University-Community Engagement: What does it mean?

I want to reflect on the nature of Community-University engagement, its role, challenges and achievements. In this I start with \u27engagement\u27 and what that might mean in the context of a university-based research centre. There are, of course, many forms of engagement, but I wish to focus specifically on engagement as coproduction of knowledge. In this, our partner in the co-production of knowledge is the community, or rather civil society. I re-examine the nature of community, and the role of civil society in today\u27s society. The article then outlines one significant research programme that emerged from the work of a university research centre, the Centre for Australian Community Organisations and Management (CACOM), at the University of Technology, Sydney. This research - namely the story of social capital research - was initiated by a request from community partners and was carried out in collaboration with them