Rita Paiva e Pona, Social Responsibility Advisor and Coordinator of the UCP Social Responsibility Office, and Joana Filipa Martins, from the Católica Learning Innovation Lab, represented Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) at the ‘Valuing Service-Learning’ International Congress in Italy on 11 April. 

Guest speaker at the round table on the subject of evaluating this methodology, Rita Paiva e Pona emphasised how ‘promoting Service-Learning pedagogy fosters deeper connections and allows us to continue building bridges between the academic world and society.’

At this congress, Rita Paiva e Pona had the opportunity to share the results of the CApS project - Catholic Service-Learning: Innovation and Social Responsibility at UCP, in which she participates. The project, which aims to institutionalise and consolidate the ApS methodology in specific, transversal and extracurricular curricular areas within the University, has been operating since 2020. To date, it has enrolled more than 1900 students, 65 teachers, more than 300 social partners and around 9500 individuals directly impacted.

For Andrés Peregalli, vice-coordinator of the UNISERVITATE Programme, the conference focused on the ‘treasure that is Service-Learning pedagogy, like a lamp that is lit and needs to be shown and put on the table to illuminate the participants’ training experience and contribute to solving community problems and achieving the education that the 21st century demands.’

Organised by the Western Europe South Hub of the UNISERVITATE Programme, ‘Valuing Service-Learning’ took place at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Brescia and Milan. The sessions discussed issues related to evaluation in the Service-Learning pedagogy and ways of improving its design and implementation, with the aim of giving more quality to projects and institutionalisation processes in universities.

The event was attended by authorities, educators and students from universities in Spain, Portugal and Italy, as well as community partners from different cities. The participants, including Joana Filipa Martins, agreed that evaluation serves to obtain information that interprets and challenges, and to promote an integral education of humanistic solidarity that unites the head, the heart, the hands and the soul, as Pope Francis suggests.