The HIGHLANDS’ goal is to contribute to Inclusive Sustainable Development in Highlands (ISDH) through collective and impact-driven Research & Innovation (R&I), based on capacity building, sharing of local-global knowledge, experience, and tools. It will drive a co-innovation process through secondments and research and innovative sessions (R&IS) involving public/private and non-academic partners, to build a shared vision of ISDH, enhance the capacities of researchers, managers, users, policymakers, thus bridging the gap between research and development. Our activities will be organized in 5 integrated work packages (WP): Coordination & management (WP1); Methodology & capacity building for ISDH (WP2); Analysis, comparison and modelling of ISDH (WP3); Building a multi-actor ISDH Decision-Support Platform (DSP) (WP4); Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation of results (WP5). HIGHLANDS is supported by a network of 43 institutions including 31 partners from Europe (~35% non-academic), and skilled and motivated female and male researchers and local stakeholders. The work plan will run 8 successive R&IS (5 in Europe, 3 outside) to promote the exchange among participants as a foundation for innovation. Each R&IS will build upon collective learning principles and a holistic systemic approach, exposing participants to a wide range of world views that will encourage experimentation with practice. Each R&IS will focus on a particular aspect of sustainable highland development and will include collective learning, collaborative research, and capacity-building on data collection/analysis, modeling. To complement the R&IS, long-term secondments will be implemented for researchers and practitioners to deeply train and work together on specific issues identified by the consortium. Collected data on ISDHs will be stored in an online collaborative and interactive decision-support platform that will then be transferred to existing mountain networks.

Apheleia – Integrated Cultural Landscape Management for Local and global sustainabilitySustainability became a dominant key-word at the onset of the Brundtland report and, moreover, after the Eco-92 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Yet, 25 years later, the balance could not be other than to recognize our planet stands in a more unstable and less sustainable position, despite all intentions. The Rio+20 Summit, when addressing poverty as the core issue of sustainability, called in fact for a revision of the original concept, going beyond the so-called TRB (triple bottom line, considering the environmental, social and economic dimensions). Yet, a new understanding needs to build from human understandings and cultural diversity is crucial, and a new specific framework of reference is required, to address the challenges of Rio+20 and to converge with other global initiatives, such as “Future Earth” and the proposed “International Year of Global Understanding”. The strategic partnership Apheleia aims at structuring a convergent set of tools that will foster the need for a properly Integrated (as opposed to dispersed) Cultural (i.e. human and diverse) Landscape Management (rooted in human understandings and leading towards governance through awareness and critical thinking) for Local and Global Sustainability (addressing the great global dilemmas, but also focused on individual anxieties and needs). Such a program implies a high degree of complexity to be dealt with by the academia, but also requires efficient operative tools, that render such complexity simple for non-academics and for daily lives. Apheleia (Ἀφέλεια), the spirit of simplicity in ancient Greece, stands as the leading and inspiring word for the current partnership, since rendering simple the complexity of things is an academic obligation and an urgent need to foster tangible down-the-line convergent actions.Moreover, the Apheleia project specifically aims at contributing for an European contribution towards the global challenges as they are beeing internationally designed. Europe has been the cradle for many of the best practices in terms of sustainability, including its address to science and society interaction, and it must now promote a new framework of reference, anticipated but not yet consolidated. An European contribution must, per definition, be open to other cultures, interests and perspectives, make the most of European diversity itself, and involve universities, the private sector, NGOs and local and regional public authorities, i.e., be based on a multi-stakeholders basis. At the same time, partnerships should be focused and leading to clear and tangible results.Main aims:1. To establish a solid consortium, involving academic and non-academic partners, focusing in education and best practices that for students’ applied training in transdisciplinary innovative approaches to integrated cultural landscape management. 2. To train a selection of EU students on the complex use of convergent multidisciplinary tools for cultural integrated landscape management, through theoretical teaching and collective applied training, as well as tailored made individual study and essay, all combined in a new Intensive Program on Integrated Cultural Landscape Management for Local and global sustainability, rooted both in academic knowledge and in regional authorities co-operation.3. To collect, analyze and synthetize the rich field experiences gathered by the partnership members on diverse case studies distributed worldwide in order to present practical testimonies, records and professional perspectives to the involved students.4. To involve basic disciplinary core required competences (archaeology, technology, economy, law, sociology, geography, history, urban planning, etc., permanently integrated through transversal competences on materiality, anthropology, communication, leadership and entrepreneurship.5. To produce a common lexicon + website and a series of reference publications on the topic, merging theoretical and applied knowledge.6. To pave the way for a new European Master on the topic, as a follow up of the partnership, alongside successful case studies of innovative policies.This is Apheleia (Ἀφέλεια).

The focus of the ANR proposal is to launch a network joining European and non-European teams working on local development in the highlands, in order to submit a proposal to RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) Marie Curie Program/H2020 early 2017. The objectives of the RISE proposal will be (i) share and debate the diverse initiatives and innovations of local development in the highlands, (ii) develop specific capacity building focused on different types of stakeholders and local people, (iii) participate in policymaking through relevant suggestions, monitoring and assessment of actions and (iv) strengthen a recognized European competence on the local development in the highlands. The partnership for the ANR proposal, and consequently for the RISE proposal, is based four countries of European Union (Austria, France, Portugal and United Kingdom), two other European countries (Norway and Switzerland) and non-European countries in Mediterranean (Morocco and Lebanon), the Americas (Argentina, Canada, Equator, Peru, the United States) and Eastern Asia (China and Vietnam). Research question is adaptation process and resilience of high mountain societies to global change, especially initiatives and innovations focused on local development. Several initiatives of local development in the highlands were implemented in the countries of the European Union, although the concepts have sometimes been built in other areas, as for example natural parks, reserves of biodiversity, reserves of biosphere, “regional” parks, winter and summer slow tourism, many small agribusiness factories for cheeses, liquors, fruits, etc. Diverse reasons justified these implementations in the European Union, especially the specific policies made at national and European level, which strongly incentivized and supported these initiatives, in order to reduce the disadvantages of these regions, mainly due to their weak access and their long distance to decisions centers. Indeed, focused on the sustainable development, the specific national and European policies significantly impacted local development in European highlands, compared with non-European highlands where economic issues and national interest usually lead their development, especially in developing countries. Moreover, the supportive context for local development initiatives lead to new initiatives and also innovations focused on the improvement of these initiatives and the building of new initiatives, including in policymaking. In other words, based on the European Union experience, the implementation of local development could lead to new steps of local development. It is a research hypothesis to be verified in European Union and tested in the other zones. A priori, for the method of the RISE proposal, we suggest using the concept of co-viability, which includes both viability and its regulation, to analyze resilience factors at different scales, representations and local knowledge, access to resources and policymaking in global change context. This point has to be debate with the partner in the next months. In terms of activity to be developed in 2016 in order to build the RISE proposal, firstly there are five visits to each of the European partners in order to better share the common objectives of the RISE proposal, select the local development initiatives for the compare analysis and draft a concept note of the RISE proposal. Secondly, a workshop joining the leaders of European partners with 3-4 leaders of non-European teams will allow to better define the contents of the proposal and to draft a first version.

"The project ""Developing Master Programmes in Mobile Applications and Game Design"" (MAGnUS) is aimed at enhancing IT graduates employability and quality of IT education at RU and AZ universities through introducing an interdisciplinary Master programmes in line with the Bologna provisions. The specific project objectives are: To develop new interdisciplinary high-quality multi-track Master program in Mobile applications and Game design in line with Bologna provisions and while adapting the EU best practice;• To upgrade the teaching staff skills in T• To set up student labs;The main project outputs are: Master programme in Mobile Applications and Game Design delivered at 6 RU and AZ universities; teachers possessing the-state-of-the art T&A methods; 6 student design labs set up at partner universities; pilot mobility schemes tested within the project; two summer schools conducted in partner countries, joint student projects in relevant fields. The Master programme will have two tracks and will consist of 6 modules and Master thesis defence. The project objectives will be achieved through the implementation of six work packages. During the preparation phase the main project policies and plans will be devised and analysis of key employers' needs conducted. During the development phase main outputs are to be produced. Training of teachers will be done through the cascade model: first, the train the trainer program will be introduced for a small number of qualified teachers; then the trained trainers will transfer the skills to a wider circle of academics. The student labs will serve as a link to partnerships with business partners which will be involved in project activities as associated partners. All project outputs will be evaluated through peer reviews, business partners' evaluation reports, student and trainees' satisfaction survey. MAGnUS will provide dissemination of the outputs through various measures."

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily lives for millions of young people in Europe and worldwide. Health and well-being problems, social distancing, barriers to access education had a great impact on young people. Exposure of digital technologies and creativity can play an important role to mitigate mentioned negative effects of the crisis on youth. By improving young people digital skills and teaching how to apply acquired digital knowledge to be creative could open windows for new opportunities. Knowledge of how to use different application or digital tools may encourage youth to develop digital creativity, produce digital creations and address the problems of the future.As the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) outlines digital skills are essential so that everyone can take part in society and contribute to economic and social progress in the digital era. One of the strategic priorities is enhancement of digital skills and competences for the digital transformation including girls and young women are equally represented in digital studies and careers. However, while more people are digitally skilled and connected, still few women choose to participate beyond the basic level of digital interaction and rather stay the passive consumers of digital content created by others. According to statistics, in EU in 2019, women made up only a bit more than a third of scientists and engineers in the EU-28. According to the study Women in the Digital Age, the share of women graduates in the STEM industry stands at 13.1 per 1,000 graduates aged 20 to 29 in the EU. At this point, there remains a particular concern that girls lack the aspirations to position themselves as potential creators of digital technology and it is clearly evident at secondary school. A study commissioned by the EC Survey of Schools: ICT in Education (2019) outlines that more than 4 out of 5 female European students attending secondary schools never or almost never engage in coding at school or after school activities. According statistics provided by the Government Strategic Analysis Center in Lithuania in 2018, percentage of girls who choose STEM studies after graduating school is about 9 percent every year. In high school, for example, 40 percent of girls believe that jobs requiring coding are “not for them”.In the light of abovementioned figures and wrong assumptions association Rural Internet Access Points together with partner organizations from Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia and Portugal initiates a project Empower Girls’ Creativity Through Use of Digital Technologies (SparkDigiGirls). The aim of this initiative is encouraging girls aged from 15 years old to explore digital technologies such as AR, VR, AI, IoT and come up with new and exciting ideas by utilizing their newly acquired digital knowledge to chart the waters of the male-dominated STEM industry with fresh, different and creative viewpoints.The proposal seeks to fulfill specific objectives: 1) reduce girls’ concerns and demystify existing stereotypes about computer science and technology; 2) increase of digital literacy skills for girls to open new and unforeseen possibilities for creativity, participation of girls in the digital world; 3) empower youth workers as mentors to pursue girls creativity through usage of digital applications and increase attractiveness of digital sector among girls.The objectives of the proposal are organized in following elements:1.To complete a twofold analysis of ways how innovative and new technologies may develop creativity of girls (IO1);2.To develop a curriculum which meeting girls' needs and leads to improvement and increase of their creativity through usage of innovative applications/digital tools (IO2);1.To develop online programme focused on use practical experiential learning model and real life tasks that will allow girls to explore technologies and come up with new and exciting ideas and solutions for given problems. (IO3);2.To implement digital female role model campaign (IO4);3.To prepare guidebook empower youth workers as mentors to pursue girls’ creativity through usage of digital applications (IO5).The main target groups that will be impacted by the project:•200 girls age from 15 who wish to develop their creativity by using digital technologies (including girls with lower opportunities like living in re(including girls with lower opportunities like living in remote areas, migrant girls, from families at risk, etc.).•40 youth workers from formal and non - formal youth education institutions.