Knowledge Mobilization and Global Higher Education: Building Capacity for Change

Introduction

Globalization and internationalization of the university creates an unrivaled invitation for learners, scholars, and researchers to connect their shared creativity, knowledge and experiences (Bejinaru & Prelipcean, 2017). Current demands, particularly related to knowledge creation and dissemination, create pressure for economic growth and socioeconomic development at country and regional levels (Mense, Lemoine, Garretson, & Richardson, 2018). In the global sphere, there is a call for universities to engage in the generation of knowledge related to pressing global issues (Wells, 2017).

The world, in general, and societies in particular, are confronted with the process of continual change and have evolved and turned very fast in the last decades into a globalized arena (Bourn, 2018). Universities are going through one of the most dramatic periods of transformation because globalization involves the fortuitous prospects to take advantage of significant opportunities (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2019). However, globalization also brings challenges or even threats to the future. Some have concluded that the role, the mission, the impact and the expectations from the universities are heightened as never before (Pucciarelli & Kaplan, 2016; Wadhwa, 2016).

The changing role of universities is reflected in the re-orientation and (changing) purpose of research (Caulfiedl & Ogbogu, 2015). There has been an adoption of principles of responsible research and innovation (RRI) by the European Union that seeks to strengthen community research partnership approaches, structures, and methods. This is both a response to and a driver of change in the research process and practices towards more comprehensive models of innovation through use of knowledge mobilization (Grau, 2017).