Our universities play a special role in generating the skills and new ideas that drive national economic and social progress. But can they do more to lift their local communities?

Our universities play a special role in generating the skills and new ideas that drive national economic and social progress. But can they do more to lift their local communities?
“Passport for Work” is a project in Eindhoven – an online platform, where job seekers engage in gamified assessments to build an overview of their skills and other professional attributes.
Established during Germany’s “refugee crisis” six years ago, the ReDI School of Digital Integration brings together IT professionals to teach coding and basic computer skills to refugees and migrants.
NACCE and OECD share a common goal in finding solutions to a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges. In this podcast, they highlight the importance of collaboration and entrepreneurial mindset as core skills to address pandemic challenges at the personal and community levels.
After years of population decline, many rural communities now host schools with more teachers than students. Declining fertility rates, low rates of immigration and population ageing have put pressure on local services, pushing up costs per head in facilities with very few users and in some cases forcing closures. Can governments continue to provide services efficiently to people regardless of where they live?
A year ago, entrepreneurs and small business owners found themselves in unchartered waters. Faced with unprecedented restrictions on their activity, the pandemic forced many to close their businesses and turn to governments for support for the first time. Early hopes of a swift recovery after lockdowns were lifted quickly proved to be a false dawn when the pandemic returned in second and third waves. Some small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs were able to adapt and seize new opportunities…