VERSA aims to challenge the current paradigm of soft skills development at PhD level by implementing an innovative methodology for soft skills training using commercially available video games. We target the training of eight innovation related skills, namely Creativity, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving, Cognitive Flexibility, People/Team Management, Time Management, Judgement and Decision Making and Goal Setting, all these skills being very desirable choices for the non-academic sector. There is a dual scope to VERSA's approach...one one hand, we aim to modernize the PhD programmes at the partner universities, by offering innovative digital tools for soft skills training, and on the other hand, we aim to prove this as a consistent methodology for future use in any PhD's programme curricula, which has the potential to shape the way Universities of the future offer soft skills training for Doctoral Education.

According to the importance of soft skills in the European Skills Agenda (transversal skills in the document) the EU has tackled this gap by working with competency and skills definition models such as EntreComp, LifeComp and ESCO classification. However, there are still at least two important gaps between soft skills and both the education and the labour market: High atomization and the absence of rigorous and affordable training and assessment methods. MEGASKILLS is a project whose main objective is to help bridge these gaps between education and the labor market through the research and design of an innovative and affordable methodology for training and evaluating soft skills through 3 main research tasks to figure out how to: 1) reach a consensus pact for soft skills taxonomy and normalization based on the manifest needs of industry and education; 2) training and evaluation techniques through the use of the massive amount of data from the interactions of players with their favorite video games (considering the very high penetration of video games among working-age citizens in Europe) and the use of AI and machine learning algorithms and 3) implement methodologies and educational designs that will build an affordable strategy for the new educational-labour paradigm at a European level. Thanks to this approach MEGASKILLS will intend to respond to at least six different Actions within the European Skills Agenda. The only way to address the gap between education, key productive sectors and their skills in demand and at the same time to comply with several of the points of the European Skills Agenda is from a perspective that is all rigorously scientific, multidisciplinary and disruptive as MEGASKILLS is. For the MEGASKILLS consortium, this disruptive approach must come from techniques and methodologies that can be both affordable and massive enough so that the impact on the labour and educational sectors is remarkable and sustainable both socially and economicall

"The EU real estate sector is a resilient sector with an enormous enabling impact on jobs and economic growth, and with great potential for the realization of the EU’s sustainability goals. According to Eurostat (2016) the EU-28 ’s real estate activities numbered some 1.4 million enterprises in 2016, employing 2.9 million persons and generating almost EUR 288 billion of value-added . The sector’s contribution to the nonfinancial business economy was 5.9 % of the enterprise population, 2.0 % of the employment, and 4.0 % of value-added.In recent years, relevant drivers have impacted in the housing sector, shaping the present and future challenges:- Technological revolution (i.e blockchain, Proptech business, etc) gives room for new business models, innovative work dynamics, greater connectivity and technological advances meaning that we need new skills and different ways of working.- EU Parliament resolution on a European Pillar of Social Rights acknowledges housing as one of the EU social pillars and calls on the Member States to deliver on the right to adequate housing by ensuring access to quality and affordable housing.- The application of the European Professional Card for real estate agents as well as the implementation of Directive for the regulation of financial services appeal to a greater professionalization in this sector, characterized by an uneven regulation among EU State Members.- Lessons learned from the 2007 financial crisis (i.e. consumer protection failure, evictions, homelessness) and the COVID-19 crisis (home as a refuge) compel the housing sector for a review of the skills gaps along its value chain in order not to repeat the same mistakes in the future.These drivers impact on the three main selected target groups of Housing+ i) professionals involved in the housing field (eg. real-estate conveyancers, notary public, judges, condominiums managers, attorneys, policymakers, consumers/tenants associations) who will obtain an academic qualification on housing; (ii) administration officers and policymakers working in local authorities, government departments, who will gain specific skills to address the recurring issues and the contentious problems that define the contemporary housing studies field in Europe and abroad to draft and to operate housing policies properly (iii) postgraduate students of different disciplines (law, sociology, social work, economy, finances, sociology, anthropology, architecture, urban design, engineering), that have only superficially and partially studied housing in their degrees will get specialized training in housing studies.Drawn on these training challenges, Housing+ will pursue the following objectives:1.To design, create and assess interactive open online educational resources (e-learning courses, handbooks, guidance materials) to address the skills gaps among Housing+ target groups. In this way, Housing+ will contribute to raising the qualification and education standards and overall achieving a greater professionalization within the housing sector.2.To explore how online gamified learning interventions can have a positive impact on learning outcomes and demonstrate how game design elements can be used as a tool to enhance student engagement, motivation, and participation in Housing studies.3.To promote HEI’s Housing educators professional development to adapt their digital skills and competences through the use of gamification techniques during teaching practices.4.To showcase, disseminate and help to replicate proven learning methodologies, tools and practices for EU housing professionals in order to tackle skills gaps and mismatches within the European Education Area.The main result from Housing+ will be the development of a set of online OERs (IO1) clustered in four modules 1. Housing and human rights 2. Housing tenures 3. Real state stakeholders and 4. Proptech . Also, a specific Seminar on ""Condominium under the microscope"" IO6 will be created in order to be replicated in any EU country. Gamification techniques (ie. use of commercial video games for educational purposes) will be embedded in Housing+ outcomes. In addition, Housing+ will produce a Gamified Mobile micro-learning platform (IO3) and a set of audiovisual materials (IO5) in order to raise awareness among real estate professionals and Housing policymakers on evictions and homelessness within the EU. Participating HEIs will obtain valuable guidelines (IO2) for the implementation of gamification techniques within the HE educational practices."