• APAEMA (Association of Organic Agriculture Producers of Mallorca)
• ESMENT (organisation promoting inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities)
• Directorate General of Public Health of the Balearic Government
• Health Promotion Service of the Balearic Government
• Primary Health Care Centre Coll d’en Rabassa
• Office for Sustainability and Healthy Universities of the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB)
• Other neighbourhood stakeholders involved in health promotion initiatives

Community needs were not predefined by the academic team but emerged through sustained dialogue and collaboration with community partners and health services. Through meetings, joint discussions and continuous interaction, partners identified priorities, shared concerns and highlighted areas requiring support and innovation. This process ensured that service-learning activities remained responsive to evolving community needs and that the knowledge generated was both academically rigorous and socially relevant.  

Reciprocity was grounded in processes of knowledge co-production between the university and community organisations. Students contributed evidence syntheses, health asset mapping, socio-experiential campus mapping, updated health promotion resources and proposals responding to identified community needs. Community partners, including the Office for Sustainability and Healthy Universities, provided real contexts, experiential knowledge and opportunities for authentic learning. The relationship was conceived as a mutually beneficial process aimed at generating socially useful knowledge, strengthening community initiatives and supporting students’ development as socially responsible health professionals capable of acting collaboratively in complex and uncertain contexts. 

Community partners actively participated in identifying priorities, shaping service activities, facilitating students’ engagement with real contexts and providing feedback throughout the process. They contributed situated knowledge, professional expertise and lived experience, helping students understand the complex interrelationships between health, environment, sustainability, inclusion and community well-being.

The project was developed as a longitudinal service-learning initiative connecting three educational levels at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB): the PhD programme in Global Health, Health Services and Sociosanitary Care, the Master’s Degree in Research and Innovation in Health, and the undergraduate Physiotherapy Degree. At the undergraduate level, the project was embedded within the compulsory course Community Physiotherapy, which explicitly adopts a service-learning methodology and focuses on community-based intervention, social determinants of health and primary care contexts. At the master’s level, it was linked to the course Urban Planning, Environment and Health, while at the doctoral level it was connected to research in global health and health services. 

• To engage students with real-world health, environmental and social challenges. 
• To foster interdisciplinary and inter-level collaboration. 
• To connect academic knowledge with community needs and priorities. 
• To support community partners through meaningful, evidence-informed service. 
• To develop students’ capacity to navigate complexity, uncertainty and ethical decision-making. 
• To strengthen understanding of sustainability and social determinants of health in professional practice. 
• To promote collaborative problem-solving and shared responsibility in addressing community challenges. 

Service activities

• Mapping community health assets in collaboration with the Directorate General of Public Health and ESMENT. 
• Reviewing and updating health promotion resources and initiatives in collaboration with the Health Promotion Service of the Balearic Government. 
• Synthesising scientific evidence to support APAEMA and primary care initiatives. 
• Developing socio-experiential and emotional mapping activities to identify places, experiences and environmental factors influencing well-being within the university campus (Office for Sustainability and Healthy Universities).
• Designing and implementing health promotion actions in collaboration with public institutions and community partners (Directorate General of Public Health and ESMENT).

Learning activities

• Community fieldwork and direct engagement with partner organisations. 
• Collaborative work across educational levels and disciplines. 
• Critical review and translation of scientific evidence. 
• Participatory mapping and community diagnosis, including socio-experiential and emotional mapping activities within the university environment. 
• Peer teaching and knowledge transfer between doctoral, master’s and undergraduate students. 
• Preparation and dissemination of scientific and educational outputs for academic and community audiences. 
• Collaborative planning and self-organisation of student teams to address real community needs and requests. 
• Reflection on sustainability, health inequalities and social determinants of health. 

Students were active participants in processes of inquiry, interpretation and knowledge production and progressively assumed different responsibilities according to their educational level. The doctoral student contributed to the conceptual and methodological development of the project and assumed responsibility for disseminating results in scientific and professional settings, including conference presentations. Master’s students acted as intermediaries and facilitators, translating conceptual and methodological knowledge into accessible materials and presenting and explaining their work to undergraduate students. Undergraduate physiotherapy students assumed responsibility for implementing fieldwork activities and self-organising in teams to respond to the needs and requests identified by community partners. Throughout the project, students negotiated priorities, organised tasks and adapted their work in response to community feedback and emerging needs, assuming shared responsibility for both learning and service outcomes.

Reflection was integrated throughout the project before, during and after the service activity, makeing use of field diaries, guided narratives, peer discussions across educational levels and reflection informed by community feedback. Students critically examined their experiences, assumptions and professional development and reflected on the relationships between health, environment, sustainability and social inequalities.

Reflection enabled students to connect academic knowledge with complex social realities and to critically examine uncertainty, inclusion and collective responsibility in health practice. It supported the integration of learning across educational levels and encouraged students to understand participation, collaboration and knowledge co-production as essential dimensions of professional and civic action. Reflection also helped students recognise the importance of communication, adaptation and coordination when working collaboratively across different educational levels and disciplines and to appreciate how diverse competencies can contribute to addressing complex community health challenges.

Assessment was continuous and addressed both learning processes and service outcomes. It included:

• evaluation of students’ participation in community activities and collaborative processes
• quality and relevance of evidence syntheses
• mappings and health promotion proposals
• students’ ability to integrate scientific knowledge with community perspectives and engage with complexity and uncertainty

The evaluation process combined several complementary methods, including field diaries and guided reflective narratives, peer evaluation across educational levels, assessment of collaborative work and presentations, and feedback from community partners on the relevance, applicability and social usefulness of outputs. The doctoral student was evaluated on knowledge dissemination activities, including scientific communication; master’s students on their facilitation and knowledge-transfer roles; and undergraduate students on their ability to collaboratively organise, implement and adapt service activities in response to community needs. This multi-level evaluation approach enabled students to understand assessment as a shared, participatory and developmental process. The evaluation included de development of ad hoc rubrics.  

Attitudes

• civic-mindedness
• responsibility
• tolerance of ambiguity

Skills

• analytical and critical thinking skills
• co-operation skills
• flexibility and adaptability

Knowledge and critical understanding

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world, particularly regarding social determinants of health, environmental sustainability, disability, community assets and the relationships between health, place and social inequalities. 

Competences for democratic culture are developed through students’ direct engagement with real community needs and diverse social actors. Through collaboration with community organisations, public health institutions and primary care services, students participate in processes of dialogue, evidence generation, knowledge translation and collective problem-solving. The longitudinal and cascade structure of the project requires students to collaborate across educational levels and disciplines, assume shared responsibilities and negotiate different perspectives and forms of knowledge. By participating in processes of knowledge co-production with community partners, students experience health promotion as a collaborative and democratic practice based on participation, inclusion, shared responsibility and commitment to community well-being. 

• Increased awareness of social and environmental determinants of health and their implications for health equity and community well-being. 
• Enhanced ability to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary, inter-level and community-based contexts. 
• Improved communication and knowledge translation skills through teaching and supporting peers from other educational levels. 
• Greater understanding of how applied research can be developed through collaborative and participatory processes. 
• Improved capacity to navigate complexity, uncertainty and evolving conditions in real-world settings. 
• Strengthened analytical and critical thinking skills. 
• Greater understanding of sustainability, inclusion and accessibility as dimensions of contemporary health practice. 
• Strengthened sense of social, environmental and civic responsibility. 

The project contributed to strengthening community initiatives by providing evidence syntheses, updated health promotion resources, mappings of community assets, socio-experiential campus mapping and proposals responding to locally identified priorities. It also reinforced collaboration between the university, public institutions and community organisations, creating opportunities for dialogue, mutual learning and knowledge co-production. More broadly, the initiative contributed to building community capacity to respond collectively to health, sustainability and inclusion challenges through more participatory and evidence-informed approaches. 

The main challenges concerned coordinating activities across different educational levels, disciplines and institutional calendars and maintaining alignment between academic objectives and evolving community needs. Sustaining long-term partnerships and knowledge co-production processes required continuous communication, trust and institutional support. The project also demanded that students and teachers work productively with uncertainty and adapt plans throughout the process. 

Replication requires institutional support, sustained partnerships with community organisations and public institutions and curricular flexibility to connect teaching, research and community engagement. Sufficient time is needed to build trust, coordinate actors and support longitudinal processes across educational levels. Adaptation is facilitated when institutions recognise service-learning as a strategic approach for addressing complex societal challenges through collaborative and community-engaged forms of education.