Universities leave the ivory tower and grow together with their local communities! USR university social practice, investing in local revitalization

When population outflow and aging are widespread across regions, how should local universities fulfill their social responsibility and grow together with their communities? The Ministry of Education's University Social Responsibility Promotion Center recently held the 2018 University Social Practice (USR) Expo, conveying the idea that "universities are where hope lies, and wherever there is a university, there is hope."

This year's expo featured 50 colleges and universities and 93 cases of university social practice, covering four major themes: "local care," "health promotion," "industrial upgrading," and "environmental sustainability." Teachers and students from the schools actually went into communities to solve community problems, including developing processing technology, fish-eating education, and addressing agricultural waste to develop a circular economy.

"A school is not just a school; it does not only have an educational function, it is also a cradle for transforming the future," said Su Huei-chen, president of National Cheng Kung University. Previously, everyone thought teachers only needed to teach and publish papers, but now universities no longer look only at results, no longer care only about whether students graduate, but instead let students learn about the environment, traditions, and cultural knowledge, and become future leaders.

Universities disconnected from society, the public does not trust experts

Moving from the school into the local community makes social public participation very important, but how to build local trust in universities is a difficult problem. Michael Worton, chairman of the steering committee for institutional development at Paris Sciences et Lettres University in France, pointed out during his speech at the expo that public universities are funded by taxpayers, and the public questions where education subsidies actually go and whether they are spent where they matter most; some even distrust what experts say, and universities become disconnected from society.

Because of the gap between universities and society's expectations, universities are also working hard to transform and change, realizing the spirit of applying learning to practice. Michael Worton said that the University of London believes universities are no longer an aloof ivory tower; academic research must be relevant to the daily lives of the public and should lead students into communities, paying attention to the environment, animals, older adults, disadvantaged groups, and more, so that students can exercise a humanitarian spirit.