Engagement with society

• Students are socially engaged with society (by participating in or organising co- or extracurricular activities)
• Graduates are engaged and responsible members of society
• Teachers make relevant connections to societal issues
• Programmes facilitate students’ societal participation

It is important for higher education programmes to establish connections to society in different waysIn the literature, these connections are described in term of their direction, distinguishing between inbound and outbound connections (Walker & Nocon, 2007):

• Inbound connections refer to introducing external elements (e.g., issues, perspectives, objects and actors) into the class, course or programme. For instance, discussing recent issues or having guest speakers illustrate theory-in-practice. Inbound engagement can provide a wider and/or more authentic understanding, contributing to students’ discipline-specific expertise. For instance, by having a mother and a disabled child explain actually in the class, their experience of received and desired care .
• Outbound connections refer to scaffolding the introduction of knowledge, artifacts, people, and their practices outward across university boundaries. For instance, students and/or teachers being and becoming engaged in community projects. Such engagements typically contribute to students’ transferable skills and employability. In order for students to apply their topic and discipline-specific expertise in society, the issues sometimes need to be reformulated and embedded withing the educational setting. Modeling the non-formal or informal societal practice to resemble, match or extend formal educational setting, for instance by including assignments and other teaching strategies.

Since efforts towards engagement with society are time and resource consuming, often seen as “extra”, and typically depend on the initiative and support of specific individuals, it is crucial to consider whether and how the initiatives can become sustainably embedded into courses and programmes.

• How can students’ interests be addressed in lectures and seminars?
• How can I facilitate student engagement with society, in my classroom? (to follow)

Student project groups (SPGs), part of the minor: Responsible Innovation, offered as MOOC in collaboration with the Erasmus University and the Delft University

Responsible Innovation refers to analysis, reflection and public debate concerning the ethical principles and moral acceptability of new and emerging technologies. In this module, SPGs, mixed groups of 4-6 students coming from the three universities, apply what  they have learned to a real-life case of innovation. SPGs are tutored by academic coaches and often collaborate with a company or societal organisation.

Students learn to:

• Present their results to fellow students and coaches and, if feasible, also the target stakeholders;
• Reflect on teamwork and team decision-making processes;
• Apply practical and analytical knowledge to real-life cases.

The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic (LAPP) is a pro bono initiative concerning legal questions on plastics. The project is part of the Moot Court and Advocacy Department. Within LAPP, students work for non-governmental organisations in a client-lawyer relation. It gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge of the law to real issues, such as plastic pollution.

In the Resilient City Hub students conduct their MSc thesis research in the context of real world questions on urban resilience and urban metabolism. Students work together intensively with the municipalities of Leiden and The Hague, who provide research questions, supervision, and a working space for our students. This hub is part of the Centre for Sustainability, a centre for research and education at Leiden University, TU Delft, and Erasmus University Rotterdam.