About Community Engaged Learning
Utrecht University aims to embed student civic engagement in every degree programme. Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is encouraged and supported as a form of education to fulfil this objective. The CEL programme was established to facilitate the development of CEL education, including through grants and training for lecturers. On the UU intranet, lecturers can find all information about the support available.
Striving for reciprocal and long-term relationships
Striving for reciprocal collaborations and an equal relationship, in which the contributions (knowledge, experiences, etc.) of all involved are seen as equally valuable, is a key feature of CEL. In addition, UU aims to build long-term relationships with its external partners, so that mutual trust can grow and cooperation can be further deepened over time.
In all faculties
At UU, we believe that CEL can be developed and applied in many different ways, making it employable in the more exact sciences as well. With our approach, we encourage the development and embedding of CEL courses in all faculties: from Humanities to Beta Sciences and everything in between. Each faculty has a specific CEL ambassador to drive this development.
Various partners
CEL may involve different ‘communities’ outside the university, depending on the specific public good being pursued:
- Less fortunate or disadvantaged groups, with possible advocacy for them as well
- Communities centred around a specific place (neighbourhoods, streets, etc.)
- Professional organisations (such as NGOs, government agencies) seeking insights to better understand their own social mission
- (Commercial) research institutes where joint (ethical) reflection and the pursuit of a public good are the main goals