Groups of university and community networks have been coming together since 2010 to share information and call for further action to enhance community-university engagement. These discussions have been framed as 'Big Tent' dialogues.

The 'Big Tent IV' group representing the Global Alliance on Community-Engaged Research and many other networks and civil society organisations (such as  Asia Pacific University Community Engagement Network, Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios, Commonwealth Universities Extension and Engagement Network, Community Campus Partnerships for Health, Global University Network for Innovation, Living Knowledge Network, PASCAL International Observatory, Participatory Research in Asia, and the Talloires Network  now ask:

How can the necessary social, scientific and technological innovations in small communities, in municipalities or councils be brought to people's minds to a level so that they really can contribute to a comprehensive social change, to the 'Great Transformation'?

The Big Tent group will use the PERARES debate interactive platform to widen and deepen the participation in the formulation of Big Tent III . Norbert Steinhaus, Bonn Science Shop and the Living Knowledge Network will facilitate the dialogue.

The dialogue will be online from April 12 – May 12 at http://bit.ly/XMUrpz

The release of Big Tent IV will be linked to the 5^th Barcelona World Conference on Higher Education "Let's Build Transformative Knowledge for Social Change" , taking place May 13-15, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.  While these conferences are always great spaces for innovative ideas about strengthening higher education around the world, this particular event is being designed as a space where the diverse regional and global networks interested in knowledge democracy and community-university engagement will have an opportunity to meet.  

It is expected that participants interested in the intensive online consultation will go to the PERARES debate website to contribute and share their thoughts.

The draft final communiqué will be read aloud at the GUNi conference before its closing session on May 15^th. A final text version will be translated, formatted and distributed through the Big Tent networks and other social media.

As with the earlier Big Tent statements, the audience of these statements are essentially national and international policy makers, funders, university leaders and others interested in increasing these forms of knowledge democracy.  Past communiqués have had very wide distribution throughout the Big Tent group which represents about 5,000 higher education and civil society groups and other key global higher education spaces.