<< Objectives >>The Change Agents project wishes to bring the academic sector and the NGO ecosystem closer to one another and generate deeper understanding between these important stakeholders, allowing stakeholders to advance a more collaborative, inclusive and participatory practice of design and design education, while recognizing the already existing knowledge of activists and various stakeholders, using innovative approaches of social design.<< Implementation >>The Background mapping activity aims to gain a deeper understanding on the already existing practices on the cross-section of social design and NGO related field work. The Implementation piloting activity seeks empirical knowledge and creates innovative results on the theoretical and structural approach by testing its feasibility in a form of local pilot events. During the Syntheses and recommendation activity a comprehensive methodological recommendation (blueprint) will be created.<< Results >>The project produces a methodological recommendation blueprint on how to establish qualitative approaches for participatory collaborations between the HEI and NGOs using social design tools, which will be achieved by background mapping, piloting, syntheses. Results will contribute to the improvement of innovative practices at the intersection between HEIs and other sectors to develop pilot cooperation strategies that will later present the potential to be integrated within educational modules.

The majority of blindness and vision impairment can be avoided by good eye and vision care and in many regions optometrists are the primary providers of this service. OCULUS is a consortium of educators from optometry schools in Europe (Norway, UK, Spain and the Netherlands) and beyond with a three-pillar strategy to reform optometric education in Israel and India and harmonise it with European standards. This will mean greater employability and job mobility for graduates, and better trained optometrists will lead to a reduction in blindness and vision impairment.In pillar 1, new educational resources will be developed to reform the curricula in Israel and India, meeting the high standards of the European Diploma in Optometry (DipE), harmonising optometric education and scope of practice. The DipE was designed almost 20 years ago and is missing elements of education that lead to lifelong learning. Therefore, pillars 2 and 3 bring innovations to optometic education, enhancing the standard even further, beyond DipE. In pillar 2, educational resources for evidence based optometric practice (EBP) will be developed. EBP is a vital part of effective patient care but is still a novel concept in optometric education, and there is a recognised need for better EBP education in optometry, making this an important addition to the DipE. In pillar 3, a personal learning network (PLN) will be created for optometry students and practitioners, as an online portfolio of patient encounters and platform for peer review and discussion. OCULUS has the support of global optometry governing and education bodies. The Israel Council of Optometry and the Association of Colleges and Schools of Optometry in India are full partners. European Academy of Optometry and Optics and the Norwegian Association of Optometry are associate partners. These organizations will ensure that OCULUS outputs are disseminated globally for maximum exploitation and impact.

Curriculum reform programs have been central to European Commission’s TEMPUS and ERASMUS programs. Although assessment of the courses was included in these programs, none offered to develop relevant innovative tools and methods to evaluate these new innovative student-centered courses. Moreover with relation to the formative assessment (FA) essential tenet needed in these environments, these projects have pointed to a growing need to deepen the knowledge of faculty regarding the optimal design and implementation of assessment in general and FA in particular. The ASSET consortium provides the knowledge and pedagogical expertise aimed at developing and piloting creative and innovative course assessment tools (CATs) and methods adapted to the learning environments in use, and improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning within the IL and GE HE system, thus, bridging the gap between current educational goals of teaching and learning, and assessment processes for the 21st century. The proposed ASSET project will develop IL and GE faculty skills in planning, preparing, producing, and integrating CATs in their courses including ICT-based virtual environments, by organizing training workshops for professional development, providing an ongoing support to further the sustainability of FA implementation, and disseminate the set CATs in their HEIs and beyond. The development of CATs will allow partner HEIs evaluating students' lifelong learning (LLL) skills, both in personal and social levels. Moreover, ASSET proposal is of relevance to the labor market and certainly offers flexibility when taking into account issues of lifelong learning, non-traditional learning, and other forms of nonformal educational experiences, in contrast to the SA approach. The project will raise the quality and relevance of the teaching/learning experience and thus education at large, in line with the student-centered approach that lies at the core of the Bologna process.

Global labour markets are in constant change in response to emerging mega trends like ageing societies and rapid urbanisation. We are witnessing the replacement of traditional occupations by creative communities whose raw material is their ability to address those challenges, imagine new solutions and innovate. A major role in this change is played by the creative industries (CI) defined as “industries that origin in individual creativity and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of IP”. The CI are one of the most dynamic sectors in Europe (representing 3.3% of EU economy, and 3% of employment), but in Israel are characterized by a small market, with few employment possibilities and a need to compete globally.CLEVER aspires to be the catalyst of change in HE and vocational training for creative professions as well as the entire creative economy eco-system. This will be done by ensuring that graduates in creative disciplines are fitted with updated leadership and entrepreneurship capacities and skills that enable them to maintain life-long portfolio careers and to enhance 21st century creative economies.CLEVER will:• Develop a Creative Leadership & Entrepreneurship strategic plan for each participating Israeli HEI to serve as a roadmap for short and long-term implementation, including: curricula updates, new academic and LLL modules and business models.• Develop new teaching capacities and methods in the Israeli HEIs aligned to creative leadership modules• Pilot of academic and LLL educational modules To start a change through the entire Israeli eco-system CLEVER will develop:• Benchmarking report between the Israeli and EU creative economy practices• Creative Israel 2020 Whitepaper policy recommendationWith these outcomes CLEVER encompass all stakeholders in the creative economy thus ensuring impact, exploitation and dissemination of results beyond the project's lifetime.

Unfortunately it has been noticed that the Mathematicians see mathematics as an area of study in its own right. The rest use mathematical formulas as a tool for deriving quantitative conclusions from these relationships. For that purpose, mathematics courses, as they are taught today, are seldom helpful, their importance is not realized by the students & teachers and are often downright destructive. The failure rates among the students are the highest among their curriculum courses, mathematics popularity is among the lowest within the student communities and thus an implementation of methodological and teaching changes of Mathematics is demanded. This project aims to bring a breath of fresh air in the way that the mathematics are taught. The project targets to link Mathematics, taught in the 1st year of BSc degrees in Engineering and Computer Science Departments, with real life problems and try to express these challenges qualitative and quantitative using Mathematics principles. Along its implementation, new Educational trends regarding innovative teaching methods (Problem Based Learning), new delivery tools (ICT use in Higher Education) and experiences linking Mathematics with the Industry & daily life problems that have developed and experienced in the Program countries HEIs will be applied in the course curricula of the participating Partner countries HEIs from Western Balkans and Israel. Project's primary objectives are:- Improve students math level of 1st year Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Departments- Assist student to be able to guess answers without a proof or an exact calculation- Reduce failure rates in math courses- To demonstrate to the students that math is relevant to the program they have chosen to study - Improve students confidence in their ability to learn mathIts outputs / deliverables will be:- Reports - Off line & Online Teaching material and tools - Training workshops for students and teachers