This project focused on establishing a common ground for VET institutions to meet the needs of the media industry and elaborating on the skills necessary for the graduates of institutions to be competitive and useful on the field of journalism, finding the ways of incorporating the skill training into already existing curriculum of participating educational institutions - both methodology and structure-wise, verifying and optimising the designed skillsets in practice with the participation of both academic and media institutions and developing ways of including the above mentioned skillsets into the digital systems of the institutions using open source software so that it could be easily modified by third party users to fit anyone’s needs. Since ECVET is designed to address the skills rather than academic progress, it is only natural for ECVET to have become the cornerstone around which the project was built.In practice the consortium of partners from media schools decided to create a comprehensive methodology of ECVET implementation into existing LMS and convert it into a piece of programme - an application - which would ease the entire process. The DOVOS app takes the user through all necesary steps to adopt ECVET principles, connects the dots for them and offers ECVET compatible results to be printed out or exported into any API equipped environment.The project consortium consisted of four schools altogether. Three of those being media schools - Vyšší odborná škola publicistiky in Prague, Czech republic; Thomas More Univerity College in Mechelen, Belgium and University of St Marc and St John in Plymouth, Great Britain. The partner selection was based on previous experience both on curricular and personal level. We needed partners with relatively similar study programme to be able to co-ordinate testing and quality assurance activities on roughly the same level and similar time scope.The fourth partner was invited from University College Leuven-Limburg, in Belgium, to supervise methodology creation and provide pedagogical context and supervision in all activities since they have long focused of technology implementation into educational process.The above mentioned brief structure of the project reflects the adopted quality assurance circle (as described by EQAVET) of planning, evaluation, implementation and review. In the project these are represented by developing the methodology of implementing the ECVET principles into LMS and portfolio systems, designing a working application and building the skillset background for learning unit creation (planning). All the activities were distributed evenly among the patners and at key moments submitted for evaluation to maintain fresh perspective and quality.Implementation was carried out during 3 media weeks which brought work-based learning activities, testing ground for the plugin, methodology and skillsets and last but not least mobilities for the students to work in the international teams under the supervision of local media institutions (e.g. BBC). The media representatives could actively comment on the implementation of the skillsets, they had previously been asked to help set, by providing the publishing as well as gatekeeping opportunities. The students undergone a first-hand experience in co-operating closely with media and their peers from other countries overcoming cultural, language and social differences as well as providing a learning unit verification in the process. The educational institution representatives were able to implement, evaluate, review and often optimise the learning unit design and coherence. The combined live and virtual mobility of the media weeks allowed the real-life simulation to be complete in terms of the media production process (pre-production, production, post-production), selected skillset definition, use and evaluation and application data transfer, processing and output customization.During the disseminatin process the partner institutions attended conferences, held workshops and were actively engaged in professional dialogue with media houses both before and during the quality assurance activities. From the feedback received from both media representatives and media schools alike there is a strong need for a system that can actively monitor individual students skills, knowledge and competence framework and development, access not only hard skills but mostly soft skills and attitudes and ensure greater quality control over work-based learning process and agenda setting.The DOVOS partnership believes the project outputs may well be the asnwer to that call.

<< Background >>Sustainable transportation is required to support the European Green Deal and the related targets for CO2 emission reduction. In the transportation sector, this means the development of the automotive power train, hybrid electric and full electric cars. Other alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen-powered cars, are being tested.Automotive industry has increased the level of automation in the cars considerably. Despite this, the current cars are only at the level of 2 within SAE classified autonomous driving categories (1-5). The technology to achieve higher categories are much more complicated than e.g. tranditional steering mechanisms in the cars. Changing technology is leading to a wider range of skills requirements from the automotive engineers and other personnel working on the automotive sector. Therefore, the objectives of the project are to •develop Bachelor level training in Sustainable Transportation to match the requirements of today’s and tomorrow’s automotive industry and CO2 reduction targets. •practice design science approach in developing new curricula, course modules and learning environments. •build the capacity of teachers in both, automotive technology and also in utilizing the novel teaching methodology and technology. •internationalize collaboration at department level at the partner HEIs.<< Objectives >>The project is aimed update and internationalize the automotive sector teaching, first in the partner HEIs and later (after the project) on larger network of educational institutions. The reform in the automotive technology is challenging the sector’s personnel education. New competencies are required from the auto sector personnel in order to successfully navigate through the reform. This forms the basis for the need for the Sustainable transportation -project. Simultaneously, new teaching technologies enable deeper international cooperation in developing and updating teaching. In the project, new curriculum and training material is developed for sustainable transportation matching the current and future needs of the autoindustry requirements.Co-developed curriculum and teaching as a whole also play a major role in the adoption of new teaching methods. All parties have access to online teaching tools, but seldomly used for virtual student exchange, for example. The opportunities for utilizing e-learning in a virtual international environment are great. With the project, online-mediated teaching collaboration will grow significantly. This serves all parties involved in the project. This benefits both the students and the teachers.The main target group of the project are the students of automotive sector from all participating universities. The project is particularly useful for students' skills. With the project, the teaching of automotive technology will be modernized and a continuous updating process will be created for it as well. Thus, from the perspective of automotive engineering teaching, the project changes the operating culture. The project will provide students with a significant improvement on their current teaching.<< Implementation >>The above objectives will be achieved by•co-designing, co-developing and updating the curricula with three new course modules at EQF level 6, each course equivalent to 5 ECTS. •developing new training materials for the course modules on Sustainable vehicle design and supply chain management (Skoda and OTH), Sustainable use, energy sources and intelligent driving (Thomas More); and Sustainable aftersales – maintenance, repair and circular economy (SeAMK). •setting up a joint training platform for the future joint hybrid training, knowledge and information sharing, and using a collaborative VR environment (e.g. Altspace VR) which enables collaborative working regardless of location in the same time. •training 11 teachers and 100 students in 3 intensive programmes and 6 online courses<< Results >>The outcomes of the project include joint study courses development and partially joint delivery of the teaching. Additionally, the similar courses in each institutions enable easier student and teacher exchanges in the future. The project will also increase the teachers capacity to utilize novel teaching technologies and methods. Results and Outcomes summary: i) 11 teachers and 100 students trained in 3 intensive programmes and 6 online courses; ii) 11 teachers build up their capacity in designing courses and course materials by using design science paradigm methodology; iii) online platform for material and teaching experience sharing for teachers. The project will produce a 15 ECTS study module, which will be the most significant output of the project. The study module consists of six courses, which are implemented on an online learning platform. With the project, renewed learning materials will be formed for these courses and the competences that a future automotive engineer will have to master will be drawn up. A significant output of the project is also the digital learning environment for automotive technology, which will be built together. The learning environment will utilize new and modern teaching technology. Thus, with the project, teaching will be comprehensively reformed, and in connection with the reform, international aspects will also be naturally taken into account.

<< Background >>Big Data is today a key element of economic development. Data-driven innovation is a key driver of growth and jobs that can significantly boost European competitiveness in the global market. In the next future of Europe, digital and data will become an essential resource for economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and societal progress in general.Despite this great relevance of big data – both in terms of citizenship and emerging data economy –, Europe must face a series of challenges: a) a not sufficient data-driven approach in the European economy; b) a small number of Big Tech firms that hold a large part of the world’s data; c) personal data security; d) a lack of Data Literacy and Data Communication skills.Through the DATASTORYTELLERS project, we want to bridge this lack of competencies related to Big Data Communication in the European universities curricula. Thanks to a project consortium that brings together universities and start-up companies, we will develop innovative learning experience and materials to foster close-to-work skills in universities students and teachers. The innovative learning experiences and materials will be co-created between partnership members from different countries (Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Lithuania), disciplines (Data Science and Information Design) and economic sectors (universities and start-up companies). The core idea of the project is to use Visual Storytelling to make Big Data communication more effective and engaging. As Rosenthal Tolisano points out, Visualisation is a key for developing 21st Century Skills The project aims to address the specific needs of the identified target groups1) The need for new digital competencies in university students2) The Need for new marketable skills for young people3) The Need for Universities to improving their curricula toward a post-pandemic digital world’s4) The Need of society in general to be more informed and educated on Big Data<< Objectives >>The project addresses two general objectives and a set of correlated specific objectives:GENERAL OBJECTIVES: 1 - INNOVATE HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH DIGITALISATION AND NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SECTORS (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE). Developing strategic cooperation BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC SECTOR helps innovation in terms of facilitating permeability of the education sector from social needs. Developing Common learning activities between partnership members from different countries, disciplines and economic sectors (public/private), ensuring the relevance towards the needs of the labour market in terms of a) more employability of the universities students; b) more cooperation between different organisations crossing sectors; c) skill mismatch reduction at European level; d) strengthening cooperation and exchange in digital education at EU level; e) develop Higher Education modules bases on real cases and close to market needs2 - INNOVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INTRODUCING NEW DIGITAL SKILLS (XXI Century Skills) INCREASING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH. Generally, digitalisation has a positive effect on the labour market, creating more jobs than it destroys. However, this does not mean that the jobs will remain the same. Around 14% of all jobs are in danger of being automated, while 32% will potentially experience ‘significant change’. Consequently, learning new digital skills at the university level can better prepare for future digitally disrupted professions increasing significantly job opportunities for Youth Europeans. Specific Objectives1.DEVELOP OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) TO TRAIN NEW SKILLS: BIG DATA STORYTELLING.2.DEVELOP COMMON (PRIVATES AND ACADEMIES) LEARNING ACTIVITIES/MODULE AS OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER). 3.INCREASE YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY STRENGTHENING BIG DATA SKILLS. 4.TO CREATE EUROPEAN NETWORK TO STRENGTH AND SUPPORT EU STRATEGY ON BIG DATA.<< Implementation >>Project activities related to the Management and communication of the project:WORK PACKAGE 1 / PROJECT MANAGEMENT Activities supported by project management funds according to the Workplan.A.1.1 REPORTING and OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENTA.1.2 QUALITY ASSURANCEWP2 COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION The second Work Package covers all the activities concerning the visibility of the project and the spreading of project results.A2.1 COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION PLANProduction of a complete plan at the beginning of the project to guide all partners throughout the entire project in each activity concerning the communication of the existence andvisibility of the project: how, when and where to disseminate project results.A2.2 COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES AND GRAPHICSProduction of templates for project dissemination materials based upon the guidelines of the communication and dissemination plan (Word template, PowerPoint template, flyertemplate, Roll-up template). A2.3 COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIESAll the activities focused on the communication of results that could require minor expenses (conferences, promotional videos, podcasts, TV presence, press conferences) will beundertaken here.A2.4 PROJECT WEBSITEHosting, design, creation and uploading of the project website. The site will store project news, partnership info, IOS descriptions and all other kinds of news that the consortium will deem relevant.Project activities related to the delivery of planned project results:Work package 3 - Creation of Big Data Set repository for open training. Task 3.1 Research and Collection of free-access data set from each partner Task 3.2 Validation and verification of each dataset as valuable training material for studentsTask 3.3 Validation of each dataset for compliance with GDPR regulation and other privacy issuesTask 3.4 The consortium will make sure all the gathered and validated items are available to the public through the project outlets (web site, social media, etc.)Work package 4 - Design, creation and delivery of Open Webinars on Big Data Storytelling and Visualization Task 4.1Content design: syllabus: production of baseline indexes of topics to be covered in the webinars (details in the specific IO section)Task 4.2 Courseware development: Production of pdf, pptx and other media content (details in the specific IO section and decisions during the project by the consortium)Task 4.3 Review of content in the pilot webinar of learning activityTask 4.4 Content publication through the website and all other possible means of disseminationWork package 5 - Elaboration of Research Paper on Big Data for Tourism and Cultural Heritage Task 5.1: Draft of the Research Paper on Big Data for Tourism and Cultural Heritage. The Research Paper will be co-authored by KTH, TMU, VMU and i-strategies. The article will be drafted in English and submitted to a peer-review process.Task 5.2: Elaboration of the European Chart on Big Data for Social Change. The Chart will be the result of an ethical and philosophical reflection on Big Data developed in the Scientific Articles and additional documents and scientific literature on the link between Big Data, Ethics, Social Change and Common Good. Task 5.3 Evaluation on the possible evolution of the EU Network of big data for social change: results from the Research Paper on Big Data for Tourism and Cultural Heritage co-authored by project partners will be the cornerstone of a chart of values: The European Chart on Big Data for Social Change. The Eu Network on Bigdata for social change will try to involveof private and public European institutions that decide to join the chart and its principles.Task 5.4 Publication of the research paper drafted in task 5.1 in a European academic scientific Journal (if possible). Open access publication of the article through all project dissemination outlets<< Results >>The project will produce three main project results, namely:project result 1: Big Datasets RepositoryThe first project result will consist of gathering a data set repository, the first Open Educational Resource (OES) of DATASTORYTELLER. On the basis of pre-submission interviews, carried out with university partners, one of their needs is to find big data sets from the “real world” (for example, open data in tourism: Open Data in tourism | data.europa.eu) that are useful for engaging universities students in:1) close-to-work practical exercises; 2) exercises that are able to contribute to the common good (e.g. better presentation of Open Data to the general public). Through O1 a big data repository will be provided for practical exercises on storytelling for big data.The BIG DATA SET OF REAL WORLD CASES will be a result of a gathering activity from all project partners based on the following criteria: a) “real-world” big data set; b) data collected are easy to be visualized/represented; c) Open Educational Resource (OES); d) multisectorial origin; e) compliant with GDPR and ethical issues. Project result 2: Open webinars on big data storytellingTHE OPEN WEBINARS ON BIG DATA will be the second Open Educational Resource (OED) of the DataStoryteller project that consists of an e-learning activity to share knowledge about how to Storytell Big Data. The online webinars will focus, at least, on six topics: 1) Data Set preparation; 2) Best practices of Information Design; 3) Best practices of Big Data Storytelling; 4) Tools and Digital Platforms for Big Data Visualisation (Tableau, Infogram, etc.); 5) Data Visualisation for Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism; 6) The EU Strategy on Big Data. The open webinars will be developed by project partners also involving external experts (e.g. Information Designers). At least 10 online webinars (1h per webinar) will be provided in asynchronous (recorded) learning mode.Project result 3: The third project output will be a Research Paper on the topic “Big Data for Tourism and Cultural Heritage”. The article will focus - following the EU approach that pays attention to the link between Big Data and Humanities - on the role of Big Data for Tourism and Cultural Heritage, underlining the role of Data Visualization in this process.The Research Paper will be the result of the scientific background and experiences in Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Thomas More University and i-strategies (with special attention on Intangible Heritage) and technical knowledge about Big Data from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Vytautas University with additional knowledge acquired thanks to the project activities (webinars).

This project addresses skills mismatches emerging due to many sectors undergoing rapid technological change. This current development of new technology in industry is often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). If the European industry is to remain competitive, there will be a demand for highly skilled labour at various levels in the transformation towards Industry 4.0 across Europe. However, many educational activities are taking place within isolated technical disciplines/domains, lacking the full cross-disciplinary approach and understanding embedded in Industry 4.0. Accordingly, there is a need to strengthen and develop new educational activities ensuring the needed competences across domains.This project aims at identifying and addressing the gaps in skills between industry needs and the future competences of engineers and technicians focused on the emerging domain of Industry 4.0. The aim of the project is to support the development of educational activities within at Industry 4.0 at higher educations across Europe, addressing and minimizing the gaps in skills and competencies between industry needs and educational capabilities. Accordingly, the project has addressed the identified needs and challenges through the development of an ‘Educational Framework’, intended to support educators developing educational activities aim at the domain of Industry 4. The Educational Framework can be described as an agile and flexible process model with a holistic approach to developing teaching activities and material. The Educational Framework is expected to help the educators at the partnering institution to overcome some of the barriers when educating technicians and engineers within the complex domain of Industry 4.0. To identify the barriers a framework for analyzing the future challenges and needs due to industry 4.0 has been created. The framework consists of an analysis of both (1) the perspective of educational institutions and (2) the perspective of the industry and other organizational stakeholders. Moreover, to support the dissemination and usability of the Educational Framework, an online Training Concept has been developed. The online Training Concept consists of 12 short online movies, each introducing different aspects and elements of the Educational Framework, giving a comprehensive introduction to the framework, making it possible for educators outside the project to adapt the framework, developing new educational activities aimed at Industry 4.0. The results of this project have directly influenced the local and regional level, through ensuring a better match between educational skills and industry needs. However, given the large focus on the dissemination of the project results, the project is also expected to have an impact on a national and European level. The enhanced match between the industry and the educational institutions will create a better understanding of the value of highly educated employees in a very dynamic area. This will potentially increase the number of students employed in the industry. The dissemination of the Educational Framework is expected to create a foundation and a guideline for educators in their continuous development for future educational activities within the domain of Industry 4.0.

The World Health Organization estimates that 15% of the global population, roughly 1 billion people, live with some form of disability. (World Disability Raport) An estimated 450 million people worldwide have a mental disorder. At any given time, approx 10% of adults are experiencing a current mental disorder, and 25% will develop one at some point during their lifetimes. Mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease, and this figure will rise to nearly 15% by 2030. (WHO 2009) European Disability Forum (EDF) says that tourism is an important source of growth for the economy in Europe. However, travelling can still be a real challenge for persons with disabilities. EDF wants to raise awareness of everybody’s right to have equal access to tourism services. (European Disability Forum, http://www.edf-feph.org/)Taking Europe as an example, the accessible tourism market has been estimated at approximately 27% of the total population and 12% of the tourism market. The accessible travel market presents a great opportunity for destinations that are ready to receive these visitors, since they tend to travel more frequently during the low season, usually accompanied or in groups, make more return visits and, in some parts of the world, they spend more than average on their trips. Facilitating travel for people with disabilities is therefore not only a human rights imperative, but also an exceptional business opportunity. Yet, a change in mind-set and in the model of tourism services provision is needed in order to meet this major market demand. Supported by previous information tackles this project problems related with accessibility of tourism for mentally disordered people. Main aim of the project is to promote and support tourism entrepreneurs to value mentally disordered clients and their families as persons and costumers and to help them to design mindful tourism services accessible for mentally disordered people .Main target groups are:1.organizations which offer tourism services 2.persons with mental disabilities and their families3.participating higher education institutionsChildren, families with children and elderly are indirectly target group. Mentally disordered people have certain needs for the content and type of information, for channels and formats which help them to perceive the new information and those needs are comparable in one or another way with children and elderly as well. If project will help to design tourism services accessible for mentally disordered people, then the solutions would be suitable also for another target groups.Objectives: 1.Find out more about the specific needs and behaviors of travelers with mental disorder 2.Assess the current level of accessibility in the tourism sector and identify different approaches to accessibility within the sector 3.Identify obstacles to the introduction and implementation of accessible tourism for mentally disordered people 4.Increase the knowledge about mental disorder and needs of this target group among tourism organisations 5.Develop and implement prototypes of different services of tourism for mentally disordered people6. Develop study material how to design and implement tourism services for mentally disordered people7.Develop assessment tool how to evaluate accessibility of tourism service from mental disorder context8.Make recommendations to relevant stakeholders on how to accelerate the introduction of accessible tourism for mentally disordered peopleSocial inclusion of mentally disordered people is on different level in Europe. In this project will participate partners from Belgium (Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerpen and Museum Dr Guislain) there mentally disordered people are well integrated into the society and partners from Estonia (University of Tartu, Pärnu Museum) and Latvia (University of Latvija, SIA Hotel Zeit) where people with mental disorders have less possibilities and access into the different fields of everyday life. During the project the partners learn from each other and give important input to development of accessible tourism.Main outputs of the project will be situation scan of regional tourism services for people with intellectual disabilities; prototypes of a tourism services for people with mental disorders; implementation roadmap for creation and upscaling the prototypes; assessment tool for the evaluation of accessibility of tourism services for people with mental disorders.The biggest impact of the project is change of mindset in participating organisations and regions that tourism services could be designed accessible for mentally disordered people and this target group is valuable segment in tourism. Another big impact is increased knowledge and eagerness to use developed tools to design tourism services to mentally disordered people by tourism organisations and widened travel opportunities for mentally disordered people and their families.