UWC’s Community Engagement Unit (CEU) focuses on advancing the Scholarship of Engagement for Societal Impact (SoE-SI). Drawing on an adapted version of Boyer’s Scholarships model, we position community engagement not as a peripheral activity, but as a rigorous, ethical, and transformative approach to knowledge production that should be infused throughout all the university’s activities. Grounded in reciprocity and co-creation, CEU’s work supports partnerships that bring leaders, academics, and communities into meaningful dialogue, where diverse knowledge systems are recognised and valued. Central to this is a commitment to centering the agency and voice of communities. We contribute to a research culture that is socially responsive, critically engaged, and rooted in the realities of post-apartheid South Africa.

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CEU’s contribution lies in expanding how societal impact is understood, enabled, and sustained. We support pathways for translating evidence-based research into institutional, societal, and global impact through collaborative, contextually grounded practices. This includes strengthening the design and implementation of community-engaged research, building capacity among academics, students, and partners, and fostering networks that enable sustained collaboration. One of our flagship projects is our Community-Engaged Learning Programme (CELP), a student training initiative that inspires UWC students to embrace leadership rooted in social justice and transformative scholarship. Our understanding of impact foregrounds social justice, mutual benefit, and sustained transformation. One of our key priorities is amplifying the visibility of UWC’s social impact engagements and research through our annual Social Impact Engagement and Scholarship of Engagement reports.