From thinking to doing: service-learning
Service-learning, the second component, adds an extra dimension to the programme. It combines learning with social engagement. Students apply their academic insights in a concrete context and critically reflect on their experiences. In this way, solidarity does not remain an abstract concept, but becomes something tangible, a practice that takes shape through encounter, collaboration and commitment.
Participants will join social organizations that work daily for and with people with a migrant background. This will give them an insight into the realities in the field: the challenges, but also the resilience, creativity and strength of people and organizations. This experience deepens their understanding of migration and challenges them to further develop their role as researchers and citizens.
A spotlight on our social partners
For this edition of the winter school, UCSIA is collaborating with five Antwerp-based organizations, each of which contributes in its own way to a more united and inclusive society.
De Loodsen
De Loodsen seeks a contemporary approach to solidarity in response to the major global challenges that are having an impact in an urban context: migration, intercultural shifts, increasing poverty, etc.
Through language lessons, temporary shelter, gatherings and guidance for disadvantaged families, the organization aims to support and provide opportunities to people who fall through the cracks. Its activities are mainly carried out by volunteers.
Protestant Social Centre (PSC) – Youth Work
Within the PSC, students will support the youth services, which focus on unaccompanied young newcomers between the ages of 17 and 25. These young people are often on their own in their search for a place in society. The youth services offer an accessible meeting place where recreation, guidance and support come together.
Atlas – Stadsklap
Stadsklap is an initiative of Atlas, Antwerp’s integration and civic participation centre. The project brings foreign-language speakers in Antwerp into contact with volunteers to practise Dutch together in everyday conversations. In an informal and equal setting, participants not only improve their language skills but also foster mutual understanding and meaningful encounters. Stadsklap shows how language can be a key to participation and social connection.
Rising You
Rising You is a social enterprise that guides young refugees towards sustainable employment. Through training and intensive coaching, young people are prepared for technically challenging jobs, often in high-demand professions at high altitudes and in the hospitality sector.
The climbing hall in Antwerp’s Park Spoor Noord is the beating heart of Rising You. It is an accessible meeting place where everyone is welcome, including recreational climbers without a migrant background. By exercising together, young people meet others, build a network, discover their talents and find the right training programme.
Rising You combines economic activity with social impact and demonstrates how talent development, entrepreneurship, and solidarity can go hand in hand. The project provides insight into the role of work as a lever for integration and self-esteem.
The Health Kiosk
On Terloplein in Borgerhout, you will find the Health Kiosk, a place where local residents can drop in for information about healthy lifestyles and disease prevention. The project aims to raise awareness about health in an accessible way among people who tend to be overlooked.
For example, they organize workshops on healthy cooking and first aid training, and you can have your risk of cardiovascular disease assessed. In front of the kiosk, there is an exercise bench where volunteers give training sessions at various times of the day.
In no time, the kiosk became a real meeting place for residents and other local social organizations. The initiative shows how health, migration status, and social vulnerability are closely linked, and how care can also be a form of solidarity.
Together we learn and take responsibility
By linking academic study with practical engagement, the winter school aims to challenge students to reflect critically on their role as researchers, professionals and citizens.
As a result, solidarity is no longer an abstract concept, but a concrete practice that requires listening, cooperation, and commitment. Meeting with social organizations and their target groups enriches our thinking about solidarity and makes it clear that social change often begins with small, concrete steps.
With this winter school, UCSIA continues to build on its mission to connect science, ethics and society, and to encourage young researchers to use their knowledge to create a more just world.