This case study centres on projects instigated by the University of Wollongong's Batemans Bay campus which engaged other community entities in collaboration to produce a cultural and educational resource in book form. These projects occurred between 2017 and 2019 with more planned for the future. While this work is not a how-to guide, the analysis…

First Nation students' attendance, retention and engagement in remote schools has been a concern for educators and successive governments. In many communities, students are encouraged to complete secondary education at boarding school because of seemingly limited educational opportunities in their local communities. The School of Isolated and…

A persistent issue in Australia, and globally, is how to improve participation rates in higher education for students from regional and rural areas. In this paper, we tackle this challenge by exploring the idea of a Community Embedded University (CEU). We draw on empirical data from three participatory co-design workshops with university students…

This article reveals the nature of actions, discussions and relationships which helped forge school-community partnerships for engaged student learning and wider community participation for students and families living under difficult socio-economic circumstances. Specifically, the article draws upon interviews with key personnel and staff…

This article describes the evaluation outcomes of an innovative, community based educational initiative to enhance and promote the awareness of literacy and numeracy in young children in two regional communities in Moorabool Shire, Victoria. With the support of committed educational and community partners (through the Moorabool Best Start…

This paper discusses the community engagement program, "Refugee Action Support" (RAS) at the University of Western Sydney. RAS is a partnership program between the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, The NSW Department of Education and Training and the university. The Refugee Action Support program prepares pre-service teachers…

There is increasing interest in making more effective use of schools as community hubs, both in Australia and internationally. Investment in shared facilities aims to engage parents and local communities in schooling, encourage civic participation, co-ordinate educational and community services and overcome disadvantages of location or service…

Despite ongoing equity initiatives, there is still a clear discrepancy in regards to access to higher education for potential students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on an action research initiative that has developed a model of engaged outreach as an alternative approach to traditional university outreach. Engaged…

This collection of occasional papers, developed to show the spread of continuing education activities in Tasmania, Australia, includes (1) "Adult Education--Beyond the Traditional Class Programme" by Gordon Goward, Assistant Director of Adult Education; (2) "Forming a New Group in the Community" by Frank Perry, Prison Education…

The Alberton Project was a three-year community capacity building project that ran from 1999 until 2002. It aimed to revitalise the local community surrounding the small Victorian town of Yarram. Evaluation of the project involved participant observation, monitoring of media reports, surveys and interviews. Outcomes are reported with reference to…

Loss of biodiversity and habitats is one of the greatest threats to the environment and education has a critical role to play in addressing this issue. This paper describes a teaching activity for first-year university students studying sustainable resource management at the University of Newcastle which established a partnership between…

This writing resource book offers ideas for sharing stories, turning them into text, and reaching a wider audience through simple publishing processes in community settings and through group processes. Chapter 1 shows how the "Building Canberra" project, on which the book is based, came about. It discusses the policy framework in which…

Performance-making and peace-building are processes predicated on the production of safe space. But what is "safe space"? In performance-making, what is it that makes space safe without losing the creative potential of tension? What role is there for risk? And, once achieved, how does safe space become meaningful beyond its immediate…

In a competitive market training economy, vocational education and training (VET) and small business in Australia face a number of challenges. They need to qualify the extent of lifelong learning skills being used in the small firm workplace, define the range of learning partnerships both within VET and the wider informal learning community in…