Analyzing the Role and Impact of International Service-Learning Programs in Engineering Education: A Case Study from École Polytechnique de Bruxelles

Abstract

This study examines the role and impact of international service learning (ISL) programs in engineering education, focusing on the Codepo initiative at the École polytechnique de Bruxelles. Our primary objective is to analyze how ISL programs contribute to the development of students’ technical skills and civic engagement. We describe the structure and implementation of the Codepo teaching unit, present findings from a survey conducted with 150 former students (123 answers), and analyze the results in terms of skills acquisition, added value, and lessons learned. Our findings highlight the significant benefits of ISL programs for engineering students and provide actionable insights for other institutions aiming to implement similar initiatives. Notably, our results show that international service learning, generating large commitment from the students, can contribute to an engineering school in several ways. This type of initiative aims not only to train engineers in the field of cooperation (or in other technical professions) but also to educate them as world citizens. The results also highlight that it is not enough to propose projects linked to cooperation to make it a service learning scheme: working on reflexivity, encouraging autonomy, and finding the right partners remain challenges.

1. Introduction

Service learning has become a pivotal educational approach in engineering schools, merging academic instruction with meaningful community service to enhance students’ professional skills and social engagement. This practice, based on project-based learning, aims to combine an academic project with a commitment to society. The educational objective of service learning is threefold: (i) developing academic skills; (ii) civic learning; and (iii) personal development. It was developed in North America in the 1970s and is still little found in Europe. A reason for this is the difficulty of integrating this type of teaching method into university programs, as shown by Salam et al. [1] and Oakes et al. [2].

Service learning has been steadily growing in Europe, especially over the past two decades. Key milestones in Europe include the establishment of the European Association of Service Learning in Higher Education and the EU-funded Europe Engage project, both of which have promoted the institutionalization of service learning across European universities [3,4,5]. While countries such as Spain, the UK, and Germany have embraced service learning earlier, other regions, like Eastern Europe, are seeing an emerging interest. The model emphasizes civic engagement, social responsibility, and practical problem-solving skills, aligning well with Europe’s educational goals to foster social justice and community development through active participation in local issues.

International service learning (ISL) is a sub-branch of service learning that aims to combine this experience with an international trip in the Global South. Bringle et al. [6] provide an overview of the various initiatives of this type in North America and Asia, as well as current research on the subject. They show how ISL achieves hard-to-reach learning goals and relationships, develops reflection, and provides an added dimension to the curricular component of the study abroad course.

At the École polytechnique de Bruxelles (EPB), the Codepo teaching unit, established in 2006, exemplifies this approach by integrating engineering students into development cooperation projects. This teaching unit, driven by a dedicated group of professors, aims to provide students with hands-on experience in addressing real-world challenges, thereby fostering both technical competence and civic responsibility.

The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the role and impact of ISL programs within an engineering education context, using the Codepo initiative as a case study. More precisely, this study is guided by four main research hypotheses:

• Participation in an ISL program significantly contributes to the development of interpersonal, intercultural, and technical skills, as perceived by former engineering students;
• Former students perceive participation in an ISL program as a valuable component of their engineering education, enriching their overall perception of the curriculum’s relevance and impact;
• ISL programs foster greater civic engagement among engineering students, encouraging a long-term commitment to social causes beyond development cooperation;
• Open-ended feedback from former engineering students will reveal consistent areas for improvement, particularly in the logistical and project management aspects of an ISL program.

Consequently, the paper is structured around the following three key elements:

• Program Description (Section 2): We provide a comprehensive overview of the Codepo teaching unit, detailing its structure, objectives, and operational framework (including points of attention in establishing such an initiative). This section serves as a guide for other institutions seeking to implement similar programs and sets the context for our subsequent analysis;
• Survey (Section 3): We present the methodology of a survey conducted among former students who participated in the Codepo initiative. The survey aimed to gather original insights into their perceptions and experiences, focusing on how this participation influenced their technical skills, professional development, and social engagement;
• Analysis (Section 4): We analyze the results of the survey to assess (1) the skills developed by the students during their participation in the Codepo initiative, as well as the added value of such a program within an engineering school, as perceived by the students, and (2) the influence of such an ISL program on the subsequent civic engagement of the students. Additionally, we discuss lessons learned from this survey, providing valuable insights and practical recommendations for other engineering schools considering similar ISL initiatives.

By sharing our findings and experiences, we aim to contribute to the broader discourse on the value of ISL programs in engineering education, highlighting their potential to produce well-rounded, socially responsible engineers.

Additional information is also provided in the Supplementary Materials (SM).

2. Description of the Codepo Unit

2.1. General Description, Actors, Expected Results and Impact

The activities of the Codepo teaching unit are structured around projects. Projects consist of the following:

• A group work involving four to six students enrolled in a master’s degree in engineering at the EPB, worth five European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System credits (ECTS) in their curriculum;
• An internship in the second year of a master’s degree in engineering at EPB, worth 10–15 ECTS credits in the curriculum;
• A master’s thesis, also in the second year of a master’s degree in engineering at EPB, worth 20 to 25 ECTS credits in the curriculum.

Details of these different types of projects are given in Section 2.2. Since its inception, Codepo has given approximately 200 EPB students their first experience of development cooperation. Moreover, as detailed in Section 2.5.1, Codepo also organizes an annual teaching activity to raise awareness among all first-year bachelor students about sustainable development goals.

The proposed projects emphasize a multidisciplinary approach. They include elements of project-based learning [7,8], enabling students to link theory and practice while enhancing their interdisciplinary skills. The literature has shown that this teaching method is well suited to train engineering students to deal with the ongoing technological and organizational changes in their work [9,10], encouraging creativity, autonomy, and in-depth exploration [11].

The actors, results, and expected impacts of the action of Codepo are presented in Figure 1.

Each Codepo project involves three categories of actors (in addition to Codepo members): one or more of Codepo’s southern partners (universities, NGOs, etc.); one or several EPB master students; and one or several EPB professors/researchers.

The starting point for each project is a request for expertise from a Codepo partner in the Global South related to a challenge faced by this partner in its work in the field. On this basis, Codepo defines the type of project that seems the most relevant to implement and, following a call for applications, selects one or several students wishing to work on this issue. It also identifies, based on their expertise and availability, one or more EPB professors/researchers to provide the students with scientific support.

Once the objectives of the project and the team in charge have been defined, Codepo is responsible for the administrative operation of the project (planning meetings, sharing and storing information, managing communication, etc.). As detailed below, all the Codepo projects involve a trip for the students in the Global South to one of the partner’s sites. This stay is also organized by Codepo. It is worth mentioning that the primary objective of the Codepo unit is not to train students in development cooperation. However, Codepo has joined forces with a professional actor in development cooperation, ULB coopération (http://www.ulb-cooperation.org/, accessed on 26 October 2024), ULB “sister” NGO, one of whose main missions is to raise awareness about global citizenship. Each group of students benefits from a half-day session to prepare them for the challenges they will face and to improve their understanding of global issues.

The expected outcome of the action of Codepo is twofold. Firstly, the transfer of knowledge and appropriation of the results by the southern partner is expected at the end of each project. Secondly, the technical results obtained during the projects must be implemented by the southern partners. When relevant, the results must also be disseminated (see Section 2.3).

The expected impact of the Codepo initiative is threefold. Firstly, we hope that the students will develop cross-disciplinary engineering skills thanks to the various projects and the context they offer, particularly in terms of technical and cultural constraints. The projects are carried out in the spirit of a two-way exchange of knowledge and experience. It is in line with the observations of Astin et al. [12], emphasizing the reciprocal nature of service learning, benefiting both students and the communities they serve.

Secondly, we hope that the action of Codepo will raise awareness among students of the need to act as responsible citizens, aware of the importance of international solidarity, and contribute to a fairer and more sustainable world. Eyler and Giles [13] highlight the positive impact of service learning on personal, interpersonal, and cognitive development, aligning with this expected impact of the action of Codepo.

Finally, we hope that thanks to the various projects, the technical capacities of the southern partners of Codepo will be strengthened in a general way to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their actions.

2.2. Project Implementation

As mentioned previously, a Codepo project can be a group work, an internship, or a master’s thesis. These different types of projects are implemented in different ways, but they also have several elements in common.

In all cases, the aim is to respond to a request from a Codepo partner in the Global South. This request must be in the form of a specification, typically for the development of a prototype or a method, which is often the subject of a group work or an internship, or in the form of a scientific question, which is more likely to be the subject of a master’s thesis. Then, Codepo proceeds to a call for applications and the selection of the students.

It is important to stress that, regarding our partners in the Global South, the activity of Codepo is defined as purely technical expertise. It is not the work of Codepo to analyze the development relevance of our partner’s request. Several online meetings are scheduled between the students and the partner during each project to ensure that students fully understand the issues involved.

Group work is a well-defined teaching activity in the master’s programs at EPB (https://www.ulb.be/en/programme/proj-h417, accessed on 26 October 2024). Once the group has been formed, the students act as design office engineers to develop a technical solution to the problem posed by the Codepo partner. This solution is first designed on paper in parallel with laboratory tests. Next, an initial prototype is usually designed on the EPB’s premises. A panel of professors then assesses the group work. Finally, in the summer, the group goes out into the field to implement their solution, paying particular attention to the transfer of knowledge to the partner. Each project is carried out in a group to develop team management skills. The problems emphasize the iterative process required to build prototypes, which encourages students to validate their development (at various key stages and not only at the end of the course) [14].

As far as internships and master’s theses are concerned, Codepo fits in with existing arrangements defined at EPB concerning the timetable, assessment, etc.

An internship consists of 12 full-time weeks spent by an EPB student entirely with a Global South partner. During this period, the student acts as a professional in response to a specific intervention need identified by the partner, the scope of which is consistent with 12 weeks of full-time work. A teacher at the EPB monitors the work from a distance.

A master’s thesis is a piece of work produced throughout the academic year and assessed at the end of it. It is scientific research supervised by an EPB professor, which aims to answer an open question. For the Codepo master’s theses, a field trip lasting one to three months is generally planned in February–April, usually to collect useful data that can then be analyzed to answer the posed question.

2.3. Disseminating Results

Disseminating the results of the projects is an integral part of the mission of Codepo.

First, scientific dissemination is intimately linked to research through publication in scientific journals and specialized conferences. To date, the technical results obtained during the Codepo projects have been the subject of over 20 publications (a few of them are referenced in Section 2.4), with numerous master students listed as co-authors.

Second, disseminating results is essential to reach and motivate (future) students, as well as to raise awareness of development issues in the public. To this end, each group of Codepo students is invited to share their experience via a variety of channels, such as a press release, a video, interviews, etc. Over the past few years, more than forty press articles reporting on Codepo projects have been published (see the full list in the Supplementary Materials—note that all these press articles are in French). We have also set up various specific disseminating channels, such as a web page (https://polytech.ulb.be/fr/international/cellule-de-cooperation-au-developpement, accessed on 26 October 2024) and a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Codepolytech/, accessed on 26 October 2024). This dissemination is doubly beneficial: it is motivating for the students and considered positive by the EPB authorities, even if it is difficult to quantify its impact on student recruitment for the school.

2.4. Scientific and Societal Topics of the Codepo Projects

Thanks to the needs of its partners in the Global South and the expertise of EPB teachers wishing to be involved, Codepo has developed significant expertise in five areas.

In the agri-food sector, the main objectives of the Codepo projects are to support projects to design and deploy solar dryers for foodstuffs (rice, fish, mangoes, pineapples, tomatoes, pepper, etc.) within farmers’ cooperatives in developing countries. Over the years, Codepo has specialized in developing robust, modular dryers that are simple to build, based on sound scientific approaches, and make maximum use of solar energy. Detailed construction manuals and technology fact sheets have been drawn up (see an example of such a document in the Supplementary Materials). This work is being carried out in support of a wide network of partners in Brazil, Cambodia, Uganda, etc. (see, for instance [15], providing some details about a project in Brazil involving several master students).

The work of Codepo in the field of agrofuels was carried out in support of the action of the NGO GERES in Benin and Mali, whose objective is to set up local agrofuel chains based on the local production of Jatropha Curcas-based biofuels. More specifically, Codepo students have developed a system for purifying the vegetable oil obtained after pressing Jatropha Curcas seeds. Students have also drawn up an overall quality analysis plan for the NGO’s action and designed a seed storage and drying room.

In the biomedical field, in partnership with the NGO ULB Coopération and through several group projects and master’s theses, the main goal of Codepo is to build up the capacity of hospitals in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bolivia. Because of the expertise available at the EPB, the work of Codepo is mainly in the field of information technology. For example, Codepo has carried out several projects aimed at helping these centers with their management: setting up IT systems to manage patient and financial data and creating storage and solar power systems for IT equipment.

Codepo supports several projects aiming at demonstrating that adding value to the biodiversity of South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia has enormous potential in local and international markets, whether in the form of food ingredients or purified extracts. For instance, Codepo has developed expertise in the design and use of systems for extracting essential oils from various plants, such as eucalyptus or lemongrass (as an example, see related documents in the Supplementary Materials).

Finally, in the field of the environment, Codepo works mainly with COOPAGAL, the cooperative responsible for producing drinking water for the town of Camiri (in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia). Within this framework, Codepo is studying the relevance of Riverbed Filtration catchment systems as alternatives for producing drinking water in some areas of the world (see, notably, the paper of Blavier et al. [16], with four former master students as co-authors).

2.5. Points of Attention

To conclude this presentation of the Codepo unit, we would like to emphasize three key elements that we feel are important in setting up a teaching unit devoted to international service learning.

2.5.1. Development Goals

It is common practice to position any development cooperation project in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) when defining it [17]. Therefore, Codepo has devised a yearly workshop aimed at immersing all bachelor students at EPB in the principles of cooperation and critical analysis within the context of their English course in the first year of their bachelor’s degree. By emphasizing the alignment of development initiatives with SDGs and providing a platform for critical analysis, this workshop underscores the significance of integrating cooperation and SDG awareness into the curriculum from the inaugural year of study. Inspired by the methodology of the Climate Fresk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Climate_Fresk, accessed on 26 October 2024), the workshop employs a visual approach to facilitate learning. Students are presented with Codepo case studies and are tasked with creating a fresco-like representation of these projects. Through this visual medium, participants are encouraged to explore the interplay between development initiatives and global sustainability targets.

Two of the case studies used are given in the Supplementary Materials; they also provide an excellent illustration of the cooperative work carried out by Codepo students.

2.5.2. Funding

It must be stressed that a vital element in the continuity of a system like Codepo is its financial sustainability. For the time being, students are only asked to provide for their own needs in terms of food when they are in the field with our southern partners. The rest of the projects (airfares, accommodation, material costs, etc.) are funded by Codepo, which today represents a budget of around 25,000 euros per year. Over the years, this has been made possible by a combination of multiple funding sources, both within ULB and from outside ULB. As far as funding from outside ULB is concerned, two elements can be highlighted. Firstly, in Belgium, there is a specific program dedicated to global citizenship education, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aimed at students in French-speaking universities. This program, through competitive calls to which Codepo students systematically apply, enables the funding of travel grants to partner countries of the Belgian cooperation, as well as the funding of collaborative projects led by Belgian students. Moreover, and this ties in with the results of the students’ evaluations of the Codepo initiative (see Section 4.4.1), it should be noted that Codepo receives recurrent support from EPB alumni (5000 euros per year), which shows how important it is for them, and particularly for those who have participated in a Codepo project, to maintain such a structure inside their alma mater.

2.5.3. Valorization by ECTS

The last point to emphasize, already highlighted by Salam et al. [1] and Oakes et al. [2], is that we feel that it is essential that participation in an initiative such as Codepo, which generally aims to encourage civic involvement, should be valued in terms of ECTS in the students’ curriculums. This is obviously the case when a student carries out a Codepo-labeled master’s thesis or internship, as these are pre-existing teaching activities, but it is also the case for group projects, which, as mentioned previously, are an official part of EPB master’s programs. It is worth noting that ULB Engagée (https://engagee.ulb.be/piveau/, accessed on 26 October 2024), a non-profit organization set up to encourage, facilitate, strengthen, and enhance students’ social commitment, has recently published a ULB-wide document listing all the actions that enable civic commitment to be valued in terms of ECTS credits (see Supplementary Materials—PIVEAU document in French).

3. Survey Methodology

As stated in the introduction, the basic element of our methodology was to conduct a survey among former Codepo participants to challenge our four research hypotheses. More precisely, the questions addressed by the survey were designed:

• to highlight the skills developed during the participation in an ISL project, as perceived by engineering students;
• to analyze the perceived value of participation in an ISL project within an engineering curriculum;
• to analyze the link between participation in an ISL project and the subsequent civic involvement of the students;
• to give information to draw lessons learned related to the implementation of an ISL program such as Codepo.

The survey was conducted online with LimeSurvey. All questions were optional, and the survey was anonymous.

Sixteen cohorts of students were analyzed (EPB graduates between 2008 and 2023). Within these 16 cohorts, 192 students took part in a Codepo project. Via the various EPB career tracking tools, we were able to identify an active email address for 150 of these former students, and they were contacted to fill out the survey. One hundred and twenty-three students (partially) responded, giving a response rate of 82% for the students contacted. And the sample surveyed represents 64% of all Codepo students over the 16 cohorts.

A total of 39% of the respondents identified as women, 58% as men, and 3% as non-gendered. It is noteworthy that, among the 16 cohorts of graduated students, 30% were recorded as women. This over-representation of women (39% of the Codepo participants versus 30% of the entire student group) is a common feature of global citizenship education [18].

Among the 123 students who responded to the survey, 78 participated in a group project, 44 did a master’s thesis with Codepo, and 14 completed an internship with Codepo. The sum is larger than 123 because the same student may have had several experiences with Codepo. Africa was the South Global partner’s continent of origin in most cases (56%), ahead of Southeast Asia (25%) and South America (19%).

The quantitative part of the survey was composed of several closed questions.

We first asked the former students about the skills they had developed during their participation in a Codepo project. As detailed in Section 4.1 below, seven statements were proposed, and for each of them, they could choose between Strongly disagree/Somewhat disagree/Neither agree nor disagree/Somewhat agree/Strongly agree.

Next, we asked them about their perceived value of participation in a Codepo project. As detailed in Section 4.2 below, four statements were again proposed to the former students, and for each of them, they could choose between Strongly disagree/Somewhat disagree/Neither agree nor disagree/Somewhat agree/Strongly agree.

Note that we also performed a correlation analysis between the answers given to these eleven questions (the seven about the skills exercised within the framework of Codepo and the four about the value of participation in an ISL project during an engineering curriculum). This analysis is provided in Appendix A (Figure A1) so as not to weigh down the body of the text. We also calculated Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for all responses to these eleven questions, giving a value of 0.74, ensuring good internal consistency.

Then, four semi-closed questions were related to the civic involvement of the students and its connection to the Codepo teaching unit: Before Codepo, did you participate in a development cooperation or humanitarian project? Aside from your participation in Codepo, have you found any other opportunities in your engineering training to become involved in various civic activities? After your engineering studies, did you work in development cooperation? Did Codepo encourage you to become involved in social causes other than development cooperation? If the answer to the last question was “yes”, the former student was invited to openly detail this civic engagement.

Finally, the qualitative part of the survey comprised several open-ended questions, allowing us to draw lessons learned: What did you appreciate the most about participating in a Codepo project? What did you regret about the experience? Why is the Codepo teaching unit important in an engineer’s curriculum?

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. What Skills Are Developed by Taking Part in Codepo’s Activities?

Table 1. Skills developed by taking part in Codepo’s activities, as perceived by engineering students. Items are sorted in descending order in “Strongly agree” (last column).

Number of Respondents: 112	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Tend to Agree	Strongly Agree
Teamwork skills—with partners in the Global South	2	6	21	34	49
Project management skills	0	3	12	50	47
Teamwork skills—with fellow ULB students	9	6	17	40	40
Skills related to communication	0	7	27	44	34
Technical or scientific skills	0	6	12	62	32
Skills in development cooperation	4	6	28	43	31
Stress management skills	7	12	37	33	23
Total	22	46	154	306	256

shows the responses regarding the skills developed through participation in Codepo’s activities. Overall, students appreciated the development of their skills (e.g., many “tend to agree” or “strongly agree”), particularly emphasizing teamwork—both with their partners in the Global South and with their peers—and management skills.

By assigning a number to each of these answers (Strongly disagree: 1, Somewhat disagree: 2, Neither agree nor disagree: 3, Tend to agree: 4, Strongly agree: 5), some of these results can be presented with an average score and a standard deviation (STD):

• Project management skills topped the list with an average of 4.26 (STD = 0.76), showing that students widely feel they have improved in this area;
• Teamwork with partners in the South was rated highly at 4.09 (STD = 1.00), indicating that students value the international collaboration experience;
• Technical/scientific skills followed closely with an average of 4.07 (STD = 0.78), showing that the program supports the development of these competencies;
• Teamwork with ULB peers had a lower average of 3.86 (STD = 1.20), with a wider range of responses indicating differing experiences in the collaboration;
• Development cooperation skills were rated at 3.81 (STD = 1.02), showing that while many students felt improvement, this area was not universally perceived as strong.

4.2. What Is the Perceived Value of Taking Part in a Codepo Project During an Engineer’s Curriculum?

Table 2. Value of Codepo’s activities in an engineer’s curriculum, as perceived by former students. Items are sorted in descending order in “Strongly agree” (last column).

Number of Respondents: 112	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Tend to Agree	Strongly Agree
The project deals with a “real” problem.	1	1	13	39	58
It requires you to be autonomous and creative.	2	0	11	44	55
It aims to create a real benefit for individuals.	3	8	16	45	40
The duration of a project allows for the generation of in-depth learning.	4	8	25	40	35
Total	10	17	65	168	188

shows the answers regarding the perceived value of taking part in the activities of a teaching unit as Codepo in an engineering curriculum. Overall, students appreciated its added value (e.g., many “strongly agree”), emphasizing autonomy, creativity, and the real challenges of a field project (compared to purely didactic projects).

These results can also be presented in terms of average score and standard deviation:

• Real-world problem focus received the highest average of 4.36 (STD = 0.79), showing strong agreement among students that dealing with real problems is a key strength of an ISL program;
• Autonomy and creativity followed closely with an average of 4.34 (STD = 0.80), indicating that students appreciated the independence and creative demands of the projects;
• Creating real benefits averaged 3.99 (STD = 1.02), reflecting a generally positive view, though with more variation in responses;
• In-depth learning due to project duration was rated lower, with an average of 3.84 (STD = 1.06), suggesting more mixed feelings about whether the duration of projects truly allows for in-depth learning.

Looking at the combined results of Table 1 and Table 2 allows for an interesting conclusion to be drawn. When alumni were asked their opinion on the value of the projects, it may seem surprising that the item “It aims to create a real benefit for individuals” did not receive maximum support. Similarly, “Skills in development cooperation” was not mentioned as the item most worked on during the projects. As shown by Celio et al. [19], the benefits of a service-learning scheme are often manifold, and it is difficult to pinpoint only one.

4.3. Training for Cooperation or Encouraging Civic Involvement?

Only 17% of the students answered “yes” to the question “Before Codepo, did you participate in a development cooperation or humanitarian project?”. And less than 40% of students said they had been able to find ways other than Codepo to become involved in a citizenship project as part of their studies. It shows that Codepo is fulfilling its objective of first experience, i.e., offering something that is not easily accessible to the students elsewhere.

To the question, “After your engineering studies, did you work in development cooperation?”, 82% of Alumni responded “never”; 6% responded, “during a part of my career”, and 12% responded, “Until today, I dedicated my entire career to development cooperation”. Moreover, to the question, “Did Codepo encourage you to get involved in social causes other than development cooperation?” 32% of the Alumni responded “yes” with sustainable development projects, aid for refugees, ecological transition, fight against social inequalities, defense of feminist causes, and social entrepreneurship as examples of these other social commitments.

These results align with Codepo’s mission of developing a spirit of citizenship rather than teaching development cooperation. Bielefeldt et al. [20] more generally confirm the impact of service learning on civic engagement.

4.4. Open Questions and Lessons Learned

Table 3. Open-ended questions about what was most enjoyed during the experience. Items were grouped and sorted in descending order.

Answers to the Open-Ended Questions about What Was Most Enjoyed during the Experience	N
Discover another culture/stay with partners in the Global South	42
A real project that is useful	26
The development of “classical” engineering skills (technical, scientific, project management)	17
Teamwork with other students at my university	13
Guidance from the Codepo members	13
Working with partners in the Global South	12
Autonomy granted	8
Gain a better understanding of the world of development cooperation	4

and

Table 4. Open-ended questions about what was most regrettable during the experience. Items were grouped and sorted in descending order.

Answers to the Open-Ended Questions about What Was Most Regretted during the Experience	N
I have not regretted anything	19
I was disappointed with the concrete results of the project.	14
Lack of news on the follow-up of the project	11
Communication in the South (or with partner NGOs) was complicated.	10
The project is too short.	9
Lack of upstream preparation (technical or cooperation)	7
Undervaluation in terms of credits/place in the curriculum	3

illustrate, respectively, what students most enjoyed and regretted during the experience (several answers possible). Answers were open and grouped into topics. Generally, the experience was positive for the majority. Again, the real challenges of a field project and allowing for the discovery of new cultures are assets. However, it comes with challenges and issues, among others, regarding communication and follow-up of the project.

Globally, the results of the survey allow for the drawing of several lessons learned, detailed in the following subsections.

4.4.1. A Lasting Attachment to the School and a Better Vision of the Engineer’s Identity

The participation rate in the Codepo survey was 82%, which was much higher than what is generally observed for this type of questionnaire (usually, at ULB, for this kind of survey to alumni, the participation rate ranges between 20% and 25%). This rate appears to demonstrate an attachment to Codepo, even several years later. We observe that students who have participated in the activities of Codepo remain closer to the EPB in various ways: involvement in the EPB’s various associations; participation in EPB alumni activities; fundraising, etc. While the strong attachment to the school is highlighted as a positive aspect, it is worth exploring why this attachment exists. Is it solely due to the professional experiences and/or the memories on the field, or are there broader social factors at play, such as networks and career opportunities?

4.4.2. The Difficulty of Choosing the Right Projects and Partners

When asked about disappointments linked to the projects, ten students mentioned communication difficulties or a complicated relationship with partners in the Global South. The complexity of finding reliable partners remains a well-known problem in cooperation, and it is often difficult to verify the relevance of a partner who is thousands of kilometers away. One approach we have developed over the years, highlighted in Section 2.4 of this article, is to include many universities from the Global South in our network of partners. This has three advantages: (i) this often makes it possible to set up projects that also involve a group of students at the partner university so that Belgian students work with peers, providing a rich framework for mutual learning; (ii) the scientific and technical results of the projects are mastered by an academic entity within the partner country, which then encourages dissemination in that country; and (iii) we have found over time that the university partners are reliable and well-involved in the projects. Nevertheless, we should analyze whether reliance on university partners—despite their reliability—might introduce institutional biases or agendas that differ from those of local NGOs or communities on the ground.

4.4.3. Better Training for Reflexivity

Despite all the effort put into preparing for the trip, the survey shows that some students are disappointed when traveling to the Global South. Students often have rather “romantic” initial ideas about cooperation, but the reality is often more complex. Many groups tend to focus on the engineering part of the project, sometimes losing sight of the overall context. Despite the support of the NGO ULB cooperation, we think that this point should be further problematized. Why do students continue to have unrealistic expectations despite preparation efforts? Is the preparation truly sufficient? Could other forms of support during and after the experience strengthen students’ abilities to critically reflect on their own position within the context of international cooperation, particularly in relation to power dynamics and global inequalities?

4.4.4. Keeping Former Students Informed About the Progress of Their Projects

As the initial objective of Codepo was to provide an authentic project-based learning experience combining cooperation and engineering, it never developed any communication tools for its alumni. When asked about the regrets of the students, eleven spontaneously regretted not having had more news about the follow-up to their project. With around thirty different projects, it is very difficult, even for Codepo members, to keep abreast of progress. The fact that alumni regret the lack of project follow-up indicates a structural flaw. More rigorous follow-up could be explored, not only for the well-being of alumni but also to ensure the sustainability and long-term impact of student projects in the Global South. This raises the question of the long-term viability of short-term student interventions.

4.4.5. The Importance of the Stay in the Global South

Since 2006, Codepo has attached particular importance to enabling every student to realize a field trip on a partner’s premises. This is obviously very costly in terms of time and money, and therefore, as mentioned in Section 2.5.2, requires both fundraising engineering (as mentioned previously, the trip is at no cost to the student) and competent supervision, including during the field. This approach also limits the number of projects that can be carried out each year.

The survey results confirm the importance of this field trip in the Global South: almost half of the respondents mention field experience as the major asset of Codepo. This intuitive result is also observed when measuring the added value of a project “in the field” (compared with more traditional project-based learning) [21].

4.4.6. Empowering Students

Letting students in their early twenties travel for several weeks to countries with poor security and precarious conditions can be a source of anxiety. There is a strong temptation to “over-frame” or sanitize the conditions of the trip. However, developing autonomy and a sense of responsibility are two major objectives of this type of initiative. The Codepo unit has always opted to give students a sense of responsibility, but with an important amount of preparation prior to departure. Several students praised this approach during the survey.

4.5. Adapting the Codepo Model to Other Disciplines

Although the Codepo model is specifically designed for engineering students, its core principles—experiential learning, real-world problem solving, and civic engagement—are applicable to other disciplines such as law and pharmacy. These two examples are not chosen at random. Many law faculties encourage service learning during the curriculum through law clinics, while a structure similar to Codepo has recently been set up within the Faculty of Pharmacy at ULB. For example, law students could participate in ISL projects focused on international human rights advocacy, while pharmacy students might contribute to global health initiatives. These disciplines share the same need for hands-on experience and civic engagement that ISL provides. The primary challenge in adapting the Codepo model to non-engineering fields would be to align project objectives with the specific professional skills required in each field while maintaining the focus on cooperation and social impact. Moreover, unlike engineers, lawyers and pharmacists would have a more direct impact on policy, legislation, or public health, which could introduce stronger ethical dimensions in their interventions. This would also require different types of partnerships, for instance, with local health institutions or courts, rather than the more technical partners engineers work with.

4.6. Limitations of This Study

This study shows several limitations. First, it focuses on a single institution, limiting the generalizability of the findings. Second, the geographical scope of the program—primarily involving projects in Africa (56% of the projects)—may introduce biases related to the specific contexts of these regions. Lastly, the self-reported nature of the survey data may introduce response bias, as participants with particularly strong opinions about the program might be more likely to respond. Future research could benefit from a multi-institutional approach, incorporating a wider range of ISL programs and contexts to validate these findings.

5. Conclusions

The Codepo initiative at the École polytechnique de Bruxelles exemplifies how international service learning can be effectively integrated into an engineering curriculum.

Our results show that former Codepo students perceive this initiative as having enabled them to enhance their technical skills, civic engagement, and overall educational experience. The survey results reveal that alumni highly value the opportunities provided by Codepo to apply their learning in real-world contexts and develop a sense of social responsibility. More precisely, our results showed that teamwork, both with other Belgian students and with partners from the Global South, is a skill that students perceive as being worked on in depth during their participation in the Codepo projects, as are general project management skills. From the point of view of the relevance of a teaching unit such as Codepo within an engineering school, the former students point to the need it generates for autonomy and creativity, the fact that it enables them to tackle a “real” problem, and the fact that it creates a real benefit for individuals. Most remarkably, our survey showed that Codepo generated involvement in social causes other than development cooperation for around one-third of the former students and that it created a strong attachment to their engineering school.

These findings underscore the importance of ISL programs in fostering a well-rounded engineering education. Moving forward, it is crucial to continue refining these programs, addressing challenges, and ensuring their sustainability: working on reflexivity, encouraging autonomy, and finding the right partners remain major challenges for Codepo.

By sharing our insights and lessons learned, we hope to support other institutions in implementing similar initiatives, ultimately contributing to the broader goal of producing socially responsible and technically proficient engineers.