First-year students working on real societal challenges

The Societal Impact Project already existed when Raffaele became involved. It had originally been developed with Comenius funding, and Raffaele first took part as a coach before later becoming its coordinator. When he took over, he wanted the projects to have a clearer connection with society outside the university. Students would still learn through the projects, but he wanted what they did to matter to people beyond the campus too.

In 2025, around 30 first-year Biomedical Sciences students took part in the initiative. They worked in small groups on topics proposed by coaches and chose projects based on their interests. What he particularly valued in the initiative is the responsibility students took on at a very early stage of their studies. “They were not students anymore, in a way. They were project leaders.” 

Once the projects began, the students were given considerable freedom. They organised themselves, decided how to approach the issue and contacted the people and organisations they needed.

One group investigated whether encouraging sedentary students to exercise more could also affect their academic performance. The students approached UM Sports and negotiated a discount for people taking part in the project.

Raffaele helped them prepare but deliberately did not take over the conversation. “I was there as support, but I let them lead. They were a bit scared and insecure, but they overcame that.”

Another group developed workshops about social media use for children at United World College. The students created videos, games and materials themselves and thought about how to communicate not only with children but also with their parents.

At times, the groups became so independent that Raffaele had to ask them to keep him informed: “Sometimes I even had to tell them, ‘Hey guys, update me,’ because they forgot, but they kept going.”

For Raffaele, the student development was as important as the societal projects themselves. Students had to organise, negotiate, present, solve problems and work with people outside the university. 

Because they were using these skills to achieve something they cared about, they were learning them in practice rather than as a separate exercise. “I think by experiencing, you learn. In this case, they could actually do good for society and learn and grow at the same time.”

The programme also included workshops on presentation skills, creative problem solving and transdisciplinary working. At the end of the projects, Raffaele had to point out to students how much they had actually done. “I told them: what you just did is something that maybe not even a fifth year or master’s student, or even a PhD student, has done. I tried to make them aware of what they have achieved.” 

The EDLAB grant did not create the Societal Impact Project. It provided additional support that allowed Raffaele and the coaches to run it with more resources. The funding covered staff hours, workshops and practical costs for student projects, such as printing materials, catering and organising events. 

Raffaele describes the grant as “an extra that allowed me to do it properly rather than having to save on things.” That practical support mattered for an extracurricular programme where students and staff were often meeting and working outside regular teaching hours.

Some of the student projects have had a life beyond the formal end of the programme.

Raffaele mentions students who continued working with organisations they had met during their projects, including initiatives involving older people and people facing socioeconomic difficulties.

One project on vaping among young people was even shortlisted for a student award presented during the opening of the academic year. 

A previous group organised an event at Tapijn about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, attracting around 70 participants and involving international professors.

These examples are important to Raffaele because they show students that what they do as part of their education can have a result outside the classroom. 

The longer term future of the Societal Impact Project is less certain.

Raffaele had hoped to develop the extracurricular programme into a more structural elective or curricular activity. He applied for further funding to work on that transition, but the application was unsuccessful.

That leaves a gap between a project that students and teachers value and the funding needed to keep it running. Raffaele remains keen to continue the work, but he is also aware that an extracurricular programme cannot depend indefinitely on teachers finding time and small amounts of temporary funding.

His experience shows both what a relatively small grant can make possible and the question that follows when an education innovation works: how can it move from temporary project funding to a more permanent place in education?