the idea of a Civil Society University

Public discussion has been converging on the idea of a Civil Society University (CSU) for some time. Since the idea emerged at a PrimeTimers Conference in 2005 on Leveraging Business Skills in the Third Sector, it has been explored with a cross-section of third sector organisations and academics.

There was ready acceptance of the principles of a model that could help the sector to:

• Provide a skills escalator for its staff and volunteers and develop its knowledge base
• Overcome its fragmented nature with networked learning provision
• Link its high quality training to the educational provision of existing academic institutions
  

The steady increase in numbers of people and organizations engaged in voluntary, charitable, social entrepreneurial and not-for-profit activities provides a pool of potential interested parties in the development of an institution supporting relevant advanced study and experiential learning. The idea also has international potential – for example, it has been mooted by The Council of Europe Higher Education Division as a ‘fifth type of university’.

Emerging themes that a CSU might be able to address include:

Meeting training and development needs in the third sector

• Staff training and personal development has not been a priority in the sector.
• In contrast, business and government offer well advertised careers that have effectively colonised existing higher education institutions.
• The third sector has negligible profile by comparison for school leavers, though the number of graduates increasingly looking outside standard careers suggests an unmet demand for a different preparatory programme.

Values education

• A civil society university could become the primary forum for the debates about the value issues of contemporary life and be a channel for social activism.
• This aim requires the same level of sophisticated development of ideas, research and skills as the state and business currently demand for themselves.

Raising sector standards

• There is a widespread demand for better governance and accountability in the the sector, but overregulation would negate its very rationale.
• The free space of a civil society university would provide an ideal setting for the enhancement of reporting standards, transparency, integrity and social responsibility expected of the sector.

Learn more.....

Toward the Civil Society University

Professor Martin Albrow encapsulates the values in theory and practice that lead towards the Civil Society University concept.

What Kind of University for the Third Sector?

In 2006 PrimeTimers and Professor Martin Albrow set out their initial thoughts on 'what kind of university for the third sector?'

Agenda For Change

As part of its thought leadership activities PrimeTimers held a cross-sector conference in September 2005, entitled 'Leveraging business skills for the third sector.' Amongst the challenges for the third sector was an invitation for organisations to join together to campaign for an integrated lifelong learning approach to third sector education with the question "We have business universities, why not a university for civil society?" Read the Agenda For Change article here