Community Outreach Roadmap: An Emerging Area of Democracy and Legitimacy for the Ecuadorian University and the Third Sector

• In Event: The Civic Responsibilities of the Academia

Abstract

Students’ close engagement with civil society organizations (CSO) provide them with a sense of agency by actively working and sharing their knowledge before finishing their formal undergraduate education. From the CSO side, communities and local organizations have the opportunity to host university students that volunteer on their proposed ventures and share local assets in a wide range of forms. Participation in community outreach programs is mandatory at the Ecuadorian university which fosters both applied research and service-learning. Through a qualitative design of case-study methodology, the paper unfolds two paradigmatic cases of community engagement projects that go beyond volunteering for the experience sake to actual service-learning, dealing with university social responsibility, action-research projects and reflection-in-action strategies. The paper discusses the pros and cons of service-learning and suggests a roadmap for community outreach programs that not necessarily remains in the local but can spread to stakeholders worldwide. The outcomes suggest that the proposed three-fold university strategy: learning, research and community outreach needs to embrace a fourth strategy of internal management, to fulfill the advocated forms of interaction and commitment for social change, and to overcome issues that hinder its accomplishment such as weak participation of stakeholders. This opens the field for further research which makes this piece one of many more to come.

Authors

• Veronica Yepez-Reyes, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

• Juan Carlos González, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

• Ruth Elizabeth García Alarcón, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

• María del Rocío Bermeo, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador