On the day preceding the VI Uniservitate Global Symposium, 5th November, representatives from the Asia and Oceania and Eastern Europe and Middle East hubs —two of the seven hubs comprising the Network— shared an enriching day of joint work and friendly meetings at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Germany).
In the morning, each hub held its own internal meetings with varying agendas, and in the afternoon, they participated in a learning and exchange session. The Asia and Oceania hub focused on the results of the monitoring and evaluation process of the Uniservitate programme. This session was guided by Joseph Pushpa from Porticus; Father Ezio Bono, representative of the Global Compact on Education at the Holy See; and Andrés Peregalli, vice-coordinator of Uniservitate. Based on this assessment, the institutions identified progress, challenges and a joint action plan aimed for prioritizing areas of development and assigning responsibilities.
Similarly, two ongoing research projects were presented at the meeting of the Eastern Europe and the Middle East hub. This meeting was attended by Maria Rosa Tapia and Candelaria Ferrara, coordinator and hub representative of the Uniservitate Global Programme, respectively. The first research project, from the University of Lublin, focused on preventing hate speech, while the second, from the University of Eichstätt, on the effects of service-learning in contexts of democratic weakness. Additionally, students from Lublin shared their projects related to landscape architecture, and the group worked on the internal cohesion of the hub to strengthen communication and develop long-term sustainability strategies.
In the afternoon, both hubs participated in the Shared Learning Sessions. The Asia and Oceania hub held a session focused on innovation, featuring online presentations with comments by Fritzie Ian De Vera (DLSU). Key themes highlighted co-creation, cultural sensitivity, social entrepreneurship, interdisciplinarity, and compassion. In turn, the Eastern Europe and Middle East hub presented the research agenda of the EASLHE (European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education).
The day concluded with an exchange on research focus areas and shared challenges regarding the institutionalization of service-learning. The session reaffirmed the importance of these spaces as platforms to strengthen collaboration, share best practices, and further Uniservitate’s common mission in different world regions.
