Welcome to the ACU University Extension Network

Welcome to the ACU University Extension Network, a Commonwealth-wide grouping bringing together practitioners in community engagement, outreach, knowledge mobilisation, and extension activity. The network was launched at the University of Ghana in April 2008, and comprises 500 individual members.

The ACU University Extension Network provides a forum for the exchange of good practice in community engagement activity, helps to disseminate knowledge and project management skills amongst practitioners across the ACU membership, and relays relevant news and opportunities for collaboration to its members.

The network is supported by the Development Partnerships in Higher Education, or DelPHE, programme led by the British Council, supported by the ACU, and funded by the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom. 

NEWS: In June 2010, the ACU University Extension Network welcomed its 500th member. We are delighted that our global community of community engagement practitioners continues to grow across the Commonwealth and in focus countries of the Development Partnerships in Higher Education (DelPHE) programme.

The table below outlines how many of the Network's members are where. To enquire about our services or to join up, please contact extension.network@acu.ac.uk

Membership to the network is free, and is open to practitioners from across the ACU membership. Staff at institutions in DelPHE Focus Countries are also eligible to join the network. Research managers, industrial liaison officers, distance education managers, lifelong learning managers, and staff in other functions related to extension, community engagement, and knowledge mobilisation are also encouraged to join us.

Why University Extension?

Many institutions are active in community engagement, others defining it as community outreach, while others focus on knowledge mobilisation and research communication. The ACU University Extension Network embraces a range of activities within this broad spectrum.

Our members are active in any activity that builds links between universities and the wider community, and they help to direct university research for the benefit of the community.

Extension is also defined by connecting with people and organisations who normally act outside the higher education sector. This might include civil society organisations and NGOs, local government, industry, small-to-medium enterprises, development agencies and charities, and other international or national organisations. Sustained, formalised, and productive interaction with other sectors in society is a key goal of the university extensionist.

What kind of knowledge is disseminated, and who will it involve? There are many subjects and disciplines that have great developmental impact on local communities. For example, much extension activity is driven towards building capacity in agriculture and in rural regions. In these cases, universities engage with rural communities and disseminate knowledge on environmental sustainability, new agricultural techniques, principles of entrepreneurship, marketing and distribution, water engineering and sanitation, and other subjects relevant to rural communities. This may be done through training schemes, seminar series, cooperative working, or through dissemination of learning materials.  

Many extensionists agree that this should not be a one-way process. Actors in rural communities can also provide critical information and feedback to higher education institutions regarding the challenges faced by agriculturalists and rural communities, which can then help to inform the university research agenda. Such dialogue can help to bring universities into a better understanding of the development needs of their region, and can help universities play a stronger role in addressing these.

Extension also involves lifelong learning and further education: providing a range of non-accredited courses to members of the community to help build life skills, professional skills, and subjects of interest to people normally outside of the formal higher education sector.

This network convenes university extensionists from across the ACU membership, along with staff in institutions in other DelPHE Focus Countries. To find out if you are eligible to join on either of these grounds, please contact extension.network@acu.ac.uk