This article focuses on the historical evolution of relations between higher education institutions and their surrounding environment. In order to fully understand this complex connection we will start with illustrating the genesis of higher education institutions, the birth of the modern university and the expansion of higher education in relation to the regional development process. We will then point out the role higher education played in the technological development, especially in the postwar period and will show the transformations that higher education institutions need to perform in order to become the key institutions in the new knowledge society.
