USR Guidelines

The final output of the UNIBILITY project is a set of guidelines which are designed to help universities to successfully incorporate USR (University Social Responsibility) in their strategies and everyday activities. The USR guidelines are available online in a pdf version and have a transnational perspective. The document draws inspiration from relevant publications on USR and from best practice from partner countries, as identified in UNIBILITY’s USR Toolkit of Practices.

The target audience comprises university personnel including teachers, researchers, students, management, and administration as well as policy makers and funding agencies.

The USR guidelines were presented at the 1st European-USR Conference “University meets Social Responsibility” at the University of Barcelona, Spain on the 22nd of September 2017.

 

The guidelines document consists of the following sections:

  • Introduction to USR: discusses the challenges and opportunities of using this term. All universities engage in USR, but sometimes at an informal level. There are problems of strategizing, classification and documentation.
  • Getting staff members started with the USR process: recommendations and good practice in training key staff members and getting the university started in USR.
  • Reaching out to the community: criteria for engaging with business, NGOs and community groups.
  • Involving students: how to get students involved in service learning and incorporate it in the university’s strategic practice.

 

Get the full Reader in English HERE.