"<< Objectives >>SmartEAST aims at improving knowledge and understanding in the concept of ""Smart homes"", a building block of the future smart grid that is further expected to play a significant role in the energy transition to greener communities. To realize such structures, advanced energy and digital solutions are embedded into the electrical installation of houses, hence, a reskilling or upskilling of the electricians employed in this sector is required. This task highlights the scope of this project.<< Implementation >>To achieve the objectives of SmartEAST, shaped training activities will be organized and offered to licensed electricians over Europe, with particular emphasis to southeastern Europe. Training activities will focus on renewable energy sources, electric vehicles chargers and automation solutions in residential buildings, thus, realizing the smart home scenario. In addition, dissemination activities such as the SmartEAST handbook and workshop will also take place.<< Results >>Aligned with the above referenced priorities, the results of SmartEAST aim at an increased pace of energy and digital transition around Europe, through Improved availability of labor workers and therefore reduced cost. Moreover, the prospects for employment of licensed electricians will be improved. Finally, this first collaboration between HMU and HITU is expected to result in a long standing collaboration, especially supporting the regional collaboration in the Mediterranean region."

<< Background >>The Covid-19 pandemic sparked the uptake of digitally enhanced learning and teaching environments, providing an urgent reason for acceleration. According to the DigiHE report published in January 2021, most European institutions were able to respond rather rapidly by extending already existing strategies and policies for online and blended learning. Similarly, the E+ EVOLVE project reported that the Covid-19 pandemic made reinforcing the need for implementing Virtual Exchanges due mainly to the drastic drop in physical international mobility. The INVITE project aims to develop teaching and learning competencies for designing and implementing new virtual and blended modalities of international collaboration in European Higher Education Institutions, an objective aligned with several ambitions of the European Commission agenda for Higher Education, especially with the directions indicated by the recent Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 aiming at enabling digital skills of educators to improve the quality of digital practices in education, the new Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programs priorities, the green agenda for internationalization among others. INVITE complements other Erasmus + program funded projects addressing virtual exchanges and digital competencies in higher education, with its innovative perspectives not covered by other projects so far:It builds bridges among digital ecosystems and international and cross-border collaborations to enhance the teaching and learning process. It creates a strong educational basis for organizing high-quality and meaningful international virtual and blended academic programs and modules. It considers the “student-centered” and active-learning approaches as the basis of teaching and learning to propose solutions to global challenges.It extends the participation of disciplines not usually concerned by intercultural exchanges such as engineering, agriculture, health, and others, increasing the possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration. It gives teachers and students the needed skills to develop creative international blended and virtual programs, adding value to their careers. It will identify approaches to bridge bottom-up innovation with institutional strategies exploring ways to create opportunities for strategy development.It will have a considerable impact on cross-border teacher collaborations and the involvement of institutional staff to support such innovations.<< Objectives >>The INVITE project aims to develop teaching and learning competencies for designing and implementing virtual and blended modalities of international collaboration in European Higher Education Institutions. To this aim the project will pursue five specific objectives:Map the current institutional and educational approaches to the different cross-border and international collaboration in virtual and blended learning environments adopted by Higher Education Institutions in Europe underlying the practices that make a meaningful and sustainable contribution to teaching and learning processes. Develop an active-learning design framework applicable for different international virtual and blended modalities that enrich the teaching and learning process with proposed pedagogies, didactics, and toolkits. Design and implement an action-training online program targeting interdisciplinary teachers and institutional staff from HEI institutions to build capacities to design, implement and sustain innovative international virtual and blended programs/initiatives.Develop an open interactive digital ecosystem that will host the action-training program and also support the organization of international competition hackathons bringing together institutions and teachers in the design of innovative international virtual and blended collaborations addressing urgent problems aligned to the SDGs and the Green agenda. Identify Higher Education policies and strategies for innovation in teaching and learning aiming to establish and sustain cross-border virtual and blended programs.<< Implementation >>The INVITE will develop several activities to achieve the proposed goals:Map the current institutional and educational approaches to the different cross-border and international collaboration in virtual and blended learning environments adopted by Higher Education Institutions in Europe. Selection of good practices and case studies explored in depth through interviews, underlying the factors that make a meaningful and sustainable contribution to teaching and learning processes.Engaging HE academic staff with expertise in innovative educational methodologies (e.g. problem-based learning, adaptive teaching, and assessment, computer-supported collaborative learning, learning-by-doing, problem-solving, etc.) in the systematization of international virtual and blended initiatives in order to support their pedagogical value. This framework will encourage creativity, skill development, and knowledge dissemination among learning designers in a pedagogically sound way.Guidelines on innovative methodologies adaptable for virtual and blended modalities. From R1 and R2A1, it will be identified, classified, and published a menu of active methodologies and didactics suggested to be applied in different kinds of international virtual and blended modalities, such as Collaborative Online International Learning projects, Project Oriented Learning Environments, Co-design virtual exchanges, Blended Intensive Programs, etc. Design and implementation of open online interactive training modules for the development of digital competencies for educators, with the aim of enabling them to implement effective international virtual and blended learning environments. Specific modules will be dedicated to institutional advisors and educational developers to promote awareness and mechanisms to support, scale up and sustain international blended and virtual mobility initiatives.Organization of the competition days -hackathons- with the participation of an international jury composed of undergraduate & postgraduate students, teaching, learning, and innovation experts as well as guests. The “hackathon” will bring together institutions and teachers internationally in the design of innovative international virtual and blended collaborations addressing urgent problems aligned to the SDGs and the Green agenda. Develop an Open Interactive Digital Ecosystem in the form of a platform that will host the action-training program and facilitate the organization of hackathons. Furthermore, the platform will contain a shared space for teachers to contact peers and design projects. Develop guidelines and technical specification for adapting the open interactive digital ecosystem to training and innovation activities in educationReview of the evidence on institutional policies, instruments, and processes, their impact, including unintended consequences and risks. The evidence will be reviewed, focused on the most relevant European experiences. Four main drivers will be systematically explored: strategy and policies, facilitating structures, support instruments, and the role of international collaboration.Develop policy recommendations based on a deliberative dialogue with institutional stakeholders to validate the evidence collected aiming to identify enablers and drivers for sustainable innovation.<< Results >>Through the INVITE project, we expect to achieve several outcomes and resultsOutcome 1. Understanding the innovative ways for international collaboration in virtual and blended modalities in HEI through developing R. 1.1 An overview of existing and emerging international virtual and blended modalities for teaching and (T&L) identifying its key characteristics, scope, and specific contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning process in HE; and R. 1.2 Selecting good practices and case studies to draw a profile of the most innovative and adaptable methodologies that are currently being used in HE for implementing international collaboration in virtual and blended learning environments. Outcome 2: Designing, implementing, and assessing student-centered international virtual and blended modalities. Through the development of R. 2.1 A learning design framework proposal for student-centered activities in cross-border blended and virtual environments and R. 2.2 Guidelines on innovative methodologies that could be effective for improving T&L in international virtual and blended modalities. Special attention will be given to methodologies such as problem-solving, problem-based teaching, collaborative learning, and others applicable to such environments. Outcome 3: Teachers and Institutional staff equipped with the skills, and resources for designing, implementing, and sustaining international virtual and blended programs. Through R. 3.1 Online interactive training modules and micro-credentials to build teachers’ capacities and institutional staff to implement effective virtual and blended environments for T&L in international settings and R.3.2 Repository of open materials to share tools and guidelines to support the design of international virtual and blended programs.Outcome 4: Mobilize teachers and institutional staff for designing innovative international virtual and blended projects aiming to solve global and societal challenges. Through the development of a digital learning ecosystem (R.4.1.2) that will host training modules and hackathons bringing together teachers to design innovative international collaborations addressing urgent problems such as the SDGs and the Green agenda (R4.1.1&R4.1.3). The whole ecosystem will be offered as OER so other interested parties can adjust it for their own use. Evidence-based guidelines on the design, implementation, and evaluation of such days will support the uptake of such activities by others. Outcome 5: Linking bottom-up initiatives with institutional policies and strategies. Through the development of R.5.1 Evidence-based report on institutional policies and strategies for enhancing teaching and learning innovation for virtual and blended modalities. And R.5.2 Policy recommendations based on a deliberative dialogue with stakeholders on barriers and enablers for virtual and blended modalities. Furthermore, it is important to mention results such as:- Initiating a new form of cooperation between partners by creating joint virtual and blended programs that could benefit from external Erasmus + funding for BIP - Blended Intensive Programs. - Increasing the scale of virtual and blended programs between partner organizations- Creating a digital learning ecosystem across borders and among different HEIs, which is composed of a transnational learning community that collaborates, and that hosts the activities and the shared resources. - Getting to know the national cultures of participants taking part in the project.- Captivating the interest of HEIs from outside the partnership in the field of the project such as those of the European Universities where partners belong to.

"The ""Body & Mind Academy"" project as well as its results were created for adults 50+ and professionals working in non-formal adult education sector (trainers, teachers, instructors, etc.). Due to the growing problem of population aging in European countries the project organizers considered it important to support these target groups. According to Eurostat forecasts, by 2060 there will be less than 2 people of working age (15-64 years) per every person aged 65 or older in the EU-27. Currently, there is 4 persons of working age for every senior. Years 2015-35 will see the most dynamic changes, when a significant part of the baby boomers are expected to retire.It is known fact, that age is one of the factors that exclude from active life, bringing a sense of loneliness as a result of termination of regular interpersonal contacts. Old age is also often associated with diseases and disabilities. One can observe a break-down of everyday routine along with the growing confusion about what to do with rapidly gained free time. All this translates into growing frustration, depression, and deterioration of well-being – both mental and physical.The answer to such defined problem may lay in organization of regular meetings, say in the form of courses, where seniors can develop their skills and build new social relations. Body & Mind Academy is the project with the main goal to prepare a comprehensive program of the one-year course (academy), directed to adults 50+. The results positively affect the physical, social and intellectual activation of seniors and increase their quality of life.PARTICIPANTSTwo groups of participants took part in the project:GROUP 1 - trainers / instructors / people working with adults and seniors.This group is the first recipient of the project results. It is up to them if and how the materials will be implemented in the work with seniors. For these reasons all dissemination events were directed primarily to people working with adults.GROUP 2 - adults and seniors - final beneficiaries of the project results.From February 2018 to February 2019, Lilla House (coordinating organization) was involved in the creation and implementation of the test edition of the Body & Mind Academy. 22 participants were recruited: 20 women and 2 men aged 55 to 73 years. 14 people completed the full one-year course. 7 participants were dealing with health problems.It is estimated that a overall of 600 people participated in the project.ACTIONSDuring the project there were conducted:- 4 international project meetings with main purpose on creating and developing the intellectual outputs;- 6 outputs’ dissemination events. The recipients of the events were, on the one hand, employees of organizations and institutions with offer directed to adults 50+, engaged in the social, intellectual and motor activation of adults, as well as seniors, on the other hand. The events were mainly workshops, where trainers conducted selected class scenarios as part of the Body & Mind Academy.RESULTS OF INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTSThe project resulted in:1.Guide for the trainer, which contains information about the details of physical, intellectual and social activation of adults 50+; ways to motivate self-development; instructions on how to create Academy; yearlong course program of stationary classes (39 class scenarios with an extensive number of exercises).2.A web application that complements the one-year, stationary Body & Mind Academy course and the content of the guide. Its main purpose is to provide a set of homework for class participants. Students will find tasks on physical, intellectual and social activity.3.Video tutorials that primarily support the fitness trainer with classes preparation. The trainer will find there not only exercises and choreographies, but also tips related to the specifics of work with seniors.Intellectual outputs contribute to the dissemination of good practices in education and work with seniors.PROJECT IMPACTThe project contributed to the development of cooperation networks, on and beyond the local level, and to the exchange of good practices. An opportunity to expand soft skills and to strengthen the potential of organizations was created for the recipients of dissemination events. Those who decide to use the project results in their daily work can count on increasing number of consumers of their services.Translating all intellectual outputs into 5 languages makes the project's impact on European and international level feasible. International cooperation in enabled by creation of 5 identical versions of project materials. Given the popularity of English and Spanish in and outside Europe, the materials have a chance to reach a very wide audience around the world."

Industrial Cyber Security 4.0 (InCyS 4.0) has created a training course to raise awareness and basic responsive capacity in industrial cyber security for high level operational technicians (in robotics, mechatronics, production programming, automated systems etc.) who will professionally work with operational technology in Industry 4.0. As the Industrial landscape has evolved to integrate ever more connected digital control systems (known globally as Industrial Control Systems - ICS) for production and manufacturing, vulnerabilities abound which can affect the capacity of an enterprise to operate and offer services. Greater connectivity and digitalisation in industrial processes involving the integration of global applications and networks, while having multiple benefits, also brings greater potential risks such as hacking (breaches), sabotage, theft and chaos (the breakdown of equipment or the functioning of integral processes). Operational technicians need to receive training in their educational programmes which covers the inherent risks related with the OT/IT (Operational technology and Information technology) reality and how to respond effectively to these risks. Employers are aware that at present they are exposed and lacking the skilled employees to face these dangers. Industrial Operational Technicians (the weak link in the chain if untrained) need to improve their awareness and gain in basic competence in responding to detected cyber security risks. Partners from three countries, Politeknika Txorierri (ES), Instituto Politécnico do Porto (PT), Hellenic Mediterrenean University (EL) and IDEC (EL) have created a modular training Course in essential industrial cyber security and a supporting practical security Guide for technicians. The course was tested with HE technical students and industrial workers from Greece, Portugal and Spain in 2020-2021. All created materials are available via the project website in a MOOC for easy accessibility and transfer to other learning platforms. The project investigated, in collaboration with companies and industrial cyber security experts, the main security risks facing industrial operations to include within the training course. Training content includes real life industrial case examples from each partner country. The project has contributed to the competitiveness and prosperity of Industry 4.0, comprised mainly of SMEs as now there is a growingpool of qualified high-level technicians with the skills needed by the local/ regional (now global) market. It has also increased cooperation between Higher VET/HE European institutions and enterprises. This cooperation started with the project analysis and training events and increased as the project developed, and the partner activities were documented and shared at international level. The project has produced a MOOC that can be integrated easily into technical/industrial educational programmes and/or training courses for the unemployed and workers anywhere in Europe. The modular course is available in English, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish. We hope that the flexible training course will contribute to increased employability and a higher skilled European workforce.

CONTEXTDeaf students experience difficulties in communicating with non-deaf as well as with other deaf students from different nationalities due to the different languages used by both. Communication among deaf students through written text is not effective since deaf people are used to visual sign languages and not to oral languages being expressed orally or in written.Providing channels for the communication and access to digital educational materials in a common sign language that all deaf students can understand is critical to facilitate the access of deaf students to education and promote their inclusion in the globalized society.All sign languages are different despite sharing common characteristics. A key difference is that in the world of oral languages, English has become a de facto lingua franca which enables global mobility and active citizenship worldwide to all. Deaf communities may have similar opportunities if they have access to a globalized sign language. This sign language, named International Sign, exists but it is not commonly used except in big international congresses and global events, like the World Federation of the Deaf and COINES.Our previous experience with the international deaf community clearly showed that deaf communities are very much closed in themselves. Except for a few cases, deaf students rarely contact other deaf and even less non-deaf people outside their family and close friends. This castrating isolation they are forced to live in is one of the main causes for the very frequent mental diseases and depression observed in young deaf students.Raising awareness and promoting a preliminary contact with International Sign, at an early age in a school environment might be a significant contribution to open the global world of education and mobility to the deaf community. This is our purpose.The INSIGN project establishes an innovative infrastructure to promote the communication between deaf and non-deaf as well as among international deaf students using International Sign, probably the simplest sign language to learn.The INSIGN project transfers innovative research results and puts them to the service of the European community.OBJECTIVESThe INSIGN project aims to promote the access of deaf students to education, mobility and global citizenship. The specific objectives are:(a) promote the inclusion of deaf students in international education and their access to international mobility(b) promote active citizenship of the deaf students in a globalized worldPARTICIPANTSThe partnership includes five partners and 27 associated partners. Four of these are higher education institutions (HEI). The remaining include one European association related to the transition from education to labour.ASSOCIATED PARTNERS are end-users and the main stakeholders benefiting from the INSIGN outputs. They have key roles in the project and are our gateway to sustainability. The consortium will implement pilot installations at the Associated Partners to test the project outputs in real scenarios (list of Associated Partners available at ANNEX VII).METHODOLOGY AND PROJECT ACTIVITIESThe project work plan covers an initial preparation phase aimed at implementing the required management framework and performing a comprehensive study of the educational content for deaf students.At the implementation phase we will transfer the results from the VirtualSign research project. In concrete we will extend it to support International Sign, a product we will call the IS-Automatic Translator, and to develop applications to assist deaf students in educational settings and in daily life in international environment. We will organize certified staff training sessions in each country to train staff in the fundamental of International Sign and on the operation of the INSIGN applications.At the closure of the project we will evaluate the IS-Automatic Translator through several pilot installations in the partners institutions. The results from the pilot installations and the outcomes of the project will be presented to the media and public at an open session.RESULTS AND IMPACTSIn order to disseminate project activities and results, we will provide information to the stakeholders through press-releases, the INSIGN Community of Practice, the project website, Facebook, LinkedIn, email messages sent to the project stakeholders, participation, in conferences and other events and meetings. LONG TERM BENEFITSThe INSIGN project promotes inclusive school by transferring to the civil society innovative assistive technology research products that facilitate the access to education to deaf people in an international environment. INSIGN provides unique conditions to promote social inclusion, active citizenship and an improved educational experience to the European deaf community.