The Mediterranean basin is famous for its natural diversity, but also an area with pressing environmental problems. Countries on its southern shore are particularly vulnerable to these issues, since their socioeconomic reality is full of difficulties directly connected to their environment: Apart from general issues such as waste management, water and air pollution and their effects on the population’s health, these countries face severe challenges through desertification, deforestation and threats to biodiversity caused directly by environmental change and with severe implications for their economies, especially regarding agriculture and the tourism sector.Consequently, strategic environmental change management will be crucial to seize socioeconomic opportunities linked to environmental change and minimize its risk. Therefore, the wider objective of this project is to enable Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian HEIs to develop and implement a new master’s curriculum in the field of Mediterranean Environmental Change Management. Master Study and Ecosystem Building (MEHMED) aligned with the EU Bologna educational approach (duration of 1,5 year, 90 ECTS).To this end, EU HEIs will transfer their knowledge and experience from related degrees to the Partner Country HEIs and participate in the joint development of a new curriculum in accordance with EU and international standards and labour-market requirements to prepare students to apply their knowledge, skills and competences in the field of environment and sustainable development. The new master will assume an interdisciplinary approach, through the collaboration of various faculties and by involving graduate students from different academic fields. MEHMED will be developed in collaboration with various Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian public and private stakeholders in the environmental sector, and include an internship module thematically linked to the students’ master’s theses to improve alumni’s employability.

European trends towards inscreasing academic and professional mobility and expanding markets have led to the need for European citizens and workers with specialised language skills, i.e. languages for academic or occupational purposes, as opposed to general purpose language skills. Concomittantly to the multiplication of language for specific purpose (LSP) courses, both in tertiary and adult education, the increasing need for LSP teachers should have fostered an increased need for LSP teacher education but the lack of specific training offered to both trainee and practising language teachers is consistently pointed out in published research, with LSP teachers having to learn « on the job ». It therefore seems that policymakers’ assumption is that general language teacher education is enough to equip language teachers with the skills necessary to teach LSP classes in spite of researchers noting, amo,g other things, that the approaches and methodologies are quite different. Still, with the notable exception of Howard & Brown’s 1997 collective volume, LSP teacher education has so far received very little attention in published research in Europe and beyond as well as in previous European projects.In addition, as noted by several researchers (Delcloque 1997, Belcher 2017, Sarré 2021), LSP teaching can greatly benefit from the integration of digital technologies, even more so than general language teaching. This obviously supposes that LSP teachers have been trained in integrating these tools and approaches into their own teaching.The CATAPULT project aims to use innovative methods (in the forms of a MOOC and a Community of Practice Platform) to address this dual need, that is to offer training on both the specific approaches to LSP teaching and the integration of digital technologies in the teaching of LSPs to both practising LSP teachers and language teacher educators. The CATAPULT project targets European language teachers involved in LSP teaching. The project’s target groups are therefore primarily (1) LSP adult educators (freelance language teachers offering training to professionals in the industry) (2) LSP teachers in Higher Education Institutions (as this is also a context where LSPs are commonly taught) (3) language teacher trainers. The outcomes of the project also aim to contribute to the modernizing of language teacher education programmes across Europe, which explains why teacher educators involved in initial language teacher education and continuing professional development (CPD) are one of the project’s target groups.The project has enabled more than 600 European language teachers to develop professionally through the MOOC developed by the consortium, and nearly 250 LSP teachers to join the community of practice gathered on a specifically designed platform in order to pursue their professional development throughout their career. Coordinated by Sorbonne University, the CATAPULT project involved the expertise of five partners in Finland, Germany, Poland, Greece and the Netherlands.The partnership started with analysing both (1) the needs of potential employers of LSP teachers and (2) the training needs of European LSP teachers. On the basis of this inventory, a complementary study of the existing training courses in the partner countries as well as of national competence frameworks, and a meta-study of scientific publications on the teaching and learning of LSPs, the consortium then drew up a common competence framework for the European LSP teacher. In order to help teachers develop some of the identified competences, online training modules were then developed and delivered on a dedicated MOOC. By developing an online environment for a community of practice of European LSP teachers, the consortium wanted to give LSP teachers the opportunity to continue their lifelong learning once they had completed the MOOC. Finally, the quality approach was a concern of the consortium throughout the project by the development of evaluation grids and specific procedures, by the implementation of accreditation procedures for the trained teachers and by a quality audit of all the project outputs.Thanks to an impact study of the tools and materials developed, the consortium was able to produce a number of recommendations for political decision-makers for better recognition of the specificities of LSP teaching and the integration of relevant training. Some of these recommendations have already been put into effect locally, in particular through the integration of LSP training modules in initial teacher education based on the content of the CATAPULT MOOC.In the longer term, it will be LSP learners (adults and students in Higher education in particular) who will benefit from the pedagogical expertise of their LSP teachers who will make the most of a number of digital technologies.

4EU+ is an ambitious proposal that intends to move beyond a simple university alliance and create a truly integrated university system, aligned with the European Council priorities by 2025. Our six comprehensive, public European research universities are strongly embedded in their local territories and share European values and a global outlook. They are situated in all four European sub regions and play a key role as regional flagship universities and gateways to Western Europe (Heidelberg, Sorbonne), the Nordic countries (Copenhagen), Central Europe (Charles and Warsaw) and Southern Europe (Milan).Together, we will empower students by giving them full access to courses, research facilities, internships, grants, libraries, student accommodation and infrastructure from all six universities as part of their normal curriculum. They will share a single student experience based on common European values.We will provide academic and administrative staff with incentives to teach, develop courses and research projects as well as work throughout the university system. This will imply defining common core curricula and competencies at the 4EU+ level and building shared platforms and services (such as infrastructure, housing and resource repositories). Finally, for economic partners, NGOs and social partners, a single knowledge and technology transfer hub will facilitate access to both students and expertise across all six universities.4EU+ is fully in line with the objectives, challenges and expected impacts of the call for European University pilot projects. The project includes a detailed implementation plan with 7 work packages and associated KPIs to maximize impact, dissemination and sustainability of the project. During the first 3 years the project will be implemented in four flagship programs in fields linked to Health, Europe, Information Science and Sustainable Development, identified in a bottom-up process and aligned with the UN sustainable development goals.

"<< Background >>The D-RESKILL@U Project is presented as a response to the challenges that European training institutions are facing, specifically in the field of lifelong learning, in the current context of health, social and environmental crisis. D-RESKILL@U recognizes that the workforce needs effective up/reskilling and career guidance tools to enable them to enhance their employability in a period of rapidly changing work patterns. The solutions envisaged must be as effective and affordable as possible (to increase inclusiveness). Coordinated by Sorbonne Université, the project will provide European higher education institutions with guidelines for an original online lifelong learning offer at the post-bachelors level for the re- and/or up-skilling of the workforce. To achieve the most in-depth and at the same time the most practical vision, it brings together a consortium of partners with different profiles, 2 research-intensive universities (Sorbonne Université and Università di Milano), a technical university (Budapest University of Technology and Economics), a distance-learning university (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), together with a leading-edge EdTech company (PIXIS/MeshUp Education) in the field of digital school guidance, and a non-profit foundation (Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme) with expertise in digital transformation of higher education and dissemination.<< Objectives >>The D-RESKILL@U project takes the “European Skills Agenda” head on by prioritizing equity and inclusivity as a key instrument of socioeconomic development and excellence. It postulates that public universities can play a pivotal role in providing innovative lifelong learning formulae. D-RESKILL@U is vital in this regard, by providing the strategy for a lifelong learning approach that is accessible, readily applicable, and responsive, thanks to its compliance with the European Skills/Competences, Qualifications, and Occupations (ESCO) database and its use of advanced digital tools for career guidance.The 3 following points illustrate the highlights of the project and its strengths:1. The use of digital technology to make the provision of lifelong learning as inclusive as possible, in the context of the current socio-economic crisis triggered by the health crisis and its aftermath.2. The proposal of an innovative learner-centred curriculum plan linked to the evolution of the European labour market, and providing the methodological, technical, and strategic guidelines for implementing it.3. The maximization of impact via an active dissemination plan to ensure visibility and continued sustainability.<< Implementation >>We envision to implement the following activities:1. Anatomizing lifelong learning offers into “blocks of skills” (BOS) following the ESCO database ontologies and data sets credentialing under the Bologna format, (ECTS). The constitution of an ESCO-compatible “smart” catalogue of offers will renew, streamline, and enhance the effectiveness of lifelong learning planning for individuals plotting their career paths, as well as the lifelong learning programs of our universities. D-RESKILL@U also recognizes and anticipates the future directions of the job market, and for the purposes of this pilot project the BOS and corresponding catalogues will be initially outlined for data sciences and chemistry. 2. Designing a digital career guidance software allowing lifelong learners to build curricula from the indexed portfolio of courses that exploits machine-learning applications through its synergistic self-positioning capabilities. D-RESKILL@U will provide the dynamic prototype (mock-up) of this learner-centred career guidance software (with user interface/user experience mockups and wireframes), and the precise description of the interfaces and functional requirements for software development. 3. Designing training activities on innovations in lifelong learning and carreer guidance. These training activities will both situate and operationalize the results of the project within the framework of digital transformation strategies of higher education institutions. to address the methodological and technical concepts and issues resulting from the endeavors of the D-RESKILL@U working groups.4. Planning the dissemination of the D-RESKILL@U outcomes. It will target a diverse audience (universities, Ministries of Education and Labour, Chambers of Commerce, employment agencies, among others) at the national and European level via a series of in-person and online events. These dissemination activities will lead to fundraising strategies aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the project after the end of this EU funding context.<< Results >>1: Project Result 1: The production of guidelines aiming at defining ""Block of Skills"" contents and defining (micro-)credits according to the Block of Skills. As an application, a ""smart"" catalogue of online offers will be produced in the fields of data sciences and chemistry;2: Project Result 2: The production of the dynamic mock-up of the career guidance software, consisting in the digital implementation of the smart catalogue, the specifications of the career guidance software (dynamic modelling and interfaces designing);3. Project result 3: The training program on ""Innovations in digital Lifelong Learning and career guidance"" that will take the form of two workshops aimed at university staffs and their governance, as well as alumni associations and corporate representatives; 4. Other outcomes resulting from the project are the continued dissemination of the D-RESKILL@U methodologies at the global level, the creation of an online kit describing the methodologies, and the implementation of the career guidance software and its testing when supplementary fundings are raised in the post-Erasmus+ period."

The “emergency eLearning” (Murphy, 2020) caused by covid-19 pandemic forced lockdown showed us that although technologies enable online student learning, it has some shortcomings (Kidd & Murray, 2020). These are especially visible when it comes to the hands-on and learning and experiments, especially in cases like teaching and learning practical science online. Teachers and teacher educators were creating and sharing ideas about and instructions for online practical teaching and some of these can be very inspirational too (Kidd & Murray, 2020).Therefore the objectives of our project are i) create innovative experiments, hands-on and minds-on activities that are designed for online science (chemistry and biology) practical courses. These will include experiments that can be conducted at home without any special instruments and equipment as well as computer assisted and instrumentally supported (e.g. probeware) experiments and innovative 3D tools; ii) deepen the understanding of online teaching science practical courses and learning through them. The results of the project will be shared through the examples of good practice with emphasis on the identified principles included.The participants of the project are: - coordinator Charles University (CUNI), Faculty of Science, members of departments of teaching and didactics of chemistry and biology - partner University of Matej Bel (UMB), Faculty of Science, members of departments of chemistry and biology - partner University Maribor (UM), Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, members of department of biology - partner Sorbonne University (SU), Laboratoire Interfaces et Systèmes Electrochimiques (LISE) - prof Maisonhaute who prepares university students for so called agregation (exam for students become a secondary school teacher)- partner CESIRE (CESIRE) - educational centre and service that supports innovation and educational research - partner INS Sabadell (INS), a school of compulsory secondary education (ESO), post-compulsory education (Batxillerat), and vocational studies on computer science - pre-service teachers (university students)- in-service teachers and their studentsTo meet the objectives of the project, we will i) create, evaluate and publicly share innovative experiments, hands-on and minds-on activities - experiments which can be conducted at home without any special instruments as well as instrumental supported experiments and innovative 3D tools. All the activities will be evaluated in practice either with pre-service teachers, secondary school students or both. The instructions for teachers and students will be translated to partners national languages and English and shared; ii) create, validate and use a new questionnaire (based on existing models) to collect data about how did science teachers incorporate their experience from the spring 2020 emergency online teaching into their teaching in the 2020/2021 school year and possibly in the future. We will also collect examples of good practices (using the questionnaire and recommendations of the in-service teachers aiming at specific sources and our own expertise) linked to online science practical courses. All the data will be analyzed and will enable us to understand the best ways of how to incorporate online teaching into science practical courses and possibly to practicals in general. The outputs will be used in several ways for pre- and in-service teachers in a means of increasing their pedagogical and digital competencies and content knowledge (and consequently their students):(1) Pre-service and in-service teachers (approx. 500 participants) will be part of the evaluating (piloting) the online activities and will be introduced to their benefits and possible pitfalls.(2) The final versions of experiments together with examples of good practice and the best way of implementing online practicals will be promoted in teacher training courses, professional development for in-service teachers (300 participants). These teachers, or at least some of them, will consequently use the innovative activities/units in their science teaching which will lead to approx. 15000 secondary school students supported by HomeLab outputs.(3) And the third impact meets students themselves: enabling practical work outside the laboratory, at home, outdoors can be motivating for students, and at the same time it is an opportunity to develop psychomotor skills. Estimated number minimum 25 000, in case 500 teachers use project outputs in two classes.The outputs will become an organic part of the partners’ curricula and will be incorporated into their professional development courses for in-service science teachers which they organize. The outputs will be also publicly shared on different already existing websites frequently visited by science teachers. By these means, the project will be sustainable and the outputs will be used in future education even after the project finishes.