KU Leuven

Belgium

Academia & the Third Mission    Nov. 19-20, 2025

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Academia & the Third Mission

Teaching, Research & Communities

Abstracts: May 30, 2025

As part of academia’s ‘outward turn,’ everyday places are increasingly seen extensions of the pedagogical environment. As these are inevitably places of interaction and negotiation (between different cultures, sectors, and disciplines), they offer many opportunities for pedagogical approaches involving a social agenda and linking to HEI’s ‘Third Mission’ (their contribution to society).

In universities worldwide, various initiatives are being taken to link this societal mission to teaching and research missions. The realisation is growing that this is (or should be) a two-way venture, in which HEI’s are not only getting out into the world, but through which the world is also coming into academia. However, we are only beginning to understand how this might affect the academic ethos.

What are the consequences of the increasing commodification of knowledge this involves? How to recognise and value different types of knowledge? How do we involve excluded and minority groups in setting research agendas? How is this affecting the roles of students, teachers and researchers? What is the nature of our relationship with the surrounding environment? Similarly, we can also ask how we monitor and evaluate the impact of our ‘engaged learning’ initiatives on the community? Can academics maintain a neutral position when engaging in a socio-spatial context that excludes certain groups from society? How can we institutionalise this versatile and very personalised teaching approach?

In this track then, we welcome contributions from the arts and design, the social sciences, the humanities, and further afield. We seek practical examples, theoretical reworkings and varied pedagogical perspectives. We hope to discuss initiatives in which community members are no longer considered passive recipients or clients, but rather partners. We would like to consider how society at large can be seen as a setting in which we can learn, conduct research, and build institutional alliances.

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Part of the conference Pedagogy 2025: Emerging Theories, Teaching & Technologies  

Abstract Deadline: May 30, 2025