The T@sk Project aims to reinforce the delivery of Social Services in Albania by empowering Albanian Higher Education Institutions in the field of Social Work. T@sk pursues its main aim through extensive investment in the professionalization, internationalization and digitization of teaching and learning activities of Albanian HEIs for Social Work, and by promoting a stable, proactive and innovative relationship with key actors in Social Services delivery: professional Social Workers, public agencies for Social Services planning and supply, national and international NGOs. Albania suffers from deep unequal distribution of Social Services, predominantly concentrated in urban areas and poorly diversified in terms of citizens’ needs. The intensification of the process of European integration coincided with EU institutions’ requests to invest in the centrality of human rights and the implementation of policies aiming to integrate minorities, and granting social rights to unprivileged citizens. In this scenario, professional Social Workers play an essential role. Social Work is currently a regulated profession in Albania. It has changed profoundly over the last decade, as a consequence of new laws and regulations that have transformed the previous system of cash benefits management into a system that should be based on case management at different levels of society: individuals and families, groups and communities, centralized and decentralized institutions. The qualification requirements expected of Albanian Social Workers hinge upon recent and insufficient investment in HEIs in Social Work. The delivery of Social Services suffers from a widespread lack of professionalism. Social Work graduates continue to account for only a minority of employees in the Social Services. This is as a result of the fragile positioning of the Social Work profession in the Albanian labour market.Within this complex framework, the T@sk project operates according to a strategy developed at three main levels, coinciding with the project’s specific aims: 1)Improve the competences and skills of Academic staff (direct targets) and of students (indirect targets) at the Universities of Tirana, Shkoder and Elbasan that offer a BA and/or MA in Social Work;2)Develop the triangulation of knowledge, professional practice and political investment between HEIs and stakeholders that – at different levels – are responsible for the delivery of Social Services in Albania;3)Promote and circulate international Best Practices that can be tailored to specific social needs in Albania, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups of underprivileged women and children at risk of social marginality. By pursuing these specific aims, the T@sk Project’s ambition is to achieve assessable outcomes at the level of HEIs and Albanian society in terms of: a)Internationalization, increased level of technological innovation, planning the curricular capacity and management competence of key actors in HEIs: teachers, students, administrative staff and senior officials through participation in training sessions and peer-to peer exchanges; b)Professionalization of the relationships between HEIs, professional Social Workers and policymakers in the social policy arena through joint participation in the training and dissemination activities of the project;c)Promotion of social cohesion, equality of access to Social Services, capacity to design tailored services for citizens with different levels of need. By achieving the specific aims and expected outcomes listed above, the T@sk project will contribute to modernizing the functioning of HEIs in the field of Social Work and create a solid background for strengthening the Albanian Welfare State.

The BIOSINT project proposes activities grouped into five work packages that fully support general and specific objectives of the Erasmus+ program. It intends to improve education and development of students of biomedical sciences, as well as teachers and administrative staff of participating higher educational institutions (HEI). Through the implementation of education through internationalization at home (IaH) framework and strategies and internationalized curriculum (IoC) and syllabi, the intention is to strengthen digital capacities, literacy and competencies as well as intercultural skills and attitudes at individual and institutional levels. The specific objectives of the BIOSINT project are promotion of academic mobility of individuals and groups, high-quality learning outcomes for participants, cooperation, quality, inclusion, fairness, excellence, creativity and innovation in higher educational area.The proposed project theme will be implemented by HEI from WB area (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania) whereas HEI from Belgium, Romania and Serbia will have advisory and transfer knowledge roles. The HEI of WB are insufficient with internationalization of curriculum, virtual mobility and services/capacities necessary for internationalization. Therefore, many impacts of project results are expected. The most valuable short-time changes are expected from students and teachers who will improve their digital literacy, cultural competency and readiness for future work in global health within “new normality” era of digital society during and after COVID-19 pandemic. The attraction of interested students, which attend HEIs which do not participate directly in the project, is important for achieving medium-term and, in particular, long-term project impacts. The project has ambition to raise lastingly the capacity of HEI of WB partners and professionalism and competence for management according to IaH and integrated virtual biomedical education strategies.

The digital transformation must be done in an inclusive and safe manner and for this, the role of universities and their collaboration with civil society, business, policy, and media is of paramount relevance. Digital transformation cannot be safe without awareness raising and capacity building on privacy threats, data protection, and digital literacy, thus leading to overall digital rights. The project proposal’s aim is to foster inclusive digital transformation in the Western Balkans through increased collaboration between universities with other stakeholders such as businesses, policymakers, civil society, and media. The U2SID project supports the development and uptake of digital skills to make the digital transformation as comprehensive and inclusive as possible. The specific objectives of the U2SID project are: To strengthen digital competencies of teachers, students, and professionals through the development of a Digital Literacies Acceleration Programme as a collaborative program among universities on one side and businesses, civil society, local decision-makers, and media on the other; To improve innovative teaching methods through piloting a Digital Transformation Challenge for students as a project-based and solution-oriented learning based on mentoring, coaching and placement at businesses, civil society, local decision-makers, and media; To raise awareness on the importance of inclusive digitalization by including vulnerable target groups in the digitalization process. The U2SID is in line with the Call objectives in Strand 2 for building and strengthening partnerships for transformation in higher education. The project is in line with the aim of the call to contribute to the innovation in higher education to enhance relevance to labor market, regional development, and society by strengthening university to society collaborations and setting up a Digital Literacies Accelerator Programme and Digital Transformation Challenge.

Albania is dotted with a relevant Cultural Heritage witnessing historical and cultural identity of this Country through the Ages. Cultural identity, unrepeatable patrimony, economic value, preservation and valorisation, are keywords recognised in Europe to acknowledge cultural heritage as an extraordinary multidisciplinary subject of high-level research. From material analyses for conservation, to digital heritage, cultural heritage is the perfect subject to gather experts of interconnected competences, to develop valuable research strategies.The proposed project is aimed at enhancing research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, contributing to Albania accession to EU by supporting the modernization and internationalization of HEIs. The project will proceed over two parallel lines: promoting structural measures to establish research quality standards at ministerial level and supporting research development and innovation at HEI level through the introduction of best practice of cultural heritage research projects.In order to reach this aim, the project will enhance research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, providing Universities with well-performing, innovative and competitive research methodologies in the field, this resulting into a tangible improvement of key competences, hard skills and critical thinking. Modern, integrated and interdisciplinary research and teaching laboratories will be established, equipped with last generation instruments. Laboratories will also be able to deliver research results outside Academia, endowed with the capacity of integrating research outcomes into stakeholders. The establishment of new laboratories and the building of research capacities will set the basis for the development of innovative research methods, to be transferred to teaching through selected piloting actions to be carried out on Albanian Heritage

Virtual Albanian European Universities Exchange (VALEU-X) is a joint project to support the internationalisation efforts of Higher Educational Institutions in Albania through modern technology-enhanced academic exchange with European HEIs. It proposes blending on-campus teaching activities with international Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) components as a Virtual Mobility element to introduce international perspectives in formal higher educational programmes within a holistic approach of Internationalisation at Home.The project objectives include:- Enable academic staff to extend their teaching processes and content with international perspectives and elements- Help Albanian HEI to develop effective internationalisation strategies- Provide Albanian students with international experience at their home HEI- Prepare Albanian HEI for successful integration in the EU academic landscapeThe foreseen outcomes and results include:- New problem-based learning practices based on constructive collaborative methodologies.- Common international study activities involving Albanian and European students and academics.- Blended Mobility setup using Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) methods and modern ICT including Social Media.- Virtual/Blended Mobility augmented Internationalisation at Home strategies with acknowledgment and recognition mechanisms.The envisaged impact encompasses:- Build capacity at Albanian HEI for international/EU academic practices- Encourage personal growth of Albanian students to become EU citizens- Overcome limited physical academic mobility between Albania and the EU- Increase relevance of Albanian HE programs to international/EU job markets- Promote applied teaching and learning using modern technologies- Enhance the adoption of “eBologna” in Albanian HE