Strengthening the university third mission through building community capabilities alongside university capabilities

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Abstract Growing concern about widening inequalities and a deepening sustainability crisis has prompted new directions and conceptions of the third mission of universities. This paper contributes by drawing attention to the capabilities required to enable mutually-beneficial engagement with community-based partners in resource-poor local settings to not only co-produce scholarly outputs but also co-produce development outcomes. Based on in-depth case study research of three resource-poor communities in South Africa, we identify a set of capabilities that communities need to possess to seek out and engage with suitable partners and to co-learn through their engagement activities. We propose a new framework, a community ‘dynamic interactive capabilities’ (von Tunzelmann and Wang, 2003) framework, extending the concept from firms and universities to local community settings. The framework prompts a fresh way of thinking about the third mission, whereby universities orient their engaged teaching and research activities in ways co-evolved with the capabilities of community partners.