Twenty-five years is an achievement in any partnership, especially one between a major university and an inner-city community centre. When Oscar Sanchez, Coordinator of Uniting Harris Community Centre and Ultimo/Pyrmont resident first connected with UTS through the Shopfront program, he never imagined it would lead to such a long and fruitful partnership.
Historically, universities have been viewed as ivory towers – exclusive, elite and shut off from the realities of the world around them. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Universities exist for the public good and have a responsibility to use their vast knowledge and resources to contribute to positive social change.
From the surrounding suburbs of Ultimo and Pyrmont, the UTS Tower building looms large. For Oscar Sanchez, Coordinator of the Uniting Harris Community Centre, the university is an extension of the community.
‘We have worked with UTS in one way or another for close to 25 years. Our partnership has had a huge impact. Not only does it help us with things like fundraising and capacity building for our staff and volunteers, but it has also helped us better understand ourselves as a community and to identify what we need to thrive,’ Oscar said.
Oscar Sanchez, Coordinator of the Uniting Harris Community Centre. Credit: Kwa Nguyen.
‘The more we know about our community, our assets, our strengths… the more information we will have to increase our impact, reduce cost, increase collaboration and reduce duplication. UTS has been pivotal in helping us get there,’ he said.
For Lisa Aitken, Executive Manager for Community Engagement and Impact at UTS’s Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion (CSJI), our relationships with community are anything but one-sided.
Our partnerships with local community are transformational. Not only do we serve our role as a social impact institution, but these deep relationships provide critical opportunities for students and staff in teaching, learning and research.
‘Reciprocity is at the core of the work that we do in community. While students build vital skills in global citizenship and have work-integrated learning opportunities, our community partners get access to resources they would not otherwise have.
‘At the Uniting Harris Community Centre, this looks like student-designed logos for their food pantry program, software design interns developing digital asset maps for the local area and student volunteers supporting numerous community events. They are part of rich place-based research and knowledge exchange benefiting UTS and its surrounding neighbours,’ said Lisa.
UTS students volunteering at the Uniting Harris Community Centre. Credit: Kwa Nguyen.
According to place-based community engagement practitioner Amber Loomis, this approach turns traditional western ways of doing research on its head.
‘Rather than academics holding all the expertise and extracting information from communities, we start with lived experience, recognising local community members as the experts in what our shared neighbourhood needs to thrive and elevating their perspectives and ideas.
‘As a significant power holder, one place where the university can enact greater social good is within our own precinct – the locality within which UTS already has a footprint. A place-based approach helps ensure that our research is relevant and useful for people in the community who will benefit, increasing its social impact,’ Amber said.
Shifting perceptions on the role of universities in community
The role that universities can play in community isn’t just something being spoken about at a local level at UTS but on a larger national scale in the Australian Universities Accord.
The Accord, a nationwide review of Australia’s higher education system, identified community engagement as the ‘third stream’ of university activity after teaching and research.
Universities offer employment, provide facilities and essential infrastructure, foster community participation and connection, and offer support during times of crisis i.e., natural disasters and global pandemics.
‘The purpose of the Universities Accord is to drive lasting and transformative reform in Australia’s higher education system. Seeing community-university engagement highly prioritised just further demonstrates the potential impact our institutions can have on broader society,’ Lisa said.
‘I’m excited to see what comes of it and how other universities shift and adapt to support their own communities,’ she said.
For Oscar, the long-term partnership with UTS and the time that has been given to nurture it has led to changing perceptions among the community about universities. Members of the community have felt heard by UTS as well as been enabled to make active change within their own community.
UTS genuinely cares about the community. It’s not just about the project, but the people they’re working with as well.
He believes UTS has been able to develop community trust by being present without an agenda. ‘Being present requires time, attention and people – and the university is doing that. We don’t see that from other universities; we see that from UTS,’ he said.
Planting seeds for the future
Despite decades of partnership, the working relationship between UTS and the Uniting Harris Community Centre shows no signs of slowing.
‘We strongly believe in the power of collaboration and sharing resources. Our partnership with UTS is centred around one aligned goal: community and connection,’ says Oscar.
‘I would love for the community to see the university as a second home. And I would love the university to see the community as an extension of UTS. The more the university is aware of what the community has to offer, the more possibilities there are.
‘Together, we can do so much more, and we can see that the impact we have in our community is only possible when working together and believing in each other,’ says Oscar.
University-community partnerships: a cross-institution effort
Over the years, UTS has worked with local and regional community members and groups through countless projects and initiatives, including UTS Shopfront, the UTS SOUL Award, the Glebe Digital Mentoring Program, and more recently, the 100 Voices project and Eastern Australia Regional University Centre Partnership. This work would not be possible without the support of UTS's faculties. A specific shout out to the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and IT, Faculty of Health and UTS Business School for the significant role they play in partnership with CSJI in this space.
In our local precinct, we also work closely with organisations such as Glebe Youth Service, Mission Australia, Bridge Housing, City West Housing and are actively part of local networks like Pyrmont and Ultimo Network of Services and Forest Lodge and Glebe Group.
About the Uniting Harris Community Centre
Uniting is focused on creating a better future for people and communities by disrupting entrenched disadvantage.
For over 50 years, The Uniting Harris Community Centre has provided information, resources, referrals and advocacy supports to families, individuals, groups, local workers and students in Ultimo, Pyrmont and surrounding suburbs.
The centre is made up of 90 volunteers, four students in placement and a small staff group.
In partnership with the local community and it’s businesses, the Uniting Harris Community Centre supported more than 2,900 people in the 2023/24 financial year.