<< Background >>RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC AND NEEDThe relevance of and need for 21CS has been dictated by the phenomena such as rapid change of technology, growing globalisation and internationalisation, and shift from industrial to knowledge-based economies (Voogt & Robin, 2010). A New Skills Agenda for Europe (EC, 2016) voices a clear need for a diversified skill palette focusing on qualities such as flexibility, resilience, entrepreneurial mindset to combat challenges such as rapidly-shifting labour market & digital demands, skills mismatch and demographic changes. Right skills are also underpinning sustainable development as Target 4.7 of the SDGs underlines the need to ‘ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development' (UNESCO, 2015); whilst EU 2030 Agenda makes a clear connection between 'equip[ing] people with 21st century skills' and attaining the greener economy (EC, 2019). Furthermore, well-rounded 21CS are vital in battling uncertain future and aiding Europe in being more resilient and responding better to looming threats. Possesion of these skills is thus seen as a key to economic and post-COVID recovery. CONNECTION TO STEM & PROBLEMSTEM graduates are often reported to lack 21st century skills by employers, which in turn prevents them from innovating, developing, and adapting in uncertain, volatile times. And lack of these skills often is seen as more critical than the possession of hard-skills (EPSC, 2017; Microsoft, 2019; World Economic Forum, 2018). 21CS are reported as less developed in STEM fields than in non-STEM fields (European Schoolnet, 2014). At the same time, HEI STEM teachers who are seen as instrumental to growth and development of HEI students are report to lack 21CS themselves and generally often lack relevant professional training (Global Partnership for Education, 2020). Simultaneously, female STEM students are ever underrepresented in STEM Europe-wide and they have drop-out rates. The project argues that the introduction of 21CS and their integration into existing curricula has a potential impact to, one hand, create more competent, job-ready STEM graduates and specifically foster a support system and by extension retention rates of at-risk female STEM students.<< Objectives >>To address the above-mentioned problems and meet the needs, BE-21-SKILLED ambitiously sets out to achieve the following objectives: 1) Facilitate the understanding and identification of 21CS in region-specific and labour-market relevant contexts through multi-stakeholder collaborative efforts (via PR1- Regional Skill Councils Blueprint and Skill Panorama)2) Foster the HEI teachers' abilities to instil 21CS in their students via training and feedback loops (via PR3: BE-21-SKILLED Teacher Empowerment Program)3) Enhance the skills among students to increase their employability and capitalise on their innovative potential (via PR5: BE-21-SKILLED Student Pilot and Playbook)4) Improve the understanding of non-female STEM actors (students, teachers, employers, etc.) on the need to support female STEM students and instil 21CS in them4) Innovate the curricula by embedding tools targeted at developing particular skills in students (via PR2: BE-21-SKILLED Toolkit)5) Actively participate in the dissemination of results and good practices (via PR4: BE-21-SKILLED eCompass)<< Implementation >>The concrete activities undertaken to meet the above-mentioned objective and close the need gap are as follows: 1) PROJECT RESULTS DERIVED FROM ACTITIVTIESPR1 - BE-21-SKILLED Regional Skill Councils Blueprint and Skills Panorama: Documents where 1) one details the modalities and aspects of setting up a successful diverse multi-stakeholder constellation tasked with assessing the 21CS requirements guided by the labour market needs, technology trends and any differences stemming from gender, and 2) the other one details the actual skills required by the labour markets informed by Regional Skill Councils and EU-wide surveyPR2 - BE-21-SKILLED Toolkit: A comprehensive set of tools aimed at developing skills of both teachers and students, and which have been previously identified in PR1PR3 - BE-21-SKILLED Teacher Empowerment Program: A comprehensive set of modules with integrated tools from PR2 which are geared towards comprehensive development of skills in HEI STEM teachers and their competencies in teaching the same skills to HEI STEM studentsPR4 - BE-21-SKILLED eCompass: A fully digitalised, interactive platform that would amass all the knowledge accrued in the lifetime of the project (and beyond) and serve as a collaboration platform between project partners, Regional Skill Council members and other stakeholders PR5 - BE-21-SKILLED Student Pilot: Undertaking aimed at developing students' 21CS skills(2) MULTIPLIER EVENTSThe results will be further supported with 1 international and 2 national MULTIPLIER EVENTS that will take place at each HEI partner location and in Brussels, deemed to be the hub of international stakeholders. The events will result in a) increased understanding and awareness on the 21CS skill development and its implications for regional development b) expansion of the BE-21-SKILLED Councils to establish and deepen collaborations c) further dissemination of the major project results and to be taken up and exploited by more HEIs outside the project partnership, thus enhancing the sustainability of the project. (3) PROJECT MANAGEMENT Activities related to project management will be coordinated through Project Management Handbook (M1) that includes guidelines for partners regarding communications, meetings, and administrative and financial arrangements. (4) QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATIONThe quality control will be ensured and guided through: 1. Quality Management and Evaluation Strategy (M1)2. Impact Vision Plan (M1)3. Progress Reports (every third month, 12x5 reports by the end of the project)4. Interim Evaluation Report (M18)5. Final Evaluation Report (M36)6. BE-21-SKILLED Teacher Empowerment Program Evaluation Report7. BE-21-SKILLED Student Pilot Evaluation Report5) DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION The activities pertaining to dissemination and exploitation efforts will be captured in Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy, contact database comprised of 2,500+ target groups and stakeholder contacts of the partners, social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), BE-21-SKILLED eCompass, project brochure, flyers, banners, promotional videos, 1 media pack comprising a press release and notes for editors on project results, 6 e-mail newsletters distributed to a wide-ranging stakeholder database. Each partner will take a set of sustainability measures throughout the project lifetime to ensure that the desired exploitation targets would be achieved after project completion.<< Results >>Project approach and resultsThe BE-21-SKILLED project will (1) establish 3 regional councils to ascertain skills needs, (2) design innovative tools and training programs to upskill educators and students in STEM, (3) facilitate communication and share of experiences of different stakeholders towards enhancing their learning outcomes. A particular characteristic of the project is that it aims at integrating the 21st century skill development into existing lectures, instead of creating separated new lectures (or lecture series). The project includes five Project Results:PR1 – BE-21-SKILLED Regional Councils Blueprint and Skills Panorama: definition the most demanded and underpromoted 21 century skills in STEM fields in each participating region;PR2 – BE-21-SKILLED Toolkit: development of innovative training tools to upskill STEM educators and students in the 21st century skills;PR3 – BE-21-SKILLED Teacher Empowerment Program: Train the trainer with training and reflection sessions for STEM educators in each participating region, using the BE-21-SKILLED Toolkit (PR2);PR4 – eCompass: development of an interactive online platform containing the toolkit (PR2) as well as the online train the trainer course (based on PR3) to facilitate STEM educators across Europe to develop 21st century skills;PR5 –BE-21-SKILLED Student Pilot: the trained educators (from PR3) will integrate the BE-21-SKILLED Toolkit (PR2) in their classes to teach students the 21st century skills. The results will(1) bridge graduate skills with the job markets demands, so to increase graduate employability; (2) promote the student-centred approach at university teaching, while empowering educators with improved teaching methods and tools;(3) foster innovation in teaching methods for skill training