Regionalisation and higher education

This paper looks at universities from the perspective of other occupants of the same geographical region who might be partners in regional development. It takes a bleakly realistic view of the difficulties involved for universities to engage more productively with their regions for social and economic development. It draws out lessons from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2004-07 study, 'Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education to Regional Development', in 14 regions across five continents, including processes, findings and unfinished business, to consider barriers to closer involvement. Universities are portrayed as often proud and choosy companions. Regions vary significantly. Despite global interest in devolution they are often ill-defined and weak in traditional bonds, making them immature, gauche and reluctant partners for universities. Recent global competitive tendencies impact on both regions and universities, pulling the latter away from regional engagement in favour of world league table positioning. There is a danger that local involvement is seen as a second-best substitute for those who fail. The paper adopts an ecological perspective in concluding that in a competitive era of mass higher and universal tertiary education, regional systems of interdependent higher education systems collectively sharing roles and responsibilities across the spectrum of demands on higher and tertiary education, offer the best way forward