Social responsibility and pedagogical innovation: a mission (im)possible?

Social responsibility has become increasingly central in the context of higher education institutions, which poses new challenges in terms of policy, organization, research and pedagogical innovation. To achieve this, particularly in this last area, there has been a growing recourse to teaching approaches capable of contributing to the necessary transformation of these institutions. In this sense, one of the methodologies that has deserved particular attention is Service Learning (SLE), as it promotes active learning that values critical thinking, intervention in the context of real problems, reflecting in a comprehensive training of students through academic performance and civic duty. This formative process of the Service-Learning educational experience is also aligned with what Ignatian Pedagogy advocates: context, experience, reflective engagement, action, and evaluation. Thus, Service-Learning can be a strong ally in the transformation process of higher education institutions, aiming at the integral education of students. It is precisely in an attempt to contribute to the necessary transformation of higher education institutions that the CapacitAmente 2.0 project emerged, an experience of Interdisciplinary Service Learning, to be developed within the Psychology and Social Work degrees of the Philosophy and Social Sciences Faculty of the Catholic University of Portugal. A total of 10 hours of free continuous training will be validated, namely for employees who work in institutions with social responses for the elderly. The themes to be addressed are related to the contents of the curricular units involved, "Work, Quality, Life" (stress, burnout, leadership) and "Social Economy" (UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals). Aligned with the logic of commitment and involvement with the community in building fairer and more inclusive societies, CapacitAmente 2.0 will seek not only to develop its intervention in non-profit social solidarity institutions, but also in institutions located in low density territories, with complexities related to a scarce and poorly qualified labor market, aging population, depopulation and territorial dispersion and reduced supply of public facilities and services. In this sense, and taking into account the search for an intervention on a real social problem, the selection criteria of the institutions were taken into account such as population density, and the different profiles (territorial, demographic, population, socioeconomic and accessibility). It is considered that the involvement of institutions for the definition of critical problems is crucial in order to understand how the University can serve, starting from a logic of relational and institutional proximity. Thus, and allied to the contents of the curricular units, the CapacitAmente 2.0 project intends to recognize and valorize institutions and the qualification of their collaborators, through the understanding of the real institutional training needs, in an effective response that, at the same time, develops the competences of the students in training.