BSU Outreach Strategies
Plenary
BSU Networking & Planning Workshop
Tuesday August 29 2012
By Anna Temu, (SUA) & Søren Lund, (RU)
Participants
 Ambrose Okot – Chair
 Julius Massaga
 Wineaster Andreson
 Flemming Konradsen
 Arne Anderson
 Soren Lund
 Anna Temu - Rapporteur
Peers - multidiscipline
University Ivory Tower
Peers: south - south
Traders, Farmers
Junior colleges & Schools, Policy
makers, Governments,
International Organizations,
Donors, Development agencies,
NGOs, The Industry
Agreements
 Universities are institutions for research and researchbased education
 We become meaning full to the society/communities,
donors, tax payers development agents if we reach out
to stakeholders with intention of improving livelihoods
 There is a need to cooperate to develop an improve the
quality of our institutions in this domain is the object of
this thematic workshop
How do we define “OUTREACH”?
 The concept of outreach can be defined as:
 “systematic efforts to provide unsolicited and predefined
help to groups or individuals deemed to need it”, or
 “to provide services beyond conventional limits as for
example to particular segments of a community”
 For universities: “investing university staff and resources
for free in support of the surrounding communities and
industries in meeting their challenges and improving their
livelihoods and performance”
Definition in practice
 As outreach activities we suggest for this workshop to
include some or all of the following activities:
 Participating in the public debate on current issues
 Servicing public institutions (local authorities, local
schools, local administrative bodies) or private sector by
providing information, ad-hoc research and analyses of
issues of concern (free of charge – vs. consultancy)
 Offering Open university / people’s university (popular
themes)
 Organising ad-hoc trainings and capacity-building for staff
of local authorities, businesses, trade unions,
associations, NGOs etc.
 Engaging in “action-research” with selected stakeholder
groups
Outreach Strategies for BSU
Presented by Anna Temu
August 2012
BSU Workshop
7
What BSU can offer
 Capacity to formalize internships, action research, action learning/case
based training
 Agree that the south need this and collaborative activities action learning,
we need to link with e-learning. Action research require more time to
interact – case development ICT facilities (cameras, Tele/video
conferencing)
 How to communicate research to various stakeholders; “collaborate to learn”
south to south/north to south;
 Develop communication/dissemination skills (university wide) –
interdisciplinary, intercultural: action-reach methods (individuals, value
chain, communities, societies)
 University outreach/scientific forums
 Jointly organize conference/forums at platform/institutional/regional levels)
e.g. post-graduates to produce outreach materials from their theses for
beneficiaries
What BSU can offer
Lessons from cases to come up with grounded theory of what works and
what doesn’t work
Small research grants to “look into” what works and doesn’t work, and
why
Website collect written cases with pictures/sounds
Support writing text books for secondary schools and first years and hand
books for SMEs targeted to specific value chain
Teams build to produce such materials – initiated by south – build
teams to assess (researchers, collaborators (south and north),
editors)
Venture with radio/TV stations – present particular issues/ link with school
of journalism
How to produce mass media material and presentation, linking
Supporting existing medias to produce and air outreach materials
What BSU can offer
 Venture with radio/TV stations – present particular issues/ link with
school of journalism
 How to produce mass media materials and presentation, (most
schools have journalists)
 Supporting existing medias to produce and air outreach materials
 Development incentive structure
 Provide awards for best outreach programs in
platform/institutions/regional
 Quality assurance built in for every outreach activity itemized above
 Train on QA issues in outreach programs
 Develop joint framework from lessons learnt
Areas of Concerns
1. Matching the time – north and south
2. Coverage – how we can involve others in this process?
3. Interest of the north to implement outreach activities in the
south it there interest? If no, how can we make it attractive?
4. What is beyond the overheads in the south and north -need
to be considered
5. The need for improving small infrastructure for e-learning
and ICT facilities (minimal budget) –can it be
accommodated
What they think of us