Meaningful collaborations:
building bridges between higher education and society
On Friday 20 March 2026, the Flemish Network for Service-Learning in Higher Education will organize its annual service-learning networking event, with the theme ‘Impactful collaboration: building bridges between higher education and society’.
Inspiring examples
For this event, we are looking for inspiring examples of service-learning courses, projects, research, testimonials, and more, in which collaboration between higher education institutions/programmes and societal organizations and actors plays a central role.
- Which societal actors do you involve in your service-learning course, and how do you do that?
- How does the collaboration with the societal partner(s) take shape in your course?
- What role(s) do the societal partners play in your course?
- Does your higher education institution invest in sustainable partnerships with societal organisations?
We warmly invite you to present the collaboration in your course, project, or research at our networking event!
Would you like to present your project at our networking event?
Send us an abstract of no more than one A4 page, briefly presenting your service-learning course or project, with a focus on collaboration with societal partners. You can choose from one of the following formats, and are welcome to involve students and/or partner organizations.
Presentation: You give a 15 to 20-minute presentation (optionally using a PowerPoint) about your service-learning project and answer questions from the audience.
Pitch: You give a short elevator pitch of 5 to 10 minutes about your project (without PowerPoint or with a limited number of slides). You also listen to the pitches of other speakers in your session and engage in discussion with them and the audience.
Workshop: You organize an interactive session of approximately 1.5 hours for a limited number of participants.
Practice Boost: You present your own service-learning course or project in a 20-minute presentation (optionally with a PowerPoint), with specific attention to the stumbling blocks and challenges you encounter. Together with the audience, you engage in critical reflection and explore possible action points.
Thematic Reflection Session: You organize an interactive session around a specific theme within service-learning (for example, evaluation, sustainable partnerships, or reflection). During this session, you engage in dialogue with fellow service-learning enthusiasts to learn from one another.
Please submit your proposal before Monday, 1 December to
About the networking event
What? Service-learning networking event ‘Meaningful collaborations: building bridges between higher education and society’, organized by the Flemish Network for Service-Learning in Higher Education
When? Friday, 20 March 2026, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (followed by a reception)
Where? UHasselt (specific campus to be confirmed)
Who is it for? Teachers, societal partners, and students involved in service-learning projects, as well as anyone curious about the service-learning pedagogy