Service-Learning Awards

The Service-Learning Awards project promotes and celebrates service-learning initiatives across five CIVIS universities, bringing together students, teaching staff and civil society partners to address real-life challenges in their local communities.

Each participating university organised a local competition to identify and recognise outstanding service-learning projects. The process included an experience-sharing event, the formation of a jury, a call for applications, the selection and support of project teams, and a final event where participating projects were presented.

The five locally selected projects were then reviewed by an international jury and presented at European level during CIVIS Days in Rome in June 2025.

By showcasing good practices and strengthening collaboration between universities and civil society, the initiative promoted civic engagement, developed students’ practical and transferable skills and contributed to establishing a CIVIS community of practice dedicated to service-learning.

Main Beneficiaries & Social Impact

Main beneficiaries

The project primarily targeted students, supported by their teachers and civil society partners, who took part in service-learning projects addressing concrete societal challenges.

An institutional call for participation was organised at each of the five participating universities, giving project teams the opportunity to present their initiatives, exchange experiences and receive recognition for their work.

The initiative was also open to the wider university and civil society communities as a showcase of what students, academics and external partners could create together.

Beyond the individual projects, the Service-Learning Awards promoted greater civic engagement within university curricula. Through CIVIS, service-learning reached a broader academic community and gained greater visibility as an educational approach that developed students’ practical and transversal skills and contributed to their employability.

Participating universities included Aix-Marseille Université (France), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (Austria), Sapienza Università di Roma (Italy), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and the University of Bucharest (Romania).

Social Impact

The project contributed to making service-learning and other challenge-based educational practices more widely understood and used within higher education.

The participating projects addressed topics connected to the CIVIS Hub themes and one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through these initiatives, students, teachers and civil society partners engaged with real societal challenges and strengthened their commitment to their communities.

The project also supported students in becoming active agents of change while developing competences connected to collaboration, civic responsibility and practical problem-solving.

At institutional level, the initiative reinforced cooperation between universities and civil society by showcasing projects developed jointly with community partners and giving them greater visibility within the CIVIS Alliance.

Core Methodology

Each university organised a local, in-person Service-Learning Awards process, which included a call for applications, project pre-selection, student coaching, jury evaluation and a final presentation event. The local initiatives fed into the European-level Service-Learning Awards presented during CIVIS Days 2025.

Events in the Project

Date	Title	Description	Participants
14 April 2025	CIVIS OpenLab-UB Service-Learning Awards	The event was hosted at the University of Bucharest Rectorate Building and moderated by Professor Romiță Iucu, President of the Strategic Orientation and Analysis Council of the University of Bucharest and faculty member at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Six projects were awarded and nine additional projects were presented.	46 participants: 39 students, 6 teachers/academic staff and 1 civil society representative
12 May 2025	Service-Learning Awards 2025	The local Service-Learning Awards event was organised at Sapienza University of Rome. Eight projects were presented.	86 participants: 68 students, 10 teachers/academic staff and 8 civil society representatives
22 May 2025	Local Award Event Showcasing Service-Learning Initiatives	The local Service-Learning Awards event was hosted at the University of Salzburg's iDEAS. Three projects were presented.	13 participants
29 May 2025	Service-Learning Experiences Conference: Training for Active Citizenship	The service-learning event was organised at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where seven projects were presented.	56 participants: 13 students, 10 teachers, 10 academic staff, 19 civil society representatives and 4 other participants
4 April 2026	Service-Learning Awards	The local Service-Learning Awards event took place at Aix-Marseille Université's CIVIS Building in Marseille. Two projects were presented.	24 participants were reported, including 14 teachers/academic staff, 8 students and 1 civil society representative

Take-aways

Participatory and welcoming events helped showcase high-quality service-learning initiatives and connected local projects with the wider CIVIS and international dimension.
Clear communication, transparent evaluation criteria, appropriate timing and strong technical support proved essential for an effective awards process.
Building a stronger service-learning community required networking, training, follow-up and continued visibility for projects beyond the awards themselves.
Recognition extended beyond competition, with the project experience highlighting the value of approaches that acknowledged the contribution of eligible projects while preserving the collaborative philosophy of service-learning.
The experience showed the importance of clearly distinguishing local service-learning objectives from CIVIS Open Lab objectives, particularly when applying criteria for international recognition.

The experience also generated reflection on the competitive nature of awards within service-learning. At one participating university, members of the service-learning community raised concerns about whether awarding prizes fully reflected the philosophy of the practice. This feedback highlighted the potential value of less competitive formats that placed greater emphasis on inclusive recognition, collaboration and shared learning.

Contact point

Open Lab Coordinator

Valérie Caraguel
Email