Why use a regional lense?
Regional development allows institutions of higher education to use their power of research and applied learning to honor the local landscapes they inhabit. Regionalism provides an organizing principle to address economic and social issues while maintaining the priority of environmental integrity. The basic premise of regional policy is the fact that economies have a physical sense. The strength of an economy is based on utilizing and preserving the resources around which the urban hubs are structured. Commerce and economic development are centered around natural centers rather than political.
Definition of regions becomes essential. Regionalism is an integrative approach that follows a geographic focus, looking beyond political and jurisdictional boundaries. This allows for the study of social, economic and environmental issues through the creation of sustaining of organizations that do not fit into the established framework of local, state and federal governments (Inman and Swanson 2007).
Cities provide the business hub but rural communities extend and are connected to this. Jane Jacobs explains that natural resources are an inheritance from the earth’s past expansion that initiated the first clusters of economic development (2000:54). Economies follow natural centers rather than political. The seminal unit of organization filters down to the community which addresses the need to connect the human community to what Ivan Illich refers to as “convivial tools” (Illich, 1973). Convivial tools “respect natural scales, enhance relatedness, and foster autonomy as well as natural competence”. (Cayley 1992: 110). By honoring the environment we honor those with whom we share our local space. We are connected globally, but it is the web of local connections that provide the tapestry of adequate strength to support our transformed world. So regional definition becomes essential in setting the table for collaboration. Regions are organized around natural resources and their use.
The untapped energy of higher education to address regional issues is endless. Issues less defined by political boundaries, and increasingly defined by place, call for a new type of engagement. Generating knowledge with communities, rather than for communities, contrasts sharply with traditional university attitudes that offer abstract knowledge generation rather than appreciation of indigenous knowledge. Developing policy with such a worldview requires new skills focusing on developing relationships and facilitating collaboration. Finding common ground between diverse stakeholders requires innovative action including:
- Create a formal portal to organize outreach and engagement such as a Regional Institute.
- Facilitate formal and informal connections to an Institute. Regional listening sessions and small conference venues supported by broadband initiatives could provide this.
- Connect university engagement to education and research.
- Know who you are and do the best you can do.
- Increase visibility within the community.
Implications
Regional engagement centers could serve to:
- Define strengths. Universities, community colleges, and community-based organizations will need to find their niche in this process. As regional issues are defined, each must identify what they do best. Such engagement is served by diverse agency involvement. This allows for stakeholders to provide both formal and informal leadership.
- Develop a degree in regional engagement. An enhanced Ed.D. would allow for interdisciplinary scholarship based on regional engagement. Research tools would include those to facilitate collaborative action.
- Provide a front door for engagement. The reputation of universities being removed from any type of applied learning makes this particularly important.
- Seek private funding. Private funding for a center and not individual projects allows for more consistent financial support. Center enterprise could serve as an additional generator of revenue. Also, once the center becomes an acknowledged “expert” in an area of regional engagement, clients can approach for consultation.
- Organizing an international learning community. PASCAL provides an opportunity for developing an international learning community organized around specific issues. Common themes might include addressing at-risk youth education, developing local food systems, developing green technology or women’s rights. These could then serve as organizing topics for smaller conference venues.
In conclusion, PASCAL is an organization of universities whose currency is learning. Movements are based on stakeholder learning rather than political arguments. Their most compelling argument is engagement with regions to develop sustainable options for living through formal and informal learning opportunities. Universities can put development and technology in the context of a healthier environment and society. One of the most important initiatives would be the development of sustainable economies. Economies that are grounded in place provide space for everyone due to providing smaller, organic bases. Because more individuals share in such an economy and they address more complex issues than the growth of the GDP, they are slower growing with a completely different set of indices.
How do we measure such an economy?
What does a grounded economy look like?
Future posts will discuss using local food systems as an engine for sustainable economic development.
For further reading on the development of a sustainable economy see the following PASCAL publications:
The community engagement and service mission of universities (2010) Eds. Inman, P. and Schuetze, H. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.
Duke, C., Osborne, M. and Wilson, B. (2013) A new imperative: Regions and higher education in difficult time, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Social capital, lifelong learning and the management of place (2007) Eds. Osborne, M., Sankey, K., and Wilson, B., London: Routledge.
University engagement and environmental sustainability (2014) Inman, P. and Robinson, D. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
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