Campus-community partnerships (CCPs) aim to establish ‘sustainable, productive and meaningful relationships’ (Kmack et al., 2023, 6), in which knowledge and experience transfer and social engagement can take place in a mutually beneficial way (Slepcevic-Zach et al., 2023). Particularly in sustainable development, partnerships between universities and practitioners are seen as critical to the success of transformation processes (Leal Filho et al., 2023). Research in this context often focuses on the experiences, perspectives and learning processes of the academic staff or students involved. However, for a holistic picture of CCP, more research needs to focus on the community side and the involved practice partners. Therefore, this paper presents empirical findings from a longitudinal study focusing on the perspectives and experiences of practice partners in a yearlong CCP study. The study used three innovation labs and organizational network consulting to support local network-building processes toward sustainable development. Following the idea of Dewey (Dewey, 1980), the programme sees uncertainty as a learning opportunity rather than a challenge. The innovation labs are conceived as a methodical form of exploring ‘the unknown’ (ibid.) together. Within the partnership programme, students from several master programmes played the role of novice-network consultants while stakeholders worked together on solutions for regional sustainable development. In this way, the partnerships between the university and the region aimed at a mutual professionalisation process. Participating stakeholders (n = 32) from different fields (consumers, produces, administration and several others) were asked about their experiences within the innovation labs through image-based interviews before and after each event. The results of the metaphor-oriented (Schmitt, 2017), triangulated (Brake, 2011) analysis of the interview material show that the actors imagine the partnership through path-related and collective metaphors (a train, a joint expedition, a rowing boat), but also through images that refer to risk and uncertainty along the shared path (a white-water rafting trip, climbing a mountain, crossing a river). (Heidelmann & Klös, 2023). The organizational educational consultants are imagined as someone (who sets the pace for rowing, as a hiking guide, as a stable bridge) who 'leads' (Klös & Heidelmann, 2023) the stakeholders on their way through the epistemic terrain of the unknown, rather than someone who merely transfers knowledge (Klös, 2023). Based on the results of a discourse-oriented analysis (Karl, 2007), the paper also discusses how the metaphorical concepts that structure stakeholders' narratives are linked to the discourse about the role of universities within CCPs.

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