Public relations events such as a public lecture series, a public round table discussing the state of the European Union from a gender and diversity perspective covered by a national newspaper, the project website, a teacher training workshop as a multiplier, a workshop for policy makers, and a bilingual open access online publication for civil society organizations, researchers, diversity practitioners and policy makers were planned as activities alongside the lectures and seminars of at least 90 hours. A conference panel was also planned for an international conference, which finally took place online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The chair promoted teaching and research in EU studies by the activities proposed in teaching, research and publications evolving throughout the project lifetime. To mainstream gender and diversity in EU studies and research on social cohesion, the chair implemented gender and diversity in the specific teaching activities to acquaint students with these subfields in EU studies. Special attention will be given to the relevance of gender and diversity in different policy fields relating to social cohesion, EU institutions, laws and policy recommendations from the supranational level and how this relates to students own studies and professional working environment. Topics have been chosen to especially relate to the existing professional life of students and to equip young professionals with knowledge for their future academic and professional life considering the relevance and timeliness of the EU subject. A mixture of teaching methods (blended learning, peer-group work and feedback, e-learning, and a map exercise game) and courses have been designed (lecture, training course, intensive course or seminar) for full-time or part-time students to assure students active participation in and outside class and within student peer-groups. Young professionals as students and their work load are considered in this approach to assure their active participation and show the relevance of equality and diversity policies for students’ professional life. To include students from other departments and to highlight multidisciplinary effects, a public lecture series will showcase the importance of gender and diversity for social cohesion within EU studies, policy making and for professional work by inviting guest speakers from different departments and universities. This will highlight the importance of diversity issues to students who do not automatically come in contact with European Union studies such as “Work Design and Human Resource Management”, “Banking and Finance”, and “Project Management and Information Technology”. Students from these departments are targeted to show the relevance of these issues to their specific field of study. This will show that the EU has an impact on diversity in various fields, especially for fostering social cohesion. The research and deliverables were designed to reach an academic audience, students and to include civil society practitioners and researchers in the field of EU gender and diversity issues (edited journal open access special issue) . Civil society, civil servants, policy makers and the broader public will be reached by the additional activities such as the public lecture series on “Diversity and Social Cohesion in the European Union” in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Labour and the Federal Trade Union to enhance visibility outside of academia on the local and national level. A round table debate with scientific experts addressing equality issues and the dissemination of this event by a national newspaper guaranteed its impact on the national and European level.

Background and project objectives:The wider objective of the project was to enhance the quality and relevance of six existing Master (MA) programmes in Finance in Armenia and Moldova through targeted reforms. The subject of Finance was chosen, as it is a crucial factor for economic development and skilled graduates in this field are coveted by the business community and the public sector alike. At the same time studies evidenced a need for reforms with regard to contents, teaching methodologies and the labour market relevance of study programmes. Against this background the specific project objectives were: 1) To reform six existing MA curricula in Finance taking into account the latest international developments in the subject area; 2) To promote the quality and relevance of the MA programmes through the development of updated and new course materials; 3) To further develop the competences and skills of teaching staff through training courses in innovative teaching methodologies and current topics in Finance; 4) To increase the alignment of the MA programmes with labour market requirements. The following core outputs and results were produced during the implementation:- 6 specific guidelines for the reform of the MA programmes; - 6 reformed curricula in Finance (for 109 students in the first cohort and 110 students in the second cohort); - Updated and newly developed teaching materials (48 courses); - 2 intensive training courses for university teachers (48 trained teachers); - 6 career guidance events for students (in cooperation with labour market representatives); - Regular internal and external quality control reports on the outputs/results; - 6 sustainability strategies for the reformed MA programmes; - A project website; - 4 local dissemination workshops (in total 122 participants); - 2 final exploitation conferences (in total 184 participants); - 16 follow-up cooperation arrangements among the consortium HEIs; - 15 follow-up cooperation arrangements between the Partner Country HEIs and industry representatives from the financial sectors in Armenia and Moldova. Selected impacts of the project:- The quality and labour market relevance of 6 MA programmes in Finance in Armenia and Moldova was increased; - The latest international trends in the subject area were incorporated in the programmes (curricula, courses); - The use of teaching methodologies was diversified (trained teachers, new course materials); - The profile of graduates is better aligned with labour market demands (developed competences, skills); - Enhanced competitiveness of the Partner Country HEIs through reformed MA programmes and outreach activities; - Closer ties between HEIs and industry representatives; - Sustainable cooperation among the consortium HEIs (follow-up cooperation agreements and spin-off initiatives).

PETRA project's wider objective is to promote teaching and learning excellence in Azerbaijan. Specific objectives are: (1) Building Capacity for Developing Teaching and Learning Processes to meet pedagogical and technological needs and (2) Improving and Providing Quality Teaching and Learning through innovative technology, promoting research, improving active learning, and establishing long-term partnerships with European universities. The project targets two private, two public universities and four state universities in Azerbaijan with a key objective to improve their quality of teaching and learning.It aims to build human resource capacity in teaching, research, and developing/improving necessary infrastructure to provide an environment for effective learning. The most up-do-date planning, development and management resources have been utilized for these activities and adapted to the needs of the student body.8 Teaching and Learning Centres (TLCs) aimed at guiding and enhancing the teaching and learning process have been established at each member university in Azerbaijan, because one of the main aims of this project is to assure the quality of education, teaching and learning processes. Building on the Project objective to enhance the quality of teaching and research towards excellence, the TLC's updated equipment are used to incorporate last generation teaching tools and advanced technology, by developing human resource capacity and international partnerships, and developing students' learning skills through on-line active learning.The project results also include the development of a 3-year strategy plan, with a detailed structure and activity plan designed as a result of learning experience in European countries. The trainers and pilots incorporated the necessary skills for training selected faculty for the final purpose of promoting on-line education as a key element in professional development. A broad assortment of trainings and workshops on enhancing research competence have been provided to the selected trainers, and students of target universities participating on the pilots which have been replicated to selected faculty (and students) included on the TLC plans.Last but not least, new collaboration agreements are in place between EU Universities and Azerbaijan partners for the initial team development of credit courses and research activities.

TRIGGER project is targeted to “strengthening of relations between HEIs and the wider economic and social environment” as a multi-country project within one single region –Central Asia, involving three countries (Kazakhstan; Uzbekistan; Tajikistan) from this region. The main problems in these countries are connected especially to low economic growth represented by slow improvement of economics performance; country inequalities; low level of competitiveness and innovation. Main aim of TRIGGGER project is to contribute to economics growth through creating the favourable conditions for better employability of graduates in Central Asia countries. It will be reached through support of HEI preparedness for future challenges especially related to the entrepreneurial and innovative nature of their higher education environment; enhancement of Entrepreneurship Education and Skills Development; establishment/enhancement the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Services; strengthening the relations outside HEIs. TRIGGER is built on two EC initiatives: HEInnovate and EntreComp and consists of six WPs focused on Assessment of the HEI preparedness for future challenges; Enhancing Entrepreneurship Education and Skills Development; Establishment/Enhancement of the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Services; Quality Assurance and Evaluation and Dissemination & Exploitation & Sustainability.The project consortium consists of 11 HEIs from three Central Asia countries, 3 HEIs from three EU countries, one SME and one non-profit organization from the EU.TRIGGER will have significant impact on Central Asia countries especially on HEI teachers, students; administrators; top management; relevant businesses and R&D institutions, other universities; decision makers; educational policy makers at national, regional and community level and representatives of regional and local authorities dealing with education.