Special Award to Showcase

In each region, the winners of the Uniservitate Award 2024 for solidarity service learning projects are being announced over these months. In November, during the V International Symposium in Rome, it will be an honour to know and proudly present the awards to these outstanding individuals and teams.

From this second edition, it is clear this Award is unique for what it is not. It is not the European Football Championship or the Copa America, since it neither promotes competition between countries nor encourages rivalries. Nor is it the Oscar for best actor or actress —if it were the case, it would be for best film because it acknowledges a team effort with different roles, where they all matter. The Uniservitate Award is unique in its focus.

Like a harvest festival celebrated every year in the south of Argentina at the end of the grape harvest, when each village chooses its queen and brings a decorated wagon, the Award is also an occasion to celebrate our harvest. Each university contributes projects ready for harvest and the fruit of many years of efforts during which they grew and gave their first sprouts manifested in the students and communities.

Higher education institutions recognize students’ academic and athletic achievements, usually displaying their trophies and diplomas in showcases. In a similar spirit, the Uniservitate Award distinguishes the contributions to a better, more fraternal and solidarity world.

Additionally, it helps embed in the institutional conscience the importance of social engagement, not only for its result on the community. Above all, it impacts the fundamental mission of training professionals who know how to solve the urgent and acute problems humanity faces.

The Award also identifies many young people who actively take a leading role in their learning and civic participation, alongside the professors who accompany and guide them.

Ultimately, rewarding the best solidarity service learning practices aligns with the teaching of Jesus, who said two thousand years ago that “no one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light” (Lk. 11:33-35).

Undoubtedly, the award-winning experiences are a light for those who work in education and an inspiration for other students and professors. They deserve to get to the world and enlighten everyone.

Congratulations to all those who participated with solidarity service learning initiatives, beacons of hope for a world that needs them so much!

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