In the era of the global economic recession, many higher education institutions have faced budget cuts. In this piece, the authors argue that community-university partnerships should be highly valued due to the ability of such partnerships to improve the quality of teaching and research. The South East Coastal Communities program (SECC) of southern England is presented in this paper to demonstrate ways in which partnerships can lead to new research opportunities, new developments in curriculum, and build the knowledge and skills of students in a context outside of the classroom.
Pratt, J., Matthews, S., Nairne, B., Hoult, E. & Ashenden, S. (2011). Collaboration between universities: An effective way of sustaining community-university partnerships? Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 4, 119-135.