The service-learning networks are growing and adding activities

On 24th August, the meeting of the Ibero-American Service-Learning Network was celebrated in the context of the International Service-Learning Week. More than 40 members attended from different institutions promoting this pedagogy in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay and Venezuela. The national networks from several countries above shared their changes and learnings during the pandemic, which motivated a rich exchange between Network members.
In addition, Isabel Gómez and Arantzazu Martínez-Odria, together with Juan José Echeverría of Edelvives foundation, presented the book "ApS y Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio [SL and Millennium Development Goals]," a project originated in 2019 within the framework of this Network. Any Ibero-American institution that wants to join, please write to info@clayss.org.ar.

The Chilean National Service-Learning Network presented its new work "Estandarización de las reflexiones en asignaturas de Responsabilidad Social [Standardization of reflections in Social Responsibility subjects]," carried out by the Autonomous University of Chile. The work involved setting standards on the reflection process typical of the service-learning methodology during the Fall 2020 semester regarding the General Training subjects of the Autonomous University of Chile, Talca campus.  It implemented methodological and didactic strategies, which led to students' critical reflection on the competencies associated with each subject evaluation. Marcelo Pérez Valenzuela, Litta Soto Villagrán, Rosario Villalobos Toledo gave the presentation. Watch the full video here [in Spanish]: https://youtu.be/NrBNnFgdb9A

The Portuguese Service-Learning Network keeps on growing! The coordinators of the Service-Learning Work Group of the Observatory of Social Responsibility and Higher Education Institutions (ORSIES) presented their 2021/2022 action plan in a first meeting held this year in April, thus encouraging new members to join. Continuing this work, Luísa Mota Ribeiro, from the Catholic University of Portugal, promoted the first service-learning training meeting, which took place on 26th May, to refresh concepts, welcome the new members and establish a starting point for the workgroup. On 30th June, the second meeting of the Work Group took place with 43 attendants. Based on particular cases, there was a discussion on what service-learning is—or not—and how to encourage students and community participation. Sixteen Higher Education Institutions participated this time, and the coordination was in charge of Ana Oliveira and Carmo Themudo from the Catholic University of Portugal.