Cultivating a Culture of Innovative University Engagement for Local Entrepreneurship Development in Rural and Distressed Regions

Abstract Universities are commonly considered to be primary drivers of new innovations, and thus supportive of high-growth knowledge spillover businesses (Audretsch & Lehmann, 2005).  Even the university atmosphere and its embrace of idea exchange can be considered archetypical of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem through which innovators act and interact regularly.  However, even with these behavioral advantages on their side, many universities remain focused on developing innovations as outputs of their scholarly efforts, rather than concentrating on the processes of innovation within the university itself.  This is particularly true when it comes to the development of social and community innovations, through which universities can serve as central catalysts of innovation beyond the university borders.  This article presents an alternative perspective of university-based innovation, suggesting that universities must first innovate upon their own culture and institutional structure, revising the role played by the university in the public space.  We suggest that university faculty and staff must step outside their roles and, quite often, allow their academic expertise to take a subordinate role to citizen-driven entrepreneurial expertise in the surrounding community.  Several principles for enhancing this conversation and negotiation between citizen and expert knowledge are presented here, along with ways that universities can embrace public scholarship to fundamentally alter the relationship between experts and citizens.  The article illustrates how to transition from an expert-driven model toward a citizen-expert co-creation model of innovation and entrepreneurship, and draws upon a multiple case study in the U.S. states of Maine, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to offer empirical support from the perspective of entrepreneurs.  Our findings are then applied toward envisioning the publicly-engaged university as a potential driver and co-creator in the development of local knowledge and entrepreneurial ventures, especially in lagging and rural regions

Higher Education Exchange: 2014

This annual publication serves as a forum for new ideas and dialogue between scholars and the larger public. Essays explore ways that students, administrators, and faculty can initiate and sustain an ongoing conversation about the public life they share.The Higher Education Exchange is founded on a thought articulated by Thomas Jefferson in 1820: "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."In the tradition of Jefferson, the Higher Education Exchange agrees that a central goal of higher education is to help make democracy possible by preparing citizens for public life. The Higher Education Exchange is part of a movement to strengthen higher education's democratic mission and foster a more democratic culture throughout American society.Working in this tradition, the Higher Education Exchange publishes interviews, case studies, analyses, news, and ideas about efforts within higher education to develop more democratic societies

To a paradigm shift to the evaluation of scientific activity into Higher Education

La evaluación actual de la actividad científica se lleva a cabo mediante un mismo patrón internacional. Esta circunstancia ha estimulado un notable número de investigaciones críticas. Sin embargo, la abundancia de críticas contrasta con la falta de propuestas alternativas. En este trabajo se presenta una síntesis de los inconvenientes observados en las prácticas de evaluación, identificando consecuencias negativas para la propia ciencia, sus miembros y su utilidad pública respecto a las Instituciones de Educación Superior. También se añade una revisión de voces alternativas. Finalmente, se propone un conjunto de ocho principios para ayudar a promover un cambio de paradigma.The current assessment of scientific activity is performed by the same international pattern. This has stimulated a remarkable number of critical researches. However, the abundance of critical publications contrasts with the lack of alternative proposals. This paper presents a synthesis of the drawbacks observed in assessment practices, identifying negative consequences for science itself, its members and its public utility, in reference to Higher Education Institutions. A review of alternative voices is also added. Finally, this paper proposes a set of eight principles to assist in promoting a paradigm shift

Wild dog management in Australia: An interactional approach to case studies of community-led action

Wild dogs are a widespread, established pest in Australia and have economic, environmental, and social impacts. Best practice management recommends coordinated community-led action as a key strategy to reduce this vertebrate pest. This research increased understanding of how citizens organize to collectively manage wild dogs in three case studies from Australia, with attention to the interaction of cultural, structural, and interactional domains of group action. Information asymmetry and changing demographic profiles emerge as challenges to effective group development. Visible community leaders and strong group identity are important, as is peer recognition of community efforts to develop collective action norms. This article complements and extends existing quantitative data sets with qualitative analysis and contextual understanding, while also reflecting on the implications of collective action for wild dog management more broadly. This research is relevant for those concerned with community action and complex issues of vertebrate pest management

Community Pest Management in Practice: A Narrative Approach

This book presents a collection of practitioner and community stories that reveal how invasive species management is a community issue that can spark community formation and collective action. It combines the unique first-person narratives of practitioners on the frontline of invasive species management in Australia with three case studies of community action for wild dog management across a range of geographical landscapes. The book offers readers a new understanding of how communities are formed in the context of managing different species, and how fundamental social and political processes can make or break landholders’ ability to manage invasive species. Using narrative analysis of practitioner profiles and community groups, drawing lessons from real-world practices, and employing theories from community development, rural sociology and collective action, this book serves multiple functions: it offers a teaching tool, a valuable research contribution, and a practitioner’s field guide to pursuing effective community development work in connection with natural resource management, wildlife management and environmental governance

Community engagement theory for a new natural resource management paradigm

In their now classic article, 'Dilemmas in a general theory of planning', Rittel and Webber (1973) draw an important distinction between what they call 'tame' problems and 'wicked' problems. While not necessarily simple, tame problems generally have a relatively straightforward solution that is amenable to expert, technical knowledge. For instance, landing a man on the moon was an extremely complex undertaking, but it was possible to clearly articulate the objective and achieve it through the application of extant scientific knowledge. In problems like this, there are clear cause and effect mechanisms that enhance the likelihood that they can be solved (Batie 2008). Wicked problems, by contrast, are intractable, poorly structured and have only temporary or uncertain solutions (Rittel and Webber 1973). For wicked problems, there are no unambiguous criteria by which to judge their resolution. In fact, it is often difficult to define these problems in the first place because they usually involve intertwined normative criteria and empirical conditions or situations