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

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.