Service-Learning is a teaching-learning methodology which contributes to achieving academic competences related to the curriculum while performing a service for the benefit of the community. Sustainability and protection of water resources are aspects of vital importance in regions like the Canary Islands, where Universidad de La Laguna offers a Chemical Engineering Degree strongly focused on sustainable environmental technologies.

In the last decades, the necessity of developing new and less conventional skills in engineering students has promoted the implementation of academic activities that contribute to achieve significant learning outcomes. For many years, the Department of Chemical Engineering of Universidad de La Laguna has supervised numerous Final Degree Projects in collaboration with the institutions responsible for the management of water resources in Tenerife. In the current contribution, the successful case of Service-Learning approach applied in a Final Project of Chemical Engineering Degree is discussed at different levels: vocational training, skill integration, real-local problem solving, community impact and institutional recognition.

This Final Degree Project arose from the lack of sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities in small communities in the Anaga Rural Park, a protected area on the island of Tenerife with little and scattered population. In this area, the shortage of water for agricultural irrigation associated with the lack of rainfall and the resulting water emergency situation led to a complex scenario that hindered the development of traditional subsistence agriculture.

The approach to mitigate this shortage was by the implementation of the Service-Learning methodology through a Final Degree Project. The student involved in the project developed soft skills (communication, empathy) with the people of the Anaga Rural Park, but also by collaborating with workers of the city council and of the local water supply company working in the park. The student gained self-confidence and reinforced her technical competencies in environmental technologies.

On the other hand, with this project, the inhabitants of Anaga felt that their problems had finally been addressed and that the solution provided would be implemented soon by the municipal authorities and the water company. The project was also awarded by the Tenerife Local Government with the annual prize of best Service-Learning Project of Universidad de La Laguna in 2024.

Keywords: Vocational training, empathy, community, sustainability.