According to the literature, Service-Learning (S-L) is an innovative approach that identifies a wide range of educational experiences. It combines academic learning and meaningful community service, through students’ active commitment that meets real needs of the community. S-L is characterized by a valued partnership that provides support and coaching to students; the definition of shared goals between the educational institution and the community; a transdisciplinary learning in real context; and the link to the academic curriculum of students (Europe Engage, 2014). As the main outcomes, on the students’ side S-L aims to increase sense of civic engagement and responsibility, fostering their capacity for public action, their civic and soft competences (Len, Kayla & Caitlin, 2018) supporting their development of a shared concern about addressing root causes of social problems. Despite the emphasis on community-university partnership (Schnaubelt & Rouse, 2013) less attention has been devoted to a clear identification of the aims on the community’s side: what is that moves community organizations toward partnership for S-L, which are the challenges that both educational institutions and community organization meet in their road toward S-L implementation? Which are the benefits expected and experienced on both sides? To what extent community psychology values can be embedded in S-L implementation? The symposium will offer an opportunity to discuss these questions starting from the analysis of three case studies, located in three European regions. The three case studies represent also implementation of S-L at different stages, in two countries where the S-L approach has been only recently introduced in Higher education.

The first contribution will start setting the common ground between Service-Learning and Community Psychology, as it emerged from the experience of the University of [Anonimized for review]; it will show the steps from carrying out “unaware” S-L in the classes of Community Psychology through proposing S-L “intentionally” inside a Master Degree in Psychology, and finally to institutional acknowledgement of S-L in the School of Psychology. It will also discuss challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of S-L with different partners, including a US University, an academic spin-off and a professional association for High School teachers’ training.

The second contribution will illustrate the preparatory activities for the implementation of S-L in a rural community, from building partnership with a local action group (LAG, a community stakeholder in a gatekeeper position) to the definition of the specific S-L projects to be implemented. The community needs analysis, that was based on LAG documents review and three focus groups represented a key activity that allowed to collect expectations about S-L of rural community organizations, and to understand to what extent community psychology values could be embedded in the project.

The third contribution will be focused on the implementation of a Center for Community-based learning in a Higher Education Institution drawing from the experience of an Erasmus Plus Project (European Fund for Educational Development) and how Community Psychology has been essential as a liaison for diverse Campus-Community partnerships playing relevant social roles both on research and practice. The presentation includes the participation in intervention and research activities as well as formative and outcome evaluation procedures.