Community-engaged learning

Community-engaged learning is a rewarding way to apply your studies to real-life projects in the community.

This type of learning is a partnership between UVic students, faculty, campus partners and the community beyond campus. It's a way to gain meaningful hands-on experience that supports and honours the community AND strengthens your academic experience.

identify opportunities for CEL in your degree program
learn how to include your current volunteer initiatives in a CEL experience
meet community leaders and change-makers
connect your learning to community initiatives
navigate UVic systems and processes
engage respectfully with community
explore funding opportunities

Types of community-engaged learning

At UVic there 4 types of community-engaged learning.

Each type can vary in terms of how closely you work with the community member and the complexity of the project or initiative.

1) Community-service learning courses

These for-credit courses are a blend of classroom experience and volunteering or unpaid placements with community groups, where you'll dive into the day-to-day operations and connect your experience with course content.

Examples:

Community Engagement 300, an interdisciplinary course in Social Sciences where students learn about the role of non-profit organizations through a 40-hour placement with regional non-profits like the Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture.
Comparative Electoral Systems course, where students joined with local political organizations to host community outreach events on the topic of electoral reform in BC.

2) Field-based learning courses

These courses typically include 1 to 3 weeks of place-based and/or land-based learning with community.

Examples:

The I-witness field school, where students explore the ways in which the Holocaust has become memorialized in Central Europe through visits with relevant community groups in Europe.
A course where archaeology field school students helped in an excavation at an ancient Tseshaht First Nation settlement in the Broken Group Islands.

3) Community-engaged projects

In these CEL courses, students work on a community project that supports a community initiative and student learning goals.

Examples:

The Media Production for Writers course, where two students created journalistic content for Tao Wellness to showcase their work and their members.
An exchange of knowledge, such as students in the Growing Community Class meeting with former Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps to discuss the urban food system.

4) Community-engaged research courses

In this type of course, students do research requested by or developed with community that supports community initiatives and student learning goals.

Examples:

Chem 399, a research experience course, where a student applied and built chemistry research skills while reducing drug-related deaths with Substance Drug Checking.
Anthropology students contributing to the protection of ancestral sites by learning about Indigenous cartographies and ethnographic mapping in collaboration with Hul’q’umi’num’ Elders and Parks Canada.

See CEL in action

See CEL experiences in action in our video series, including projects like StoryMapping, working with the Inter-Cultural Association of Victoria, and working on collaborative projects with community organizations.