"A modern phenomenon that has been recorded in recent years is internet addiction Disorder (IAD). Internet addiction is described as an impulse control disorder, which does not involve use of an intoxicating drug and is very similar to pathological gambling. Some Internet users may develop an emotional attachment to on-line friends and activities they create on their computer screens. Internet users may enjoy aspects of the Internet that allow them to meet, socialize, and exchange ideas through the use of chat rooms, social networking websites, or ""virtual communities."" Similar to other addictions, those suffering from Internet addiction use the virtual fantasy world to connect with real people through the Internet, as a substitution for real-life human connection, which they are unable to achieve normally. Internet addiction has become one of the main problems that European secondary school students are facing so our community has to deal with the source of the problem and its impacts. There is a tentative need to investigate the phenomenon and its impacts to all partners’ countries. Log On Back to Life project aimed to cover a number of gaps concerning the phenomenon of addiction to the internet and detect others that arose from the social research of the project and form the recording of the phenomenon. The project anticipate contributing to the scientific approach to the diagnosis of the factors that lead to addiction and help in the development of policies leading to prevention and treatment of the phenomenon in all its aspects, as they have been emerged from the scientific research so far. Through the activities of the project, participating organizations, especially those involved with education had the opportunity to study in depth the phenomenon of students' addiction to the use of the Internet and its impact. Participating organizations had the chance through the project activities and results to highlight those initiatives, educational methods and activities leading in both timely and valid revelation of the problem and in the proposal for implementation of all those policies and scientific methods to effectively address of the problem. By the end of the project participating organization offered special training and information sessions to both their teachers and staff and to their students regarding Internet addiction Disorder (IAD) in terms of identifying, preventing and dealing with the phenomenon by using the dedicated material and analysis that will arise as project’s results and by using the special eplatform of the project developed for this kind of activities. Special mention should be made on: •the social research carried out in the framework of our project using specially designed questionnaires by specialized scientists. The questionnaire was based on already developed and internationally recognized relevant questionnaires, (such as The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), which is one of the most utilized diagnostic instruments for Internet addiction), but has been a customized version of these, according to the requirements and needs of our proposed project •the Reference Handbook on Assess, prevention and Treatment of Internet Addiction developed in the framework of our project. The Handbook is not be a simple document (e.g pdf) file but also an ebook available for all kind of mobile devices (e.g laptops, tablets, smartphones etc). Special mentioned should be made in the new approaches of prevention and treatment proposed under the framework of your project and be included in the handbook • the new cooperative methodology for the assessment and prevention of internet addiction of Secondary school students. The methodology focused on non pharmacological interventions as these methods cannot be applied in the school environment in an easy way. The methodology was based on the concept of cooperative learning in which students and teachers form discussion teams in order to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. The project has been the starting point and an opportunity for academic exchange between partners and the associated partners, highlighting the benefits of the Internet, as well the risks arising from abnormal use of the internet. Through the planned activities of the project had an integrated as possible knowledge of the effects of the use of new technologies, for shielding and empower of secondary school students regarding early diagnosis and addressing of the problem."

CONTEXTThe early years from birth to compulsory school age are the most formative in children lives and set the foundations for children’s lifelong development. In this respect, high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential for all children’s successful lifelong learning, social integration, personal development and later employability.Every child requires and deserves a service that is holistic in approach and that provides a social, cultural and physical space with a range of possibilities for children to develop their present and future potential. These recommendations are part of the priorities for ECEC that EU Commission has set out aiming to make it more accessible and raise the quality of services provided in the EU states.Increasing access to high quality ECEC is also the focus of the European benchmark that calls for the participation of at least 95% of children between the age of 4 and compulsory school age by 2026.High quality ECEC has a particularly positive impact for children from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds. Since 2018 was the European Year of Cultural Heritage, culture should be considered as a mean to foster integration in the classroom.OBJECTIVESThe following project objectives represented a concrete way to tackle the above-mentioned topics:- Train ECEC teachers to implement workshops on the thematic of European Culture with kids aged 3-5 at EU level- Update digital competencies of teachers- Promote children and family awareness in the frame of Cultural Heritage - Develop a holistic approach based on Active Learning and Play to support children’s growth- Implement cultural workshops with kids.In order to reach these objectives, the consortium investigated the needs and competence gaps of more than 50 teachers through focus groups in each partner country. On the basis of an interactive process of development and mutual feedback the partnership elaborated the EDUCLAB Guidelines, Training Handbook and Toolkit: a collection of useful contents and materials for pre-school teachers to implement cultural workshops in the classroom aimed at fostering inclusion of children coming from a disadvantaged background and preparing pupils to visit cultural institutions. The development phase was followed by a comprehensive testing through a common European learning and teaching activity with 19 pre-school teachers, local training sessions with 65 teachers at EU level and the implementation of 21 Cultural workshops with 382 children at EU level.According to this methodological action plan the main project RESULTS were:IO1. EDUCLAB Guidelines. A document for teachers on how to arrange training environment, learning processes, address age-specific needs and children motivation when implementing cultural workshopsIO2. EDUCLAB Training Handbook to supply competences for teachers to implement cultural workshops and to provide them skills in the digital area and inclusive approachesIO3. EDUCLAB Toolkit. A step-by-step description on how to carry out the cultural workshopsIO4. EDUCLAB Online platform and Cultural workshops. Video Tutorials were developed and uploaded on the EDUCLAB online platform to complete the EDUCLAB Toolkit with visual-based learning support. Additional videos were developed during the implementation of Cultural workshops at EU level.These IOs were connected with Local Multiplier Events and with the EDUCLAB Final conference in order to reach the widest range of target groups and stakeholders possible.In addition to the 4 core intellectual outputs EDUCLAB developed further outputs necessary to achieve its objectives: Dissemination and Communication Strategy, Quality Management Handbook and reports.EDUCLAB achieved an extended IMPACT on:- Direct participants in the project (pre-school teachers) who acquired skills in the digital field and to implement STEAM-based cultural workshops in the classroom for children 3-5 aiming at promoting inclusion of children with disadvantaged background;- Partner organizations who integrated the EDUCLAB training programme in their curriculum and will use them to train pre-school teachers in order to better support the integration in the class group of children aged 3-5 with different cultural backgrounds;- Other stakeholders and Associated Partners: they received an innovative tool to use in their daily work in the ECEC field. Since the platform will be available for 5 years after the end of the project, it will ensure a sustainable EU network of ECEC providers who can access a wide range of materials in various languages.On a LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE, the benefits of the project will be on a systemic level with an increased quality of the ECEC system (reinforced and updated skills of pre-school teachers) which fosters the social inclusion of children with disadvantaged backgrounds.

In order for the European Union (EU) to be successful in the global markets, higher education institutions (HEI) must be able to produce independent, creative, entrepreneurial individuals, who understand inter- and multidisciplinary challenges of the socio-economic environment and as a result can contribute to open innovation in true convergence with technological growth. EU’s success in the global competition is heavily dependent on the ability of the economy to produce digitally based innovative enterprises with high growth potential that can give stimulus to the actors of the socio-economic environment. Creating a common framework and a unified entrepreneurial ecosystem across the EU requires a core engine of open innovation and co-creation among all the involved stakeholders in order for the inequality among the regions of the EU to be decreased. Currently, EU significantly lacks such capacities of fostering digitally driven startups in true co-creation with all stakeholders. Such requirement not only that ensures long terms sustainability and societal development by improving living conditions, but it also drives the need for more innovation and knowledge exploitation. More innovation towards finding unique solutions to growth in a digitally driven quadruple helix context (university/innovation, startups/market, policy, society, investors/associations) where digital entrepreneurship (DEP) - in a quadruple helix co-creation- should be the key driver of regional and EU growth. To this end, iSTART responded to this need by aiming to develop an innovative, evidence based transnational framework that will markedly improve the knowledge and skills of academic institutions to produce more market/ startup oriented DEP curricula, reducing the barriers in this field. The project consortium comprised of key academics, investors, incubators from different sectors who co-created the envisaged DEP curriculum and piloted it through an open innovation and co-creation virtual learning environment (VLE). The outcome was directly pertinent to quadruple helix-academia co-operation for innovation and best practices with respect to DEP, and can also support policy reform in this area, leading to more prepared graduates ready for the startup market. In addition, iSTART enabled transnational DEP skill development/learning mobility leading to DEP homogeneity in EU towards targeting the common EU market. Overall, iSTART also followed up the recent plans of the EU to promote entrepreneurship and social cohesion as well as digitalization of higher education and of industries. This makes iSTART directly relevant to the current objectives of the participating organizations. Additionally, iSTART was aligned with the goals of Strategic Partnerships for academia-market-society collaboration/innovation, with the Headline Education Target, Entrepreneurship 2020, Startup Europe Initiative, and with the EU Higher Education Modernisation Agenda by providing incentives for higher education internationalization, market-oriented curriculum development, and co-creation with business through integrated features, that will lead on the long term to better involvement and support from the industry side to academia. Similarly, iSTART is in line with the European cooperation in education and training (ET2020) strategy by fostering life-long-learning, improving the quality of education through stakeholder engagement, and promoting creative thinking towards DEP. In order to achieve this mission, iSTART employed the following approach:O1) Training needs analysis identification (together with a benchmark of quadruple helix status/co-creation practices)O2) Two Trainers' labs (capitalization and peer development of the overall framework for iSTART) O3) DEP Curriculum & Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platformO4) Four academies (curriculum piloting, DEP pitching, VLE testing - together with iSTART partners, students and quadruple helix stakeholders). The impact of iSTART, by developing a market oriented DEP curriculum, leading to more feasible digital startups, is to achieve this through co-creation in a blended and open innovation manner with quadruple helix stakeholders - through the developed VLE: 1) Transform European Higher Education & Research Institutes to Entrepreneurial Institutes 2) Transform higher education students to European Digital Entrepreneurs 3) Diversify & Europeanize Incubators’, Investors’ and high-tech companies’ portfolio and footprint4) Advance problem-solving capacities of European Local/Public communities under the patronage of the quadruple helix 5) Enhanced homogeneity of technology adoption and integration in quadruple-helix stakeholder related processes and teaching and learning (for higher education) 6) Enhancement of social stakeholder awareness/cohesion through the open VLE in relation to digital entrepreneurship practices 7) Expansion of the digital entrepreneurship trends within the EU.

Infrastructure is the backbone of sustainable development and forms much of the foundation for quality of life. However, it consumes vast material resources and energy. Hence, educating today's prospective engineers, who will design, construct, and maintain these systems for the next 50 or more years, with the awareness and knowledge of sustainable infrastructure design is critical in achieving a sustainable quality of life for generations to come. Civil engineering covers a wide range of disciplines that incorporates infrastructures: construction, environmental, geotechnical, water resources, structural and transportation engineering. Therefore, it is imperative civil engineering undergraduate students get accustomed to concepts and principles needed to meet the requirements of sustainability in civil engineering projects. As a response, SUSTAIN-CE project will attempt to enrich the contemporary civil engineering undergraduate programs’ curricula, which are mainly focused on regulations, standards, codes and safety and serviceability of infrastructure systems, by incorporating sustainability, resilience and circular economy concepts in various stages of the design courses. The partners will co-create a new innovative undergraduate civil engineering curriculum that covers sustainable infrastructure design to ensure graduates have the ability to apply concepts and principles of sustainable design (SD) and circular economy (CE) in the design and construction of civil engineering projects. SUSTAIN-CE’s partnership comprises of three Higher Education Institutes (HEI), Yasar University and Izmir Institute of Technology, from Turkey and Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki and a research institute, South-East European Research Centre, from Greece, representing Academia, and an international consulting group on engineering, ISQ, from Portugal and a construction company, FOLKART, from Turkey, representing industry, in an effort to combine insights of the industry-academia collaboration, on the SD/CE concepts. A co-creation quadruple-helix methodology will be used to achieve the objectives of SUSTAIN-CE. The quadruple helix target group of SUSTAIN-CE includes universities, students, municipalities, ministries, governorates, regulators, contractors, designers, professionals, construction material producers and the chambers of professions. After identifying a number of best practices of cutting edge open innovation based quadruple helix co-creation mechanisms, a co-creation methodology will be developed. A skills matrix survey will be conducted to identify the skills gap between the quadruple helix stakeholders' needs and employee skills related to SD/CE. Focus groups will be formed to elaborate on the results of the skills matrix surveys and a blueprint for the design of the curricula will be developed. Based on the skills gap analysis and benchmarking results, the Focus Groups will agree on a list of specific thematics (such as structural engineering, transportation engineering, etc.) in the main-curriculum areas for intervention. The academic partners will then perform an in-depth analysis on the curriculum content on the selected thematics and will identify the level of the inclusion of SD/CE concepts in the existing design courses. The partners will then co-create the content that will be integrated to the design courses. The developed blueprint will be used in co-creating the relevant content (syllabi, course notes, case studies, etc.) in order to ensure its ECTS compatibility. The general aim in content co-creation will be to fill the existing gaps and infuse SD/CE insights into the existing courses. The partners will also collaborate to develop a new course on sustainability and the main principles of SD/CE. The new curriculum will be tested during three pilot Training Academies in Turkey, Greece and Portugal. A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be developed to provide an open and distance learning platform that delivers the contents of the new designed innovative curriculum. To enable the transferability of the project’s results, guidelines and policy briefings will be developed to encourage other educational institutions and policy makers to adopt SD/CE concepts in their field. Furthermore, in order to engage a broader audience of stakeholders and disseminate project results four multiplier events and a Final Conference will be organized. The educational approach of SUSTAIN-CE (training academies, co-creation methodology, VLE) will enhance the knowledge and skills of the quadruple helix target group in SD/CE applications in civil engineering and their greater engagement will ensure achieving the project’s long term goals, i.e. increased awareness and knowledge in the general civil engineering community on SD/CE related concepts in civil engineering projects. Thus, the long term benefit of SUSTAIN-CE will be its major impact on the improvement and sustainability of quality of life in Europe.