Universities - Their New Role in Regional Development?

Universities, particularly regional universities, play a highly significant role in a regional development. A university is regarded as an autonomous institution and has no formal responsibility to its region. Currently the role of universities in regional development is considered as going beyond this narrow technical and economic approach to understand the role of universities as more integrated. Improving the stock of human capital within a region (i.e. taking responsibility for that) is a new responsibility of universities. Negotiating and building alliances between different local and government institutions located in the region, universities, private sector interests and non-profit organisations is a task of the day. Thus both municipality and university shift from being an arm of the national welfare state, or national research and education institution respectively, to a new common role of being accelerator of local co-operation and policy innovation.