Soft Skills Courses

This short, asynchronous online course introduces conflict as a social phenomenon shaped by power relations, inequality, and communication practices. Participants will distinguish interpersonal disagreement from conflict dynamics embedded in institutional structures, and identify how authority, norms, and unequal access to voice shape everyday situations of tension. Through concise input units and guided individual reflection tasks, learners will analyse conflict scenarios, reflect on their own positionality, and apply principles of ethical and conflict-sensitive communication. In doing so, the course prepares students to engage more effectively with diverse communities by strengthening critical awareness and responsible interaction—key competences for participation in community-based initiatives such as Living Labs and societal dialogue formats. The course is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines and requires no prior knowledge.

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This course develops participants’ problem-solving competences for community engagement, with a strong focus on responding effectively to real-life challenges in civic, social, and institutional contexts. Participants enhance their capacity to analyse complex situations, identify available resources, and design feasible solutions in collaboration with diverse community stakeholders. The course supports the development of transferable employability skills as they apply to engagement settings, including professional self-presentation, articulating competences and motivations, and recognising social and psychological resources relevant for collaborative work. Practical activities draw on tools commonly used in career development and adapt them to community engagement contexts, such as competence mapping inspired by CV frameworks, interview techniques for stakeholder dialogue, and communication strategies for presenting initiatives, negotiating roles, and building partnerships. Particular emphasis is placed on resilience, adaptability, and reflective practice, enabling participants to respond constructively to uncertainty, disagreement, and evolving community needs throughout collaborative and participatory processes.

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The university, as a social institution, both reflects and shapes society: it responds to historical contexts and social needs, transmits values, and engages with the challenges of its time. Yet its role goes beyond reproducing existing realities. Through its core mission—educating professionals, advancing knowledge, and fostering ethics and culture — the university is also called to act as an agent of social transformation. In this sense, it contributes to economic and social development through education, research, and outreach.

At the same time, because the university is embedded in society, it must understand its work as a process of collaborative and active co-creation with the wider range of social actors. Knowledge is not neutral; it always reflects values and a particular conception of the human person (P. Kolvenbach, S.J.). At Comillas Pontifical University, this commitment to transformation translates into the formation of conscious, competent, committed, and compassionate persons — professionals who strive to build a more humane world. This includes recognising differences as an asset and promoting dialogue as a foundation for peaceful coexistence.

It is within this framework that the training project presented below is situated. Its central objective is community engagement, understood as a conscious social commitment that leads us beyond the academic sphere and into the wider community, with a compassionate outlook and a willingness to place our competences at the service of others.

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This short, asynchronous online course introduces self-reflection as a core competence for meaningful community engagement. By strengthening learners’ awareness of their own assumptions, values, and behavioural patterns, the course supports more intentional and responsible interaction with others—especially in diverse and complex social contexts.

Building on this foundation, the course develops critical thinking as a complementary skill for engaging with real-world challenges. Participants learn to analyse situations systematically, assess arguments with a rational and constructive scepticism, and evaluate information sources in contexts shaped by uncertainty, misinformation, and manipulation. These competences help learners identify personal strengths and limitations, clarify possible courses of action, and navigate community dynamics with greater ethical and strategic awareness.

The course combines short theoretical inputs with guided practice. Participants explore practical methods for developing reflective habits and applying critical analysis in everyday situations. These foundations are consolidated through a structured text-based exercise in which learners critically examine a sample text and reflect on both its content and their own interpretation and responses.

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This module introduces mediation as a core soft skill for effective communication in community engagement. Learners will explore how mediation supports mutual understanding, reduces miscommunication, and enables constructive collaboration in diverse social, civic, and professional settings. Drawing on the Council of Europe’s CEFR framework, the module situates mediation within language learning, intercultural interaction, and meaning-making, thus highlighting its relevance for working across differences and perspectives.

The module also emphasises mediation as a practical competence for building trust, facilitating dialogue, and supporting inclusive participation in community-based initiatives. By strengthening learners’ ability to bridge viewpoints and make communication accessible to all participants, mediation contributes to social cohesion and more effective engagement in collaborative processes.

Participants will develop and practise concrete strategies—including paraphrasing, reformulating, summarising, and negotiating meaning—through realistic scenarios linked to community and multi-stakeholder contexts.

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This micro-course introduces Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation and explores the challenges of participatory mediation practice in citizen engagement within post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina. Students learn to distinguish manipulation from genuine empowerment, navigate ethical dilemmas in participatory mediation practice, and develop reflexive awareness of their own positionality as mediators. Through case studies, interactive ethical scenarios, and exploration of the facilitator’s role, the course builds foundational soft skills in conflict-sensitive community mediation, critical thinking, and ethical responsibility, essential for inclusive participation in divided urban contexts.

This course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students from various disciplines who are interested in participatory processes, urban planning, or post-conflict studies. It is also suitable for early-career professionals in urban planning, architecture, sociology, local policy, or community development, as well as civil society practitioners who are starting to work with participatory methods. Anyone interested in understanding citizen participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is welcome to join. No prior knowledge of participation theory is required.

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This course introduces learners to the foundational phase of problem solving in community engagement contexts: identifying, analysing, and defining the problem. Participants learn to distinguish symptoms from root causes, analyse complex or “messy” situations through multiple perspectives, and formulate clear, actionable problem statements that can guide meaningful intervention.

The course emphasises critical and reflective thinking, systems-informed approaches, and collaborative problem exploration with stakeholders. Learners will apply problem-structuring methods to social and public-policy challenges, with examples drawn from social policy and linked to social justice and inclusion. By strengthening these competences, the course prepares participants to engage more effectively in community-based initiatives, participatory projects, and evidence-informed responses to societal needs.

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The course “From Need to Project: Planning, Tools, and Storytelling?” is designed to empower participants to understand, apply, and reflect on the fundamentals of collaborative project for NGOs, associations, research projects, and other community-driven initiatives. Participants will explore the key stages of project set-up, build familiarity with essential terminology, and analyze practical considerations involved in initiating a project. Through explanatory presentations, examples, and guided activities, the course will support learners in developing ideas and structuring projects. It will also help them communicate their vision through storytelling, using narrative to bridge identified needs and expected results.

Access the complete syllabus here.