Service-Learning to promote Competences for Democratic Culture
Erasmus+ project
Project Reference: 2025-1-BE02-KA220-HED-000357830
Topic: Explore the contribution of the service-learning pedagogy to the development of democratic competences of students and community members
Project timeline: 01/11/2025-31/10/2028
Project Description
The SL4DC project explores the contribution of service-learning to the development of competences for democratic culture in European higher education institutions. In the face of growing challenges to democracy, including declining civic participation, social fragmentation and spread of misinformation, higher education has a critical role in equipping students with competences for active and responsible citizenship. Universities are not only knowledge institutions, but also key actors in preserving democratic values, fostering critical thinking and promoting solidarity. However, ensuring that students develop competences for democratic culture requires more than traditional classroom teaching. It demands active, experiential learning approaches connecting academic knowledge with real-world societal challenges. Despite the policy recommendations and urgency of these issues, higher education in Europe still lacks systematic approaches to integrate competences for democratic culture into curricula and civic education remains a peripheral activity in many European universities. We identify service-learning as an innovative pedagogical method for higher education to contribute to the democratic values, attitudes, skills and knowledge and critical understanding as described in the EU Framework for Competences for Democratic Culture.
Project Objectives
- Identify and analyze service-learning practices effectively contributing to competences for democractic culture;
- Develop, pilot and evaluate art-based service-learning (ABSL) approaches for the development of competences for democratic culture;
- Develop, pilot and evaluate service-learning practices for truth (addressing challenges of mis- and disinformation) and trust (to bridge social and political divides in society).
Partners
- University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp (UCSIA) – Belgium (coordinator)
- Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR) – Netherlands
- European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education (EASLHE) – Belgium
- Hochschulnetzwerk Bildung durch Verantwortung e.V. (HBdV) – Germany
- Libera Universita Maria SS. Assunta di Roma (LUMSA) – Italy
- Pädagogische Hochschule Wien (PHW) – Austria
- Sveuciliste u Zagrebu (UNIZG) – Croatia
- Università di Bologna (UNIBO) – Italy
- Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) – Spain
- Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystirci (UMB) – Slovakia
- Universitatea Natională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica Politehnica București (POLITEHNICA) – Romania
- Universiteit Utrecht (UU) – Netherlands
Associated Partners
- Asociacion de Aprendizaje-Servicio Universitario (ApSU) – Spain
- Soziale Innovation durch ökonomische Bildung SISTAC e.V. (SISTAC e.V.) – Germany
- Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – Spain
Project Activities
1
Mapping Service-Learning practices fostering Competences for Democratic Culture
As a first step in the project, we will identify and analyze existing service-learning practices contributing to competences for democratic culture in the European higher education context.
Service-learning practices from different European countries that explicitly refer to learning outcomes as described in the EU Competences for Democratic Culture Framework (values, attitudes, skills and knowledge & critical understanding) will be selected and analyzed to identify underlying mechanisms.
2
Connecting Service-Learning and Art for Critical Understanding & Empathy
In a second phase of the project, we pay explicit attention to the relevance of art-based approaches for the development of competences for democratic culture in service-learning. We believe art-based service-learning (ABSL) holds promising opportunities for integrating competences for democratic culture.
We will pilot ABSL methods in existing service-learning courses and prepare training materials and (online) workshops for HE teachers on how to implement art-based approaches in their service-learning practices.
3
Service-Learning
for Truth & Trust
As a third component of this project, we will dive deeper in the relevance of service-learning to face two acute challenges for European democracy in our contemporary society:
- The rise of mis- and disinformation, and
- The growing social and political divides
We will develop service-learning approaches for truth and service-learning for trust in collaboration with students and community partners. These new developed methods will then be piloted, resulting in training materials for the development of service-learning practices targeting the challenges of truth and trust.
Outputs
Report on existing service-learning practices for democratic culture in Europe
Training program for teachers on service-learning & art-based approaches for democratic culture
Online Repository for service-learning fostering competences for democratic culture
Service-Learning Pilots: Art-Based SL, SL for Truth & SL for Trust
Framework on service-learning to foster competences for democratic culture
Guidelines & teaching materials for service-learning fostering competences for democratic culture
