COWEB (Promoting and Facilitating Collaborative Virtual International Learning in the Western Balkans Higher Education Institutions) aims to build capacities in the Western Balkans (WB) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for international virtual collaborative learning (VCL) as an innovative pedagogical approach in teaching and learning, with a focus on co-creating virtual/blended learning spaces and course content that will boost 21st century skills and competencies for students and address the low cross-border collaboration among HEIs and students in the WB region. The COWEB project is important for the following Target Groups of the project.-WB HEI Students-WB HEI Academic Staff-WB HEIsThe objectives of the COWEB are aimed to be achieved through a set of activities including, -Desk research and first-hand observation about virtual collaboration in Western Balkans region-International Forum on innovative virtual teaching and learning pedagogies -Training academic staff with pedagogical and didactical methodologies and teaching tools for implementing of VCL/COIL modules-E-Tutor qualification of senior students as teaching facilitators -Short Term Exchanges of the academic staff among EU and WB partners-Delivery of VCL course content and activities in a Local, Regional and International level-Dissemination Events (Midterm, Final Conference) as multipliers of project results.Among the deliverables of the COWEB project are,-Report on EU Best Practices on VCL (Benchmarking)-Report on Western Balkans Needs Assessment on Virtual Collaborative Learning-Didactical Staff training materials and Teaching & Learning Materials-Local, Regional and International VCL Course Delivered-Research Output on VCL Course experience-Project Website, and Promotional Materials The outcomes of COWEB will have a significant and long-term impact on the targeted HEIs beyond the projects' lifetime and as such benefit the society in general.

In response to the threat of climate change and the global challenges in the Energy sector, countries around the world have pledged to invest in low-carbon energy. Renewable energy sources, storage, smart grids, energy efficiency technologies and more, are some of the key segments which will help in massive decarburization. However, the global challenges in Energy sector cannot be successfully addressed without the contribution of knowledge-based innovations drawing on education and research in Energy field. To successfully respond to these challenges it is necessary to introduce new mechanisms which will connect HEIs with the industry sector and society and produce new innovative solutions. The Knowledge Triangle (KT) paradigm highlights the importance of linking research, education and innovation. Furthermore, to effectively address the challenges in higher education and skill demands, novel training, learning and knowledge transfer schemes are required. KALCEA draws its motivation from the lack of KT mechanisms and structures in WBCs. Cooperation with the industry is weak and on an ad hoc basis, mostly based on individual contacts, while a systematic approach does not exist. KALCEA will establish Knowledge-Innovation Centers (KICs), structrures hosted by selected WBC universities for capacity building in the area of KT; will build strategic partnerships with the industry sector; will develop open innovation platforms based on cooperation; will enable lifelong learning through professional education services in the field of Sustainable Energy through innovative actual and virtual learning environments, such as living labs and learning factories. The KALCEA target groups in HEIs include the administrative, technical and academic staff and PHD students, young researchers in Research Institutions, young professionals, entrepreneurs, and managers in the industry sector.

The new paradigms of electricity grids and markets require that staff employed in electrical energy related jobs as well as electricity end users are properly educated and trained. The electrical engineering curricula in WBC, formed to serve the conventional model of one large scale power grid, owned and operated by one company, need to adapt. ELEMEND is designed to facilitate electrical engineering curricula in WBC to be competitive through teaching and training in smart gird and microgrid technologies and electricity markets. Courses at the BSc level and a MSc programme will be developed; academic and technical staff will be trained; new ICT tools, such as e-learning platforms and gamified content combined with blended learning, will be used; an internship programme will be put in place for the most motivated of the ELEMEND students; a University - enterprise network will be created within the project, around the core group of the ELEMEND industrial partners. The ELEMEND laboratories will be accessible to all partners and are expected to attract research funding while ELEMEND graduates are expected to have increased employability rates and play a leading role in their field. The student projects carried out in ELEMEND labs in the third project year will focus on real‐life problems and are expected to attract the interest of relevant stakeholders. Outputs, such as the e‐learning courses, the gamified applications, the virtual labs, the new courses and Master’s programme are expected to engage new students and relevant target groups after the lifetime of the project as well as enhance public’s awareness.

Western Balkan countries are on their way for integration to European Union. Besides the harmonization of law, improvement of institutional capabilities is another important agenda in this process. Considering this, establishment of EU model university-enterprise cooperation is crucial for WBC.The main objective of SUCCESS is to establish of university-enterprise cooperation by forming a partnership in the areas of education and knowledge transfer based on the market needs, as well as creating wide university-enterprise cooperation network in Western Balkan countries. These goals are aimed to be achieved through a steady collaboration among WBC universities and enterprises from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Montenegro, and EU universities from, Poland Spain, Serbia and Germany. Considering this, main activities foreseen within the project are as follows: Exploring the partnership models in EU and WBC, university – enterprise partnership, modernization of curricula by introducing practice-oriented teaching and learning, introducing internship programme in cooperation with business sector, reinforcing of existing structures and establishing start-up services. Successful implementation of those activities will lead to the increasing graduates employability. The results of the project are: university – business network established at each WBC, Regional network cooperation platform set-up and implemented, 4 common projects between partner universities and business sector created at each WBC HEIs, new updated courses/programmes implemented at WBC universities in cooperation with business sector, start-up services at WBC universities established and functional, academic staff trained in the practice-oriented teaching, internship programmes developed and introduced at 8 WBC universities. All of the activities and results of the project will be disseminated through the network established within the project.

<< Objectives >>CIRCE addresses the issue of accent discrimination in the school environment. Accent discrimination is one of the most widespread and resistant forms of discrimination linked to the activation of prejudices based exclusively on how people sound. CIRCE thus aims at achieving increased awareness of the phenomenon and more tolerance towards accent variation, which are both key to safeguarding the pluralistic, multilingual and multicultural European identity.<< Implementation >>CIRCE will involve participants in discovering the mechanisms of accent discrimination by implementing the following activities: i) assessment of the nature and severity of linguistic prejudice through the observation of reactions to accent variation and of the language attitudes emerging in secondary education across EU countries; ii) production of educational resources to counteract linguistic prejudice and engage students in the promotion of linguistic diversity.<< Results >>The project’s expected outcomes include i) increased TOLERANCE towards non-native and non-standard accents within the three main target groups (teachers, secondary school students and university students); ii) greater AWARENESS of issues related to linguicism and accent discrimination within the general public; iii) INCLUSION of the topic of linguicism and accent discrimination in school and university curricula.