Higher education and community engagement: innovative practices and challenges across ASEAN and Asia

This paper is expanded from selected presentations and discussions during the 2nd UKM-AUN Regional Forum on University Social Responsibility and Sustainability (USR&S), 9th – 11th May 2011. It serves as a resource of innovative ideas, knowledge-driven expertise and creative solutions to support institutions of higher education and other collaborative stakeholders in promoting and embedding community engagement into the core missions of their respective organisations. The chapters explicate the experiences of leaders from academia, industry and non-governmental organisations in areas such as social responsibility, curricular development, volunteerism and knowledge-sharing when undertaking collaborative community-based initiatives across research, education and service. It concludes with a summary of the key issues and makes recommendations for driving forward the higher education-community engagement agenda to respond to the needs of the ASEAN & Asian communities.