A committed campus is similar to the Greek “agora”, where people with a wide variety of opinions share their knowledge and questions in a public place. Assuming the role of citizens are students and teachers from various disciplines, who establish a dialogue with members of civil society on the committed campus. At Swiss higher education facilities, cooperation with civil society is still a young phenomenon. The stakeholders bring together real social challenges onto the campus: Studies are combined with campaigns and activities for civil society, creating a new, comprehensive learning experience for all involved. Such practical and community-oriented teaching/learning settings can be used to reflect on other environments, tackle concerns from a transdisciplinary perspective, and uncover and develop often unexpected skills.
This first annual conference on Service Learning at higher education facilities invites stakeholders from universities and civil society to get a sense of different aspects of a committed campus, discover fields of action, devise ideas for projects, and even work together with interested parties to implement them. It also offers junior scientists the chance to present and discuss their work as part of a colloquium for PhD students.
There is a focus on the following topics (see call for papers):
