"On the basis of the latest available data on disability in the Latin American and Caribbean region, an average of 12% of the population in this region lives with some form of disability (UN-ECLAC, 2012). 3 PC present in the Consortium (Costa Rica, Cuba and DR) despite having relatively strong legal frameworks in place to include PWD in all dimensions of society, require urgent policy action on disability in HE. In line with recent advancements at National, Regional & International level, ACCESS will operationalise these initatives in order to ""Leave No One Behind"" (Agenda 2030). Therefore, the overall objective of the ACCESS project is to improve accessibility, ensure learning conditions and foster policy change towards the inclusion of students with disabilities within the context of Higher Education in Costa Rica, Cuba and Dominican Republic via modern inclusion practices, training and networking. ACCESS will achieve that through concrete tangible outputs: 1. Increased inter-institutional cooperation and sharing of good practices via the needs analysis and transfer of know-how. 2. Enhancement of managerial, academic, teaching and administrative staff capacities in dealing with and implementing inclusive education practices.3. Creation of institutional support structures and assistive technology to enable access to HE and foster the consolidation of a social integration culture within universities. 4. Set up of 3 National Networks at each Partner Country, engaging with relevant stakeholders and enlarge with other PC HEIs and internaitonal experts.5. Development of a Regional network for the Inclusion of students with disabilities in HE.6. Increase public awareness and understanding on inclusive education within higher education institutions."

The project enhances the quality of Colombian, Cuban and Panamanian universities by transferring the EU expertise to design and implement a quality referential (framework, tools & methodology) based on impact assessment. This tool complements the actual QA systems currently limited to quality of teaching and research. This fosters an evolution towards an impact-driven culture in the institutions which improves the quality and relevance of the services that they provide to their community. The project results in an impact QA system, inspired by EU experience and customized to the 3 national contexts. The HEIs are capacitated for applying the quality referential at the institutional level (impact is measured and included in strategic development) and at the functional level (more activities/projects are targeted at local communities and their impact is maximized). The fitness for purpose and practical relevance of this QA system are verified by its implementation in 11 universities, under the mentorship of European experts.Results and best practices are compiled in two publications series: one for senior university management explaining how to measure, monitor and increase impact and collecting best practices. The second series, for faculty and specialist staff, provides guidelines and inspiration on how to maximize impact of universities activities for local environment and illustrates it it by a case studies compendium. Main findings and recommendations are shared with the 3 countries stakeholders during the project conference to build awareness and stimulate replication.The project promotes cultural changes in the universities who understand better how to answer the needs of their environment how to engage into innovative and more impactful activities. Regional & local communities benefit from the concrete results of the pilot projects and tighten their links with HEIs open to the local environment.