This open-access ebook presents over ninety community-based educational projects developed in Latin American universities. It serves as a reference for training and an inspiration for other initiatives. The digital publication, produced by the Centro de Desarrollo Docente [teaching development centre] of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, compiles the experiences from Latin America nominated for the Uniservitate Award 2022.
The editors of the new book included in the Uniservitate Repository, Rocío Fontana Venegas and Manuel Caire Espinoza, explain that “it is not only a compendium, but a passionate testimony of how service-learning has deeply rooted in the region, transforming not only classrooms but also lives and communities”.
Thanks to an agile and attractive design in each experience, it is easy to identify the participating university, the degree leading the initiative, the service provided and even the SDG to which the project can be linked. The introduction anticipates that “each section is an experience lived in first person by faculty and students who ventured to develop more genuine learning: learning through service and serving through learning”.
In the foreword, the general coordinator of Uniservitate, María Rosa Tapia, highlights the enthusiasm and commitment of the team from the University of Chile, the coordinating institution of the Latin American and Caribbean hub of this Programme. She also states: “We hope this publication will serve as an inspiration to foster and strengthen projects, build new bridges and continue weaving networks. And we hope that service-learning will be the educational approach that allows us to acknowledge our brothers and sisters, in their locations, with their problems and stories, so that together we can find new solutions, allowing us to continue meeting each other”.