A Service-Learning Project (S-LP) is a teaching experience through which the concepts
covered during an educational course can practically be applied to address a given social problem.
It is therefore a useful teaching methodology to bring courses closer to the real world. An S-LP
experience is reported in this paper that was conducted with students of agricultural engineering to
address the problem of rural depopulation, through the design of agri-food buildings for industries,
and economic activities that help to maintain a stable population. After the S-LP, a survey was
administered to both students and teachers, to assess the success of this teaching experience. The
responses of the students showed not only an awareness of the social problem that was addressed,
but also a critical spirit that led them to seek the best possible answer, and a global vision of the issue.
It helped them to reflect on all of its facets to arrive at a way of engaging with the social problem.
Importantly, the students were able to reflect upon how engineers can also serve society through
their technical knowledge. The teachers indicated that the S-LP motivated the students on the course,
while enabling them to successfully learn the concepts, and to develop independent study skills
searching for information. In general, an S-LP is an experience that the teachers in this study would
recommend and that could be especially relevant for universities assuming a role as a social entity to
heighten the visibility of social problems and needs.
