The ATEST (Assessment of Traineeships within the European credit transfer SysTem) project was proposed as a two year project and looked for a solution and recommendation around ECTS credits award for internships. Partners of the project were 9 universities from 9 EU countries, coordinator was Educa International, o.p.s. (NGO).The traineeships are for students a part of their university education to gain practical experience in their field of study through practical activities in companies and other institutions . This is very important and essential for their further professional development and better emloyability after the graduation.The current practice used for recognition of traineeships results shows a huge differences between universities and also within the same university. We can see large differences in the attitude towards allocation of credits for internship performed within the Erasmus programme (from 0 ECTS to 30 ECTS). If we accept the Erasmus programme traineeships as an integral part of study, it must be objectively evaluated in accordance with recognized rules, i.e. ECTS. For traineeships there was no model how to evaluate and recognize participation in Erasmus traineeships under the ECTS, mainly of volutary traineeships. The project partners analyzed their own credit allocation systems at their universities, universtities of Educa Consortium and also all partners asked other universtities in their countries to fill in a project questionnaire which was distributed also to other countries participating in Erasmus traineeship activities. Project team prepared analysis, and outcomes present a possible solution and recommendation how to approach traineeships based on ECTS according to the period, results and other aspects of traineeships.Project found also other problems that should be addressed by another analysis of data. The attitude of companies toward traineeships and evaluation of traineeship.

More than any other sector, today’s health care sector is dependent on the mobility of workers from across Europe and even on an international scale in order to overcome skill shortages within the EU Member States. The mobility of skilled workers is strongly hindered by highly complex and time consuming validation and recognition processes and by a lack of transparency among health care qualifications in the European Member States. The HCEU Project has made a major contribution towards the transparency of health care qualifications across borders and the facilitation of processes to formally recognise and validate health care qualifications acquired abroad as well as through in- and non-formal learning within different health care recognition and validation systems throughout the European Union. For this purpose the HCEU consortium made use of the award-winning, practically-applied VQTS model. The VQTS model does not focus on the specificities of national VET systems but uses learning outcomes and work processes to enhance transparency. It provides a ‘common language’ to describe competences and their acquisition and a way to relate these competence descriptions to concrete qualifications/ certificates and competence profiles of individuals. The VQTS model relates on the one hand to the work process and follows, on the other hand, a ‘development logical’ differentiation of a competence profile. This makes it an ideal and comprehensive tool to appreciate the lifelong learning of health care professionals in the context of formal recognition processes. Based on this approach HCEU developed VQTS matrices, profiles, tools and instruments for the field of ‘professional care’ for the national contexts of the project partners in order to facilitate recognition praxis in those EU Member States. In addition HCEU developed transfer kits in order to facilitate the transfer of those tools also to other national (within and beyond Europe) contexts and to other fields within health care. Those tools are expected to make a major contribution to the work of VET providers and recognition bodies/authorities involved in transnational mobility of health care professionals. In this way HCEU makes it possible to facilitate the establishment of a European labour market that helps to overcome skill shortages and high unemployment rates through fostering the mobility of health care professionals across the European Member States.

In the era of Europe 2020 Strategy, for overcoming the socio-economic crisis affecting European countries, of boosting growth and jobs and of fostering social equity and inclusion, this project aims to use the potential of Europe’s human and social capital originating from higher education’s institutes and the industry, in order to exchange and transfer knowledge and know-how in food science and technology education, by the creation and development of a network that will provide opportunities for cooperation among stakeholders. This partnership consists of 4 higher education institutes, namely Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly (Greece), Catholic University of Portugal, Cyprus University of Technology, University of Leon (Spain) and Technological Educational Institute of Athens (Greece). All higher education partners have been previously successfully involved in European Education Projects and it is aimed to blend experience and good practices previously acquired in order to make steps forward for enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in food science and technology education. Additionally this partnership includes an IT Specialist Partner originating from the industry (SystServ), a Dissemination Specialist (ANKA) and also has a series of collaborating partners from Food Industries from the participating countries for developing case studies material for training purposes. Universities, national and regional development and education agencies will also act as collaborating partners in order to facilitate the dissemination of the project’s outcome. The general objectives of this project are:1. enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in education by developing new and innovative education approaches and supporting the dissemination of best practices in food science and technology education2. promoting innovative practices in education by supporting personalised learning approaches, collaborative learning and critical thinking, strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), open educational resources (OER), open and flexible learning, virtual mobility and other new pedagogies 3. increasing labour market relevance of learning provision and qualifications and reinforcing links between education with the world of the food industry4. improving the capacities of the participating universities in the areas of strategic development, quality of learning provision and internationalizationThe project is based in the following key activities dealing with Research and Training needs Analysis to evaluate the training needs in Food Science and Technology Study Programmes in European Higher Education Organizations, in order to ensure that EU labor has the skills and knowledge to face the emerging food sector market related to non conventional foods (namely functional, nano, organic/eco) production, food safety and regulatory affairs, marketing and entrepreneurship. Relevant to the needs training material and case studies will be developed and uploaded on an on line learning platform to be constructed by the partnership, introducing innovative education training materials for EU Universities, by enhancing the potential of the agri-food sector for the production and promotion of functional foods in Europe (including all the ethical and safety aspects).In summary the expected results include:1. Intellectual outputs (training material and case studies) based on exchange of good practices (technology and pedagogical)2. Blended mobility for creating the material and pilot test the proposed teaching method 3. Intensive study/training programmes4. Dissemination of teaching methods/materialsThe impact of the project has to do mainly with the development of an innovative and quality training program in the emerging fields of food science and technology, using entrepreneurial and marketing opportunities simultaneously, as a mean for enhancing competitiveness, pro activeness and extroversion in the participating countries. Thus, the project will give the opportunity to develop the existing intellectual property of the stakeholders and create new knowledge in specific fields, leading to a knowledge intensive business. Furthermore, the project wishes to develop an innovative multimedia based training program that will act as a multipurpose tool for academic purposes, research, merging industry with academia, networking and synergies development from the participating countries and internationally, that will remain active beyond the course of this project.

This project refers to the development of an open access remote photovoltaics (PV) laboratory for educational purposes. The remote PV laboratory is currently installed outdoors at the facilities of the TEI of Athens, Greece. The TEI of Athens is located in a geographical region characterized by a large number of annual sunshine hours, thus offering superior uptime for the laboratory’s users to perform real-world tests and experiments with photovoltaic panels over the internet in real time. At any time, including during the experiments, the student can have a live view of the system through a web camera, offering him/her a sense of personal presence at the place where the experiment takes place. The system is accessible by everyone on the planet with internet access. It is also accompanied by appropriate openly accessible educational material, in five languages. These open educational resources were developed with several target groups in mind, including but not limited to, students, postgraduates, professionals, and educators, thus allowing it to be used by a broad variety of users directly. Moreover, the remote laboratory could help students with disabilities increase their participation in a laboratory environment.A specialized website has been created as the host of the aforementioned OERs and remote PV laboratory that is openly accessible by anyone on the planet with internet access, acting as the basis of all educational and training activities. The OERs that were developed to accompany the remote laboratory include educational texts, tests, and documentation, all developed for various types of users. In addition to OERs, a series of experimental exercises have been developed on photovoltaic systems that could be adapted for courses currently present in higher education curricula by making use of the innovative, openly accessible remote photovoltaics laboratory. These remote experiments could also be used for distance education, professional training, and part-time study. Thus, students from Europe and around the world, whose institutes/schools do not have physical laboratories or their countries do not have a high annual number of sunshine hours, can perform experiments and then analyze the results according to the taught theory. Classroom courses can also benefit from the developed system by letting the teachers demonstrate the behavior and analyze the characteristics of a photovoltaic panel under real-life conditions. This approach opens new ways in the teaching and educational process by giving students the feel of an almost direct experience with the experimental device and providing an excellent context for developing remote collaboration skills that will be important in their future careers. The developed remote PV laboratory combined with the ample OERs can also be integrated into related distance learning and eLearning programmes of any educational institution worldwide, allowing the enhancement of the educational quality of such programmes, significantly refining education and training in photovoltaic systems, for the benefit of humanity.Five well-recognized European Universities were involved in the project, as well as the Technical Chamber of Greece. Each partner had a series of specific roles in the project and their expertise provided the means to a successfully implemented complementary collaboration between the partners. The duration of the project was three years. The first two years were devoted to the design, sizing, and installation of the remote PV laboratory, as well as for the development of open educational resources and experimental exercises. During the last year, the system was evaluated as an adapted module within the curricula of the partner universities studies. A number of workshops have been organized to disseminate the project and train the interested parties. Seminars were provided to local professional organizations, such as the Technical Chamber of Greece, so as for their members to be informed of, use and provide feedback on the proposed system. In order to disseminate the system towards other scientists with expertise in the fields of online/remote education and for the opportunity to receive feedback from them, the system and some of its capabilities were presented in relevant peer-reviewed scientific conferences.

CROSSCULT aims to make reflective history a reality in the European cultural context, by enabling the re-interpretation of European (hi)stories through cross-border interconnections among cultural digital resources, citizen viewpoints and physical venues. The project has two main goals. The first goal is to lower cultural EU barriers and create unique cross-border perspectives, by connecting existing digital historical resources and by creating new ones through the participation of the public. The second goal is to provide long-lasting experiences of social learning and entertainment that will help towards the better understanding and re-interpretation of European history. To achieve these goals, CROSSCULT will use cutting-edge technology to connect existing digital cultural assets and to combine them with interactive experiences that all together are intended to increase retention, stimulate reflection and help European citizens appreciate their past and present in a holistic manner. CROSSCULT will be implemented on 4 real-world flagship pilots involving a total of 8 sites across Europe. It will be realized through the participation of 11 partners and 14 associate partners including computer scientists, social sciences and humanity researchers, historians and private companies, from 7 European countries. The project will ensure continuous stakeholder involvement through a Living Lab and it will be supported by a concrete business plan. CROSSCULT is directly related to the work program since, on the one hand it re-purposes the use of digital cultural assets to stimulate a new shared culture of European history, one that moves from silos to unification, and on the other hand it boosts the development of new businesses that exploit the rich European digital cultural heritage.