Companies operating in the atuomotive and mechanical engineering (AE) industry always need to be up-to-date to be competitive. All partners from Thailand (TH), Indonesia (ID) and Malaysia( MY) face one big challenge which inhibits them from further growing in the AE industry: the lack of highly educated engineers focusing on AE. ID, MY and TH are highly important for the global production of cars. However, in comparison very little is done in the area of development and advancement of technological innovation, hands-on trainings and HEI-business cooperation.As there is a lack of human capacities (well-educated professionals), UNITED will close the current lack of skilled labour in AE to increase the positive impact on AE on regional development and internationalization of the AE industry. The installation and operation of the engineering knowledge transfer units (EKTUs) and increased knowledge on AE, higher standards in teaching, innovative teaching methods and through the HEI-business cooperation higher employability of graduates will be created.The EKTUs offer vocational trainings to upgrade skill on AE to industry professionals done by academic staff and student assistant trainers. Selected well trained student assistant trainers will work in the EKTUs in the frame of project based courses. Through the EKTUs the following aims can be reached:•to spread the knowledge of AE at HEIs and to industry professionals to increase regional development in AE•to increase the employability of students due to upgraded knowledge To expand generated knowledge a network for AE will be established. It´s promoted through cross-border conferences and strategically planned dissemination activities. Uni-business cooperation will be increased nationally & internationallyThis leads to 3 advantages:• increased employability of students in AE due to trainings of EKTUs• strengthen cooperation HEI-business through EKTUs • increased teaching standards through capacity trainings

Thailand & Myanmar are facing key social problems such as economic disparities, demographic challenges and educational gaps that hold back the countries´ development & advancement of its people. This has led to an increased interest in using social entrepreneurship (SE) to address some of the most pressing issues by delivering both social impact & economic benefit. Despite this wave of innovation, there is a lack in really disruptive ideas that create sustainable, yet profitable businesses. Higher Education institutions are in need of modernizing their physical infrastructure & upgrading of teaching capacities in order to be able to react to current educational developments & to develop future change makers. STEPup aims to transform existing social entrepreneurship practices and promote innovation in Thai & Burmese HEIs by integrating advanced learning tools for the creation of disruptive business ideas into existing academic structures, while strengthening the university-business collaboration through participatory schemes on a local and regional level. Expected results & impact envisioned:• Strengthened teaching staff capacities & student skill sets through innovative teaching & learning methodologies by offering SE trainings • Modernized technical infrastructure of Thai & Burmese HEIs by creating, equipping & putting in operation Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hubs• Enhanced HE-Enterprise cooperation and students learning experience by developing SE Case studies in cooperation with established social entrepreneurs, to prepare students for innovative thinking in “real life” contexts• Greater awareness and reach of high-quality training material & publications by providing access to Open Educational Resources to regional and international academic community• Extended networks in social entrepreneurship innovation in national & international HE contexts by joint publications and organising the International Conference on Innovative SE practices.

The overarching aim of SECRA is to contribute to more resilient communities in Asia through institutionalized, systematic, monitored, innovative, and inclusive university–enterprise collaboration (UEC) in climate change action and disaster resilience (DR). The main problem targeted by SECRA is the ad hoc, episodic quality of UEC in the field of DR in many Asian countries, which are disproportionately affected by consequences of climate change. We are aware that there is no simple answer to the wickedness of climate change consequences or resilience; we are claiming, however, that facilitating systematic, institutionalized, inclusive (in terms of gender parity) and monitored UEC is part of a solution. High quality, entrepreneurial collaborative activities between universities and industry facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge, practical skills and good practices, which otherwise remain siloed. SECRA deals with the problem at hand in a sequential fashion. The project’s contribution to more resilient communities is through increasing the capacity of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to initiate, manage, maintain, and benefit from UEC. The institutionalization and systematization of UEC are addressed in WPs 1, 2, and 3, innovation in WP4, and monitoring in WP5. SECRA will produce, inter alia, material towards eventual change of policies governing collaborative activities in partner countries; a relation framework to understand UEC; an online platform for a Community of Practice (CoP) consisting of HEIs, public sector and enterprise actors; a corporate start-up lab and networking activities in partner HEIs, and a monitoring tool to assess the quality of UEC that can be broadly contextualized for use in HEIs worldwide.

Teacher-centred teaching and learning has strong roots in Indonesian education and conventional learning methods are still prevalent in most of Indonesian Universities. In Thailand, higher education organizations can’t attract new students in proportion to their existing structures and resources. Higher education is the efficiency enhancer and acknowledged prerequisite for the economic success of a country. Therefore, it is obvious that Indonesian and Thai higher education should meet better the international standards and needs of the society.In modern business-to-business (B2B) environment, companies are not competing against each other’s but instead the competition is done in between of different supply chains and value networks. Higher education graduates can’t rely on old business models; they must be armed with the mindset and competences needed in modern international businesses. B2B sales is a growth accelerator but it has not been given the appreciation it deserves as a profession, neither a stable position as in higher education.The main aim of the SEASAC project is to strengthen South-East Asian Universities’ capability to provide highly skilled B2B Sales professionals for the emerging international markets. In the project, we will utilize existing European knowledge and experiences in developing a pedagogically rich concept for the cooperation of Universities and companies in the sales education. Best practices from Europe will be matched with Asian sales cultures.A concrete tangible output will be a South-East Asian Sales Competition concept, consisting of International B2B Sales Course and South-East Asian Sales Competition Finals event. These novelties engage companies to the University level Sales education in its all phases: planning, implementation and assessment of students’ performance. In addition to core partner countries, concept will attract Universities from other South-East Asian countries during the implementation of the project.

The FRIENDS project supports PC HEIs’ internationalisation capabilities and campus diversity. The project’s chief goal is to develop PC HEIs students’ global competence through the integration of intercultural dimensions into universities’ formal and informal curriculum. The project is built around the concept of internationalisation at home (IaH) that shifts HEIs’ focus of attention from outbound to virtual mobility and on-campus intercultural engagement for the benefits of non-mobile students’ employability and global outlook.The consortium combines the expertise of 4 Eastern European PrC HEIs in BG, HU, PL and TR, as well 12 PC HEIs from Asia, namely 2 in BT, 2 in KH, 2 in MY, 3 in PH and 3 in TH. The following key results will be achieved through FRIENDS:1. Institutional IaH Action Plans adopted to streamline PC HEIs’ initiatives for IaH and to improve PC HEIs IROs staff and faculty’s capacities for internationalisation.2. Intercultural Passport virtual module designed and embedded into PC HEIs' elective curriculum to build students intercultural knowledge and sensitivity to cultural diversity. The Intercultural Passport is an innovative tool that combines virtual mobility and methodologies for validation of prior experiential learning evidenced through the means of digital storytelling. At least 180 PC HEIs students will be awarded an Intercultural Passport at FRIENDS initial phase.3. FRIENDS Teahouse social spaces established at 12 PC HEIs to function as student-friendly multicultural hubs that welcome diversity, and support the welfare of students with diverse cultural backgrounds. In addition, FRIENDS Teahouses will contribute to the improvement of overall university experience of PC HEIs’ students across campus.4. Home away from Home Programme induced as a model for integrated international student care and services. In the long run, the programme will contribute to the gradual increase of international and inbound students at the PC HEIs.