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A new edition of Pausa-Café on European service-learning took place on 18th June. The virtual event was organized by the SLESON (Service-Learning in European Schools and Organizations Network), in conjunction with Stiftung Lernen durch Engagement (Germany), Freie Montessori Schule Landau eV (Germany), NUCLIO-Núcleo Interativo de Astronomia e Inovação em Educação Associação (Portugal), and Agrupamento de Escolas Frei Gonçalo de Azevedo (Portugal).
During the meeting, participants discussed the potential of European service-learning, an approach combining citizen participation with learning experiences for students from different countries and regions of Europe. This session featured examples of European service-learning from different countries, including presentations by students from Portugal and Germany, who shared their experiences. The European service-learning network, SLESON, provided information on current international training opportunities regarding this pedagogy, alongside materials and resources.
The EARN project was also presented, funded by Erasmus+ (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/), in which 11th- and 12th-grade students from Germany and Portugal worked together to explore real social needs in their communities. Following one of the fundamental service-learning quality standards (a real community need), students engaged with their neighbourhoods through research, interviews, and field trips, identifying social challenges and reflecting in transnational teams. They developed ideas for civic engagement based on this knowledge and presented their results at a student-led conference. The project fostered democratic values, cross-cultural perspectives, and empathy while connecting classroom learning with meaningful action.
We welcome this new meeting, which continues to forge the collaborative path towards SSL institutionalizations worldwide, in this case in Europe.