Can an economically struggling university bolster community engagement as a learning city? Exploring one university initiative in Malawi

  • N.M. Nkhoma Postdoctoral Fellow University of the Free State

Abstract

There is growing need to link universities and their cities in Africa.  Yet current research paints a picture that the development relationships between universities and learning cities do not appear to have functioned sustainably in the African contexts. This paper draws from UNESCO guidelines for a learning city to analyze one university efforts of linking community engagement that bolsters a learning city initiative. The case is based on empirical data with a total of 16 actors in community engagement that included deans, heads of departments, faculty in general and university administrators. The evidence, suggested that rather than a formalized and centralized approach, the current university case on the contrary employs an open-ended and ad-doc systems that still bring to the fore the agenda for a learning city. The paper concludes with a call for alternative ways to structure partnerships that do not always structure bureaucratic approaches in poorly resourced universities.

Author Biography

N.M. Nkhoma, Postdoctoral Fellow University of the Free State

Nelson Nkhoma is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow 

in the Center for Research in Higher Education and Development CRHED at the University of the Free State.

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Published
2018-07-01
How to Cite
Nkhoma, N.M. 2018. “Can an Economically Struggling University Bolster Community Engagement As a Learning City? Exploring One University Initiative in Malawi”. South African Journal of Higher Education 32 (3), 280-302. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-3-2780.
Section
General Articles