Enhancing the Social Characteristics and Public Responsibility of Israeli Teaching

ESPRIT project partners from Israel and EU have met in Brighton, UK between 7th and 9th July 2015. The three working days provided space for discussing the progress on related project activities, among which is the finalizing and piloting a Social-Benchmarking Tool (SBT). ESU has been actively contributing to this since the very start of the project in December 2013. The SBT is aimed to be used for institutional self-analysis and tracking as well as to compare universities and colleges according to their social missions.

The project meeting has been also an opportunity for knowledge exchange and the host institution- University of Brighton- have invited speakers to present relevant UK practices. Paul Manners, Director, National Coordinating, Centre for Public Engagement presented how universities are making a Difference through Engagement and Impact; David Wolf explained Brighton’s CUPP model- a framework which enables the creation and sustainability of the collaboration between the community and the university and Kerry Facer spoke about the connected communities programme and the shift from a public to a private good – what does this mean for the social responsibility of HEIs.

The Tempus ESPRIT project is coordinated by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and aims to analyze map and strengthen the social and public roles of higher education institutions in Israel.

You may find more information by visiting the project website.