University-Community Engagement: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies. A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Directions

As a critical function of higher education, community engagement should contribute to solving societal challenges, foster sustainable development, and advance social equity. The article examines the barriers and strategies for effective university-community engagement, focussing on public universities in Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. Based on a systematic review carried out with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, 600 records have been analysed, and only thirty-one studies published between the years 2014-2024 were included in the final synthesis. Through the review, some relevant challenges were identified, namely: lack of resources, misaligned objectives between university and community, and resisters among stakeholders. The review also reveals that the co-creation model can mitigate all these barriers through capacity-building initiatives, institutional policy reforms to promote engagement, and the application of digital technologies. The contextually relevant frameworks that fit the African cultural contexts are Ubuntu and ABCD, while globally adaptable scalable approaches are Transformative Engagement and Sustainable Livelihoods. Longitudinal research approaches are referred to and thus called for inclusion in this paper, as well as comparative analysis and incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems in such a way as to develop more inclusive and sustainable approaches toward engagement. These findings position universities as active agents of systemic change through concrete insights into how university partnerships with the community can be constituted and strengthened in light of global development.