The project was based on how universities are currently reflecting on their roles in contemporary society and the relationships between their component parts and institutions and the community. One such relationship between universities and society is considered to be the third mission of universities. A strategy, which has been successfully developed around the world for several decades in the context of the third mission of universities, is the service-learning (SL) strategy. SL is a method of education, in which theoretical training is linked to the acquisition of practical experience. The added value of SL is that, in addition to one’s own development, it allows one to help others in their natural environment through the activity created. SL is described as one of the ways of experimental learning, which includes a balanced focus on the service provided to the community and the learning that takes place in this service. Thanks to this strategy, universities comprehensively fulfill their basic mission and prepare a new generation of experts who can integrate the acquired academic qualities with social responsibility and civic engagement. There are universities in the European educational area where the service-learning strategy has been in place for several years, but in most Central and Eastern European countries it is only at its early stages or is as yet unknown (similar to the considerations of the social role of universities). Consequently, the main goal of the project was to strengthen the capacity of higher education institutions to fulfill their third mission and to increase the civic engagement of students through the implementation of an innovative SL strategy in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. A partial goal of the project was to increase the quality and relevance of the offer of education in the area of implementation of the SL strategy into higher education through the development of training curricula and materials adapted to the context of Central and Eastern European countries.The project was based on the experience and expertise of partners from 6 EU countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Germany and Austria) and two countries outside the EU (associate partners) in the implementation of the service-learning strategy. The project coordinator was Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.The key activities of the project consisted in the creation, testing and dissemination of innovative outputs, which can be used even after its completion. The main innovative outputs of the project are: 1) Training for teachers on the SL strategy and a handbook for trainers, 2) Service-learning for higher education for teachers. A manual for teachers. 3) Recommendations for the promotion and strengthening of SL in the European context of universities and examples of good practice. Outputs are available in English, Slovak, Czech, Croatian, Romanian and German. All project outputs are available online on the project website www.slihe.eu. The outputs of the project are translated into several languages and are ready for implementation and development within other organisations (universities, secondary schools, third sector organisations). The outputs have contributed and will in the future contribute to the development of the social role of universities, the involvement and competences of young people, but also to the solution of the problems of different communities.Testing of project outputs consisted of the implementation of SL training for university teachers, which was attended by 70 people, and the implementation of service-learning projects accompanied by mentoring of 27 teachers. During the implementation of the project, 67 service-learning projects were implemented within the testing, in which a total of 810 students collaborated with 58 partners in the community whereby their projects had an impact on more than 2,300 people. The project also involved 218 people from within the student and target groups of service-learning projects with a lack of opportunities and therefore contributed to their inclusion in the project. Within the project, 6 transnational project meetings were held, these were used to create the intellectual outputs of the project and its management. The key dissemination activity was a two-day international conference held online, which was attended by 116 people from outside the project partners and more than 250 people during the accompanying activities. The project had an impact not only on the participating organisations, teachers and students but also on local communities. Cooperation between different actors in solving various problems has been strengthened, i. e. between civil society, citizens and universities. At the international level, we can identify an increase in international cooperation as an impact. The project also contributed to the building of a network of institutions in the field of service-learning at the European level.

European educational policy makers envision the development of communicative competence as the main goal of institutionalized foreign language (FL) education (Council of Europe, 2001) and hope for the realization of the Barcelona Summit (2002) “mother tongue + 2” objective. Yet, learning a foreign language often proves challenging, especially to learners with special educational needs, as they experience pedagogical disadvantages because of a range of conditions stemming from biological, environmental, and psychosocial causes. International organizations such as UNESCO and the OECD see this risk and promote the implementation of inclusive education systems that enable all learners to actively engage in learning and reach their potential. However, on a practical level, not all educational systems and agents within them are truly ready to realize such task on a daily basis. In fact, some foreign language teachers even report strong feelings of being overwhelmed and disillusioned with the prospect of offering equal opportunities to all their foreign language students (Dose, 2019).As a response to this situation, the VInDOW project proposes the development of comprehensive and versatile digital educational modules that demonstrate how the principles of inclusion – in their broad, diversity-oriented interpretation – can be applied in the field of foreign language education. Specifically, the modules combine theoretical, empirical and evidence-based knowledge, as well as insights from language teaching practice with educational policy guidelines about the following topics: 1. Dyslexia and reading skills in the FL classroom2. Social, emotional and linguistic challenges in spoken FL communication 3. Multilingual/multicultural challenges in FL classrooms4. Autism in the FL classroom5. Neurodiversity as a challenge in the FL classroomStructurally, the modules consists of the following components:- teaching units focused on topics 1-5 for pre- and in-service foreign language teacher education including hands-on, interactive and collaborative activities and materials;- a teacher’s companion with a transparent description of desired learner outcomes (can-do descriptors), didactic commentary for the teaching unit and examples of possible teaching scenarios; - a reflection tool-kit for monitoring the learning process of the module target audience (i.e. pre- and in-service teachers).The modules will be available for use both as complete regular courses or intensive workshops (e.g. with 3 ECTS workload across participating European institutions) and as individual smaller-scale units/topics, on various levels of teacher education enhancing systematic and sustainable integration into teacher education structures. They will also be applicable in virtual learning environments.During the course of the project, the team will test the newly-designed modules in tertiary education by incorporating them into the partner universities' curricula as well as in the form of a learning activity/an international workshop (IP) for students (C1) from all project partner countries,and a joint staff-training for individuals (C2) associated with the field of foreign language teaching.Throughout the project, efforts will be made to disseminate information about the project and the modules, e.g. during the workshop and conference held at the University of Bremen (multiplier event E1). The expected result is the raising of awareness of the ways in which inclusive foreign language education can be made sustainable among stakeholders involved in foreign language learning: teacher trainers, teachers, educational policy makers, university staff and researchers, students and pupils, authors of learning materials, etc.

The aim of the project ‘MultiMind’ is to establish an international, multidisciplinary and multisectorial training network on multilingualism. Given the current migration and refugee crisis in Europe, there is an urgent need to provide an in depth investigation of multilingualism from a multidisciplinary perspective that will bridge the gap between fundamental and applied research and will addresses societal challenges within the education and health sector as well as challenges related to the education of migrants and refugees in Europe. MultiMind addresses the benefits and challenges of multilingualism through an innovative research programme that combines fundamental and applied research across disciplines in a range of different social and educational settings. It investigates the influence of multilingualism on language learning, cognition, creativity, and decision making, on brain function and structure, and its role as a reserve in atypical populations using a combination of cutting edge research methodologies. MultiMind is composed of 9 academic and 2 non-academic organisations as well as 16 partners in leading academic institutions, companies, health organisations and 5 branches of Bilingualism Matters, a leading international network of centres that provide outreach activities on multilingualism. The consortium brings together researchers with complementary expertise within the disciplines of linguistics, psychology, education, neuroscience, and speech & language therapy along with non-academic partners within the education and health sectors, IT and publishing. This will enable to address societal challenges within education and health as well as challenges related to the migration and refugee crisis in Europe whilst training a new generation of researchers in world-leading labs using cutting edge methodologies and allowing them to build the necessary skills fostering their career progress as independent researchers in academic or nonacademic sectors.