LASER (Learning Analytics Solution for Srl in BL EnviRonments) investigates Learning Analytics (LA) technologies and techniques combined with qualitative methods to better understand and support students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies, and their relationship with performance in Blended Learning (BL) scenarios. LASER will follow a designed-based research approach, combining data and process mining techniques with theoretical models from the educational sciences in BL through testbeds and experiments. This project contributes with novel empirical data on the strategies developed by students in BL scenarios, as well as new theoretically grounded analytical techniques that will advance the LA and Educational Sciences international research domains. LASER will also contribute in the operationalization of the national Higher Education strategy for facing the COVID-19 pandemic and the transformations of the DUTs by providing case studies on how to deploy models of education at a large scale.

The project will develop and establish a new standard of higher educational and scientific knowledge exchange between European and Latin American countries. This will be done leveraging existing Master’s courses/programs of Water Management at the various partner universities. Water is regional priority around the world but synthesis of water resource management aspects from local-to-global scales is not currently included higher education curriculum. This leaves local populations vulnerable to future shifts in climate at global scales and changes in land usage at regional scales. We will change this by boosting the curriculum development in the field of water resource conservation and management from the perspective of climate change adaption and impact mitigation. In detail, we want to 1) improve knowledge, skills and competences of the next generation of leaders in the field of water resource conservation and management thereby contributing to long-term growth, prosperity and social inclusion, 2) incorporate up to date scientific and technological knowledge into the curriculum development to enhance capacities to tackle future water resource management problem anticipated due to climate change, 3) increase local expertise in order to help optimize the water use (water related ecosystem/environmental services) and sustainable exploitation of water resources, in particular in relation to the severely increased water consumption of agricultural intensification and urbanization and installation of hydropower dams, 4) enhance the skills and competences of young people on water resource conservation and management to ensure their competitiveness in the future labour market, and 5) promote common educational values, faster social integration, enhance intercultural understanding and language skills.

ILUCIDARE is a three and a half year project to promote and leverage heritage-led innovation and international relations through the creation and activation of an international community of heritage practitioners in Europe and beyond, while strongly contributing to the overall objectives of the communication Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations (JOIN/2016/029) and EU international cooperation in research and innovation (COM(2012)497). ILUCIDARE refers to both “elucidare”, aiming to provide a common definition of CH-led innovation and international relations, and “lucidare”, aiming to raise awareness, provide assistance, leverage and upscale CH-led innovation and international relations on a global scale. ILUCIDARE opts to tie its activities to strong established networks rather than just creating a new isolated project with little or no impact. The project will enable the exchanges of best practices, knowledge transfer, skills development and cross-fertilisation within its global network through an extensive use of digital engagement strategies and tools as well as participatory activities including focus groups and co-creation ateliers, 3 high-level international conferences – aka Playgrounds, 5 international competitions (including 4 ILUCIDARE special EU Prizes for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra awards), online training by means of a Youtube Learning Channel with community manager, 2 academic training courses, and onsite capacity buildings in 11 capacity buildings in 10 countries in Europe, the Western Balkans, South America, Middle East and Africa. The strong international component of ILUCIDARE activities will allow to foster intercultural dialogue and effectively improve EU external relations through cultural heritage diplomacy. Based on continuous exchanges facilitated by a special appointed Community Manager, ILUCIDARE will act as an hub for heritage-led innovative solutions and will support spill-overs and sustainable development collaborations to better preserve and promote heritage, especially where it is at risk.

Cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women worlThe ELEVATE project sets a multidisciplinary team comprising manufactures and experts from Europe and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, to improve the global adequacy and coverage of cervical cancer screening, particularly to specific populations of women that by not being regularly screened (hard-to-reach populations) are at higher-risk to develop cervical cancer. Although Cervical cancer is still the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, with up to 85% of the burden occurring in developing countries, preventive vaccination against human papillomavirus and early detection of precancer in screening programs has shown to be successful in reducing cancer incidence and mortality.1–3 However, different challenges hamper a global implementation of such programs and are in the base of women’s non-attendance to screening. This highlights the lack of reflection of ethnic, cultural and resource differences from different populations in current cervical cancer screening. In ELEVATE it is proposed to conduct social science investigations to identify hard-to-reach women in Belgium, Brazil, Ecuador and Portugal, to address their barriers to screening and to design strategies to make primary screening more accessible to them, and therefore, contribute to reduce the global burden of cervical cancer. This will be complemented with fundamental and technological research to develop an efficient and marketable test for the combined genomic and proteomic detection of high-risk HPV infections in Belgium and Ecuador. The test will be made portable, low-cost, compatible with self-sampling, point-of-care and generate rapid and easy-to-understand results, without relying on electrical outlets or trained health personnel. Integrant part of the proposal is also to infer and disseminate the societal, economic implications of the developed strategies using a hard-to-reach community-based participatory research.