About Us

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION

The European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education or EASLHE is an association that brings together service-learning and community engagement practicioners and researchers from the European Higher Education Area.

EASLHE promotes the development and dissemination of service-learning practice, research and institutionalization in European higher education. The association aims to create a European service-learning community and to install an active learning network among members.

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OUR COMMUNITY

260

MEMBERS

COUNTRIES

105

UNIVERSITIES

SOCIAL ENTITIES

OUR GOALS

Disseminate and exchange knowledge & good practices about service-learning

Support individuals and higher education institutions in developing service-learning projects

Organize opportunities for exchanges through meetings, seminars, conferences, congresses and other events

Foster and develop training activities & resources on the service-learning pedagogy

Advocate service-learning development in the European Higher Education Area

Conduct and encourage research & scientific publications on service-learning

Establish links between regional, (trans)national & global networks

Contribute to the development of policy recommendations and initiatives

Raise funds, receive legacies and donations to achieve the goals of the association

WHAT WE DO

Since its establishment, EASLHE has set in motion multiple projects and events to bring together service-learning scholars and practitioners:

HISTORY

The European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education was formally established at the Second European Conference of Service-Learning in Higher Education in Antwerp (Belgium) in September 2019, but this formal start was preceded by several significant initiatives.

A first strong collaboration on a European level took shape in the Erasmus+ project ‘Europe Engage’ in 2014. The project brought together scholars from universities in twelve European countries and sought to embed the concept and practice of the ‘civic university’ through service-learning and student engagement with the community.

On 22 September 2018, the first European Conference on Service-Learning in Higher Education (ECSLHE) took place in Madrid (2018). During this event, the first stones were laid for what would become the European association. The participants welcomed the idea of the establishment of a formal association as it would benefit the networking, dissemination and policy making roles towards the European Commission, universities and other institutions. This resulted in the establishment of a formal, non-profit organization according to Belgian law: the European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education, or EASLHE.

OUR VALUES

Service-learning is a contextualized practice. For that reason, in the process of embedding service-learning in Europe, EASLHE pays much attention to values that are central for the EU’s vision on humanity and society. Article 2 of the the Treaty of the European Union (European Union, 2016) states that the EU is founded on:

“The values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of people belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail”.

EASLHE emphasizes the importance of value-driven education, pushing service-learning forward to meet the EU calls towards European universities. The association acknowledges social justice and solidarity as key principles that underpin service-learning, and believes that introducing this innovative pedagogy in European higher education can contribute to the development of a fairer society.

Representatives of the General Meeting

The General Meeting is composed of representatives from EASLHE members from different European countries (max. 2 representatives per country). They are elected by the EASLHE members every four years. The General Meeting is chaired by the President.