<< Background >>EU has recently introduced circular economy as a high-level global emerging strategy to move societies beyond the boundaries of existing development and towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) set by the UN 2030 agenda for sustainability. Thus, the concept of a circular economy emerges as a global strategy and as an overriding priority in the EU, to stimulate the transition from today's model of linear production and consumption economy to resource efficient use. Circular agriculture, as a new paradigm, penetrates every aspect of the agri-food sector, and furthermore, of the agricultural local communities, the rural landscapes, and semi-natural environment. The transition process towards circular agriculture, requires the implementation of a new management model which includes all the main stages of the agri-food system, such as the primary production, the food consumption, and the by-products and food waste. This new sustainable framework, viewed as a closed circle, sets the goal for a more efficient food supply chain, but also un update of the HE curricula at the Faculties of agriculture. The main concept of circular agriculture is the reuse into the agri-food system of the agricultural biomass and food processing residuals, as renewable resources with high added-value. Resource circulation, which is the core goal of circular economy, is the new proposed model for the future sustainable agriculture. This model should provide the flexibility to various company styles and earning types, without restrictions, to adapt to the required socio-economical and ecological transformation, by introducing a wide range of activities varying from intensive to extensive, small to large, and low-tech to hi-tech. But the transition to circular agriculture depends not only on technology and significant restructuring of production but it has a lot to do with the change in the attitudes and perspectives.SKILLS idea is grounded at the necessity to promote environmental sustainability, economic prosperity, and social equity as valid objectives of Circular Economy Model and to approach them accordingly in academic and practice.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the project is to contribute towards up-to-date skills development of the target beneficiaries ( students, potential students, ag producers) by introducing and promoting the concepts of Circular agriculture and Green Growth, as well as to boost the modernization of the curricula and introduce digital courses at the Faculties of agriculture by making them more attractive for the future students. It is very important that changes and upgrades of the agricultural HE curricula are made, because Faculties f agriculture are facing a decrease in the number of enrolled students per students due to the level of (non) attractiveness of the field of agriculture. On the side, this can be efficiently changed by raising awareness for the needs and potential of agriculture exp. during the pandemic time, the agricultural sector was among the rarest which survived because the production of food (including raw food-agriculture products has to continues regardless of everything). This opens perspectives for increased potential for employment after graduation, even more, professional occupations which are not just traditional agriculture, but new agricultural concepts like the circular agriculture and the green jobs. Additionally, SKILLS puts to opening employment opportunities and widening the perspectives of jobs in the green skills and CA by boosting the skills of the target group. Eventually, SKILLS project promotes the concept of Circular Agriculture as a sustainable, resilient branch. SKILLS consortium aims at enhancing and speeding up the awareness for Circular Agriculture through elaborating a Baseline study in typology and training material composed of practical know-how and a well structured set of tools, modules and digital courses that agricultural practitioners can go through and change their mindset and rethink their activities.<< Implementation >>In order to contribute to modernization at the programs and courses offered at the Faculties of Agriculture, as well as the promotion of the Circular Agriculture, SKILLS project planned a set of project activities as: project meetings, project results, dissemination, national webinars, E1 media event.All pProject activities are aimed at and tailored according to the needs of the target group such as students, ag producers, potential future students, policy makers, researchers, development practitioners, as well skilled as unskilled other members of vulnerable groups. For successful implementation of SKILLS project, the following concrete project activities are foreseen: 1) Organization of five transnational meetings for the project partners during which the project results will be elaborated, discussed, coordinated, and implemented. 2) 5 project results: PR1. Baseline study in typology of agricultural profilesPR2. Module in green skillsPR3. Agri-Lingua Practicum PR4. Tool-kit in agro-food productionPR5. Digital course in Circular Agriculture3) 10 national webinars (digital training) based on the project results outcomes 4) E1 media event which is planed as a large scale media event to promote the SKILLS project activities, Erasmus+ program and to provide for networking among stakeholders in circular agriculture, sustainability, , but also HE and representatives in the ministries of education who are in charge with the monitoring and upgrade of the courses curricula.<< Results >>Expected results are :1. Created Baseline study in agricultural typology (PR1);2. Developed digital course in green skills (PR2);3. Created Agri-Lingua practicum (PR3)4. Creating a network and strengthening the synergy among agriculture stakeholders by widening their perspectives on application of green skills and soft skills in agriculture made possible with the developed training materials for green skills (PR2) and linguistic skills (PR3);5. Organizing national webinasr based on project results outcomes;6. Developed tourism based agro-production tool-kit (PR4);7. Created digital course in circular agriculture (PR5);8. Attracting higher number of fresh-comers at the Faculties of Agriculture;9. Increasing the skills of min. 1200 ag producers and CA stakeholders will be strengthened in the field of sustainable-green agriculture;9. Skills gap of ag producers hampering their income will be filled;10. Establishment of a strategic partnership between the participants of the consortium for sustainable exchange and development of good practices in HE and applying them in further developing the LLL programs in agriculture;11. Networking of and best practice sharing among students, agricultural stakeholders, academic staff and ag producers will be initiated through their participation in the webinars and the E1 media event as well as the dissemination activities;12. Strengthened cooperation between the ag producers and educators will be improved (business and academic axes);13. improved sustainable agriculture at the project consortium countries and beyond;14.Modernized higher education in the field of agriculture.Having been exposed to a range of research environments, different areas of food development and life in different countries, the academic staff and representatives for curricula development will be in a much better position to make informed decisions on their HE programs.

The BioMedical Research and Innovation (R&I) sector is characterised by specific challenges, emphasising the need for intersectional gender equality interventions with the potential to benefit health and wellbeing in society. The INCLUDE project drives institutional change towards gender equality and inclusiveness by co-designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative measures to advance Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) within seven public BioMedical Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) and one private Research and Technology Organization (RTO) using intersectional and intersectoral approaches. A geographically inclusive consortium covers 2 EU Member States and 6 Widening countries, in Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe, with more and less advanced policy frameworks. INCLUDE conducts a comprehensive analysis of GEPs and data collection practices already in place, identifying areas for improvement and potential challenges. The analysis, alongside a mapping of good practices and tools, and the identification of the competencies and learning needs of implementing partners, will inform the co-design of inclusive GEP pilot actions to improve intersectional gender equality. Substantial operationalization of intersectionality is enshrined in the consortium composition comprising scholars and activists who possess significant knowledge, expertise, and specialised tools for implementing an intersectional approach. Tailored training programs and collaborative learning initiatives, the establishment of thematic hubs, a mentoring scheme, and study visits will ensure that internal capacities are fostered, and knowledge sharing is promoted. INCLUDE places emphasis on the long-term sustainability of an intersectional approach to GEPs through the elaboration of detailed sustainability plans and the strengthening of partnerships with the local innovation ecosystems, while promoting and multiplying networking efforts through the INCLUDE toolkit, CoP and Manifesto.

The LT2016 Researchers’ Night projects for 2016 and 2017 will take place in major Lithuanian cities, i.e. Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai and Moletai, as well as in rural areas. The project aims to enhance public recognition of researchers and their work through bringing scientists and public closer to one another and thus increasing an understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life as well as encouraging young people to choose careers in science and research. Both events will offer a broad range of varied activities addressing all categories of the public at large, regardless of age and scientific background, i.e. notably: Meetings and activities together with researchers; Lectures, discussions; Visits to open laboratories; Real life observations and experiments; European corners; Various contests, games, exhibitions, movie and online broadcast watching. All the activities planned will actively involve researchers and will offer a balanced combination of "serious" activities and funny ones to be attractive for the general public. Activities will be hosted in labs, lecture halls, meeting places, cafes, while in the rural areas they will take place in schools or public spaces. Some activities conducted in the main sites will be broadcasted online. Common concept for the Night in 2016 and 2017 will be Learning about Technology Futures. Therefore activities of Researchers’ Night projects in 2016 will be organised with focus on Virtual Reality thus building foundations for the Night in 2017 which will focus of "science futurity" or Futures of technologies. Both events will be finalised with the grand event unifying different fields - music, science and cinema. We expect at least 500.000 people made aware of the Researchers' Night and its objectives through the awareness campaign and 11.500 direct attendees to the various events planned in 2016 as well as in 2017.

The SHERLOCK project aims to boost innovation at European level by designing and implementing an original and advanced educational framework based on microcredentials for upskilling the workforce and lifelong learning. It will integrate and combine a multidisciplinary green and digital skills portfolio towards the cooperation and knowledge exchange flow across different stakeholders, bolstering job creations and supporting the ambitious target of mass energy building retrofitting. Fostering retrofitting in the building sector, which accounts for 40% of the EU primary energy consumption and 35% of the carbon emissions, is paramount to achieve the EU decarbonisation targets by 2050. This requires a skilled workforce able to navigate through the multidisciplinary dimensions of building energy retrofitting, encompassing both technical, financial, and societal aspects.SHERLOCK aims to tackle this challenge by creating a MOOC-based MicroMaster programme and a VET oriented short training course based on microcredentials and case study education, targeting students and professionals from both the building energy retrofitting and financial sectors. The project will help overcome the skills mismatch between financial operators and project developers. The programme will be codesigned with VET providers and stakeholders through the setup and deployment of the SHERLOCK Knowledge Centres, which will act as a reference point for exchanging ideas and as a lasting alliance between universities, businesses, VET providers and public institutions. SHERLOCK will define the learning objectives, design the programme content & materials, implement and monitor the acquisition of the green and digital skills required in the building energy renovation sector. Finally, it will develop guidelines for educators in higher education institutions and VET providers on how to co-design and implement innovative MicroMaster programmes to support lifelong learning and upskilling of the labour market.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic there was as increasing use of digital media and technologies for learning in HE. Almost all staff engaged in teaching and learning in HE used some form of digital technology. Some of these technologies such as PowerPoint and online learning platforms including Moodle were used extensively, with HE Staff feeling they had a high level of competence. However, the range of digital technologies used was very narrow. Since the pandemic, HE staff have been required to use a much broader range of technologies as they have continued their teaching through blended or online approaches. Now almost all HEI staff are required to use video conference-based classrooms and most will produce voiceovers or video presentations. These changes have been made in an ad-hoc way with limited training and thought about the design and pedagogic implications of the way technology is introduced. In addition, there is pressure to use technologies in ways that were not anticipated by HEIs, with concurrent (e.g. in class teaching that is at the same time streamed to students at home and recorded for others) rather than blended use of approaches being used in prototype forms, as HEIs innovate to meet students’ changing and differing needs. There is a need to expand HE Staff competence in using a wider range of digital media and technologies and the ability to embed them in the design of their programmes so that they have the greatest impact. The PRUDMET project will address the need to support HE Staff in becoming competent in a wider range of digital media and technologies, and to embed them in their teaching and learning programmes. Building on the work of other projects that address digital media competence and using workshops, mentoring, and online video guides, it will develop interventions that support HE Staff. The objectives of the project are to: develop a competency matrix for Digital Media for HE Staff; produce workshops and handbooks for Trainers of HE Staff to support them in training; develop and implement a series of workshops, mentoring, and video guides to train HE Staff on digital media and technologies.Led by the University of Gloucestershire (UK), the project will involve three further Partners from three countries: ISSBS (Slovenia), University of Alicante, (Spain); Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania). The PRUDMET Consortium brings together Higher Education Institutions with expertise in the development of workshops on digital media and technologies, mentoring, and course design for HE. The Partners have experience of creating positive outcomes for individuals through building their skills in a range of sectors.Together, they are experts in the development of HEI diagnosis tools, learning materials, and leading learning interventions that facilitate growth, and the project will use workshops, supplemented by mentoring, and video guides.The outputs of the project will have a positive impact on the skills for digital media and technologies held by HE Staff, and will increase the performance of HE Staff and their impact on students, by embedding the outcomes in the day-to-day activities of HEIs.The project adopts a practical approach that will result in HEIs adopting and embedding workshops and outputs in a way that will ensure their impact is sustained. In the long term, the project results will remain available through a publicly accessible website. The project Partners also expect the materials to be reused and modified by HEIs, providing the platform for long term development of digital media and technology competence across HEIs.