The SL4DC project is coordinated by UCSIA and brings together twelve partners from nine European countries, mainly higher education institutions. In addition, several European service-learning networks are also involved, ensuring that the results can be widely disseminated throughout Europe.

University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp in Belgium coordinates the SL4DC project.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR) – The Netherlands

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) is the Business School of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. RSM is the largest business school in the Netherlands and consistently ranked among the top 10 business schools in Europe. RSM reaches an expansive international audience of future and current leaders through its broad portfolio of programmes, services and academic activities. Building on the entrpreneurial tradition of Rotterdam and the Netherlands, RSM provides management research, education and societal engagement so people and organisations can thrive worldwide. In keeping with our commitment to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we help students, academics and people in business to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and do'ers.

RSM has a striong history in service-learning, both in actual teaching and doing research on the topic. Within the Department of Business-Society Management, several European Erasmus+ projects have been implemented:

• SLIDE: Service-Learning as a pedagogy to promote inclusion, diversity, and digital empowerment
• RURASL: Service-learning for the Rural Development
• Europe Engage; Developing a Culture of Civic Engagement through Service-Learning within Higher Education in Europe

European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education (EASLHE) – Belgium

The European Association of Service-Learning in Higher Education (EASLHE) is an association that brings together service-learning and community engagement practicioners and researchers from the European Higher Education Area. The Association consists of 300+ members from 130+ universities in over 30 countries. EASLHE promotes the development and dissemination of service-learning practice, research and institutionalization in European higher education. The association aims to create a European service-learning community and to install an active learning network among members. The Association has been involved in multiple European projects focussing on the service-learning pedagogy.

Hochschulnetzwerk Bildung durch Verantwortung e.V. (HBdV) – Germany

The Hochschulnetzwerk Bildung durch Verantwortung e.V. (HBdV) aims to actively shape the social responsibility of universities, to facilitate partnerships between civil society organizations and universities, and to promote the mutual transfer of knowledge. We strengthen the civic engagement and knowledge transfer activities of students, faculty, and university staff. The university network sees itself as a platform for expertise and exchange to promote innovative formats in the areas of teaching and learning, knowledge transfer, and research. These include formats such as service-learning, community research, social entrepreneurship education, campus-community partnerships, real-world laboratories, and education for sustainable development.

Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta di Roma (LUMSA) – Italy

LUMSA University is a leading Italian non-state university based primarily in Rome and Palermo, with more than 9,000 students and a long-standing commitment to education and teacher training. Through its Postgraduate School EIS – Educare all’Incontro e alla Solidarietà (Education for Encounter and Solidarity) – LUMSA promotes the Global Compact on Education and Service-Learning within universities, schools, and communities by connecting academic learning with meaningful civic engagement. Supported by an international scientific board, EIS advances research, training, and practice in service-learning and actively contributes to major national, European, and global networks, including UNiSL, SLEsoN, EASLHE, and UNISERVITATE.

Pädagogische Hochschule Wien (PHW) – Austria

Sveuciliste u Zagrebu (UNIZG) – Croatia

The University of Zagreb, founded in 1669, is the oldest and largest university in South-Eastern Europe and the leading higher education institution in Croatia. Comprising 29 faculties, three art academies, and the University Centre for Croatian Studies, it serves a large and diverse academic community. The university is widely recognised for its excellence in teaching and research, contributing over half of Croatia’s annual research output and the vast majority of the scientific productivity generated by Croatian universities. As such, it plays a central role in shaping knowledge production, critical inquiry, and societal development at the national and regional levels.

Within this framework, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb (FHSS) participates in the SL4DC project as a partner institution. As the largest institution in Croatia dedicated to the humanities and social sciences, FHSS combines strong academic programmes with a significant cultural and societal impact. The faculty offers a broad portfolio of undergraduate, graduate, and integrated study programmes, and brings over two decades of experience in service-learning. Its work focuses on the integration of service-learning in higher education as a means of fostering competences for democratic culture, supported by expertise in emerging educational technologies, information verification, learner experience design, and deliberative democracy. Through this combination of research, pedagogy, and community engagement, FHSS contributes to developing innovative, evidence-based approaches that connect academic learning with active civic participation.

Università di Bologna (UNIBO) – Italy

The Community Psychology Laboratory of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bologna has been promoting and implementing service-learning in its psychology degree programmes since 2016. It has been a partner in major Erasmus+ projects on service-learning (Europe Engage, RuralSL, UNICORN). Its members have contributed to the establishment of both the Italian service-learning network and EASLHE, and to the foundation of the Italian University Association for Service Learning (2025). 

Over the course of 10 years, the Department of Psychology at the University of Bologna have established a strong partnership with a wide and diverse network of community partners. Many of the site supervisors who now host UNIBO students on the SL programme were themselves trained in the SL programme as students years ago. The promotion and delivery of SL courses have been complemented by ongoing research, focusing on the methodological aspects and evaluation of SL from a (critical) community psychology perspective. This has led to a number of publications that have been well received by high-impact scientific journals.

Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) – Spain

Founded in 1978, with academic roots dating back to the 15th century, the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) is the public university of the Balearic Islands and a key higher education and research institution in the Mediterranean region. With campuses in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza-Formentera, UIB serves more than 15,000 students through a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes across the sciences, health sciences, humanities, social sciences, education, engineering and tourism. UIB combines academic tradition with a strong commitment to innovation, sustainability, community engagement and internationalisation. Its Strategic Plan 2023–2027 emphasises social commitment, knowledge transfer, digital innovation, quality teaching and the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity, while positioning the university as an institution deeply rooted in the Balearic Islands and openly connected to global challenges and international collaboration.

The university actively participates in European initiatives such as Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe and promotes interdisciplinary research and socially engaged education aligned with democratic participation, sustainability and societal impact. UIB is also recognised for its international collaborations, research excellence and growing visibility within European higher education networks.

Universitatea Natională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica București (POLITEHNICA) – Romania

Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystirci (UMB) – Slovakia

Matej Bel University is a public university which achieved university status in 2010 and is a member of the European University Association. It provides quality tertiary and further education in line with the development of science and practice needs and develops new knowledge through creative scientific and artistic research. Currently, Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica (UMB), is the leading university in Central Slovakia.  It has almost 600 teachers, researchers, and around 6,000 students.

International cooperation has rapidly developed in recent years, mainly through numerous EU programs, including the Framework Programs of FP7, H2020 and Horizon Europe. Most research projects focus on multidisciplinary research, especially in socioeconomic sciences and humanities (sociocultural anthropology, sociology, economics, history, political sciences, education, psychology and social work) and natural sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry and environmental sciences).  As the first Slovak institution, Matej Bel University was granted the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ award. UMB implements lifelong learning in various study programs and forms, from the UMB Children’s University to UMB’s Third Age University.

UMB creates opportunities which link learning and practice through innovative mentoring, volunteering, non-formal education and community work. It is the leader in Central Europe in the development of the service-learning. The university organised several seminars and conferences on volunteering, community engagement and service-learning. In their leisure time, a student can create a space for the various social activities provided by the sports clubs, artistic groups and student organisations which are run at the UMB. Among the UMB’s graduates and educators are several Olympic winners and their trainers, outstanding artists and scientists. 

Universiteit Utrecht (UU) – The Netherlands

Utrecht University has identified Community Engaged Learning (Service-Learning) as a focus of its educational vision since 2018. It has recently been incorporated into its Educational Model of 2026, in which each of its seven faculties (and two liberal arts colleges) commit themselves to integrating such forms of education (and related research) into its offerings. In recent years, initiatives in Community Engaged Learning have substantially increased, and presently the university continues to invest in faculty-led initiatives to develop best practices and innovative, interdisciplinary forms of Community Engaged Learning.

The SL4DC project is coordinated by UCSIA and brings together twelve partners from nine European countries, mainly higher education institutions. In addition, several European service-learning networks are also involved, ensuring that the results can be widely disseminated throughout European higher education.

Asociacion de Aprendizaje-Servicio Universitario (ApSU) – Spain

ApSU (Asociación de Aprendizaje-Servicio Universitario) is the only Spanish association with an interterritorial scope dedicated specifically to the promotion, development, institutionalisation and dissemination of service-learning in higher education. It is currently one of the leading national organisations in this field, maintaining active dialogue and collaboration with the Ministry of Universities, CRUE (Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities) and national quality and accreditation agencies, while also cooperating with regional and local service-learning structures and networks.

ApSU supports the institutionalisation of service-learning through advocacy, training, dissemination and the production of practical and academic resources aimed at strengthening community-engaged higher education and democratic participation. The work developed since its foundation in 2017 has positioned the association as a leading actor in the European and international service-learning arena, including its active participation in networks such as the Ibero-American network REDIBAS, as well as collaborations with multiple international organisations and higher education initiatives related to civic engagement, democratic participation and socially engaged universities.

Soziale Innovation durch ökonomische Bildung SISTAC e.V. (SISTAC e.V.) – Germany

Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – Spain

The University of Barcelona is a public university, offering quality education and research and is engaged with the society. The University of Barcelona provides the widest course offering of any university in Spain and is national leader in research, thanks to a standing commitment to quality. The university hosts a community of almost one hundred thousand people with a body of shared valuaes: liberty, democracy, justice, equality and solidarity, and a commitment to social responsibility and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The ApS Group UB (University of Barcelona Service-Learning Group) is an interdisciplinary group of teachers from different faculties and areas of knowledge who share the desire to disseminate and extend service-learning at the University of Barcelona. Currently, the ApS Group (UB) is made up of teachers from the faculties of Fine Arts, Biology, Economics and Business, Education, Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Philology and Communication, Philosophy, Nursing, Computer Science and Mathematics, Medicine and Health Sciences, Psychology and Chemistry. The Group provides information about service-learning initiatives and activities across the University of Barcelona.