Service Learning was also at the centre of CIVIS Days 2025, with a plenary session titled “Learning Experience in Service Learning at Institutional and National Levels” bringing together leading voices in civic education to explore how Service Learning (SL) can become a catalyst for civic engagement in higher education across Europe and beyond.
The session, moderated by Valérie Caraguel (Aix-Marseille Université) featured contributions from Mohammed Moola (University of the Witwatersrand) and Pilar Aramburuzabal (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), who shared their institutional and national experiences in embedding Service Learning into academic life.
During the closing plenary, Professor Aramburuzabal highlighted Spain’s structured approach to Service Learning, where national frameworks and policy support have enabled universities to integrate SL into curricula at scale. She emphasised the importance of institutional commitment, faculty development, and community partnerships as essential pillars for sustainable implementation. Her message was clear: Service Learning must be embedded not as an add-on, but as a core pedagogical strategy that enhances both academic learning and civic responsibility.
From a South African perspective, Mohammed Moola offered a powerful reflection on the transformative potential of SL in contexts marked by inequality and social complexity. He underscored the need for universities to act as agents of social change, and for SL to be grounded in reciprocity, ethical engagement, and co-creation with communities. Moola also stressed the value of student agency, noting that SL empowers learners to become active participants in addressing real-world challenges.
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CIVIS Blended Intensive Programmes 2024-2025 (January 2026)
CIVIS Blended Intensive Programmes 2024-2025: quality, impact, and strategic development. An evidence-based evaluation of learning, mobility, administration, and institutional integration. This report presents a comprehensive evaluation of the CIVIS Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) implemented during the 2024-2025 academic year. Its purpose is to assess the quality, effectiveness, and added value of BIPs from both student and coordinator perspectives, with a particular focus on administrative processes, mobility arrangements, teaching and learning experiences, digital environments, and the integration of CIVIS educational values.- Blended Intensive Programmes
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