Projects

Current projects

Uniservitate

2020-2030

UNISERVITATE is a global program that aims to institutionalize service learning in Catholic higher education institutions. It is an initiative of Porticus and is coordinated by the Latin American network for service-learning (CLAYSS)). KU Leuven coordinates the Western European Hub of the Uniservitate project.

Involved network partners: KU Leuven, Arteveldehogeschool, Karel de Grote, Odisee, Thomas More, UCLL & Vives

Website: https://www.kuleuven.be/english/education/sl/uniservitate

SPACE: Supporting Professionals and Academics for Community Engagement (Erasmus+)

1/11/2023-31/10/2026

The SPACE project is the successor of the TEFCE and SHEFCE projects. The project aims to enhance the capacities of academics, professionals, and societal partners to promote societal engagement in higher education. The project is led by the Institute for the Development of Education (Croatia) and involves 9 partners from 4 countries (Belgium, Croatia, Ireland, and Spain). The project is supported by associated partners at the European level (EURASHE, ESU, and the European university alliances EUTOPIA and UNIC), as well as by university networks such as ACUP (Association of Catalan Public Universities) and the Irish Universities Association.

Involved network partner: VUB

Website: https://community-engagement.eu

ENVIHEI: Student-centered learning for ENVIronmental sustainability at Higher Education Institutions (Erasmus+)

1/12/2024-30/11/2026

ENVIHEI aims to promote innovative teaching materials that integrate green competencies into higher education. The project encourages collaboration between students and teachers and strengthens student-centered learning approaches to meet the EU ‘GreenComp’ Competence Framework for Sustainability. By focusing on technical and engineering education, the project enables future professionals to play an active role in the green transition and responsible citizenship.

Involved network partner: UHasselt

Website: https://envihei.eu

EngageAll: Inclusive Student Civic Engagement as a Pathway for Enhanced Skills & Competences in Professional Higher Education (Erasmus+)

1/09/2024-30/04/2027

The EngageAll project aims to support higher professional education institutions in fostering active citizenship by promoting student participation outside the academic context. By supporting students in participating in student and community activities, regardless of their own background, they learn on a personal and professional level, and acquire crucial skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, and active citizenship. UCLL is co-leader of the fourth working package ‘Student Engagement Course – Learning for Active & Inclusive Engagement.’

Involved network partner: UCLL

Website: https://engageall.eu

SL4DC: Service-Learning to promote Competences for Democratic Culture (Erasmus+)

1/10/2025-30/10/2028

The Erasmus+ project ‘Service-Learning to promote Competences for Democratic Culture’ or ‘SL4DC’ aims to explore how the service-learning pedagogy contributes to the development of democratic competencies in higher education. By mapping existing practices and developing new methods, the project aims to strengthen students and universities as active, critical actors that contribute to a sustainable, socially just society. UCSIA is coördinator of the SL4DC project.

Involved network partner: UCSIA

Website: https://sl4dc.eu

Previous projects

ServU: Service-learning in Higher Education for Ukraine’s Recovery (Erasmus+)

1/11/2023 – 30/06/2026

ServU (Service-learning in Higher Education for Ukraine’s Recovery) uses the service-learning pedagogy for the reconstruction of Ukraine during and after the war. The project supported and strengthened cooperations between local communities and higher education institutions in Ukraine to address (societal) challenges. By developing service-learning courses at Ukrainian universities, students were encouraged to strengthen their resilience and make an active contribution to their society.

Involved network partner: KU Leuven

Website: https://www.kuleuven.be/english/apply/education/sl/servu

SLIDE: Service-Learning as a pedagogy to promote Inclusion, Diversity & Digital Empowerment (Erasmus+)

1/01/2022 – 31/12/2024

The SLIDE project aimed to promote service-learning as a valuable pedagogy in higher education to strengthen inclusion, diversity, and digital empowerment. By equipping students with the digital competencies needed for the creative, critical, and competent use of technology, and by supporting lecturers in the shift towards more digital education, the project aimed to contribute to more inclusive digital higher education. In doing so, the service-learning pedagogy was put forward as a method to enable students and societal partners to collaborate on digital competencies and digital challenges in society.

Involved network partner: UCSIA

Website: https://slide-erasmus.eu

TEFCE & SHEFCE (Erasmus+)

1/01/2018 – 31/12/2023

Between 2018 and 2020, the Erasmus+ project TEFCE – Towards a European Framework for Community Engagement in Higher Education – developed and tested the TEFCE toolbox, an institutional self-assessment tool for higher education institutions to increase institutionalisation of community engagement in their own operations and policies. The successor to this project was the SHEFCE project – Steering Higher Education for Community Engagement (2021-2023) – , which focused on further embedding community engagement in European higher education.

Involved network partners: VUB & UGent

Website: https://www.shefce.be

Unicorn

UNICORN (Erasmus+)

2019 – 2022

The UNICORN project – Connecting student mobility to community engagement – ​​a UNICORN model for international service-learning in higher education (UNIversity COmmunity LeaRNing) – aimed to design and test a new international exchange model for students combining an international exchange with a service-learning experience abroad. The project ran from 2019 to 2022.

Involved network partners: UAntwerpen & UCSIA

Website: https://unicornmobility.eu

Urban Diversities: Challenges for Social Work (Erasmus+)

2019 – 2022

The project ‘Urban diversities – challenges for social work’ brought together social work students, practitioners, and lecturers with residents of super-diverse metropolitan neighborhoods to jointly identify and map the complexities and tensions in these contexts, and to explore ways to effectively address these challenges. Part of the project involved the development of a local Community Service Learning (CSL) track, supplemented by a virtual transnational exchange between students from the various partner institutions.

Involved network partner: Odisee

Website: https://deb.tuas.fi/urban/