Empowering communities: The unseen benefits of higher education engagement

Abstract

Community Engagement is a strategic process carried over an identified group sharing common interest, or affiliated together by geographical area, or similar ideology. It is a collaboration of such a group, in general termed as community, to identify and solve the issues and challenges disturbing the peaceful living and environment. The association of the term community with engagement implies the extension of horizons to serve, changing the focus from person-centred concept to a group oriented service. It includes in itself the alliances for incorporating inclusiveness and ensures engagement practices addresses the diversity that exists in the frame of any community. Higher educational institutions serve as centres for knowledge sharing and skill development. They accommodate a good number of subject experts serving various disciplines and a massive group of learners who aim to explore the world by working to achieve expertise in streams of their interest and growth. Community engagement in higher educational institutions is often considered as an additional task to enforce social service. This misconception needs to be waved off. This paper is an attempt to understand community engagement and the benefits of community engagement for its various stakeholders.