Driving Social Innovation: Bridging Civic Society and Higher Education for Global Sustainable Development

Engaging Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with the community and developing synergies between the academic and social fields is increasingly crucial for enhancing citizens' understanding and commitment, ensuring long-term positive effects. According to the Quadruple Helix Model (QH), this involvement helps in sharing knowledge and skills, as well as increasing community participation (Vargiu, 2014; Miller et al., 2018; Carayannis & Campbell, 2019).

The UP2YOU action research co-founded by the Erasmus+ Program, aims to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the skills needed by Civic Society Organizations (CSOs), involving six European countries: Spain, Italy, Macedonia, Turkey, France and Cyprus.

The project seeks to build more resilient and equitable communities where diverse stakeholders collaborate to identify and address problems. It begins with a community-based study (Lewin, 1946; Stenhouse, 1975; Argyris et al., 1985; Hopkins, 2002) and aims to co-design a Community Leadership Program that focuses on integrating academic knowledge with the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and community organizing.

The community building program involved HEIs, local institutions, companies, and CSOs and emphasizes bottom-up approaches, social generativity, and community organizing methodologies, all informed by a situational leadership approach (Ayman, 2004).

The process included a desk analysis phase, focus groups, an online survey, and co-design sessions to identify, validate, and adapt the main learning outcomes. The primary findings were analyzed and discussed with the involved community, employing a comparative perspective and following the action research self-reflective circle (Carr, 2006; Kemmis & McTaggart, 2000).

The co-building program is currently in its pilot phase, aiming to empower a specific group of beneficiaries comprising 25 teachers, 150 students, and 90 CSO volunteers/professionals. Our work delves into the findings and gather insights acquired from implementing the QH model in the field.