Programme Erasmus+ Key Action 2: Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education
The SHEFCE project is a follow–up to the three–year project entitled TEFCE – Towards a European Framework for Community Engagement in Higher Education (www.tefce.eu)
There are increasing demands for universities to open up to society and to demonstrate their societal impact. Community engagement is a key precondition for societal impact and refers to partnerships between universities and their external communities, encompassing public, business and civil society sectors, to address societal needs. However, universities that wish to become more community-engaged lack methods and tools for doing so, policymakers lack a clear definition of community engagement, its dimensions, benefits and policy options, and communities wishing to partner with universities still find them difficult to approach.
Project objectives:
- The long-term objective of the project Steering Higher Education for Community Engagement (SHEFCE) is to contribute to increasing community engagement of European universities, in the form of partnerships with local and regional stakeholders to address societal challenges.
- The specific objective of project is to build the capacities of universities, policymakers and stakeholders in Europe for mainstreaming community engagement in higher education.
Project results:
- University action-planning for community engagemen
- Policy recommendations for system-level support for community engagement in higher education
- European online platform for community engagement in higher education
- Piloting a European university-community engagement heatmap
Project partners
- Institute for the Development of Education, Croatia
- Danube University Krems, Austria
- University of Rijeka , Croatia
- Ghent University, Belgium
- Technological University Dublin, Ireland
- University of Girona, Spain
- Free University of Brussels, Belgium
- Association of Catalan Public Universities, Spain
- National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
- Brodoto, Croatia
Project consortium: associate partners
Advisory team
European University Association
European Association of Institutions in Higher Education
European Students’ Union
Council of Europe
Organisation for Economic Co–operation and Development
Dissemination partners
Campus Engage (IRE)
European Higher Education Society
Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research (AUS)
Local partners
CitySpark (BEL)
Dublin City Council (IRE)
Salt City Council (ESP)
Girona City Council (ESP)
Rijeka City Council (CRO)
Project contributions SDGS’s:
- GOAL 4: Quality Education
- GOAL 5: Gender Equality
- GOAL 10: Reducing inequalities
- GOAL 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Email: iro@iro.hr/span>
Project start date: 01/09/2021 Project finishing date: 31/08/2023