Conference Agenda

For the past three years, the University of Toulouse has implemented a “Science with and for Society” policy that promotes the exchange and dialogue of knowledge between researchers from different disciplines and a wide range of non-academic stakeholders (businesses, associations, local governments, the media, schools, cultural institutions, etc.). Various initiatives have been implemented (calls for collaborative research projects, science shops, public policy labs, etc.). These initiatives focus more on the field of research than on education and student life. Civic engagement and service-learning, however, represent significant opportunities. Since studying these activities in the “student life” sector at the University of Toulouse, we have advocated the idea that generating diverse types of societal impact depends heavily on the diversity of non-academic partners with whom students engage, as well as on the variety of collaboration models between these stakeholders.

Whether we’re talking about civic engagement in the form of individual volunteering, community engagement initiatives, involvement in various organizations, or even voter participation, the more we diversify our academic partners, the more we can work toward a wide range of societal impacts. For example, advocating for a sustainable economy and public policies that incorporate the challenges of ecological transitions requires working with businesses as well as government agencies and local authorities. Combating misinformation requires partnerships with various media actors (journalists, influencers on social media).

Beyond diversifying extra-academic partnerships, it is nevertheless important to understand the nature and dynamics of these collaborations. While there is no single “right” type of interaction between engaged students and extra-academic partners, certain types of relationships should be avoided. Between the partner exploiting the student as free labor and the student being unsupervised or even neglected, a wide variety of relationships—not necessarily symmetrical in terms of “co-construction”—prove to be relevant. Indeed, it is often these asymmetries in knowledge that generate learning exchanges for both groups of participants. By observing the dynamics of these collaborative relationships, we identify the relational and cognitive skills and dynamics necessary for collective learning: the ability to bring people together, spark interest, translate, synthesize, formalize, and disseminate the new knowledge that is constructed. It is precisely through the learning-oriented nature of these collaborations that partnerships capable of making a significant impact on society can develop, driven by the students’ civic engagement.