The SL4DC project consortium met for the first time in person in Antwerp on Monday 16 February 2026. We started the meeting with a workshop to get to know each other and to discuss the expectations and aspirations of the project consortium members. Instead of traditional presentations, each project partner created a poster about their organization, which resulted in some wonderful artwork on behalf of all consortium members. With such a large consortium (12 project partners!), it was great to get to know our colleagues a bit better and learn about their organizations.
In a second part of the meeting, we dived into the project outputs. For each Working Package, our consortium developed an Impact Mind Map, showcasing the desired impact on short-, mid- and long-term for the different stakeholders involved in the project. The mind mapping exercise helped to visualize the outputs of the SL4DC project and will be used as a reference in future project meetings.
After a motivating lunch break, we spent the afternoon working on Working Package 2 ‘Mapping Service-Learning Practices to foster Competences for Democratic Culture’, led by colleague Maikel Meijeren from the Rotterdam School of Management. Progress was presented and preliminary results were discussed and altered, based on exchange and discussion between all consortium members.
The atmosphere was relaxed, yet productive and at the end of the day we could look back on a fruitful collaboration between all partners. The evening ended with a relaxing, typical Flemish dinner at restaurant ‘Het Elfde Gebod’ (‘The Eleventh Commandment’), of course with a fair supply of local Belgian beers.
We made a fresh start the next morning (thank God for coffee!) and continued our meeting collaborating on the activities of Working Package 2 and the project management.
Although the two days were intensive, this first transnational project meeting of the SL4DC project was both enjoyable and efficient. In-depth work was alternated with relaxation and laughter. So, in short: A great start for a great project with great people! To be continued!
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