As part of the Erasmus Careers project, the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain) team has carried out a systematic literature review on competence development during international mobility experiences of students in higher education to propose a classification of the competences acquired during mobility experiences. A bibliometric analysis on 108 publications, a content analysis and the results from focus groups organised with students and interns allowed to produce a framework to classify the competences developed during an international student mobility into: Academic gains, Cultural gains, Personal development gains and employability gains. • Academic gains: interactive learning and educational innovation. • Cultural gains: intercultural sensitivity, cultural awareness and language skills. • Personal development gains: autonomy, independence and social skills. • Employability gains: work experience, professional competences and networking. The publications analysed rarely deal with a single competence, but usually focus on a set of competences that often belong to the same cluster (Academic, Cultural, Personal or Employability). Most of the revised publications focus on personal development (although with decreasing interest over time) and cultural gains, while the academic gains are hardly analysed (probably because they are taken for granted). Regarding the option of students and interns, and according to the focus groups’ main conclusions, the most important competencies for those who have had a mobility experience are those related to personal development, although for interns the employability gains are also very relevant. On employability, both students and interns consider that they have more chances of being hired, having the perception employers value the participation in mobility programs. Furthermore, academic publications as well as the students and interns focus groups organised agree that the mobility experience is very positive and that mobility programs largely meet their objectives, improving academic knowledge, language learning or strengthen cooperation between the world of education and training and the world of work. However, there are some aspects of mobility programmes that can still be improved. Some suggestions from students on institutional support in Erasmus mobility can be found on the publication, as follows: • Simplify the bureaucratic process • More appropriate Erasmus+ grant amounts • More opportunities to networking for former Erasmus+ students • Improvement of the administrative support by receiving institutions before the mobility (bureaucratic, accommodation, study programme) • Organisation of free-of-charge (possibility mandatory) language courses in local languages The Erasmus Careers partnership built a database of publications on the topic openly available here. Find the whole document here. Do you want to know more? Visit the project’s website! This research was carried out in the framework of the Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Cooperation Partnership project: Erasmus Careers - 101049436. November 2023, Erasmus Careers Consortium Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

The LLLPlatform was a partner in the Erasmus+ KA2 ‘CODESKILLS4ROBOTICS’ project, a joint effort for the promotion of coding and STEM skills in primary schools involving six partners from four European countries. Spanning over a 28-months period, from 1/9/2018 - 31/12/2020 the project focused on robotics as an introductory channel to coding and sought to facilitate the development of programming and computational thinking skills among primary school students by producing a comprehensive set of tools designed for teachers, parents and policy-makers. The project results and resources is available on the CODESKILLS4ROBOTICS interactive portal and mobile app. Objectives Programming and computational thinking skills are becoming ever more important in our society and working life: an increasingly digitalised economy has transformed the labour market and brought digital skills to the forefront of the educational scene. As emphasised by the 2015 New priorities ET 2020, “knowing how to code is empowering. It allows to understand the digital world we live in and to shape it. Basic coding skills are essential for accessing the jobs of tomorrow and today”. In light of these recommendations, ICT school curricula have been shifting their focus from computer literacy to digital literacy, i.e. on teaching students not only how to work a computer, but mostly how a computer works and how to make it work for you. Often selected as an introductory channel to programming, robotics effectively initiates students to various STEM disciplines while also promoting transversal employability skills such as problem solving, leadership and creativity. In the above context, the CODESKILLS4ROBOTICS project pioneers: designed, pilot-tested and evaluated a complete tool kit that supports primary schools in developing their own digital-inclusive strategies for the promotion of coding, robotics and STEM skills; developed an educational pack containing all the essential materials, tools and resources for the introduction of coding and robotics to primary schools; the educational pack is based on a targeted Digital Competence Framework, which also served as a basis for the monitoring and assessment of the students’ progress; introduced the Open Badges system as a method to validate and award the coding skills acquired by both teachers and students, in conjunction with an online assessment tool developed to this purpose; a mobile app meant to support teaching, learning and assessment is also developed; in accordance with the 2018 Digital Education Action Plan for EU, designed a strong campaign as part of the EU Code/Robotics Week; CODESKILLS4ROBOTICS Competitions will be organised at the regional, national and EU level, thus promoting transnational cooperation. CODESKILLS4ROBOTICS clubs were set up for students as well as an Open Badges System for teachers and students to validate their coding skills. The project developed eLearning platform and Mobile Application with a team of teachers to make it easily accessible for students on their mobile phones anywhere they wish to connect. IO1 Competence Framework IO2-Educational-Back-Pack/ IO3-assessment-open-badges/ IO4-interactive-portal-mobile-app/ IO5-tool-kit-for-digitalskillsschools-clubs/ IO6-sustainability-strategy/ Oficial website: http://codeskills4robotics.eu/ Coordinator: National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” – Greece Partners: LLLPlatform – Belgium; Regional Directorate Of Primary And Secondary Education Of Crete – Greece; Private Institute Emphasys Centre – Cyprus; Technological Educational Institute Of Crete – Greece; Hälsinglands Utbildningsförbund – Sweden

The DigiCards project launched its website which will host a Digital Competence Cards tool! LLLP is a partner in this new project - DigiCards: Digital Competences Cards - which started in January and will continue throughout the year! Coordinated by Karbon Consulting, DigiCards aims at designing a user-friendly and tailored digital competence cards tool to support educational and career counsellors in implementing digital approaches to counselling. During these first three months, the team has been working on selecting the relevant competences and defining and designing the tool, together with important stakeholders: experts, counsellors, and educational practitioners. A focus group was organised in Austria in March to collect feedback from stakeholders and understand what are the real-working-life scenarios in which the DigiCards tool could be used and its value in practice. April will bring new opportunities to collect feedback and engage with stakeholders outside the partnership with the organisation of another focus group and different expert interviews. Interested in the project? For more information, look at our website or read the project page! DigiCards is a project co-financed by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+. Lead coordinator: KARBON Consulting GmbH (Austria) Partner: Lifelong Learning Platform (Belgium) Project period: 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2024 Project number: 2023-2-AT01-KA210-VET-0001758544

The Erasmus Careers project, from which LLLP is partner, is glad to announce the organisation of a staff training for career counselors at EU Universities, titled "Unlocking Opportunities: Internationalization of Career Counseling". This specialised training will take place from 3rd to 5th of June, 2024, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), in Thessaloniki, Greece, and is designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to support students at every stage of their Erasmus mobility experience. Key Highlights: Expand Your Toolkit: Gain valuable insights and strategies to effectively support students in 5 different stages (before, pre-arrival, during, pre-departure and after) of their Erasmus mobility programs. Foster Global Connections: Network with fellow career counselors, exchange best practices, and explore collaborative opportunities to enhance internationalisation efforts at your university. Stay Ahead of the Curve: Stay updated on the latest trends and innovations in career counseling within the context of international mobility, ensuring you're well-prepared to meet the evolving needs of your students. Event Details: Date: June 3rd - 5th, 2024 Venue: Speech & Art Hall, School of Pedagogy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Registration: Secure your spot early to access exclusive resources and networking opportunities. The maximum number of participants is 25. Discover the agenda and apply by April 30th, 2024. Participation will be confirmed after the selection process with an email from the AUTH team. For any inquiries, please reach out to the training’s organisers at papakota@auth.gr. Erasmus Careers is a three-year long project which seeks to translate the lessons learned during Erasmus+ student mobility into competences, and to have students, employers, higher education institutes, including international and careers guidance offices, recognise and value them. The project’s six partners – ESN, UAM, ELM, AUTH, LLLP, TU – see the value of student mobility and its potential in favouring employment.

From 19 to 22 March 2024, Oslo was the venue for the launch of a 3-year research project on promoting equity and inclusion in education. The STRIDE project, coordinated by OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, commenced with a promising meeting attended by consortium members, advisory board members and national stakeholders. STRIDE, or Strategies for achieving equity and inclusion in education, training and learning in democratic Europe, funded under the Horizon Europe Programme, aims to compile a comprehensive knowledge-base on effective educational reforms, policies, and interventions targeting the reduction of inequalities in European education. The meeting agenda unfolded across two days, each focusing on different aspects of the project. The first day commenced with introductory sessions outlining the project's overview, timeline, key concepts and values of the project: equity, inclusion and intersectionality - led by Oslomet. Work package overviews were provided, delineating the project's structure and deliverables. The day's discussions delved into detailed planning for specific work packages: Work Package 2 (WP2) focusing on policy analysis and meta-analysis, led by VIA University College (Denmark) and Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Poland). Work Package 3 (WP3) concentrating on trends in inequalities in education achievement, with planning spearheaded by Tarki Tarsadalomkutatasi Intezet RT Tarki (Hungary). Work Package 5 (WP5) tackling effective policy initiatives and interventions, coordinated by Ethniko Kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon NKUA (Greece) and Roehampton University LBG RU (United Kingdom). The day concluded with engagement strategies with national stakeholders and the introduction of the policy brief work led by OsloMet. The second day transitioned to more concrete actions. Project officers from the European Commission contributed insights into dissemination strategies and potential impact pathways. The partnership further discussed: Work Package 4 (WP4) discussions revolved around planning data collection and reporting, closely linked with WP2 and WP3, led by NKUA and Tarki. Work Package 6 (WP6) focused on planning effective policy making and assessment tools, led by VIA and JU. Work Package 7 (WP7) - led by LLLP and Oslomet, aiming at implement a comprehensive impact and dissemination strategy in order to enhance public knowledge on the value of longitudinal data in policy making and its usefulness for policy learning at national and EU levels, and factors that can reduce inequalities in education, as well as to explore and develop a toolbox of techniques for facilitating cross-sectoral policymaking and assessment of inequalities in education, training and learning achievements over time using longitudinal data on learning. Lastly, attention was given to project management: establishing procedures, quality management, and ethical guidelines (WP1). It was a great pleasure to work with Oslomet that will be leading us over the next 3 years, as well as with all STRIDE consortium members, International Advisory Board members and National Stakeholders. We look forward to collaborating with this talented group of researchers across Europe working on equity, equality and inclusion in Education and Training and how policies can be reformed for improving our systems and benefit all learners. Stay updated on the progress of the STRIDE project by visiting our website here or read more about the project here. Join us in our mission to foster equity, equality, and inclusion in education across Europe!

The European Training Foundation (ETF) is the agency of the EU tasked with the development of skills in transition and developing countries. Within its Community of Innovative Educators, ETF just launched New Learning Clubs! What about them? The New Learning Clubs are informal groups of teachers, educators, and experts on topics linked to innovation in learning. Experts who join the clubs will contribute to the community by sharing their expertise, good practices and ultimately get the chance to learn from each other’ experiences. At the end of their mandate, clubs will hold a webinar to present a joint output (an innovative curriculum, a video, a report, guidelines, toolkits, blog posts, etc.). What are these clubs about? Three New Learning Clubs are being launched! New Learning Club on “Innovative STEAM education”, as of April 2024 - Participants will bring their ideas and discuss about topics as stimulating the students' curiosity and enthusiasm in scientific and technological subjects, developing the ability to apply creativity and critical thinking in young people, and improving young people's access to high-quality STEAM education. New Learning Club on "Teaching with Artificial Intelligence”, as of June 2024 - This Club will focus on the adoption of AI solutions by educators and teachers, to try answering some of the hot questions that require attention. Participants will debate on the ways to integrate AI tools safely and effectively in teaching settings, to implement software in educational environments and deal with e.g., correct and consistent assessment of students’ work, etc. New Learning Club on "Engaging and inclusive teaching methods for upskilling and reskilling of adults", as of September 2024 - The club will, based on the interest of participants, select focal topics and allow for peer exchanges, and sharing of inspirational practice. The concrete output of the club will be a collection of inspirational practices and tips & tricks in adult learning and education in VET. Who can join? All members of the ETF Community of Innovative Educators can join the learning clubs. Not a member yet? Join here for free. You will be asked to demonstrate practical expertise and present shortly your good practice in innovative teaching methods. As a treat, all participating members will receive Pioneers Open Badges by ETF!

Strategies for Achieving Equity and Inclusion in Education, Training and Learning in Democratic Europe (STRIDE) STRIDE will provide a new, comprehensive and comparative knowledge-base on effective education reforms, policy initiatives and interventions aimed at reducing inequalities in education, training and learning outcomes in Europe . STRIDE will do this through analyses of education reforms in national and regional systems, existing large-scale educational assessment data and existing longitudinal data on the causal link between educational and other social policies and inequalities in educational achievements. STRIDE will closely examine the range of intersectional variables such as socio-economic background, gender, (dis)abilities, migration status, home language, early childhood education and care (ECEC) attendance, which may affect learning outcomes in different ways in different contexts. Through the involvement of national and European stakeholders, STRIDE will develop methodology and assessment tools for policy learning offering policymakers a toolbox of enhanced knowledge of what shapes educational outcomes over time and demonstrating the usefulness of longitudinal data in policy-making to reduce educational inequalities in the short, medium and long term. Objectives Overall objectives: To map longitudinal data and assess inequalities in education, training, and learning outcomes over time and identify reforms and interventions that compensate for those inequalities and formulate recommendations and a guide to good practices. STRIDE will do this through 8 specific objectives and 6 work packages (WP2 - WP7, WP1 is reserved for project management): Specific objective 1: Deliver an overview of significant national and regional education reforms aimed at rectifying inequalities in education and learning outcomes and to promote equity and inclusion over the past 25 years in Europe . This will be done through a comparative and historical policy analysis at European and national levels (WP2).  Specific objective 2: Map the trends of inequalities in educational achievement of students over the past two decades in Europe . This will done through mapping and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and evaluations following the key educational reforms (WP2), supplemented by a re-analysis of large-scale educational assessment studies, using quasi-panel analytic techniques to study data from International Large Scale Assessment studies (ILSAs) (WP3). Specific objective 3: Develop an interactive map depicting the significant factors in policy development and student achievement that foster or hamper equity, inclusion and resilience in education, training and educational achievements over time (WP4). Specific objective 4: Deliver new knowledge on how other social policies (employment, family, child welfare, etc.) may affect the learning outcomes of education policy initiatives through qualitative studies into policymaking in five countries (Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom as these countries have existing appropriate longitudinal data to be analysed by STRIDE (WP5). Specific objective 5: Identify new perspectives on how pupils progress in education systems. STRIDE will demonstrate that the knowledge drawn from longitudinal studies can provide a valuable input into effective policy initiatives and interventions that compensate for inequalities in learning outcomes over time in five European countries (Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom) (WP5). Specific objective 6: Develop a policy database with links between cross-sectoral policy making and the intersectional factors that affect intergenerational reproduction of inequalities in educational achievement (WP5). Specific objective 7: Implement a comprehensive impact and dissemination strategy in order to enhance public knowledge on the value of longitudinal data in policy making and its usefulness for policy learning at national and EU levels, and factors that can reduce inequalities in education (WP7). Specific objective 8: Explore and develop a toolbox of techniques for facilitating cross-sectoral policymaking and assessment of inequalities in education, training and learning achievements over time using longitudinal data on learning (WP6-7). Partner institutions Oslo Metropolitan University ( OSLOMET ), Norway (NO) Roehampton University (RU), United Kingdom (UK) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Greece (EL) VIA University College , Denmark (DK) Lifelong Learning platform (LLLP) , Belgium (BE) TÁRKI Social Research Institute (TÁRKI), Hungary (HU) Jagiellonian University (JU), Poland (PL) Project managers: Lihong Huang , Dawn Heskestad (OSLOMET) From LLLP: projects@lllplatform.eu Project period: 01/02/2024 - 31/01/2027 Financing: EU Horizon Europe Website: https://stride-research.eu/

We believe in educational and career counselling that uses digital tools to provide its clients with a counselling process that is sustainable, relationship-oriented and tailored to their needs. Career guidance faces new challenges with the digital transformation, especially with the increased use of AI and new technologies. At the same time counselling thrives on the relationship work between counsellor and client. With DigiCards, we are enabling the digital evolution of a central method in educational and career counselling – working with competence cards. With the development of digital competence cards, we developed a tool that supports educational and career counsellors in their daily work with their clients in a practical and easy-to-use way. Two main goals To design a user-friendly and tailored digital competence cards tool, which are relevant for labour market, social inclusion, and personal development. T o support educational and career counsellors with DigiCards in dealing with digital technologies and the use of digital methods for daily work practice.   Main activities and outputs Development of d i git al co mpetence cards for educational and career counselling The DigiCards tool is now out and available online and free of charge. Use it by simply following the link: https://app.digicardstool.eu ! For a practical solution for the use of digital competence cards, it is important for us to involve educational and career counsellors as experts in their own work. For this reason, two DigiCards focus group were organised in each project partner country to identify needs, requirements and relevant information on the use of digital competence cards. In addition, two interviews with renowned experts from science and research were conducted in order to include future developments in the labour market and counselling context at international level in the development of the digital competence cards. To read more about the main conclusion of LLLP's focus group and expert interview , follow the link to a find a more complete article. The tool is was tested by educational and career counsellors during a piloting phase. Their feedback will be used to adapt and finalise the tool and Competence Handbook. If you are an educational and career counsellor, please explore the tool and provide us with feedback by filling out the feedback form available in the tool . The DigiCards Competence Handbook The use of digital competence cards also requires customised guidance and a playful approach when using digital competence cards. Therefore, a Competence Handbook is being finalised (in English and German) to present tried and tested approaches in methodology and didactics to support the professional use of digital competence cards. Download below the English version of the Handbook. Networking and DigiCards events After a successful pilot phase, the results and the DigiCards handbook were presented at networking events in Austria and Belgium to increase the reach of the use of digital competence cards in educational and career counselling. LLLP organised internal and external workshops , in-person and online events to further disseminate the results. Learn more on DigiCards by following the link: https://digicardstool.eu/ The DigiCards: Digital Competence Cards for counselling will stay available online in English and German for free use! If you have any problems, suggestions, ideas, contact us projects@lllplatform.eu . DigiCards is a project co-financed by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+. Lead coordinator: KARBON Consulting GmbH (Austria) Partner: Lifelong Learning Platform (Belgium) Project period: 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2024 Project number: 2023-2-AT01-KA210-VET-0001758544

Project Summary The project ‘Co-operation Youth vote: Enabling future active European citizens’ aims to offer a space for training in the preparation of the 2024 European Parliament election campaigns.   The project will prepare a set of outputs that the partner organisations and a wider network can use for the coming European Parliament elections in 2024 ensuring young people will vote, but also to make politicians accountable for their promises and decisions. The initiative, supported by an Erasmus+ grant, will be implemented between March 2022 and February 2024 through the creation and use of a toolkit, a series of training sessions for multipliers, and a social media campaign.   Aims and goals The two aims of the project are to: 1 – Understand the challenges of youth engagement and participation (voting) following the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop tools to address it. The objectives related to the first aim are:   To examine the challenges and motivations of young people, especially first-time voters, to engage in European initiatives and their interest in voting in the 2024 European Parliament elections. To develop and try out educational tools, a toolkit and communication actions to address the identified challenges. 2 – And to develop an informal alliance of youth organisations that will work together on encouraging youth participation in democratic elections – both from peers and policy makers. The objectives related to the second aim are:   To offer space for networking among youth organisations, and exchange good practices on educational and communication actions.   To prepare an action plan of how youth organisations in partnership can reach as many first time voters as possible for EP elections 2024.   Implementation and activities   A) Transnational Partner Meetings (March 2022- February 2024) Four Transnational Project Meetings (TPMs) will be organised throughout the project. They will aim at setting up the bases and the evaluation for the whole implementation of the project. Moreover, they will establish the links between the partner organisations and their roles. The TMPs will be organised in Brussels (Belgium), Riga (Latvia), and Rome (Italy).   B) Survey and desk research (from March 2022 to August 2022) During the first months of the project, desk research will be carried out in order to get a broader academic understanding of youth participation and thus establish a comprehensive mapping of the literature and different strands of thought, with a particular focus on first time voters in European elections. This knowledge will be used to create the Education, Youth Citizenship and Democratic Participation survey . The aim of the survey is to explore the different aspects of youth participation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially how it could have affected the engagement and participation of young people in civil society activities and initiatives. A final report " Why Vote? An investigation on the attitudes, challenges and views of youth on the vote for the EP 24 elections " was published. Find more here .   C) Blended training for multipliers (October 2022- April 2023) The knowledge gained through the desk research and survey will be used to organise online crash courses, focus groups and 2 in- person Trainings for Multipliers.  Training for Multipliers in Lisbon: development of VOTING TOOLBOX Training for Multipliers in Sofia: development of Action Plans   D) Europe@School activities and Social Media Campaign (March 2023- August 2023) This part of the project will involve a Social Media Campaign which will include the dissemination of the Education, Youth Citizenship and Democratic Participation survey results. Secondly, training sessions will be organised for high school students on the topic of Youth Participation. Additionally, discussions will be organised with decision makers, as well as multiplier events in different European cities to present the voting toolbox. Download the Voting Toolbox , by following this link . E) Multiplier events & Follow- up (September 2023- February 2024) The multiplier events will be organised in 5 European cities and aimed at: • presenting of the toolbox and practice of some of the tools with youth organisations at local and national level, • and create debates with young people that are involved in European politics. During the final event in Brussels, a Policy Conference will be held, the Informal Alliance Co-operation Youth towards the EP Elections 2024 Action plan will be presented and the first meeting of the Alliance will take place. Check more about the final event here .   Partners and roles   Core Partners  JEF Europe will be responsible for the overall coordination and communication with the partners in each of the steps.   OBESSU (Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions) and the Young Educators – European Association, will work in partnership with JEF Europe and the national partners to organise the educational/capacity building side of the project. They will conduct desk research, try out the developed actions, and will organise educational seminars and training sessions for multipliers. LLLP (Lifelong Learning Platform) will be the partner to support the development of the informal alliance Co-operation Youth- Alliance of Young Voters for the EP Elections 2024 .   National Partners  The national partners were involved in each of the steps by bringing in the perspective from young people active on national and local level. They implemented the pilot actions, multiplier events and participate in the expert groups to develop the key tools.  JEF Belgium (Young European Federalists Belgium) JEF Bulgaria (European Youth Movement Bulgaria) JEF Italy (Young European Federalists Italy) JEF Latvia (Klubs Māja – Club “The House” – youth for a united Europe, Latvia)

The project “ Validation of transversal skills across Europe – TRANSVAL-EU ” is based on a paradox. On the one hand, employers place an increasing importance on transversal skills . Yet, on the other hand, transversal skills are only an implicit part of the existing validation and guidance processes. There is a need to make the validation processes of transversal skills acquired in non-formal and informal settings explicit and to embed the lessons learned in validation and guidance policies . What TRANSVAL-EU proposes is to experiment innovative approaches for the validation of transversal skills acquired through non-formal and informal learning (VNFIL) in five pilot countries – Austria, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Belgium. TRANSVAL-EU aimed to : improve the knowledge and know-how on the validation of transversal competences train validation/guidance practitioners develop new tools for validation and guidance professionals and test them monitor and evaluate the experimentation’s outcomes and impact both on practitioners and on the adults, who will have their skills validated. The project partners developed and tested : a research base of good practices a set of training toolkits and programmes standardised competence profiles for validation/guidance practitioners with a specific focus on transversal skills TRANSVAL-EU intended to be one of the largest European policy experiments on VNFIL . The Project Output are: European State-of-the-Art Report incl. Country Fact Sheet State-of-the-Art-Report_EN Country-Sheets_Austria_(EN) Country-Sheets_Austria_(DE) Country-Sheets_Belgium_(EN) Country-Sheets_Belgium_FR Country-Sheets_Italy_EN Country-Sheets_Italy_IT Country-Sheets_Lithuania_EN Country-Sheets_Lithuania_LI Country-Sheets_Poland_EN Country-Sheets_Poland_PL   THE TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK (TCF) Tansversal-Competence-Framework_EN Transversal-Competence-Framework_DE Transversal-Competence-Framework_FR Transversal-Competence-Framework_IT Transversal-Competence-Framework_LT Transversal-Competence-Framework_PL COMPETENCE PROFILE FOR VALIDATION AND GUIDANCE PRACTITIONERS Competence-Profile_EN Competence-Profile_DE Competence-Profile_FR Competence-Profile_IT Competence-Profile_LT Competence-Profile_PL TRANSVAL-EU European Policy Conference European Policy Conference_2023_Concept note (EN) European Policy Conference_2023_SaveTheDate (EN) Find more resources here . Project Newsletter: Transval-EU_Newsletter1_2022 For more information about the project, visit the website: www.transvalproject.eu .

Addressing the current and Future skIll needs for sustainability, digitalisation, and the bio-Economy in AgricuLture: European skills agenDa and Strategy – FIELDS. European agriculture is facing many challenges; the Food 2030 policy highlights the vulnerability of agri-production due to the globalisation of the markets, increasing competition, the prices volatility and the economic uncertainty along with the low incremental crop productivity. Those vulnerabilities are stressed by increasing demand for food and feed. On the other side, environmental concerns and climatic changes generate more uncertainties and. Moving from business-as-usual agriculture to Sustainable farming is a complex process which requires a system approach, including reshaping the role of the farmer: from a mere producer of food and commodities, into “wise manager of the natural capital”. This requires to profit of advances in sustainability, digitalisation and bio-economy .   However, transfer of these innovations and skills to farmers require synergy also of other actors in the agri-food sector , like food industries that could communicate to farmers and be partners in this process of knowledge transfer by showing the value to farmers of product derived from sustainable agriculture and forestry, that has also circular-economy loop with the industry itself. In today’s world, digitalisation is a driver to share knowledge easily, information, and to make better use of information available. This helps to provide information, reinforce links between partners and allows some optimisations. Today’s farmers undoubtedly have expertise yet they need help to gain additional skills to deal with new technologies and to meet the challenges of climate change and land management in the 21 st century. Also, the level of qualifications is low by comparison with other sectors; there is poor uptake of continuing vocational educational training, that needs to be addressed through appropriate VET training.   The purpose of the project is to answer those challenges through the skills prism. Indeed, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) analysis of the factors which affect productivity identifies ‘People’ as one of the six factors. It states that: ‘Improving the skills of the workforce, and the ability to harness them via effective leadership are critical to productivity growth. A correlation exists between business performance and levels of skills and education .’ The project has eight work packages , and has the purpose of providing strategies and training in the fields of innovation in agriculture and forestry, with particular emphasis on sustainability, digitalisation and bio-economy. These are the main objectives of the work: Identify global trends and skill gaps Design a strategy at the EU and Country level to improve the skills Provide training material and training pilot to implement these strategies Allow transferability of the skills among EU countries following European frameworks (ESCO, EQAVET and so on) Provide sustainability and awareness of the project after the project ends For more information, check the official website of the project. Partners

Internationalisation at present is primarily focused on the Higher Education (HE) staff and students as the target groups and on mobility as the main activity, however, internationalisation at home remains marginal. Higher Education Institutions are increasingly active, but in social engagement these activities are usually viewed as competing for priority and relevance with excellence in research and internationalisation. With many social challenges at hand, internationalisation will be in the need of string instruments to support change which at the same time would be considering social engagement and internationalisation at home. In addition, internationalisation and social engagement usually do not cooperate but compete for resources instead. Internationalisation in Higher Education for Society (IHES) aims to change this and activate the internationalisation potential for social engagement. This project aims to build activities concerning the real needs of society. IHES wants to test different approaches in two different regions, Catalonia and the Olomouc region, using a quasi-experimental design. It aims to generate knowledge that can be easily transferred from the regions and partners involved in the project. IHES focuses on ensuring that the entire project is based on a multi-level inclusive approach while targeting HE institutions and their networks, social actors and their networks, and regional governments. Project Objectives IHES has several key objectives, which will implement different intellectual outputs (IOs). The project aims: To build activities concerning the real needs of society. To define this, the Intellectual Output 1,2 activities will be implemented while analysing the needs of society and the already existing projects. To test different approaches in a “regional lab“ setting, thereby also using a quasi-experimental design by working in two different regions of Catalonia and the Olomouc region. Different approaches will be tested, compared and then set into context with findings related to the first objective. This will be also included in the Intellectual Output 3. To generate knowledge that can be easily transferred from the regions and partners involved in the project. As many Higher Education institutions as possible shall be able to learn from the experience and possibly prepare their own future IHES projects. The Intellectual Outputs 4-6 are related to and based on this particular objective as well. To ensure that the entire project is based on a multi-level inclusive approach that takes into account the main target groups of the project. All intellectual outputs and particularly the constellation of the consortium serve this goal, too. The five intellectual outputs (IOs) and multiplier events (ME) for IHES over the course of three years are: Intellectual Output 2: Report on current good practices in IHES across Europe Leading organisation – Academic Cooperation Association (ACA). Output type – studies/analysis and best practice guidelines/reports. IO2 will identify existing IHES practices through a mapping survey among HEIs, further desk research and two focus groups with representatives from civil society and regional authorities. Intellectual Output 3: Report on the concept, implementation and results of the regional IHES laboratories in Catalonia and the Olomouc region. Leading organisation – Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) Output type – studies/analysis and case study The core activity of IO3 is the creation and comparison of two regional IHES-Labs, one in Catalonia and one in the Olomouc region. Intellectual Output 4: Guidelines for implementing IHES Leading organisation – Global Impact Institute s.r.o. (GII) Output type – methodologies/guidelines and methodological framework for implementation The guidelines for implementing IHES form the basis for allowing the sustainability and distribution of the project results beyond the consortium and the project timeline. Intellectual Output 5: Developing a regional model for implementing internationalisation in higher education for society Leading organization – Grupo Santander (S Group) Output type – methodologies/guidelines and methodological framework for implementation. The main objective of IO5 is the elaboration of a general model focused on the regional implementation of IHES. Intellectual Output 6: Establishing an IHES network of organisations Leading organizations – Palacký University Olomouc (UP) Output type – network / interactive resource IO6 will set up IHES resource centre in the form of an online platform. It will feature information on the IHES Network of Organization that will be open to new members from Europe and across the globe Read more about outputs and results : https://ihes.upol.cz/outputs-and-results Project Partners This project includes eight partner institutions with Palacký University Olomouc as the main coordinator. Partner institutions include Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament D´Empresa i Coneixement, Generalitat de Catalunya and Grupo Santander in Spain, Academic Cooperation Association and Lifelong Learning Platform in Belgium, and Global Impact Institute s.r.o. and the Olomouc Region in the Czech Republic. Associate Partners This project also includes four Associate partners who will participate in Multiplier events, dissemination to and feedback from their members on developed products. Associate partners include Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), Alliance of Centres for International Relations, The Czech Republic (ACIR CZ) and Erasmus Student Network on both national (ESN CZ) and local level (ESN UP Olomouc).