Spatiality in higher education : a case study in integrating pedagogy, community engagement, and regional development

Abstract

Higher educational institutions (HEIs) are expected to contribute to local economies and the working life through collaboration and regional development. Increasing demands and diminishing resources call for innovative solutions. We discuss the benefits of integrating education and regional development in HEIs through spatiality. We build on community engagement, knowledge transfer, spatiality and the Triple Helix; identifying a HEI’s knowledge and people flows. We apply the frame to a case study of a university of applied sciences in Finland. Results suggest that there are a number of ways in which a HEI can collaborate with local industries and strengthen its regional impact without significant structural trade-offs and while supporting pedagogy. The results have implications for higher educational institutions, particularly, concerning the agile, transportable educational space concept. The study raises an important issue related to the assumptions of what makes a university: physical presence versus knowledge flows.