In the current era of unprecedented biodiversity crisis, which is disproportionally acute in the tropics, many ACP countries have embraced international commitments to ensure green growth through conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. In Tanzania, the project Partner Country, the National Biodiversity Strategy identified in the lack of capacity and inadequate curricula by its Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) major barriers to mainstream biodiversity conservation in the country’s development. Meanwhile, the EU recognizes that actions to avert the environmental crisis need to be taken within the EU but also at global level. Applicants targeted Tanzania because of its outstanding biodiversity importance and the long-standing presence in biodiversity conservation by EU proponents. The project aims at building a network of HEIs and natural science museums in the EU and the 3 major Partner Country HEIs to implement state‐of‐the‐art HE training so to boost capacity and curricula in biodiversity science, hence improving the country’s HE offer. Activities will (1) strengthen the academic scientific knowledge and improve the HE offer by delivering modern training approaches, through introducing e‐learning courses and facilitating the upgrading of formal curricula; (2) build the capacity of HEI’s lecturers and technicians on biodiversity approaches so to deliver effective training, by targeting trainers for capacity building, producing a toolkit and providing adequate equipment; (3) boost skills of students, and update the capacity of professionals, to implement standardised biodiversity monitoring techniques in the field by organizing field training courses. Impacts generated will include the activation of new course programmes to shape an increased number of future competitive biodiversity experts for relevant professional positions, increased research, scientific production, and biodiversity programmes that adopts international standards.

HEADCET aims to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile in tackling the challenges of sustainable development by enhancing their relevance for the labor markets and the society at large. The project specifically focuses on Circular Economy (CE) and Social Innovation (SI) which are strongly interrelated in Latin American (LA) Countries and are considered crucial to foster a more sustainable growth and to identify new jobs opportunities. To do this, HEADCET will support LA HEIs through a wide set of interrelated actions:- Training Services for University Engagement - Updating curricula on CE, SI and sustainability to make universities’ offer more compatible with labor markets demands. - Development of pilot Offices for sustainable development & circular economy (Oficina Desarrollo sustentable y EC - ODEC). ODEC will be conceived as university centers specialized in offering services of support and counselling on projects of SI and CE. The project will set-up 3 pilot ODECs that will represent a concrete job opportunity for graduates and young researchers.- Implementation of COllaborative Local Labs (COLLs): to directly involve local stakeholders (SMEs, NGOs, public agencies) on initiatives and skills needed in the regional ecosystem of each Latin-American university on CE and SI. - Organization of Career Development Centres (CADEC) for meetings and job-matching between students/graduates and companies around CE competencies and jobs- Creation and promotion of a regional network on CE and SI, enriched with EU partners, in order to take advantages of the opportunities under the Programme “Regional Coalition on Circular economy in Latin America”.The project consortium is composed by 6 LA HEIs and 3 European HEIs and a University Center with established experiences on engagement, CE and SI. The consortium is complemented by Fundacion Eurosur that has strong expertise and knowledge on LA countries and networking management.

Farming in EU is essential to livelihoods and local development, while facing many challenges such as limited resources and growing environmental challenges. Bio-economy is a solution towards this problem. For a successful bio-economy strategy in farming, further support is needed for the workforce, more knowledge about the impact and business models of bio-economy, raising more awareness and involvement of a wider range of actors. Training in bio-economy is still absent in many EU countries and there is a shortage of people with higher education in the farming sector. The transition to bio-economy needs professionals with multidisciplinary, managerial, and cross-sectoral expertise. Higher education and vocational training can play a critical role in this transition integrating dedicated curricula and training. RELIEF aims to develop and deliver an innovative approach for teaching bio-economy in farming, by developing specific learning resources addressing HEIs students and farming practitioners. HEIs, VETs, farmer consultants, research institutes, and social partners from Italy, Greece, Sweden, Cyprus and Portugal will deliver a high-quality network within the EU to advance bio-economy in the farming agenda. RELIEF will deliver a training needs analysis and develop two curricula in bio-economy, for HE students, farming practitioners and farmers exploring the key areas that are critical for the implementation of business models and strategies towards bio-economy in farming. Based on this knowledge, RELIEF will design and pilot learning units which will incorporate a mix of training methodologies. An e-learning platform will offer learning resources in 5 languages for self-training and networking to support the long-term sustainability of farming enterprises. RELIEF will stimulate significant changes in the university curricula, course content, and VET training by integrating a learner-centred approach based on problem-based, active and transformational learning