THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (THE CASE OF TOMSK REGION)

The article focuses on the interaction of the local community of the city of Tomsk with its universities. The authors emphasize a significant role of the university complex for innovative development of the region and the ways and means of producing influence on the social life of the local community. The universities are increasingly becoming the leading institutional centers of the regional community development. One of their main strategies in this respect is support of mutually beneficial contacts with regional communities. That are interested in recruiting and incorporating the university's intellectual and research potential into various social and economic practices serving the needs of various social groups. According to this ideological guideline, community steady development is closely associated with the active use of research and educational potential of the universities.