Due to the growing demand of energy in the South-Mediterranean region, a shift towards renewable energies and notably solar energy is being promoted by the governments and the energy industry. One of the main obstacles for this development is the lack of qualified staff. The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the region have launched training programmes in the field, but two main aspects still need to be addressed: improving a multidisciplinarity approach and links to businesses and applied research. Resources and international collaboration are needed in order to improve the quality of the training programmes and to ensure that they are linked to the latest research findings and requirements of the industry.In the larger context of modernisation, accessibility and internationalization of HEI systems in the Partner Countries, the MEDSOL project aims at enhancing the capacity of HEIs in Morocco and Egypt to deliver master-level programmes in solar energy. More specifically, it seeks to improve the quality of the currently existing training programmes, teaching methods and laboratory equipment for practice-based research. The work is conducted through close cooperation, sharing know-how and good practices between Programme and Partner Country HEIs as well as partners from business and applied research sectors. The proposed key activities are: 1. Improving existing curricula at the partnering HEIs in Morocco and Egypt; 2. Capacity building of HEI staff in Morocco and Egypt via a mobility scheme; 3. Updating training facilities at HEIs in Morocco and Egypt; 4. Providing opportunities for mobility for students in form of study/traineeship periods at the partnering institutions in the EU, Morocco and Egypt; 5. Disseminating project results and best practices in form of workshops and publications; 6. Promoting continued long-term collaboration, e.g. developing Double Master Degrees between the partners.

The three-year SGT-MAP aims at development of a master program in smart grid technology through the collaboration between a consortium consists of 4 Eg. and 4 EU partners of different fields; Electrical power and control eng., IT eng., communication eng. All the consortium partners contribute in developing and reviewing program 24 courses. The self study report of the developed program will be prepared and submitted to the national accreditation board in Egypt. A workshop will be organized after developing the teaching materials in order to discuss the future of smart grid and its influence on the proposed program courses contents and review the matching between contents, objective and outcomes before implementation. Related smart grid laboratories are established at EG universities to support the developed courses. Four courses are selected as a professional training courses and the related self study report will be prepared and submitted to a training accreditation board. These courses will be implemented during the program duration. Each course and its related laboratory experiments will be delivered by EU and EG trainers. The courses will be followed by a questionnaire for assessment purposes and quality assurance, which helps in continuous improving of the courses implementation. Moreover, the EU trainer will evaluate the course delivery and transfer his experience to the EG trainer. Another workshop on impact of smart grid will be held in Egypt during the 5th month of third year in order to discuss the smart grid technology impacts and the feedback of the stakeholders’ surveys. The project outcomes are presented at workshop which focuses on the impact of smart grid technology on community. Many information sessions will be organized in order to disseminate the project outcomes and the program activities. This will help in ensuring project sustainability.

XCELING aimed to contribute to a modernization of the FL teaching in Egypt at different levels:1) Modernization of FL teaching methodologies (TEACHING), with special emphasis on ICT.2) Pre-doctoral training and learning in applied linguistics (LEARNING).3) Open access materials orientated to FL learning for Arabic-speakers in social disadvantage (refugees, migrants, etc.) (OUTREACH).In order to address these three aspects, XCELING has created a Network of 6 Language Innovation Centres (LICs). The LICs have a threefold structure in line with these dimensions: TEACHING (train the trainers), LEARNING (pre-doctoral education) and OUTREACH (co-creation of open access teaching materials).The most important results, produced by the LICs, will be a program of both train-the trainer sessions (our WP2 intensive training sessions in Europe targetted at young and future Egyptian foreign language teachers) and of a capacity building program for future teachers through applied linguistics research methods (our WP3 intensive training sessions in Egypt taught by European professors in two editions: 2019 and 2020-21).Beyond the project lifetime, the Network of the LICs will continue coordinating activities of the same sort for the years to come (see those a summary of those held in the LICs from 2019 to 2022: https://xceling.usal.es/2020-2021-lics-activities-programme/Besides, the LICs Network has created open access FL instructional material for Arabic speaking migrants and refugees (our 7Ling smartphone app) and implement a pilot program with them.Another result is XCELING virtual archive (XVA: http://wva.usal.es), a collaborative archive where our XCELING collection of open access teaching activities (classes, public lectures, conferences, workshops, webinars, etc.) in the field of applied linguistics to foreign language teaching, dealing with methodologically innovative foreign language education, is stored. Once recorded, these activities, developed both in Egypt and in Europe, are also uploaded and made available in our YouTube Channel. These activities are transmitted via streaming as they are developed, but they are also recorded and made available in this XVA. They are internally classified into different categories, such as language of instruction and linguistic contents. These materials can also be accessed by date, or by the Language Innovation Centre (LIC) or University where they were produced.A possibility of co-tutelle for potential doctoral students and the integration of QA measures are other consequences. As for the impact envisaged:1. On the national level, current and future FL teachers have been exposed and will continue to be exposed to innovative teaching methodologies and PhD students to Applied Linguistics research.2. At the international level, the beneficiaries have been and will continue to be the Arabic-speaking groups at a social disadvantage (refugees and migrants).In addition, there has been a number of indirect beneficiaries, such as the Egyptian and European universities (in both cases their staff have acquired important experiences), Egypt’s Ministry of Communications (it has intensified ties with Europe), as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations whose objectives concern groups with problems of integration: they have received teaching support on existing projects of cultural assimilation and education for the labour market.

The Middle East countries are going through a period of change where governments are forced to address the need for greater access to economic opportunity. With a challenging economic environment and a growing social demand, governments believe that subsidy reform especially in energy and food might help reconcile social protection and secure fiscal positions. With almost $17 billion spending every year in Egypt and $2.3 billion spending every year in Jordan.Creating a smart energy environmental project will positively affect the consumption sector through monitoring consumers’ habits for energy saving purposes. This project seeks to build a new consortium of academic partners in Egypt, Jordan and Europe, whose aim is providing the market with competent young professionals ready to manage and control smart systems. The consortium should also support young professionals, and developed industries with the required training and awareness for energy saving purposes. A professional new master's degree in Smart Control Systems for Energy Management Engineering is to be established. This master will develop a mechanical and electrical engineers in the field of Quality Energy Management and Saving. Also, the ability to establish such master program on time will fulfill the job market requirements. This project includes the Bologna system in Egyptian and Jordanian Universities. The new Masters program will be designed to follow the Bologna system’s instruction, which will encourage student exchange between the consortium members. Finally, this project bridges the knowledge triangle, education-innovation-research between industry and academia. Therefore, a technology transfer center is intended to established for targeting EG/JOR Universities, industrial and governmental entities.