The Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portuguese Catholic University) held two conferences aimed at promoting and training in service-learning (SL). On Monday 8th and Thursday 11th July, the event took place in a hybrid format across the university’s Porto and Lisbon campuses. It brought together students, faculty, university administrators, and coordinators from the University’s Service-Learning Centre (CApS).
Both meetings emphasized the importance of this pedagogy, with the winning project of the Uniservitate 2024 award for the Southern Europe hub, “Ser cuida(i) do so,” serving as a central focus. Professor Catarina Vieira da Silva, the project’s public face, inspired and guided the audience, underlining the impact of service-learning on the holistic education of the students and the community. “This service-learning initiative was unforgettable and a learning experience, not only for them (the students), but also for me,” she said.
Vieira da Silva’s testimony resonated with insightful reflections from community partners, professors and students.
One lecturer emphasized the transformative nature of this type of experience, stating that exploring her pedagogical interests while creating new dynamics in contexts where learning enhances a different kind of interaction between professors and students made her “a better and more competent educator”.
Candelaria Ferrara, Uniservitate Regional Hub Coordinator, participated on both days presenting the reason and aim of solidarity service learning based on CLAYSS and Uniservitate experiences. Ferrara shared concrete examples of solidarity service learning projects from different countries, showing the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration, with student leadership and engagement with the community, addressing a transformative spiritual dimension. She also emphasized the importance of engaged research and alumni connection in achieving a holistic education aligned with the mission of Catholic universities.
In addition, the conference provided an opportunity for CApS Project coordinators to encourage new professors to develop these initiatives and foster an enriching collaboration among participants.
