UW in a new paper about universities and community development

We are very excited to share a new published paper that is very close to our hearts. The paper, called “Higher Education as Coastal Community Development: Lessons Learned From the University Centre of the Westfjords, Iceland”, published in the journal “Ocean and Society” is a reflection on the 20 year experience of UW as a rural coastal community educational instition. The idea for the paper came from a special call from the journal asking for papers that reflected on the importance of universities in their local societies. Because UW was founded as a community development tool, we thought we might have something to say for the special issue as a way to celebrate our 20 year anniversary!

We have made a policy brief in Icelandic (accessible here) that covers the takehome points of the paper: being that UW contributes to community development through its role as an “anchor institution” which brings unmeasurable community capital contributions to the local society, for example offering distance learning in addition to bringing in students from outside the region who then integrate into local culture. There are shortcomings and challenges as well, such as low percentage of Icelandic students, and the logistics of running a higher education instition in a rural community in the sub-Arctic. There is a strong set of academic literature that discusses the “third role” of universities, which is to ensure social, economic, and cultural engagement with society. Put another way, the “civic university” is one that offers educational opportunities that are in line with local realities and prorities. During his 20 years as director of UW, Peter Weiss was consistently a practicioner of these theories set forth in academic papers, applying the theories of higher education and community development to practice at UW.

For the nerds out there, a 20 year data set is very exciting. We look forward to the next 20 years of UW!