Abstract:

As part of the Civil Engineering degree at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, various Service-learning projects have been developed where students have not only learnt the value of the heritage of public works, but have also managed to disseminate it by becoming guides.

The most recent of these Service-Learning experiences, in which students have participated throughout the first semester of 2023, is entitled "Stations: places of exchange". Through explanatory videos of several railway and metro stations and guided visits to them, they presented their technical and heritage relevance. They demonstrated that stations are places of exchange, relationships, urban connection and civic life, bringing together technological, functional, social, cultural and emotional aspects. In short, they helped to spread their essence as shared spaces, both physically and culturally (cinema, music, art, etc.).

Through this project, on the one hand, the students have made society aware of the importance of civil engineering in the life of the city, highlighted the value of the city's built and cultural heritage, and created civic and social bonds. On the other hand, the students learned through experience the historical, technological, functional and cultural aspects of the stations: how they work, how they were built and how they are used. They also learned to communicate the profession, to link engineering activity to society and to value the construction of public works as useful and sustainable infrastructures.

After several classroom workshops on topics as diverse as mobility and railway functionality, video recording, preparing and carrying out guided tours, etc., the students worked in pairs to produce videos of a maximum length of 140 seconds for a total of 45 stations. These videos will soon be uploaded to a digital platform developed by the Miguel Aguiló Foundation, with information on stations in the capital.

Finally, the students carried out guided visits to Atocha and Chamartín stations with the general public, but also with a group of elderly people and members of the DownMadrid association. These visits were not limited to the interior of the stations, but were related to and connected with the city. Both from a heritage point of view and from use and relationship with citizens, with a focus on vulnerable groups and green spaces.

All the stations are useful. Their main function is to connect, to serve as a place for exchange, urban relations and use by citizens. In the same way, the Service-Learning methodology is useful for social services. It allows to integrate, in the same educational project, the learning of contents, skills and values of civil engineering, in particular the technology and the heritage of the stations, and the service to the community as the recipient of the visits and the products of the activity. In short, this Service-Learning project offers a direct service to society with the aim of transforming and improving it.

Keywords:

Civil engineering, public works, service-learning, cultural heritage, tourism.