Organized by:
Observatory PASCAL and the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia in Vancouver
May 18 to 20, 2009

Call for papers

This conference will bring together academic researchers, teachers and
administrators as well as practitioners, professionals, policy analysts and
makers in order to explore and showcase research and practice of what in North America is called 'Service to the Community'. Although newly discovered by some universities, service to the community has a long tradition in others and, in many cases, is recognized as an explicit mandate in the university charter.
Service is understood to be the third mission of universities, alongside
Teaching and Research. Service and community engagement takes many different forms. Examples are community-based research and learning, assistance in regional development, continuing and community education, technology transfer, and other forms of knowledge sharing and cooperation.

The conference will also be the occasion of the second PASCAL Universities
Regional Engagement (PURE) workshop. It is expected that all PURE regions will be represented at the conference as well as the PURE workshop on 21/22 May.

Proposals (between 400 and 800 words) are invited until January 31, 2009 to the following address: [email protected].

Keynote speakers

• Sergio Arzeni, Director, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMES and Local
Development, Paris

• Budd Hall, University of Victoria

Themes

The conference will discuss all forms of service to the community.
Presentations are invited, especially on one of the three sub themes:

• Universities and Regional Regeneration and Development

• Higher Education and Sustainable Development

• Universities and Major Local and Regional Events (for example the Olympics,
the Soccer World Cup, or the World Exposition)

Under the first theme, studies that will be of particular interest are those
that focus on the impact of collaboration by, and active linkages between
universities and regions, and the local and regional developments that have
resulted from this collaboration.

For the second theme, papers and other presentations are invited to address the topic of sustainable local and regional development in all its forms and the
role universities and community colleges play in it. The third theme addresses
forms of collaboration between higher education and the various actors,
especially cities and regions, who are involved in organizing and staging these
mega events in a way that these events leave a positive legacy that benefits the population of their respective city or region. This theme is particularly
topical as Vancouver and Whistler will host the Olympic Winter Games in
February 2010.

Who should attend?

The conference will be of interest to the research and academic community
working in these fields but will also be of significant interest to
practitioners in these areas particularly from cities and regional development
agencies, local and national government agencies and organizations working in
the field. The structure of the conference will facilitate the sharing of
experiences and research findings across a wide range of interests including:

  * Mission and forms of university continuing education

  * Knowledge transfer and joint research

  * Community-based research and teaching

  * Learning cities and regions

  * Major events as a trigger for creating learning communities

Participation is not confined to the actual members of the PASCAL Observatory, but open to all those who are interested in these themes and have experience to showcase and compare with that of others.