Uniservitate Network Service Learning Conference in Bethlehem

In addition to representatives of the KU and the host Bethlehem University, the Catholic universities of Lublin (Poland) and Lviv (Ukraine) also participated in the conference with the topic "Current Status and Future Prospects of Service Learning" at the end of May. In Bethlehem, it was the first on-site meeting of the regional hub, after the partners had previously only met in online conferences.

Uniservitate's goal is to systematically and broadly anchor service learning offers at universities. In university teaching, service learning links academic studies with a commitment to the common good: Lecturers and students cooperate with partners from the social, cultural, sports, ecological or educational sectors in their region and contribute their professional knowledge and expertise to joint projects.

In Bethlehem, all four Catholic universities in the Uniservitate hub for the region were represented, along with the project coordinators from the Center for Solidary Service Learning from Argentina. For the KU, Christiane Hoth de Olano, Olha Mykhailyshyn and Kris Holler attended the conference. The program included, in particular, an exchange of best practice examples and a tour of different service learning projects and communities. During the conference, the participants were thus able to gain insights into various projects that have been carried out at Bethlehem University in recent years. Several workshops on topics such as "Service Learning for Human Rights and Democracy" and "Community Archaeology and Service Learning: Preservation of Cultural Heritage" were also part of the program. Organized by Olha Mykhailyshyn (KU), the workshop "Save the World in One Semester?" was aimed at students of Bethlehem University, who were able to work together in small groups to develop and discuss their own project ideas. A day trip to Jerusalem rounded off the program.

"It was important to finally be able to travel to Bethlehem to meet in person after three years of online collaboration to see and develop the first results of the Uniservitate project directly on-site. We are all enthusiastic about the activities of our colleagues", Christiane Hoth de Olano sums up the trip. The Uniservitate Network, which is funded by the Porticus Foundation, aims to deepen its work in the region over the next four years and further expand collaborations at research level as well. Among other things, it is currently planning so-called "research grants", for which researchers can apply in order to be able to successfully complete their research projects that have a topic connection to service learning.