The ECEM project launch

Although active citizenship and participation in society are acknowledged as key elements to making mobilities more inclusive and societies more integrated, students volunteering in their host community during mobility are still a minority. The Enriching Communities through Engaged Mobilities (ECEM) project strives to design measures to increase students’ participation in civic engagement initiatives by building connections with Higher Education Institutions and Civil Society Organisations.

The aim of the ECEM project is to:

• Increase the civic engagement component of mobilities in the field of internationalisation of Higher Education by making interaction with local communities the norm in mobilities
• Ensure recognition of learning outcomes for participants that take part in civic engagement initiatives
• Improve the collaboration frameworks between Higher Education Institutions and other societal actors to make mobilities contribute to societal change and common European values.

In order to accomplish these ambitious objectives, five partner organisations have gotten together to launch the ECEM project. The Erasmus Student Network (ESN),
Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), SGroup - Universities in Europe,
Institute for Development in Education (IDE), CitizensLab (CLab).

• Date: May 2023

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Learning through Engagement Lab

The ECEM project consortium organises the "Learning through Engagement Lab", which will take place from the 5th to the 7th of October 2023, in Berlin, and targets students/student representatives, Higher Education Staff, and workers of Civil Society Organisations.

The lab will be an opportunity to explore the potential of stronger collaborations between community organizations, students, and universities to address local needs effectively, and delve into transformative and innovative solutions to societal challengestransformative and innovative solutions to societal challenges through co-creation within the framework of Community-engagement learning programs for international students.

Read more information about the Lab and apply!

• Date: July 2023

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The ECEM Survey “Service Learning During Student Mobilities”

The ECEM project consortium launched the survey “Service Learning During Student Mobilities”survey “Service Learning During Student Mobilities” to understand the HEIs’ views on service learning. The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete. The responses will be kept confidential and will be used for research purposes. The data collected will be analysed by ECEM experts and the results will be presented as a group and not individually so that participants’ anonymity is guaranteed.

Why a survey on this topic?

One area of interest of the ECEM project is service learning, especially in the context of student mobilities. According to the European Association for Service Learning in Higher Education, service-learning in higher education is an experiential educational method in which students engage in community service, reflect critically on this experience, and learn from it personally, socially and academically. It involves structured and graded student placements in organisations in response to the needs of the community and is different from volunteering because it is part of mandatory coursework. (2021) The results of the survey will help us understand the state of play of service learning in Higher Education.

Take part in the survey

• Date: 29 August 2023

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