MEANING will be implemented in Central America, and specifically in El Salvador and Guatemala as a Joint Action under category A-Curriculum development in the field of Engineering.The main project objective is to enhance the modernisation of the Higher Education sector and to increase student's employability in the field of Industrial Engineering in El Salvador and Guatemala This will be achieved by means of developing/implementing an innovative and high quality (in compliance with national/EU standards) Master Programme in Industrial Engineering, with three relevant specializations (Robotics, Telecommunications & Computer Sciences), for Salvadoran and Guatemalan students, but also beyond.The project has been defined with a logical sequence of complementary and interlinked activities (preparation, development, sustainability, quality, dissemination & exploitation) in order to face the challenges identified by the consortium in the proposal drafting step and with the aim of satisfying their real needs. Basically there is a considerable number of students at PCs enrolled in Engineering related studies; however their competences are limited, due to the fact that the current study programme offer (where theMaster level is almost inexistent) is not fully aligned with the real needs of the labour market, especially in the area of Industrial Engineering, a growing economic sector of high importance for partner countries.

The IRUDESCA project (from its Spanish acronym, Integración Regional, Universidad y Desarrollo Sostenible en Centro America) aims at strengthening relations between Central American and European universities and the social and economic fabric, as part of a new way of understanding economic models, based on cooperation, sustainability, respect for the environment and people as well as the role and responsibility of universities in the training of professionals and entrepreneurs committed to a smart economic growth of their countries. IRUDESCA focused on entrepreneurship education by providing training to entrepreneurs giving special attention to contents related with business cooperation, the creation of sustainable value chains at the regional level, and the improvement of productivity and competitiveness of micro, SMEs and cooperatives. The project proposed new methods of practical training and real case studies in business and industry (through the Work Package 2.4: Double Coach Assistance (GA) that aims at supporting the development of innovative ideas for sustainable projects and students international exchange between Central American partner universities and countries involving the companies related with the Business Entrepreneurship Projects), with a strong focus on regional integration. In short, IRUDESCA proposed University-Business Cooperation and new university guidance and tutoring services for the students, in collaboration with the business sector.The project focused its approach on the articulation of a European and Central American Universities Network that act in coordination in the definition and implementation of a common modular training program connected with the business and productive sectors of the participating countries.Thus, the project created two new modules of 90 hours each (with a 2 CAC - Central American Academic Credits - each), a transversal module of 45 hours (1 CAC), and an online training course for 24 teachers from the Project partners in Central America. Through these new modules, 240 students (20 students per University, 40 per country) have been formed. The modules focused on the topics of business innovation and value-chains development, creating eco-sustainable SMEs and innovative managerial skills. The modules had, as an educational methodology, the development of Business Entrepreneurship Projects (PEE, from its Spanish acronym). A Network of Coaches was organized based on a system of coaching structured with 2 coaches (1 academic + 1 business) with the role of advising students in the definition of the PEE and its implementation in the real economy of their countries. Students were divided into groups of 5 and each group will develop one Project (4 groups and 4 PEE per University). From the total of 48 Projects, the top 12 (1 Project per University) were selected by an Academic Committee (CA, from its Spanish acronym) and the students involved in these projects participated in an International Internship Program (PIP, from its Spanish acronym). IRUDESCA’s results have been transferred to other universities in Central and Latin America as well as companies and organizations in the productive sectors. This was accomplished (i) with the support of 6 National Working Groups (GTN, from its Spanish acronym) that established for the Project, (ii) through the dissemination of a Project’s Newsletter (Spanish + English + Portuguese), and the organization of 12 Communication Conferences (2 in each partner country) during the Project’s lifetime and a Final Regional Conference.

"The project presented pretends to create a Regional Observatory for Quality and Equity in Higher Education in Latin America (ORACLE). The project is based on the assumption that there is no possible quality without equity. For it, the project involves the participation of 35 universities from 15 countries from Latin America and 5 European countries. It will be developed for 36 months from 2016 to 2019.ORACLE is an innovative project although it seeks to give continuity and sustainability to 4 ALFA.3 projects supported by the EU. In order to achieve an optimal function of the Observatory, previously, it is going to be built a Quality and Equity Unit (UCE) in each one of the 30 universities that participate in the project. These UCE's will propose and design actions, policies and strategies of institutional quality assurance and equity. Likewise, these institutional units will operate in a reticulated way and they will be the starter point and the main emphasis of ORACLE. The creation of new structures will encourage the Organizational Development of the Higher Education institutions of ""la Región"".The groups in vulnerable situation that ORACLE's Observatory is focused on are a total of eight: indigenous people, women, people with disabilities, non- traditional students, population with very low HDI, immigrants, ethnic minority groups and citizens from rural areas. ORACLE aims to provide an integral and integrated service and, unlike other initiatives, it is not exclusively circumscribed on the academic development of the students, but it will also work with people in vulnerable situations among all levels (professors, students, administrative staff and managers) and all institutional functions: teaching, research and management."

The project aims at the development and modernization of nursing education in the five Higher Education Institution in Latin America. It is focusing on health promotion, disease prevention and management of chronic diseases, the use of technology, learning methods and outcomes.In Latin- America teachers have recognized the need to modernize nursing education’s curriculum in order to respond better than earlier to the challenges of digitalization in health care. Lifestyle and chronic diseases increase, quality of care is poor as well people’s access to health care services. In El Salvador nearly half of the people have a lack of health insurances and this causes inequality between poor and wealthy people. Due to long distances to health care facilities, people in rural areas face more problems in access to services than people in urban areas and there exists the shortage of people’s self-management skills and deficits in their self-management culture, too. Online communication with health care professionals will ease people’s access to services and in addition quality digital health promotion, disease prevention and management of chronic diseases is cost-effective and increases people’s self-management capacity of their own health. At the end of the project nursing education will have an updated curriculum with new modernized courses using SmartNurse methodology, teachers and students have better digital knowledge and skills. The teachers and students in the partner countries will benefit from active networking nationally and internationally through dissemination activities and participation in online DigiNurse community. When thinking of the impact envisaged, teachers feel self-confident with their digital competence, students feel that they are digitally future-proof when entering working life, and people in El Salvador and in Mexico have a better health condition and they have quality knowledge and skills to take care of themselves.

"In an apparent context of exit from the economic crisis of 2008, unexpected and surprising economic phenomena appear, unfold and develop, new models of production, organization and exchange of goods and services that in a much more horizontal, communitarian and self-managed way, point to an evolution of the traditional economy, based on the STATE-MARKET binomial, towards a Shared Economy or Common Good. Thus, what has been named Sharing Economy is a new concept that actually houses different concepts and business models and exchange, and that extend the traditional concept of Social Solidarity Economy. These emerging economic initiatives and business models require new skills, both for their development and for their management: renewed management methods, capacities to produce functionality, goods and services focused on the use and needs of people. Evolve the training programs of the Universities to this new business and economic reality, incorporating new content to train and train students capable of developing and managing this new type of business and economic initiatives is the goal to which the INICIA project aims to contribute, through the development of a course of ""Specialization in Management of Collaborative Economic Initiatives and Social Economy"", in order to improve the skills of their human resources and prepare them to face the challenges of these new economic models.The project will be carried out with the support and collaboration of European and Argentine universities that have experience in this subject.The main products of the project will be the creation of a Specialization Course, which will be taught in a first edition to 420 students and will be replicable at a regional level."