This research investigates how individual transformations in response to a changing climate alter perceptions of habitability in at risk places. By evaluating how individuals react to and understand these changes, this work provides concrete entry points for engaging climate-affected and low-income populations in climate change action. Further, by engaging with the idea of transformation, the project rejects narratives that accept the current socio-economic conditions as necessarily extending into the future. Rather, it focuses on the emotional labour and psychological burden of living with climate risk and interrogates how non-material losses (particularly fear, grief and disempowerment) can be leveraged to reduce current and future vulnerability. The project engages Campbell et al’s (2018) concept of bleak optimism – the agency we acquire when we start learning to accept and live with climate change - to advance understanding of individual transformation in the context of climate change and to identify ways to address emotional and psychological barriers to habitability. Drawing on Freirean praxis to understand how people can shift their perspectives, and drawing on Massey’s theories of a progressive sense of place to find entry points for engagement, the project advances a framework to enact bleak optimism. Employing qualitative methodologies, including arts-based practices, community mapping and ethnography, the project takes an international comparative approach, working with low-income and politically marginalised groups in three locations. Cases are identified where government actors are undertaking transformational adaptation in response to floods (Durban, South Africa and Lismore, Australia), and costal erosion (Happisburgh, UK). The project advances adaptation theory by developing the role of place in individual transformation; and shifting narratives around climate-induced place change to present emancipatory, rather than foreclosed, futures.

"BAQONDE (Boosting the Use of African Languages in Education. A Qualified Organized Nationwide DEvelopment Strategy for South Africa) represents a EU-SA well-defined collaborative response to the established national priority for CB projects ""The development of African Languages"". Departing from a rigorous need analysis that certified the dominant/detrimental role of English as the main language of instruction, BAQONDE aims to capacitate academic staff at HEIs to develop multilingual pedagogical skills that will enable the development of African languages as MoI at the tertiary level. The outputs of BAQONDE will contribute to develop a coordinated national strategy through the establishment of African Language Development Units (ALDUs) at each SA partner HEI. ALDUs will:1.Develop and implement a training program (including SA-EU mobilities) for a core group of lecturers from different disciplines to master context-relevant multilingual pedagogies2.Lead the production of digital subject-relevant multilingual materials for lecturers and students. These resources will be accessible from the project website to optimize the production/usage of materials in different disciplines/languages and harmonize multilingual teaching standards3.An inter-institutional Network of ALDUs will be established with the purpose of coordinating efforts, sharing resources and good practices in order to guarantee a culture of quality during the project and after its subsequent expansionBy fostering a culture of quality and coordinated cooperation, BAQONDE seeks to generate a major short-term impact in the teaching-learning process that will enable a greater long-term impact with far-reaching implications: the intellectualization of previously marginalized languages. This is in line with both the priorities of the country and the principles of equity, as it entails a better assimilation of contents and a greater development of professional competences by L1 African (Bantu) students."

<< Objectives >>The DECART project proposes a framework and tools to guide STEM & Management educational leaders in innovative curriculum design and programme transformations according to unpredictable VUCA contexts. As such the project aims to identify and share innovative curricula between project partners and international associated partners, to propose models and processes for curriculum change and transformations, as to assess and improve interoperability and resilience of curricula.<< Implementation >>DECART implements and operates 3 collaborative Intensive programmes for higher education programme leaders from the partnership, conducts quantitative and/or qualitative analysis, and reflects on original curriculum structures and properties. For external communication and dissemination, both onsite and online multiplier events are organized to share the methodological results and tools, so as to confront and promote innovative curricula design thinking and transformations.<< Results >>DECART delivers several reports which include shared understanding of curriculum structures in partner countries, VUCA scenarii to assess agility and resilience, as guidelines for curriculum design and transformations. A common Body of Knowledge is delivered, including change & transformation processes to inspire programme leaders. Learning materials with guidelines are produced (co-design and leadership workshops, crisis serious games), aside publications, brochure, and videos.

The general task of capacity building in Higher Education Institutions of two partner countries South Africa and Russia in the framework of the LiLaCC project has two primary objectives.The LiLaCC consortium builds the MOOC in Disruptive Information Technologies (DIT) as applied to mitigation and adaptation in climate change. Secondly, in each partner university (South Africa and Russia), the LiLaCC project builds a fab lab with the research focus on Disruptive Information Technologies in Climate Change. Altogether four fab lab facilities will be created, and in each university from a partner country, i.e. at the University KwaZulu-Natal and Stellenbosch University (South Africa) as well as at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University and ITMO University (Russian Federation). Together with the existing facilities in programme countries (Finland and Sweden), these establishments comprise LiLaCC network Living Laboratory. Both significant outcomes of the LiLaCC project, i.e. MOOC and living laboratory infrastructure are intended in the first place for university students.However, since MOOCs are by definition, massive and open for the general public, the same applies to the availability of fab lab facilities. The prerequisite for an interested individual outside a partnering university to participate in a fab lab project would be the successful completion of the LiLaCC MOOC. This arrangement contributes to the issues of social responsibility of academia in South Africa and Russia and further emphasises and enhances societal participation and response to the climate change problems. The novelty of LiLaCC project lies in the combination of two disruptive approaches, which are a modern massive open pedagogical strategy (MOOC) along with the MOOCs subject matter in disruptive information technologies, which offers potential solutions to barriers impeding climate change mitigation actions.

NGS analysis pipelines are rapidly becoming part of the routine repertoire of research, clinical and public health laboratories in the public sector and private industry. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is only one example of the many recent virus discoveries made through analysis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. Yet, only a small part of the several millions of short-length sequence fragments generated by NGS machineries, many of which are expected to be of viral origin, can be analysed with current methods in bioinformatics. Even for well-known (pathogenic) viruses, proper epidemiological analyses are becoming more and more difficult due to the lack of bioinformatics tools that can handle the large and growing size of datasets. The VIROGENESIS consortium will overcome the most pressing bioinformatics obstacles to making full use of NGS by developing a software platform for end-users with tools underpinned by novel algorithms, models and bioinformatics methods. The speed and flexibility of the tools will make it possible to run analyses on a daily basis for a variety of subjects, including diagnostics, phylogeography, phylodynamics and transmission of drug resistance. The tools will be piloted and incorporated in the many available bioinformatics pipelines and software programmes used in the field. We will make our tools available in a modular, free and open source software platform that offers opportunities to SME’s to further exploit this market. The VIROGENESIS consortium brings together leading European academic and private small and medium enterprises (SME) bioinformatics developers and virology end-users who initiated this project in response to a clear interest from EMBL, NCBI and the Global Microbial Identifier (GMI) platform.