BROADENING ENGAGEMENT AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIVENESS

Perhaps the most important question universities need to ask themselves is how they can increase their efforts to meaningfully contribute to resolving the major societal issues of today. Universities are probably the only institutions that, when working together, can truly have a large and sustained influence on the global challenges we face. With that in mind, the fundamental question for universities that we try to answer in this chapter is: How can we ensure and increase our relevance in a way that is ethically and socially responsible? Our metaphor for working through this question is to argue that a university must 'think differently'. We argue in favour of what we consider a pragmatic approach to engagement. To illustrate this approach, the University of Leeds' approach to broaden its engagement and social responsibility both regionally and globally is used as an example. Ultimately, universities that are engaged and socially responsive must strategically redefine excellence towards more generosity and collaboration. Excellence is impossible without social impact and the deep collaborations necessary to deliver it.