This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of Service-Learning (SL) practices and methodologies in higher education, with a focus on their role as mechanisms for knowledge transfer and civic engagement. As a pedagogical model, SL integrates community service with academic learning objectives, promoting not only the development of academic competences but also social responsibility and community transformation. Increasingly recognized as a strategic tool, SL has been found to increase students’ awareness of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supporting universities’ knowledge transfer mission through socially engaged teaching and institutional collaboration with local stakeholders.
The panel will also present a comparative case study of the University of Barcelona and CESAG in Palma de Mallorca, illustrating how both large and small institutions have successfully embedded SL into their curricula through interdisciplinary projects and long-term community partnerships, demonstrating the model’s adaptability and social impact. Through a review of international and national literature on SL, the panel will highlight SL’s core components such as addressing real social needs, fostering reciprocal partnerships, and integrating structured reflection into the curriculum, while framing SL as both a pedagogical method and a philosophy of institutional responsibility and democratic participation.
An examination of how Spain’s new Organic Law of the University System (LOSU) supports the institutionalisation of SL by promoting social responsibility and knowledge transfer will also be discussed, particularly how networks like ApS(U)CAT and regional policy frameworks in Catalonia position SL as a central pillar of university teaching and civic engagement.
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