The participation of Women in STEM in the Latin-America region is a very complex problem in which necessarily call for actions from different actors, such as governments, private sector, families, as well the different levels of education (since childhood to higher education). In order to make concrete contribution, Higher Education Institutions need to focus on those needs and situations in which it has certain influence for making real progress, such as:- Significant minority of Women choose and access to STEM programs at tertiary level. The lowest rates appears in science and engineering programs. - Data is scarce, showing a need for analytical and systematic methods, which reflect actual participation of women in STEM at HEIs. - Tertiary studies with a high math component such as STEM seem to be excluded from the studies options by girls in secondary schools. - Lack of bridges between public policy and institutional actions led by HEIs. In this way, and aligned to the Erasmus + Capacity Building priority for improving management and operation of higher education, in terms of access to and democratization of Higher Education, the W‐STEM Project aims at Improving strategies and mechanisms of attraction, access and guidance of Women in Latin-American STEM Higher Education programs. For achieving this main objective, W-STEM project, will • Measure the gender equality in enrolment and retention rates in STEM programs.• Implement Universities’ policies, strategies and organizational mechanisms for improving attraction, access and guidance at undergraduate levels in STEM programs. • Promote STEM studies vocation and choice in girls and young women in secondary schools as well as guidance in the first year of the STEM program. • Develop an online training package for Higher Education Institutions to implement effective strategies to enhance attraction, access and guidance of Women in STEM programs.

The European Latin American Network in Support of Social Entrepreneurs (ELANET) has the ambition to become a leading platform in support of social entrepreneurs (SEs). This project will lead partner universities to implement an IT-based platform that consolidates already existing tools, resources, and coaching material for SEs. Our consortium involves 17 project partners (among which 4 European Universities and 12 Latin American Universities) and 35 associated partners. Through ELANET they will: - Develop and implement an international platform in support of SEs (in English) with 7 modules with seven modules: 1. SE cases to inspire, 2. SEs in need of support, 3. Support Partners, 4. Volunteers, 5. Tools for mentors, 6. Tools for SEs, and 7. Library with relevant articles and books.;- Exchange best practices for the support of SEs;- Make an inventory of available materials and tools;- Intensify the (inter)national collaboration among SEs, and between SEs, HEIs and network partners to attract resources (funding, coaching, volunteers);- Stimulate the internationalization of SEs, and their solutions to social challenges. The consortium undertakes this project because of all partner HEIs commitment to support SEs from their local communities. We refer here to the third and fourth mission of universities, with their active contribution to society, in addition to teaching and research. In the context of this project, most HEIs lack of a consolidated network of partners and programs of extracurricular activities to support SEs due to their complex coordination. Five years after the project (by 2028), ELANET’s goal is to be adopted by at least 100 universities from 20 countries, engaging 3.000 professors and 20.000 students in support of 5.000 social entrepreneurs. It is our ambition, supported by the crowdsourcing and transdisciplinary methodology of the project, to sustain ELANET over time and reach far beyond those numbers in support of social entrepreneurs.