Service-learning Award

Congratulations to all the teams for their remarkable commitment, and especially to our two winners!

Student, teacher and civil society representatives from each of these projects are expected to attend the international final, to be held at the Bucharest European Forum from June 25 to 28, to defend their project on the international stage and showcase AMU's colors.

1st prize goes to the team from the Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) - Antenne de Salon-de-Provence 
"Park4Move" by the Electrical Engineering and Industrial Information (GEII) BUT

The Park4Move project, led by the student association Provençal Intelligence Agency (PIA), aims to rationalize travel for people with reduced mobility. Led by students and supervised by faculty, the initiative involves displaying the availability of disabled parking spaces in Salon-de-Provence on a website in real time. In addition, the website offers navigation assistance using GPS applications such as Google Maps or Waze, making it easier for disabled people to plan their journeys. This eliminates the difficulty of searching for nearby parking spaces, ensuring smoother, more pleasant journeys. Developed by students in the Electrical Engineering and Industrial Information (GEII) program, the project uses communicating sensors to detect the presence of vehicles, transmitting the data via LoRaWAN technology to indicate the availability of spaces. Refining the hardware and software involves retrieving, formatting and transmitting data to a remote server, enabling users to access a website with visual representations of the status of spaces.
 

2nd prize goes to the team from the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FDSP)
"Shepard and Islan project" by Master 1 - Digital Law

Three years ago, the "Illuminate to Engage" collective was born in response to a competition launched by the US Embassy in France to tackle discrimination issues. Gathering students in Master 1 in Digital Law at Aix-Marseille University's Faculty of Law and Political Science, their commitment extends to the fight against various forms of discrimination every year. Their remarkable efforts have won them praise, including prestigious awards from the US Embassy and the Camp des Milles Foundation. Entering their third campaign, the collective is organizing a poignant commemorative exhibition against LGBTQIA+ discrimination, using the transformative potential of art to cultivate awareness and promote societal change. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, which includes students from diverse backgrounds such as DEUST Formation de base aux métiers du théâtre, alongside their expertise in digital law, they aim to provoke deep reflection on injustice, particularly through the poignant stories of Matthew Shepard and Islan Nettles. Through immersive exhibitions and captivating performances, their vision transcends borders, sparking dialogue and ardently advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights on a global scale, with the ultimate ambition of promoting a culture of respect and inclusivity.

1. What is Service-Learning?

The Service-Learning approach in higher education is an experiential learning method in which students engage in community service, critically reflect on the experience and learn from it personally, socially and academically. Activities address human, social and environmental needs from a perspective of social justice and sustainable development, and aim to enrich learning in higher education, encourage civic responsibility and strengthen community engagement. Service learning is recognized by the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).

2. Who can apply?

This competition is open to all AMU students who have conducted a service-learning project during the 2023-2024 academic year.
The following projects will be eligible to compete:

• Recently completed projects
• Projects that are still being implemented
• Projects that began in previous years but are continuing with new elements

* Projects that have been designed but will be implemented next academic year will not be accepted.
**Students may be accompanied by responsible teachers, but project representatives must be the students themselves.

3. Rewards

The two winning teams will go to the European Forum in Bucharest from June 25 to 28, 2024 and will represent AMU in the competition at this forum.
All participants' expenses will be covered by the project fund.

4. How to apply?

All applicants must complete the form below and send it by email to valerie.caraguel@univ-amu.fr and meryem.aydin@etu.univ-amu.fr with the subject "Concours S-L" before March 11, 2024: Application form (can be completed in English or French).
A pre-selection of projects will be carried out to check their eligibility, and a maximum of 10 projects will be selected to compete on Monday April 8, 2024. The results of this pre-selection will be sent to all applicants from March 13, 2024.
You will find HERE the project evaluation grid. This same grid will be used for the pre-selection and for the jury.

5. What you need to know about the April 8 event

Selected projects

• They must be presented by 2 students.
• They can be presented with a poster, slide show or project video.
• They can be presented in French or English. If the project is selected, the students will be asked to make the presentation in English at the European Forum in Bucharest.

Event format

• Each project will have a presentation time of around 10-15 minutes.
• 5 members of the jury will select the 2 best S-L projects based on the evaluation criteria mentioned in the "How to apply" section.
• The jury will be made up of a student, a teacher, a university representative, a representative of civil society and an AMU member of the European project team (without voting rights).
• The event will be open to the public. A vote for the best Service-Learning project selected by the public will be added to the waiting list for participation in the Bucharest forum.

Preparatory meetings

• Projects that have been pre-selected to take part in this local event will have preparatory meetings with the AMU organization team.

Dates of these meetings (by videoconference): March 14, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm and April 4, 2024 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm.

6. Date and venue of the competition

Date: Monday April 8, 2024
Time: 9:30am - 1:00pm
The venue will be Aix-en-Provence or Marseille and will be determined by the location of the majority of participants.

Would you like to participate as a spectator?

Don't have a Service-Learning project but want to find out more? You can still join the event as a participant and share your favorites with us!

***Click here to fill in the participant form.***

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact valerie.caraguel@univ-amu.fr and meryem.aydin@etu.univ-amu.fr with subject line "S-L Contest".