THE MERGING OF UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY: FURTHERING COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION

Abstract

The focus on community engagement and social responsibility in many higher education institutions in South Africa today, brings the University directly into a collaborative relationship with Society. The ivory tower is no more: partnerships are formed with a view to enhancing educational practice and the quality of community health and well-being. This paper briefly reviews the discourse surrounding community engagement in higher education, the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s position in this endeavour and models of community engagement in South Africa. However, it focuses on avenues for community engagement enabled by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Foundation, which seeks investment for strategic development projects. It concludes by presenting two such projects which the Foundation is supporting, suggesting that partnering the university with community in a mutually beneficial relationship, merging needs, resources, skills, knowledge and ideals, lends new meaning to “Collaborative Education”.