Conference Agenda

"It literally changed my life." That's how Alexandre, a 23-year-old engineering student, spoke about service-learning during his final presentation for our University's Humanities minor. Alexandre had spent time helping elderly people navigate the internet, offering practical and emotional support. His words capture what institutionalization is ultimately for — not metrics, but transformation.

The Catholic University of Lille — 43,000 students across 23 schools and faculties — began Service Learning informally in 2019. Institutionalization started in 2021 with "The Humanity pathway", an inter-faculty programme in Ethics, Arts, Spirituality, and Philosophy. To earn a Minor in Humanities, students must complete a Service-Learning course within their own discipline. This graduation requirement has been the primary engine of development across the institution, creating a structural incentive that no awareness campaign alone could achieve. Today, 2,300 students participate, 1,700 through active Service-Learning projects. Our goal is 4,000 by 2030. In 2024, the university received a special mention at the Uniservitate Symposium in Rome.

Flagship projects illustrate the democratic dimension of this work. In the Law Bus, students travel to underserved communities to offer free legal counselling to vulnerable populations. Post-mission reflection sessions with professors help students question assumptions and connect lived experience to academic knowledge — developing empathy, civic responsibility, and critical thinking. Service-Learning shapes students into actors rather than bystanders. Our university aims to be a place where democratic values are not only taught but lived.

Yet institutionalization raises persistent challenges. Service-Learning is still perceived by some faculty as peripheral to academic work — more so in Business and Management than in Law, Medicine, or Social Studies. The boundary between Service-Learning, volunteering, and campus engagement remains blurry. Strong curricular embedding, reliable community partnerships, and meaningful assessment frameworks are essential conditions, not optional extras. Professors must design their courses with Service-Learning at the core, not as an add-on.

A dedicated team works closely with every school and faculty to implement the Humanities Minor and its Service-Learning component. Our deepest incentive is to bring teachers into the Third Mission of the university — giving them the opportunity to help shape professionals who are grounded, responsible, and ready to defend democratic values in an uncertain world.

Changing students' lives. One Alexandre at a time.