CuDiCy will investigate the cultural diplomacy (CD) of three states: the UK, Greece and Turkey, as it was practiced in Cyprus between 1945 and 1974. The action will be conducted by Dr. Maria Hadjiathanasiou, at the University of Nicosia (Cyprus), under the supervision of Hubert Faustmann, Professor of History and Political Science at the Department of Politics and Governance. Τhe action includes Secondments at the Embassy of Greece in Nicosia and, at the British Council in London. Timely and relevant, CuDiCy aspires to set a new paradigm in the growing field of CD, by becoming the study model for an innovative approach towards the exploration of external cultural influence in countries which accommodate ethnically diverse populations, for example Syria and Lebanon. It will contribute to the discussion about the conceptualisation of power, politics, authority and governance and, on the formation and transformation of identity. CuDiCy will achieve this by tracing and analysing the ways state and non-state cultural actors influenced the progress of events in Cyprus, from the end of the Second World War to the Turkish invasion. Time, location, concept and structure will be used as critical determinants to consider CD’s role. The methodology is crucial to CuDiCy’s main objective which is to expose the diverse and complicated functions, actions, visions and interpretations of what constituted CD during this period, to understand what its aim was, and to investigate how and if it accomplished its tasks. CuDiCy has a strong cross-sectoral multidisciplinary focus, involving the fields of History, IR, Political Science and the Humanities. It includes both the transfer of knowledge to the host institution and the training of the candidate in new methodologies and theoretical concepts. CuDiCy’s results will enrich and expand the discussion on global CD significantly, shedding light on a little researched region, with implications on what constitutes successful CD today.

One of the MTSS-K project core objectives is concerned with assessing the impact and cost-effectiveness of the schoolwide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) approach on literacy, numeracy, and social emotional behaviour (SEB) skills of kindergarteners in five European countries through two multi-country clusters randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (RCT1 in numeracy and SEB, RCT2 in literacy and SEB), and another objective is to explore the relevance of integrating a family component into the MTSS approach. The latter objective could be reached by conducting a third RCT in Cyprus and Luxembourg through the Hop-on funding. A sample of 60 classrooms from 60 different schools will be randomly assigned to the experimental condition (SEB+Numeracy+Family) or to the control group. The MTSS-K Hop-on will improve parental involvement in children’s numeracy and SEB learning for at least 900 families in Luxembourg and Cyprus. About 900 more children from the control group will benefit in the same way after the project ends. The intervention activities and assessments as well as any other developments will be made available, through the MTSS-K website and other platforms, to parents/families, teachers, policymakers and the general public, and the results will be disseminated based on FAIR principles and within the open science framework. At system level, regional actors in the R&I process such as the Education Ministry, children/families, teachers, and academia will benefit from UNIC’s participation regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of investment in high quality early childhood education and training. At organisation level, the integration of a family component into a new education model in Europe will improve UNIC’s research excellence and will provide access to new talent pool. At the new partner level, UNIC will extend its knowledge regarding the MTSS development and implementation, and develop communication, dissemination and exploitation skills.

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Public Health in Disasters (EMPHID) is a joint Master’s programme run by three leading universities in the field of public health and disasters: the Karolinska Institutet (SE), the University of Nicosia (CY) and the University of Oviedo (ES), the latter being the coordinator. The EMPHID EMJM is a 120 ETCS, 4 semester integrated full-time Master programme to be taken in two consecutive years, starting in the Autumn semester, with an introductory course at the beginning of the first year. Successful students will be awarded a Joint Master Degree by the three Universities, fully recognised in the three Member States. The objective of the master programme is to provide participants with adequate knowledge, skills and research capacity to reduce disaster risks and contribute to more pertinent and relevant public health interventions before, during and after disaster, understanding public health as the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals.The academic programme will provide graduates with a holistic approach, relevant knowledge and competences and the required skills to deal with public health implications in disasters. Graduates will gain theoretical and practical skills that are needed during humanitarian emergencies and disasters, as well as meet other fellow students sharing the same interests and concerns in the field of public health. This Master’s programme aims to instruct the next generation of healthcare workers to the highest professional requirements, to enable them to act effectively and quickly in the event of a health emergency.All courses will be delivered in English. It will run for 4 semesters, starting at fall, and all students will follow the same academic track.

"<< Background >>In the context of a rapidly changing world, the future of work is an issue drawing the attention of many individuals and organisations. It is a global concern, posing important challenges that need to be addressed urgently. One such challenge is how to ensure that the future of work is inclusive, leaving no one behind, including the one billion persons with disabilities living on our planet. Ensuring an inclusive future of work is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where there is explicit reference to persons with disabilities inclusion in the context of decent work and economic growth. The rights based approach towards persons with disabilities reflected in the 2030 Agenda is aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The CRPD will continue to provide an important framework for promoting inclusion and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities also in the world of work. This project is intended for adults with disabilities and their support for transition into the labour market from education and training, and making employment accessible by providing essential information and guidelines for employers, improving competences of educators and for the persons with disabilities as well. This project also aims to help people with disabilities by creating innovative supporting employment methods and establishing them in the labour market. Additional priorities interconnected with the goal of the project are referring to Extending and developing the competences of educators and other personnel working with adults with disabilities as well as Enhancing access to training and qualifications for all.<< Objectives >>The key objective of this Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project is to contribute by creating dynamic and inclusive sensitive tools for use across Europe to support unemployed adults with disabilities to be fairly included in the labour market and to ease the transition process of education and training to employment, by:•Creating evidence-based best practices in the area of inclusion of persons with disabilities (PwDs) into the Labor market;•Digitalisation of the inclusion practices for persons with disabilities into the Labor market by creation of accessible OER (Open educational resource);•Creating accessible tool for employment ""European passport for employment"" of persons with disabilities;•Supporting business sector for employing persons with disabilities by creating special tool for working and engaging with PwDs at the workplace;•Building capacities (competences and skills) of professionals involved in education and training of persons with disabilities;•Foster quality improvements and excellence in innovation at the cross-sectoral level through enhanced transnational cooperation between educational institutions dealing with adult education and business sector (employers);•Promote and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society.<< Implementation >>Increasing the number of persons with disabilities in the labour market requires a comprehensive approach which this project offers, making use of a wide range of measures. Key among them are:- collaborating with companies/employers to create more inclusive workplaces;- strengthening the vocational and other professional skills of persons with disabilities;- upgrading competences of teachers and other professionals involved in education process of persons with disabilities, as well as promoting a conducive policy and legal environment for the wage employment of persons with disabilities. Hence, these three groups will directly benefit from this project: people with disabilities, employers (business sector) and teachers/professionals involved in the education process of persons with disabilities.Persons with disabilities face barriers to inclusion in mainstream society. They are frequently not considered potential members of the workforce. Myths abound, including that persons with disabilities are unable to work and that accommodating a person with a disability in the workplace is expensive. Statistical reports from low, middle, and high income countries show that people with disabilities of working age have much lower rates of employment than people without disabilities. This project is one step towards decreasing negative statistics of unemployment of persons with disabilities and a small contribution for social inclusion. The socioeconomic part of integration of persons with disabilities that essentially reflects the quality of life of this category of people, where employment occupies an important place, is an indicator of the success of the holistic treatment of persons with disabilities. That is why, the business sector (employers) should know what to expect and how to create an inclusive work environment and to bring down discriminating barriers for persons with disabilities.Educators, teachers and other professionals involved in educational process of persons with disabilities are facing lack of competences and skills to address educational needs and specifics of persons with disabilities, among which are career guidance and preparation for the world of work and labor. This project is aiming to improve the competences of educational professionals by giving them specific skills that will make the transition from the field of education to the filed of labor more successful.Transnational project implementation is vital because of the fact that unemployment of persons with disabilities hits almost every country in the European Union, and this is one of the priorities of the Union integrated in social inclusion practices. Additional, transnational implementation of the project will provide exchange of good practices among the partners, which will lead towards more perceivable, operable and inclusive outputs and cooperation between counties in EU and beyond.<< Results >>According to the project objectives and planned activities, expected results and outcomes can be categorized as tangible and non-tangible. Tangible results are:- on-line open access educational resource (OER) accessible and operable for persons with disabilities intended for persons with disabilities, employers and professionals in the area of teaching and rehabilitating persons with disabilities, that will contain all project tools, materials, guides and good practices developed in the project;- Desk-top research about evidence-based best practices in the area of inclusion of persons with disabilities (PwDs) into the Labor market;- Mini guide (manual/practicum) for employers about policies, expectations and support for employment of persons with disabilities and their integration in the workplace ""How to work with people with disabilities"";- Special flexible and self-advocacy tool for persons with disabilities ""European passport to employment"" that will help persons with disabilities make effective transition and inclusion into the labor market and workplaces;- New flexible teaching methods and open pedagogy (andragogy) approaches, especially in professional orientation and career counseling and development;- Increased access to e-materials for teaching and employment of persons with disabilities;- Increased transnational cooperation in the field of adult education and training and inclusion of adults with disabilities. Non-tangible results are referring to:- Enhancing the transition from education and training to the world of labor for the persons from vulnerable groups (persons with disabilities);- Building professional capacities (competences and skills) of professionals involved in education and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities for career guidance and enabling successful preparation for the persons with disabilities on the labor market;- Enhancing emancipation process of persons with disabilities and stimulation to be active participants in the labor market; - Supporting EU and UN policies about employment and active participation of persons with disabilities in all spheres of the society;- Stimulating business sector for employing persons with disabilities by creating accessible and practical guideline;- Greater understanding of diversity in the societies;- Raising awareness about the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mainstream societies;- Creating equal opportunities for persons with disabilities to use the Open educational resource and all educational and career tools developed in the project."

<< Objectives >>The project aims to:(a) bridge the gender gap in STEM by tackling gender stereotypes and by enhancing the representation and continued interest of 10–14-year-old girls in STEM education and careers, by targeting both students and teachers.(b) enhance girls’ motivation and interest in making critical subject choices that will effectively lead to STEM studies in higher education and subsequently to employment and careers in STEM.<< Implementation >>Three main activities will be implemented:(a) To examine 10–14-year-old students’ attitudes and perceptions of STEM, and their expectations of future careers in the sciences, through questionnaires and interviews(b) To develop and implement in schools two student learning modules, consisting of a total of 6-10 teaching units, that will cover fundamental topics across various STEM disciplines(c) To develop and deliver a Teacher Continuing Professional Development program in Cyprus and Slovakia<< Results >>Project is expected to:(a) Deliver a fine-grained analysis of students’ attitudes and perceptions of STEM, in Cyprus and Slovakia.(b) Improve students’ awareness and knowledge and teachers’ didactic competences in STEM, by developing high quality learning and teaching materials, and a teacher training program.(c) Disseminate project outcomes to teachers, policy makers, and researchers in STEM education.