This book chapter argues that the development of the knowledge economy is placing universities at the heart of economic and social development processes in relation to their teaching, research and outreach functions. While this is by no means an exclusively contemporary phenomena, and certainly not an uncontroversial one, emphasis is increasingly being placed on the contribution of universities to their localities and regions in political, economic, social and civic terms. For those keen to exploit the opportunities this presents, a consideration of the need for internal transformations within the university is required in order to make it ‘fit for purpose’ to meet new ‘entrepreneurial’ roles. A core concern here is how best to re-orientate or re-mould the university in such a way as to meet new challenges while guarding the ‘essence’ of the academic enterprise. What is needed is greater empirical work which considers the relationship between external engagements and internal transformations in different national and sub-national contexts. |