ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the relational path of social research, and innovation, to the renewal of the academic institution that gives rise to it – that is, a would-be integral academy, whether at pre-, primary, secondary or tertiary educational levels. At the heart of the community academy is a "healing component" to restore the relational fabric within a community – required to release its participatory potential – and of the community to its natural environment. A Developmental Academy, institutionally, and Awakening integral consciousness, functionally, transcends the level of an individual, organization and community and has its main focus in societal learning and consciousness raising. The integrally reframed Research Academy represents the culmination of the "northern" realm of knowledge. It is focused on scholarship, research and institutionalized knowledge creation aiming – simultaneously – for social and technological innovation. Knowledge acquisition, moreover, is not regarded as static, but as continuously and dynamically unfolding.
