On Sept 15^th and 16^th 2017, we were delighted to host at the School of Education, University of Glasgow, Professor Rajesh Tandon, the founder-President of PRIA, global participatory research & training centre based in New Delhi, India. PRIA has completed 35 years of work in empowering citizens to claim their rights and organize their own communities. Professor Tandon has also been the UNESCO Co-Chair on Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education since 2012.

During his visit, Professor Tandon conducted two seminars, one in the morning within the School, primarily for colleagues in Education. This seminar, entitled Knowledge Democracy & K4C: Preparing Next Generation of Engaged Scholars, addressed the dual responsibilities of universities at local and global scales in contributing to a more equitable and sustainable world. He specifically focused on his recently published 6^th GUNI (Global Universities Network for Innovation) World Report on Higher Education titled, ‘Towards a Socially Responsible University: Balancing the Global with the Local’. Later in the afternoon, he presented another seminar at the Urban Big Data Centre. This open seminar, entitled Roles & contributions of Higher Education in realizing SDGs, addressed how the achievement of sustainable development goals by 2030 faces several capacity deficits. Professor Tandon discussed these deficits including those concerned with political leadership, financial resources and human capital, and in this context considered the potential community-engaged role of higher education institutions. Both the seminars were well attended by faculties as well as graduate students and led to a vibrant and animated conversation.

During the day, Professor Tandon met several other staff members, students as well as Vice-Principals John Briggs and Jonathan Cooper. On the second day of his visit, Professor Tandon met staff from a number of Schools and graduate students over lunch and had an engaging discussion about participatory research and community-university engagement. We would like to thank everyone who attended the seminars and hope to have Professor Tandon back with us in near future.

[Image] Dr. Rajesh Tandon, UNESCO Co-Chair on Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, visits the School of Education, University of Glasgow on Sept 15^th and 16^th 2017