As part of an international collaboration made possible through the Talloires Network [1] and the Kettering Foundation [2] research partnership into studying Regional Perspectives on University Civic Engagement, the University of Glasgow along with colleagues and our community partners, from University of Western Sydney, American University of Cairo, International Medical University in Malaysia, Tecnológico de Monterrey University (one of the University of Glasgow's Universitas 21 [3] partners), University of Venda, University of the Witwatersrand and Auburn University have embarked on a 2 year project that will demonstrate good practice examples of university /civic partnerships in action. Each regional pair will be responsible for writing a book chapter that provides an in- depth exemplar of university civic engagement from their perspective.
Activate [4], the University of Glasgow’s Community Development, community based programme, was chosen to be part of this collaboration. Activate provides an opportunity for those working in their community (activists, volunteers and local workers) to come together to engage and explore a number of key Community Development concepts and relate these to their lived experience. This example is a demonstration of how the University has moved beyond “just” service learning and created a model that engages and stimulates communities to have a stronger voice in the decision that directly involve them, thus becoming a much more engaged public.