Description of the paper (100 words) Application of the Community Capitals Frameworks to a place-based Australian rural and remote health training program found a key contribution of these university departments was intellectual capital. This paper specifically explores the role of intellectual capital as a pathway to rural community development through four place-based case studies. The university departments collaborated with local networks to provide evidence, research, education and critical thinking that were utilized to address local issues, seek funding and build local capacity. Findings suggests intellectual capital is important for fostering thriving communities and that universities have an active role to play in rural community development.
An explanation of how your paper relates to the theme Innovative Pathways to Thriving Communities and Place-based Collaboration (max. 250 words). This paper focuses on place-based collaborations that lead to improved wellbeing in rural and remote communities, thereby increasing their ability of communities to thrive. In earlier work, the Community Capitals Frameworks (inclusive of natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial and built capital) was applied to a rural health training program in Australia—the University Departments of Rural Health. All capitals were found to lead to place-based change, particularly social capital. What was desired by communities from these university departments was their intellectual capital and contributions of evidence, best practice and local research. Communities used this intellectual capital to: build local capacity and learning; embed evidence in the co-design of activities; focus on local residents with the poorest health outcomes; and work with others towards increased financial and political capital for the community. The four case studies in this paper illustrate in detail and how intellectual capital invested in local communities improved health, wellbeing and the community’s ability to thrive. Based in different rural and remote settings across Australia, the case studies identify how these university departments worked with people, organizations and networks in a specific place to implement a pathway to improved health and wellbeing. Further, intellectual capital was found to be desired by communities, key to community-university partnerships and embedded in the resulting community development strategies. This suggests that intellectual capital has an important role in rural community development and universities have a strong role to play in supporting communities to thrive in the twenty-first century.
