VISConti is a network of 17 partner organisations from 9 countries including 3 universities, 7 VET schools, one network of schools, one association of professionals in education management, one policy maker, one IT company and three organisations engaged in research and promotion in industry. It is a partnership that has come together to create a virtual working space for structured interaction between students and teachers of science related subjects and IT and science professionals from industry.The project has developed and tested web based tools for the assessment of projects by students in VET that were then developed into a tool for use in a community of practice for creativity in science and IT, both in education and in industry. VISConti has introduced a new approach and a new methodology for the generation and presentation of ideas or projects. It provides tools that teachers will use to assess the technical viability, economic potential and scientific creativity of project ideas, as a new model for assessment of student projects and other co-created outputs. VISConti has created a community of practice in which students, teachers and professionals in science or IT build their own professional profiles and work their way towards better employability and mobility, through a structured exercise in sharing ideas and using peer assessment on creativity and viability of ideas in science and technology-based subjects. Members of the VISConti Community of Practice look at each others' projects from the aspects of technical viability, economic potential and scientific creativity using standard tools available to the members of the community.Assessment tools have been designed after field research within the network of partners of VISConti. The Community of Practice and the tools cover diverse geographical areas, in order that methodologies can be adopted and adapted to the precise needs of the target groups. The technological platform facilitates the use of the tools and interaction in the VISConti Community of Practice. It has been developed in a collaborative manner between a VET school and an IT company, in a perfect example of the kind of collaboration that VISConti is designed to create between schools and industry.The partners have benefited from training by experts from education and industry in two training events that provided them with the right orientation towards the creativity and viability aspects of ideas in science and technology. They acquired knowledge about different approaches to creativity and viability and its assessment . They learned about the criteria and right conditions for successful communities of practice such as tthat created by VISConti.Three major multiplier events brought VISConti to the attention of the education community in VET and to players in industry, besides the partnership wide effort to enrol membership of quality in the network and in the VISConti Community of Practice. The events were originally to be organised in conjunction with the Scientix Conference in 2015, but this proved to be impracticable due to the high demand for space at the event, and its timing at the beginning of the VISconti funding period. Alternative fora were provided through the intervention of partners in the network, ensuring ensure a successful synergy and partnership between VET and industry through joint activities in creativity in science, technology and IT.

UPPScience was a 22 strong Strategic Partnership under the Erasmus+ KA2 for VET funding programme under the leadership of the NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU.UPPScience built on the previous successful E+ KA2 for VET also under the leadership of NTNU VISConti by augmenting and widening the scope of the Community of Practice (CoP) started in that project and carrying out further development of the tools on the technological platform that supports the activities of the CoP. The CoP grew a much larger active membership and covered new areas of cross border cooperation around the use of professional profiling, research and publishing as a strategy for enhancing quality and a more scientific approach in education.http://cop.viscontiproject.euIn this way UPPScience supported the strategies of the EU for fostering research, better quality education and a strong European Research Area.During its 30 month lifetime UPPScience fulfilled all its objectives including:- the use of professional profiling as a strategy for better quality education and better employability of managers, teachers and trainers in VET who worked, collaborated and operated as a CoP that had as its objective the attainment of higher standards in education and training and- the overcoming of the general perception that research is only for higher academic professionals and researchers by helping players in education and industry to engage in research and publishing of their results through small but high quality initiatives in this area, within a controlled environment, supported by a platform on which they can propose and review small research projects.Small research and publishing projects by members of the CoP brought research and publishing within reach of all the players, whether professionals in management, teaching and training or students in the early years of HE, and science professionals from industry. 110 members of staff or members of partners received training in research methods and reviewing of publications proposed by other members of the CoP, which also created knowledge and consciousness of quality standards, an eye on innovation and creativity and a sense of responsibility towards peers.The CoP activities of research and peer review were all supported by technological tools that enabled exchange and sharing within the same organisation and in a cross border manner. This interaction was secured through a quality strategy that foresaw that members could only publish small research projects after the peer review of at least two other members. The platform tools also attach all activities of a member in the CoP to his / her profile. A publication is therefore attached to the professional profile of the member within the Community and to the profiles of the reviewers as well. In this way UPPScience created a quality challenge upwards by generating the consciousness of the importance of the upping of one's own profile in the Community.During the project lifetime 130 mini papers were published after peer review meaning an engagement of at least 3 members of the CoP in each paper (publisher and two peer reviewers) and the platform has started hosting activities from outside the partnership and the project activities because:- at least five partners are adopting the UPPScience strategies and use of its platform in their school and HE activities and- there is at least one E+ KA2 Strategic Partnership for Youth that is entirely based on youth leaders engaging in research in the UPPScience CoP.There are at least two more project and cooperation initiatives started up within the partnership to make the UPPScience CoP grow in numbers and scope in the area of research in the dependence of younger generations on everything digital and in the sharing of creative business ideas by VET students with the peer review of the commercial community around the partners.UPPScience was intended to be part of the internationalisation strategy of all the partner organisations and it has reached this objective with:- more than 90% of the participants in the four training activities being different from activity to activity,- more than 70% of participants in the activities of the project being new to EU projects and- more than 65% saying that they see ways of making UPPScience methods and philosophy as one of their avenues for local, regional and international cooperation.UPPScience published a set of recommendations for the future of education that is more research and research oriented and that are the result of the experience from UPPScience, the observations of the dynamics and reactions within the CoP and a partner wide reflection of how research and quality strategies in education through publishing is a creative and constructive way forward for a stronger ERA and higher quality education overall.