Knowledge is now widely considered a critical resource, learning a key process and networks an essential structure underpinning innovation capacity as well as economic and social development. Against this backdrop much attention has been devoted to higher education institutions, particularly their ‘third mission’ of engaging positively with the economy and society to engender economic and social benefits. In this master’s thesis I examine academic engagement practices at the University of Ljubljana (UL) with a particular focus on the spatial characteristics of collaborative partnerships and engagement in lagging regions. I consider how UL engagement policies and practices relate to development concepts and policies. I map both UL’s formal engagement practices as well as present a case study of the Bela Krajina/Pokolpje region, that enabled me to examine additional types of engagement and discuss particular challenges when it comes to engaging in a lagging region.
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