EngageComp
A Competence Framework for Student Civic Engagement
Publisher
NextEducation Team der Dualen Hochschule Baden-Würrtemberg
Type of institution
Higher education institution (university, public): Publicly funded universities offering a broad range of academic programs;
University of Applied Sciences (public): Practice-oriented, publicly funded higher education institutions.
Alignment
The report adopts a societal and democracy-oriented perspective, as it places competences in the context of civic engagement and active citizenship at its core. At the same time, it is clearly higher education–focused, as it addresses the role of universities in fostering civic engagement. The study is research-based, drawing on a systematic literature review, the analysis of existing frameworks, as well as qualitative interviews and focus groups. In addition, it follows a practice- and application-oriented approach by developing concrete guidelines and tools for educational institutions. Through its integration into an EU project and its alignment with ESCO, it also reflects a European policy-oriented and strategic dimension.
Definition
Competences are understood as action competences—self-organised dispositions that integrate knowledge, skills, and values into effective, responsible performance in unpredictable contexts (Weinert, 2001; Erpenbeck & von Rosenstiel, 2003; European Commission, 2022). Future Skills provide an appropriate framework: they describe the ability to solve complex problems in emergent contexts in a self-directed way, grounded in values and social responsibility (Ehlers, 2020; Ehlers & Eigbrecht, 2024)
Country
International
Year
2025
Educational sector
Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET); Tertiary/Higher Education; Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
Target groups
Learners – students;
Educators – higher education instructors, academic developers;
Institutional actors/organisations – higher education institutions;
Strategic/system-level target groups – curriculum developers, education strategists.
Citation
Allmang, J., Eigbrecht, L., Gago Garcia, M., Martinez Gorrochategui, A., Urizar Zugazagoitia, A., Duplava, A., & Ehlers, U.-D. (2025).
EngageComp: A competence framework for student civic engagement. EngageAll Consortium.
Direct link to the approach (external)
show review
Show future skills