The Uniservitate coordination team visited the Northern Western Europe regional hub, led by the Catholic University of Leuven, as part of the global network’s five-year presence in the region. A celebratory conference was held to honour this fifth anniversary, bringing together approximately eighty service-learning professionals, students, and researchers.
Candelaria Ferrara and Daniel Giorgetti travelled to Belgium from Argentina to participate in enriching meetings from 31st March to 4th April. They learned about the area overseen by Heidi Mertens, within which service-learning is coordinated at the Catholic University of Leuven. It is known as KU Leuven Engage, which was created in October 2024 through three merged departments reporting directly to the Rector’s Office.
Ferrara and Giorgetti visited the University of Namur, where they were received by Laurent Schumacher, the Vice-Rector for Education and International Affairs, representatives of the Centre for Teaching Development and Innovation (PUNCH), and professors who develop projects within the faculties of Law and Education and Training Sciences. On Thursday, 3rd and Friday, 4th April, in Leuven and Brussels, they also visited various service-learning initiatives supporting homeless people and children with disabilities. These initiatives are carried out by students in organizations such as ERAT, TADA (ToekomstAtelierDelAvenir) and SAAMO.
The Conference, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the programme, was entitled “SL in the Local and SL in the Global“. It took place on Wednesday, 2nd April, and was introduced by Kathia Reynders and Peter Lievens, Vice-Rector of International Policy and Interculturality at the Catholic University of Leuven. Mia Wallin, a representative of the European Union’s Education Commission, was also present. There were 72 participants involved in service-learning projects during the five-year Uniservitate programme in the WEN region, alongside others who became familiar with it there. Among the represented institutions were the University of Namur (UNamur), the UC Lille (France), and other members of the PLUS Association. The winners of the Small Research Grants and the Uniservitate Award 2022 and 2024 also participated.
One of the key discussion points focused on internationalization and collaborations with the global south. Haddy Mbuyi Katshiatshia, from the Université de Kinshasa in the Congo, was invited to discuss this aspect in greater depth. He shared the perspectives on the dialogue between students carrying out service-learning projects at UCLouvain and Kinshasa, an activity that has been ongoing for several years.
Furthermore, Sophia Opatska, who promotes and develops service-learning as Vice-Rector for Strategic Development at the Ukrainian Catholic University, shared the importance of this pedagogical practice in a war context. She emphasized that students not only learn but also visualize how their education will be useful for the post-war reconstruction of the country. “In Ukrainian, the word ‘hope’ means action,” she stated, and encouraged everyone to engage in “solidarity service-learning for hope”.
In this context, there was an enriching discussion between the university representatives from the Western Europe North regional centre, including the Law Bus project of CU Lille for refugees, which served as an inspiration for the service-learning team at the University of Namur.
At the end of the week, Candelaria Ferrara thanked the KU Leuven, the organizers of the visit, on behalf of the Uniservitate Governance, stating that “they created a favourable environment to exchange ideas, share learning, and foster interpersonal connection”. She added: “We hope to continue collaborating and strengthening our work together”.
