Service-based learning is a powerful educational approach that emphasizes experiential learning through community service. By providing students with opportunities to apply their classroom knowledge and skills in real-world settings, service-based learning helps students develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing their communities and encourages them to become active citizens.

As a partner or the Erasmus+ co-funded project Implement service learning in schools TO GET digital cultural HERitage enhanced (TOGETHER: DE03-KA227-SCH-093556), Budakov Films organized a Multiplier event entitled “Service Learning: Unlocking Its Many Benefits” organized by Budakov Films. This event was held on March 28th 2023 in Sofia, Bulgaria being hosted by the New Bulgarian University. It brought together students, high school teachers, faculties, policy makers and community members for 3 hours where renowned speakers shared their best practices in designing a service-based learning for secondary schools. However, the event was opened by Prof. Dr. Petyo Budakov, Managing Director of Budakov Films who delivered a panel “TOGETHER: Implementing Service-Based Learning in the Classroom”. The attendees became familiar with all project results which were produced during the Erasmus+ co-funded project TOGETHER as well as testing its innovative learning management system.

This panel also focused on practical strategies for integrating service-based learning into the high school curriculum, such as identifying service opportunities, developing service-learning projects, and assessing learning outcomes.

In addition, Mrs. Kristina Chavdarova from Luxembourg Creative Lab a.s.b.l. presented her latest findings in an interactive panel, entitled “The Impact of Service-Based Learning on Students’ Personal and Professional Development”. She managed to explore the impact of service-based learning on students’ social, emotional, and professional development. Mrs. Chavdarova shared her vast experiences and insights on how service-based learning can enhance students’ self-awareness, empathy, leadership skills, and career readiness.

In addition, Mr. Vasil Petkov introduced the audience with the importance of building strong partnerships between schools and community organizations for effective service-based learning in his presentation “Community Partnerships: Collaborating for Success in Service-Based Learning”

Throughout the multiplier event, participants were engaged in a wide range of examples of service activitieswhich were specially designed for high schools. 

Finally, the event also included a series of reflection sessions where participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and insights with each other. The project results were positively accepted, and the visitor feedback was expressed not only in the Q&A but also through an online survey. This multiplier event not only informed about the TOGETHER project results but supported our audience to start implementing those intellectual outcomes into their daily routines. Last but not least, it  helped to deepen participants’ understanding of the issues facing the community, and encouraged them to continue their service efforts beyond the event itself.

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*This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Submission Number: 2020-1-DE03-KA227-SCH-093556