Professor Mike Osborne, Co-Director of PASCAL, visited the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Toowoomba, Australia on 13 May. During his visit he spoke to university staff and community representatives about the GUNi Report Higher Education in the World Report 5: Knowledge, Engagement and Higher Education: Contributing to Social Change and took the opportunity to launch this report in Australia.

USQ is a regional university in Queensland. USQ has campuses, one west of Brisbane the capital of Queensland and another on the coast north of the capital. As a renowned distance learning provider and national lead innovator USQ also has virtual learning communities, both locally within southern Queensland and worldwide.

USQ was a fitting location for the Australian launch of the GUNi Report for it is one of the many sites worldwide for PASCAL's PURE project. The first PURE visit took place in December 2011, while the second occurred in July 2013. 

Professor Osborne indicated that the 5 GUNi World Report looks at critical dimensions in our understanding of the roles and potential roles, of higher education institutions as as active players in contributing to social change. It looks at our changing understandings about who the agents of knowledge creation are and how the creation, distribution and use of knowledge are linked to our aspirations for a better world. It offers us elements of a vision for a renewed and socially responsible relationship between higher education, knowledge and society. It also provides visibility for and examines one of the most significant trends in higher education over the past 10-15 years: the growth of the theory and practice of engagement as a key feature in the evolution of higher education.

Assisting Professor Osborne to launch the report were Professor John Cole ( Executive Director, Institute for Resilient Regions at USQ), Professor Michael Cuthill (Chair in Regional Community Development at USQ and a contributor to the Report) and Professor Lorelle Burton (Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Community for Community Project at USQ).

The Report is published by Palgrave MacMillan and edited by GUNi Guest Editors Bud Hall (Canada) and Rajesh Tendon (India).

More details here.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT

Palgrave Macmillan is offering the opportunity to buy Higher Education the World 5 edited by Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) at a special 20% discount*(RRP £60.00/$95.00). Simply visit the relevant site below, depending on your location, and enter the code WHEITW2014b when prompted.

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* Valid from April 15 to June 30, 2014. This discount is only available to visitors of the GUNi website. This discount is for individuals only and is not available to our trade or library customers. This offer is not available to customers in Australia and certain countries in East and West Africa. - See more at: http://www.guninetwork.org/guni.report/heiw-5-2013#sthash.TTC5Q5Ll.dpuf