Who learns from whom? Building up intergenerational bridges through service learning

One of the challenges faced by university today is how to develop in students the necessary attitudes and competences to become those leaders who will transform their social environment in the short future. An efficient professional qualification is required as well as providing them with scenarios suitable for the acquisition of social and service competences. This paper analyses the results of a project carried out by a group of engineering undergraduate students from the Catholic University of Avila in the University of Experience in Arevalo, a town in the north of Avila (Spain). The interest of this experience lies in its piloting character in our University, together with the multiple learning strategies practiced. The fact that it is the university students that teach the senior citizens offers a valuable pedagogical potential. Besides, it turned out to be a powerful bridge-building experience, strengthening intergenerational relations. Both groups benefited from this service learning project, as it is shown by the results from the surveys, open questions and students' final personal reports. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.