I hope that PASCAL Subscribers will be interested in a series of articles produced from Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India, within a programme entitled, University Practice Connect, a collaboration between academics and development practitioners, which brings the two together to co-create this mutually benefitting space for learnings and experiences; for strategy-formulation and problem-solving.

These articles are part of a series on institutes of (or experiments in) higher education which have a direct social purpose. Most of these are from India, but the case of intercultural universities of Latin America is also included.

These institutes use education in social sciences (and not technical education) to address one or the other challenges of social inclusion.

The writings listed here attempt to address the following questions:

• How have these institutes/experiments responded to the challenges from within and outside and evolved over time?
• Could these continue as experiments of higher education with a specific social purpose? 
• That takes us to a fundamental question. Is it possible to use higher education effectively for such specific social purposes?

https://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/intercultural-universities-in-latin-america-lessons-for-india/  

https://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/transition-of-institute-of-rural-management-and-what-it-means-for-azim-premji-university/  

https://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/educating-leaders-for-social-development-lessons-from-sewa/ 

https://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/from-an-institute-of-social-work-to-a-university-of-social-sciences-the-evolution-of-tiss/

https://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/universities-for-a-just-equitable-humane-and-sustainable-society/  

Best Regards