Agents of change: universities as development hubs

Capacity building for sustainable development has been a targeted activity over the last decade through university and university consortia networking. Universities from Africa (Botswana and South Africa), Asia (Malaysia and Thailand), Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua) and Europe (Denmark) participated with graduate students and faculty. Initially, some programmes emphasised research and others higher education, but eventually a blend of research and higher education was found to be more productive. Links to external partners in public and private business have been established and have proven to be successful in terms of mutual benefits. Activities comprised joint evolution of new study curricula (including a shift of the learning paradigm to problem-oriented and project-based learning), human resource development, and joint research. The results are promising in terms of concrete results within each type of activity and together they provide vital steps in capacity building in tertiary education to the benefit of development and environment. Universities should play a central role in such global efforts to strengthen tertiary education. Modes of operation are still deficient, but “universities as development hubs” is suggested as a concept to study further and modify to needs. Some of the results and their implications are presented in this paper and more are documented in the references that are cited. In short, universities, in joint action with business and society at large are necessary though not sufficient prerequisites for constructing and maintaining knowledge societies. Such action is equally important in established and developing economies.