PASCAL Associate John Rushforth served on a panel for the Knowledge in Motion conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

John currently serves as the Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of the West of England. The interactive discussion with the presidents of Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic covered the topic of how institutions can foster conditions that encourage and reward faculty and students to connect to their regions. It was the consensus of the panel that much of the knowledge generated in institutions of higher education never reach those who most benefit.

This international conference was sponsored by the Harris Center and Memorial University from October 16-18, 2008. The forum offered discussions on all aspects of regional knowledge transfer, exchange, dissemination and brokering.

As Acting President and Vice Chancellor, Eddy Campbell acknowledges in his conference welcome, ”Knowledge mobilization . . . requires new approaches to defining research and outreach opportunities, and it involves participatory processes to validate research findings and to debate implications for policy and practice, all the while respecting the independence and integrity of researchers.”