The importance of community engagement is debated by academics at universities and stakeholders in the higher education sector. Ideas from the EU-project Tailored Applied Research System Implementation are analysed to see how they can be implemented in an academic tourism department, and a community engagement model developed. Exploratory research is conducted using a qualitative method approach with case studies. Conclusions: 1. focused objectives for each stakeholder group which will be influenced by the tourism academy´s community engagement, 2. important prerequisites for the tourism academy engagement in the community and 3. potential co-creative actions, which the Tourism Department has possibilities to conduct.