IN4SOC

Socio-Civic Competences

The social and civic responsibility of university students, institutions and organizations is supported through IN4SOC, as its main objective is to promote socio-civic (SOC) internships in higher education.

This project is committed to train socially engaged engineering professionals, with enhanced socio-civic values, as well as professional, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. This is the main aim of the resulting SOC internships to be created and promoted within the IN4SOC partnership.

The social and civic competence is defined as a key competence by The European Reference Framework of Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006 Recommendation on Key Competences), the Council of Europe Competences for Democratic Culture, and the Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning COM(2018) 24 final.

Social and civic competences include personal, interpersonal and intercultural competence and cover all forms of behaviour that equip individuals to participate in an effective and constructive way in social and working life, and particularly in increasingly diverse societies, and to resolve conflicts where necessary. Civic competence equips individuals to fully participate in civic life, based on knowledge of social and political concepts and structures and a commitment to active and democratic participation.

SOC internships aim for a greater involvement of higher education institutions in regional engagement while promoting at the same time fostering the European citizenship and engagement, considering the available Erasmus+ Mobility for Traineeships scholarships.

The IN4SOC partnership is thus set to operate transnationally so that students can apply for internships in their region or abroad, which is intended to enhance their view on SOC responsibility, and a higher understanding of the cultural and social diversity, in line with the needs of the labour market and beyond the boundaries of a specific University or country.

It is possible to identify a long list of socio-civic competences which means that students will not be able to work on all the socio-civic dimensions. For this project, a specific set of competences has been listed, based on the text of the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning.

The list used for the IN4SOC project can be divided into personal competences, social competences, learning to learn competences, citizenship competences and common values.

PERSONAL COMPETENCES are related to the enhancement of own’s capacities and limits. They contribute to the correct management of tasks and the accomplishment of goals.

  1. Time management (E.g. managing deadlines, avoiding procrastination, timeline management, frequency of delayed deliveries).
  2. Information management (E.g. identifying reliable sources, managing high volumes of information, ensuring data quality, storage, clarity and order, abilities to recall information, etc.).
  3. Ability to make decisions (E.g. showing initiative and making autonomous decisions in a reasonable period of time, setting priorities).
  4. Ability to cope with uncertainty (E.g. identifying different scenarios and alternatives, being able to change And adapt strategies, showing initiative and leadership to deal with unspecific goals and means).
  5. Ability to cope with complexity (E.g. being able to manage different projects simultaneously, efficient multitasking, dealing with operations that involve multiple teams).
  6. Ability to identify one’s capacities (E.g. showing initiative and confidence to contribute with one’s own capabilities, delegating or rejecting tasks that are beyond your limits and capabilities).
  7. Ability to focus (E.g. identifying and accomplishing task priorities, fulfilling tasks, etc.).
  8. Ability to critically reflect (E.g. critically thinking for problem-solving, using creativity to solve problems, use of lateral thinking).
  9. Ability to work autonomously (E.g. being able to work by targets and goals, without continuous support or supervision).
  10. Ability to express your own viewpoint (E.g. being able to contradict and disagree in a power or numeric asymmetry situation).
  11. Dedication to reflect upon yourself (Allocating time to reflect on your ways of working or behaving, being able to identify your skills, strengths, weaknesses etc.)
  12. Integrity (E.g. Coherence and constancy respecting one’s own values and standards).
  13. Management of stress

SOCIAL COMPETENCES are related with social interaction and interpersonal communication.

  1. Constructive collaboration with others
  2. Interpersonal relations
  3. Understanding the codes of conduct generally accepted in different societies and environments (E.g. adapating manners and behaviour to local and external situations, considering cultural diversity) 
  4. Understanding the rules of communication generally accepted in different societies and environments (E.g. adapting language and communication to local and external situations) 
  5. Empathy (E.g. considering others’ difficulties and limitations)
  6. Understanding different viewpoints (E.g. listening to others’ contributions and suggestions, respecting their validity and considering them)
  7. Showing tolerance
  8. Ability to negotiate (E.g. ability to reconsider one’s own goals and give in, and to constructively meet an agreement) 
  9. Ability to manage conflicts (E.g. ability to deal with different interests and viewpoints in a conflictive situation in order to find a reasonable and fair solution)
  10. Ability to collaborate in teams (E.g. being able to manage workload and communication during shared tasks)
  11. Creating confidence (E.g. acknowledge of others’ value and contributions, showing availability and understanding)
  12. Attitude of collaboration (E.g. Initiative to contribute with one’s own capabilities and time) 
  13. Assertiveness (E.g. communicating one’s own viewpoint, goals or interests in a constructive manner and considering others’ situations)
  14. Being prepared to compromise (E.g. respecting agreements with partners, employers and co-workers)

LEARNING TO LEARN COMPETENCES are those advantages that help facing challenges concerning decisions about their present and future career opportunities.

  1. Identifying your competence development needs (Knowing what competences you need to achieve your professional and live success)
    Identifying ways to develop competences (Examples of building competences are seeking feedback on your performance and asking the right questions)  
  2. Identifying ways to search for education, training and career opportunities (E.g. online and offline educational resources, scholarships, job portals, networks and other formal and informal ways to seek opportunities)
  3. Ability to organize and persevere with one’s learning (E.g. constancy with courses, diversifying training, balance between a coherent and wide-embracing career, etc.)
  4. Ability to learn collaboratively (E.g. participating in research groups and thematic forums)
  5. Ability to learn autonomously (E.g. identifying reliable knowledge sources)
  6. Ability to identify and set goals
  7. Ability to motivate yourself
  8. Establishing a problem-solving attitude (E.g. focusing on practical attitudes and efficient decision-making)
  9. Ability to handle obstacles
  10. Ability to change and adapt to changes (E.g. Updating career itineraries and making complementary training)
  11. Curiosity to look for opportunities to learn and develop in a variety of life contexts

CITIZENSHIP COMPETENCES have been divided into responsibility, awareness and participation aspects. These competences encompass key knowledge, skills and attitudes for the development of values in the framework of an active citizenship. The outcomes of the learned individual and collective actions are bound to sustainability improvement, democracy reinforcement and a better coexistence within communities.

a) Responsibility: personal actions aimed at contributing to the promotion of social values

  1. Active support for gender equality
  2. Support for sustainable lifestyles (E.g. questioning consumption patterns)
  3. Promotion of culture of peace and non-violence (E.g. supporting financial companies that do not invest in weaponry)
  4. Readiness to respect the privacy of others (E.g. privacy-friendly social network behaviour)
  5. Readiness to take responsibility for the environment (E.g. participating in initiatives aimed at protecting the environment)

 b) Participation: collective actions aimed at contributing to the promotion of social values

  1. Engagement with others in common or public interest (E.g. participating in action networks, political parties, or interest groups) 
  2. Skills to develop constructive participation in community activities (E.g. voluntary community service, participating in neighbourhood-level initiatives)
  3. Ability to access, have a critical understanding of, and interact with traditional forms of media  (E.g. newspapers, magazines, TV, regardless print/digital version)
  4. Ability to access, have a critical understanding of, and interact with new forms of media (E.g. digital social networks, blogs)
  5. Willingness to participate in democratic decision-making at all levels and civic activities(E.g. leveraging existing mechanisms to influence formal politics)

c) Awareness: showing interest and understanding citizenship-related frameworks and phenomena

  1. Knowledge of basic concepts and phenomena relating to individuals, groups, work organizations, society, economy and culture
  2. Awareness of the aims, values and policies of  political and social movements
  3. Awareness of climate change at the global level and their underlying causes
  4. Awareness of demographic change at the global level and their underlying causes
  5. Knowledge of European integration
  6. Understanding of the multi-cultural and socioeconomic dimensions of European societies (E.g. knowledge of demographic diversity of other European societies regarding language, ethnicity, religion, etc.) 
  7. Understand the role and functions of media in democratic societies
  8. Critical thinking (E.g. critical consumption of media, critical understanding and adoption of viewpoints) 
  9. Interest in political developments
  10. Interest in socioeconomic developments
  11. Interest in humanities

The EUROPEAN COMMON VALUES are listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and include:

  1. Human dignity
  2. Freedom
  3. Democracy
  4. Equality
  5. Rule of Law
  6. Human Rights
  7. Rights of minorities
  8. Pluralism
  9. Tolerance
  10. Justice
  11. Solidarity