kit published on university—community partnerships

A new European resource kit, Partnerships that Work, has been launched to help universities and communities build stronger, more equitable and sustainable partnerships. Developed through the Erasmus+ project SPACE – Supporting Professionals and Academics for Community Engagement in Higher Education, the kit provides four practical tools to help universities and community organisations plan, assess and improve their collaboration. These tools guide users through partnership planning, joint reflection and dialogue, and can be adapted for use at the individual, partnership or institutional level.

SPACE is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership coordinated by the Institute for the Development of Education (Croatia), with nine partners from Belgium, Croatia, Ireland and Spain, and the support of major European university networks and alliances. Building on the earlier TEFCE and SHEFCE initiatives, the project strengthens the capacity of academics, professional staff and community partners to advance community engagement in higher education across Europe.

The Partnerships that Work resource kit was co-created and tested by project partners and more than 70 community organisations and academics from four countries. It draws on insights from surveys, structured dialogues and desk research exploring the success factors in university–community partnerships. Together, these findings provide a new European perspective on how higher education institutions can foster a greater societal impact through authentic partnerships with their external communities.

The resource kit, along with the supporting desk research and local piloting reports, are available below (freely available under a Creative Commons licence):

Core publication

• Partnerships that Work: Resource Kit for University—Community Collaboration

Additional publications:

• Mapping success factors in university-community partnerships: Review of literature and assessment frameworks
• Community Perspectives on Partnerships with Universities: Survey and Dialogue Reports:
  • Brussels (Belgium)
  • Cork (Ireland)
  • Rijeka (Croatia)
  • Girona (Spain)