Education, Culture and Territorial Development: Institutional Cooperation Between Social Partners

Inspired by local arts community engagement initiatives and community arts interventions this article aims to reflect on a model of service-learning that links the intentions, methodology and purposes of these domains to promote student learning and benefit communities. It examines the quality and content of higher education students’ learning in a pilot project located in Viana do Castelo region. Data from student focus groups and academic essays were analysed in terms of the discernible levels of students’ academic, personal and civic learning. This critical reflection framework enabled students to articulate and deepen their learning, demonstrating not only their societal leadership development but also their sense of social responsiveness and responsibility. The findings prompt for further questions about both the purpose and the impact of community service learning in higher education, as a model of community engagement, on the key role of the arts and education in local social transformation