"<< Background >>Digital era is advancing through every facet of social, economic, and even biological life, driving major personal and professional changes and the way people interact, work, learn, and create knowledge. The concept of digital competence has emerged concurrently with the technological development and as society has recognised the need for new competences. The digital competence is now acknowledged as one of the eight key Lifelong Learning competences sought in Europe and one of the essential resources for the recovery of economy and society after the pandemic.Alongside, digital transformation is steadily moving about and reshaping one industry and sector after another. Education is not an exception. Digital technologies are expected to have fundamental impact on all segments of business and society. For educational institutions, it is an opportunity to process curricular, methodological, technological, and organisational changes by absorbing new digital culture and approach to the strategic redesign of all aspects and structures of the sector. There is a recognised need for HEIs to integrate and effectively use digital technologies in order to achieve their core mission: to educate students to be successful in a complex and interconnected world that faces rapid technological, cultural, economic, informational, and demographic change.In Europe, recent work on capacity building for the digital transformation of education has focussed on the development of digital competence frameworks for educational organisations (DigCompOrg) and for educators (DigCompEdu). DigCompOrg pinpoints the main factors enhancing digital readiness that are structured in seven thematic elements and are common to all education sectors. DigCompEdu is a scientifically sound background framework which can be directly adapted to implementing tools and training programmes.The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digital transformation of education that raised the major need to enhance the digital readiness of institutions and imposed some immediate responses to be given. On one hand, the crisis emphasised the potential of online teaching and learning, but it also revealed huge gaps in the delivery capacities of educational institutions as well as gaps in the capacity of individuals to actively participate and take up what is being offered.Notwithstanding exceptions, many institutions were not prepared for this radical switch. They found out that infrastructure was lacking, the digital skills of lecturers were not up to the challenge, and that even the familiarity of students with digital tools and platforms was lower than expected. There was no time for instructional design and conceiving a new format of lectures and assignments. As a result, the quality of the educational delivery and the learning experience of students suffered. A tremendous effort was and will be still required to ensure that education needs are met in a satisfactory manner using virtual means as a main mode of delivery.In fact, the digital gap, and the lack of preparation for online teaching have actually increased educational disparities and created social distress, especially among vulnerable students. Goal 4 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals states, “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. In order to achieve this goal, there is the need to embrace modern digital learning methods that provide effective ways to increase access to quality educational opportunities.The COVID-19 crisis revealed major needs and indicated what can aid the transition to online education. The needs analysis conducted during the proposal writing revealed the main difficulties for this transition in terms of digital strategy, digital pedagogy, and digital competence. The DigiTransformEdu project will rely on DigCompOrg and DigCompEdu in order to foster the digital transformation of educational institutions and promote effective digital-age learning.<< Objectives >>The DigiTransformEdu project aims to foster the digital transformation of HE and tertiary VET institutions. This objective will be reached through a six-step approach (operational objectives):1. Mapping the digital readiness and resilience of educational and training institutions in response to the COVID-19 crisis (project results 1 & 2)2. Promoting the development of a digital culture by supporting institutional leadership to pursue digital strategy at institutional level (project result 3)3. Encouraging the digitalisation of educational processes and promoting effective digital-age learning by integrating the DigCompOrg framework (project results 3 & 4)4. Based on the DigCompEdu framework and the concept for the different roles of educators in an online environment, defining the knowledge and skills needed by the digital educator (project result 5) 5. Raising the digital competence of educators by organising training activities and preparing training materials (project results 5 & 6) 6. Enhancing international networking and cooperation and contributing to the EU Digital Education Action Plan (project result 6 & four multiplier events).The primary groups that the DigiTransformEdu project will target involve:• Institutional leaders responsible for the digital agenda• Programme managers responsible for the digitalisation of pedagogy• Digital educators who belong to A2 and B1 levels of DigCompEduThe secondary target groups are:• HEIs• Tertiary VET providers• Associations of educational and training institutions• Businesses and their learning departments• Professional associationsStudents, participants, and learners in general are the main beneficiary of the project. They will profit from the enhanced digitalisation at institutional level and at individual level from the improved digital competence of their educators.By achieving its objectives DigiTransformEdu will impact the target groups and the relevant stakeholders. Thanks to the project, institutional leaders of both HE and tertiary VET institutions will have better capability and vision on how to lead their organisations through digital transformation, programme managers will be equipped with guidelines and operational tools to be able to make the transition from a traditional class-based pedagogy to a blended or pure digital one while educators will see their digital competence improved.The expected achievements of the DigiTransformEdu project can be summed up as follows:1. Increased knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the transition to digital education2. Better comprehension on how to deal with the digital transformation at strategical level3. Increased familiarity with approaches and operational tools on how to design, deliver, and assess digital education4. Better understanding of the new roles of the digital educator and the knowledge and skills needed for their implementation5. Increased capacity to design training starting from profile descriptions6. Increased digital competence of educators.In the long run, the desired achievements can be summarised as: 1. The overall quality of education is increased because by becoming more digital it becomes more relevant and able to better develop students’ capabilities and practical skills, as required in a digital world.2. The development of virtual culture is enhanced by supporting institutional leadership to pursue digital strategy at institutional level.3. The digitalisation of educational processes is accelerated by assisting educators and administrators in the design, delivery, and assessment of digital education.4. The framework for the digital competence of educators is enriched by complementing it with analysing the different roles of the digital educator and looking for similarities with the T-shape model for e-leadership.<< Implementation >>The activities leading to R1 and R2 correspond to the achievement of the first objective that is to map the digital readiness and resilience of educational and training institutions in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In R1 first HE and tertiary VET institutions will be shortlisted. Then potential respondents will be identified and invited to participate. The survey participants will be from institutional management and enabling services in R1 and educators, students, and ICT staff in R2. The survey methodology will be defined, and the surveys will be administrated. The data will be first analysed and collected in national reports, then compiled and further analysed to produce a synthetic report.The second objective to promote the development of a virtual culture by supporting institutional leadership to pursue digital strategy will be achieved through R3. Starting with currently available concepts on digital transformation in education, the analysis will be taken further to study the institutional reactions to the pandemic from the strategic perspective. The study results will be presented in reports and examples of best practice will be selected. Using the exploratory and analytical work, a blueprint to guide HE/VET institutions in the development of a long-term digital strategy will be developed.The third objective to encourage digitalisation of educational processes and to promote effective digital-age learning by integrating DigCompOrg will be pursued through the accomplishment of both R3 and R4. Once digitalisation is taken at strategical level (R3), the activities in R4 will look at the digitalisation of pedagogy. Building upon the exploration done so far, successful practices, approaches and tools, used for the design, delivery, and assessment of digital education will be analysed. The insights will be used to define a set of guidelines and operational tools to support educators in making the transition from a traditional class-based pedagogy to a blended or pure digital one.The fourth objective defines the knowledge and skills needed by the digital educator and will be achieved through R5. Starting from a range of sources, including DigCompEdu, and relying on identified learning needs, R5 will further explore to reach a better understanding. For each role of the digital educator, the components of skills related to methodology, technology and tools will be studied and defined. This analysis will lead to a model that can be used to design training. In this respect, a role will be selected to design a training programme to be put into practice in R6. A learning and collaboration platform will be also designed and maintained to serve training and collaboration.The fifth objective is intended to raise the digital competence of educators by organising training activities and preparing training materials. R6 is meant to achieve it by first organising a three-day joint staff training event. 16 master trainers will participate and get familiar with the training programme, its facilitation and the use of the online learning and collaboration platform. Then 60 educators will work together in collaboration sessions to improve their digital competence and develop self-training materials for the digital educator.The sixth objective is intended to enhance international networking and cooperation and contribute to the realisation of the EU Digital Education Action Plan. The sessions organised in R6 will expose the participants to new international contacts. Networking and cooperation opportunities will be encouraged through the organisation of four multiplier events and by promoting involvement and active participation in the existing eLeadCommunity, a collaborative knowledge building community of practice devoted to digital education and e-leadership.The achievement of the six operational objectives will foster the digital transformation of HE and tertiary VET institutions that is the main objective of DigiTransformEdu.<< Results >>DigiTransformEdu will result in a comprehensive and complementary set of outcomes that cover the seven thematic elements of DigCompOrg (i.e., Leadership & Governance Practices: R1 & R3; Teaching & Learning Practices: R2, R4, R5 & R6; Professional Development: R5 & R6; Assessment Practices: R4; Content & Curricula: R4; Collaboration & Networking: R3, R6 & 4 ME; Infrastructure: R2, R3 & R4)The project follows a logical sequence and starts by mapping the digital readiness and resilience of about 30 HE and tertiary VET institutions in response to the COVID-19 crisis that will help identifying best practices and learning from failures. These institutions will form the core, on which the exploratory work will be based. In Result 1, the survey will target people able to evaluate institutions’ response at the level of governance and enabling services. The findings will be collected in national reports that will be further analysed to produce a synthetic report compiled with the findings from Result 2.Result 2 will study the perceptions of educators and students. At teaching level, the use of digital pedagogy and assessment as well as digital competence will be explored. Students will be targeted to dip into their perception in terms of effectiveness, adaptation to online provision, digital inclusion, engagement, quality of communication and collaboration. The picture will be complemented with mapping digital infrastructure. This mapping will trigger tangible changes in digital strategy (Result 3), digital pedagogy (Result 4) and digital competence (Results 5 & 6) thanks to the provision of guidance, tools, and resources.Result 3 will focus on the strategical aspect of digitalisation. Starting with qualitative research, the team will also analyse the survey results. Based on that, examples of best practice will be selected and included in a collection of case studies. Using the exploratory and analytical work, a blueprint to guide HE and VET institutions in the development of a digital strategy will be developed.Result 4 will address educators and managers and guide them in the successful operationalisation of effective digital instruction. The project team will map successful practices, approaches and tools used for the design, delivery and assessment of digital education. The data and insights will be used to define a set of guidelines and operational tools in the form of a blueprint to assist in making the transition from a traditional class-based pedagogy to a blended or pure digital one.Starting from a range of sources that reflect on the different roles of the digital educator and relying on the conducted analyses and identified learning needs, Result 5 will explore further to collect inputs about the knowledge and skills needed for each role and ways to assess them. The analysis of the different roles leads to a model that can be used to design training. Within this result a role will be selected as a basis to design a training programme. A learning and collaboration platform will be devised and maintained to serve the training.Finally, result 6 will implement the training programme and inspired by it will develop self-training materials to assist educators in implementing the different roles. Sixteen educators will be selected to participate in a three-day joint staff training event to get familiar with the training programme and its facilitation. They will later lead 60 educators through the training programme by using the platform designed in Result 5. In addition to improving their digital competence, they will work together to replicate the training designed for one role and turn it into a comprehensive range of solutions applicable to the individual training objectives of each role.Four multiplier events ""Foster DigiTransformEdu"" gathering about 140 participants will be organised in Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, and Italy with the aim to promote the project results and foster their up-taking."

The D-THINK Project – Design Thinking Applied to Education and Training was conceived to answer to a specific challenge that the EU and the world are facing nowadays. The competitiveness of economies is increasingly dependent on the availability of a qualified and entrepreneurial workforce. Transversal skills such as critical thinking, initiative, problem solving and collaborative work will prepare individuals for today´s varied/unpredictable career paths. Attention needs be given to entrepreneurial skills as they not only contribute to new businesses creation but also for the employability of young people (Rethinking Education, EU, 2012). Under the EU Forum University Business Dialogue (2009), there was a consensus on the need for comprehensive change to curricula and learning methods and for the inclusion of transversal and transferable skills that should be “T-shaped”, rooted in the specific academic discipline while at the same time interacting/cooperating with other disciplines/sectors. Greater interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinary of education and research agendas was set as critical to set new curricula for employability. EU education and training (E&T) systems continue to fall short in providing these right skills for employability (Rethinking Education, EU, 2012). HEI and VETPRO need to keep the efforts to reposition themselves in the emerging learning landscape and to experiment new formats and strategies for learning and teaching to be able to offer relevant, effective and high-quality learning experiences in the future (Redecker, C. et al., 2011). Design Thinking (DT) is a holistic and user-centred innovation method, based on design cognition and design learning that enables multi-disciplinary teams and enact positive, design-led change in the world. DT proved already to offer learning tools, capable of delivering “new skills”, many of the new skills - sense making, social intelligence, novel & adaptive thinking, cross cultural competences, transdisciplinarity, design mind-set and virtual collaboration – employers & organisations seek. The need to prepare the present and future workers for an increasingly dynamic society has long been a concern at different political, educational and organisational levels. This scenario offers an important challenge to the E&T sector. HEI & VETPRO have a great responsibility in the success or failure of this adjustment. They are in the unique position to deliver the skills the market requires, and the workers miss. So, in this scenario the D-Think project was designed with the aims to promote a wider use of DT as a transversal learning method by developing and making available an innovative digital course supported on mobile learning for education professionals and trainers. The population targeted by the project includes HEI professors & staff, VET providers educators & staff, adult educators, professional trainers & key-actors in DT and Education. The main achievements of the project, include a Research Report, a Toolkit and a m-learning Course on DT applied to E&T. The project consortium includes 7 entities from 6 the EU (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Finland, and Poland) comprising mainly HEI & VET institutions. Together the consortium gathered the necessary skills and competences to implement the project activities. The D-THINK included the development of the following activities and reached the following results: Clarifying of the role of DT in E&T and creating awareness about the new approaches on entrepreneurship learning and practical applications; Providing an innovative pedagogical methodology in line with EU priorities (learner centred learning; innovative pedagogical concepts) to be used in formal, informal and non-formal educational contexts; Enhancing teachers/trainer’s key competences and students employable skills through a collaborative and interdisciplinary learning environment; Offering a toolkit and a comprehensive training course with the following advantages: Developed from the best practices, enabling close-to-real experiencing and learning; Flexible; Original: learning a new methodological approach by applying that same method; Easy to disseminate through online platforms; Involving HEI & VET providers, guaranteeing appropriate exploitation of results through their centres and executive training programs. Valorisation, sustainability and MKT plans, a large variety of activities, adequate instruments/channels, have been used by partners with positive results in the engagement of the target groups and in generating awareness of the project. After 3 years of implementation the actual efforts of the consortium are focusing in to assure the maintenance and further sustainability of the outputs after the end of the project. Finally, these efforts and tasks resulted on a strategy and set of concrete actions to be implemented, which represent a real commitment of the partners to exploit the project results. Visit us at: www.d-think.eu.

The COVID-19 crisis forced HEIs to move their courses online almost overnight. Many were not prepared due to the lack of infrastructure or because of the lecturer’s insufficient digital skills; their response was often limited to broadcasting the same lectures online, without adapting programmes nor teaching methods. Possibilities for exchange of ideas between faculty and students, students’ participation and small group cooperation (all essential to high-quality pedagogy) decreased dramatically. 61% of students report that the experience of online learning failed to match that of classroom learning (WebGeneration survey, 09/2020).Many students (in particular vulnerable ones, needing more support and accompaniment) disengaged from the learning process. The French Ministry of Higher Education estimates that the contact was lost with 5 to 8% of students. UNESCO evaluates that up to 7,9 million students could be at risk worldwide (issue note, 2020). The EC 2020 consultation for the Digital Education Plan observed that ‘learning providers saw large numbers of students dropping out from courses, in some cases this was up to 3/4 of the group’.Higher Education will evolve towards a mix of 100% online, hybrid (simultaneously face-to-face and online delivery) and blended format. All students are obliged to follow a significant part of their curriculum online. At this moment, particular attention has to be paid to the inclusive education, defined as “the recognition of all students’ entitlement to a learning experience that respects diversity, enables participation, removes barriers and anticipates and considers a variety of learning needs and preferences” (Gravestock, 2017). Professors must be supported to ensure “the design and delivery of teaching, learning and assessment methods that allow all students to engage meaningfully with the curriculum and achieve their full potential” (Imperial College, UK). The objective of the project IDEA is to support the transition towards a more inclusive digital education, by adapting the pedagogy of the faculty. The project will:- Build awareness of the importance of inclusiveness in digital education and its consequences on pedagogical practices;- Facilitate understanding of the importance of inclusiveness for the quality of digital education;- Develop a quality assurance system embedding inclusiveness in all phases of the digital pedagogy;- Provide practical tools and evaluation instruments to guide faculty members for the evolution of their pedagogical practice.The target groups englobe faculty members and programme / academic directors, who design the curriculum, coordinate the courses and oversee their delivery and quality.The project also benefits indirectly the HEI senior managers in charge of the digital agenda and quality. They are already using digital tools but need extra guidance and tools to face the new challenges and adapt their teaching to be inclusive, without excluding any student. The needs analysis conducted during the preparation phase showed that professors lack information on the ‘new rules of the game’ and feel frustrated by the ‘trial and error method’. The project answers these needs with:- an updated reference framework, mapping the new constraints and expectations of students and faculty for inclusive digital education;- key learning points drawn from the emergency transition and year 1 of the ‘new normal’, best practices and analysis of the innovations;- a quality assurance system for inclusive digital education complementing the existing procedures which do not deal satisfactorily with this aspect;- solutions and training tools to guide the transformation of their digital pedagogy and monitor their progress.The project's focus on inclusiveness is specific and clearly defined. It brings a multidimensional approach to a well identified problem, with outputs developed by a large competence pool of experts in digital skills, innovation and quality assurance. Progress and outcomes are measurable during the project duration.The partnership demonstrates diversity and complementarity: 5 HEIs, 1 network for quality and accreditation and 1 adult education provider, all coming from countries with different levels of digital advancement. It allows benchmarking, inspiration and transfer of experience from more digitally advanced countries to least digital-savvy. This provides a wider perspective than national approaches and ensures that the project results can be exported in a variety of national/international settings.

IFI project aims to systematically align the Israeli HE system with global changes and develop capacities to extend the role of sustainable Finance (SF) beyond its current disciplinary boundaries, defining gaps between European and Israeli in three main parameters: (a)Eco-system & infrastructure (b)case studies and prototyping and (c)practical activities and collaborative training. In response to growing social needs in Israel, there has been increased interest in how EU SF innovation can facilitate development and scaling of effective solutions. The prevalent model is designed to mainly maximize short-term results and to address mostly shareholders. One of the biggest challenges for financial sector will be to take a more integrated and long-term approach to add value in the long run, learning how to balance financial concerns and incorporate sustainability into asset pricing and valuation rather than simply maximising profit. IFI agenda to promote such change is integrating different aspects (finance, legal, innovation, design, education), and adopting perspective seeing social challenges as grow engines. Addressing this, IFI brings an interdisciplinary approach, stressing shifting focus is needed not only in finance but also in economics, law, technology, design and education. Gathering EU and IL experts, IFI project will act as a platform to foster integrated community and cultivating evidence-based standards and practices, building a scope of knowledge and case studies digital platform, training institutional investments, regulators and innovators, letting students practice ESG investments (via demo students-led fund) and encourage innovation (via SF ventures). All practices are key components of a thriving sustainable finance ecosystem and HEIs capacity building. IFI is the first national consortium created explicitly to provide infrastructure, knowledge and innovation to further develop the sustainable and inclusive finance ecosystem in HEIs and field.

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.