Social Work and Community Engagement: A Case Study of a University/Community Collaborative Project in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a call for social work education to promote student engagement more meaningfully in communities. Despite this, there is limited literature which provides insights into the experiences of establishing university–community partnerships and the possibilities of social work education to engage in such partnerships. This article reports on a case study in Trinidad and Tobago and outlines the processes involved in establishing the University of the West Indies (UWI)/Farm Road Collaborative Project, a university partnership with a community in the immediate vicinity of the university. This article contributes to the emerging literature on the roles of universities and schools of social work in addressing community development needs and has special implications for university–community engagements in the Global South.