This format aims to get students hwo are new to CSL acquainted with real-world interactions. This can be done via the following approaches:

• Bring the real world into the classroom | Students identify a real-world problem and formulate a problem-solving approach. For example by combining academic theories with project materials, such as proposals or policy briefs.
• Visit the real world | Organise field trips. Take your students, for example, to an under-resourced neighbourhood and let a community representative show them around.
• Simulate the real world | Facilitate a role play to train students in CSL competencies. For instance in communication, evaluation and conflict-resolution skills, by using problem analysis and stakeholder-network identification.

Example: In the course 'Urban Challenges,' students take on the role of an engineering agency and tackle a simulated municipal case, a recent water management issue in Vondelpark. They translate technical knowledge into a professional proposal and present it to teachers playing the role of a municipal officer, under real time pressure. 

In this format, students contribute directly to a societal partner's work, addressing a real need with course content and delivering a tailor-made outcome, a policy brief, a workshop, a podcast, whatever fits the question. There are two ways to shape this:

• Co-created from the start | The problem statement is developed together with the partner, from day one.
• Matched to an existing question | The partner already has a defined question, and students are matched to it.

Some projects end when the course does. Others continue: a new cohort picks up the work a year later, or students from a different discipline pick it up in one of the next periods. What we aim for is a lasting relationship with the partner, not just a one-off deliverable, though one-off projects work too.

Example: In 'Policy, Politics and Participation,' one group of students worked with a partner on reducing waste through circular strategies such as refuse, rethink, and reduce. They held focus group discussions with a wide range of societal actors, and delivered a final presentation and policy advice report that fed into the partner's long-term sustainability roadmap.

If societal issues require a fully dedicated, in-depth research approach, students who already have some experience with collaborating with societal actors, can do an internship or write their theses on that case, following a Community Service Learning approach.

It's not uncommon for a project that started in a course to continue as an internship later in the academic year, sometimes with the same student, sometimes with a new one picking up where the course left off. 

By collaborating for a prolonged term with a societal partner, students will reflect on the connections between academic content, their own experiences, and the cultural contexts.

All VU Bachelor programmes can integrate the minor Global Health, which is open to all Bachelor students. 

In this minor, students from different academic disciplines will collaborate with various local and global societal actors on a real-life complex health problem. Students will address issues related to migration, food security or mental health care. The minor has a duration of five months (30 ECTS), which enables students to make lasting impact.

Interested? Contact the CSL team

Every VU Master programme can readily implement our interdisciplinary community service learning (iCSL) courses as electives. These are designed to facilitate interdisciplinary teamwork between students from diverse academic backgrounds, and to facilitate transdisciplinary collaborations with societal actors. 

We offer two courses: iCSL 1 and iCSL 2. The courses are open to all Master students. You can integrate both courses as a module in your Master's programme, but they can also be offered separately.

iCSL 1: defining a complex societal challenge
3 ECTS | period 2: September-October
This course focusses on defining a complex societal problem. Students will develop a research plan that proposes how different academic disciplines and societal stakeholders can contribute to a real-world challenge. In order to do this, an interdisciplinary team of students will facilitate a dialogue session with societal actors.

iCSL 2: investigating how to address the challenge
6 ECTS | period 4-6: February-June
An interdisciplinary team of students will examine how to address a specific complex societal challenge. Each team member devotes their own thesis, research project or internship to a sub-question of this challenge.

Students follow the iCSL 2 course in parallel to writing their thesis. This allows them to integrate the broader insights from the individual projects related to the societal issue. The course ends with a conference, in which students present their findings to a scientific as well as societal audience.

Interested? Contact the CSL team.