Digital empowerment of rural communities through service learning in Croatia: students’ gains and challenges

This chapter presents the first attempt at the digital empowerment of rural communities through service learning (SL) in a community-university partnership. It draws from action research conducted as part of project RURASL (https://rural.ffzg.unizg.hr/) in Croatia, where students used their academic skills to support the development of the rural community's digital skills. This was accomplished through the digital empowerment of rural pupils and rural woman entrepreneurs. The service-learning projects helped rural women entrepreneurs gain the skills needed to promote their local businesses via social media, while rural pupils engaged in educational robotics achieved a better understanding of computer concepts and enhanced the development of their transversal skills. Finally, the chapter summarizes the benefits, challenges, and critical success factors of digital empowerment through SL in rural Croatia.