FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) states that although rural areas at world level presents different features and socio-economic situation according to their political, economic and social background, they present some peculiarities at global level. These includes lower levels of income, brain drain (especially of young people between 18 and 30 years old), low presence of high skill employment opportunities and low use/access of ICTs.The project aims to respond to these challenges, fostering the creation of a new professional profile: innovation advisor for cultural heritage’s promotion in rural areas through a training path direct to 27 youth workers of rural areas including e-learning and mobility activities (job shadowing and training course).Project activities will have a positive indirect impact on rural areas of youth workers participating in the project, since it will foster the presence of initiatives to promote activities in rural areas focused on youth work, promotion of rural heritage and ICT as means to boost economic growth in rural areas.

The ENTENDER project is a joint project in Region 8 (Latin America). It addresses the regional priority for ‘Improving management and operations of higher education institutions’ and specifically aligns with the CBHE priority ‘Equity, access to and democratisation of higher education.’ As suggested by the CBHE definition, the project will promote the inclusion of people with neurodiversity, who, as a sector of a larger group of people with disabilities, are currently disadvantaged by society resulting in them being disproportionately represented amongst the world’s lower socioeconomic groups. The aim of the project is to improve access, retention, attainment and employment prospects of people with neurodiverse conditions in Argentina and Mexico, allowing them to achieve their full potential by capacity building of neurodiversity support across higher education and employment sectors, fostering inclusion, and building knowledge. National education systems, which promote human capital development, play a major role in fostering economic development and strengthening the social institutions in a country and it is through education that disadvantage can be addressed. All project activities have been planned in an “inclusive” way to allow the participation of a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, senior managers, employers and social partners. The EU will build capacity in Argentina and Mexico to deliver national and regional priorities by providing support for EU university staff to share knowledge and good practice, resources for teaching training and curriculum change, peer support programmes and employability support.

Democratisation of HE in LA has helped to ensure a growing trend of increasing enrolment of students with disability, although it is still not significant enough in terms of potential numbers (Mexico: disabled people access in HE lower than 5%, Chile: 6,6% from which, only 2,66% complete their studies, Argentina: disabled students represents 0,08% of the students population). The adaptation of HE to cater for disability is of major importance from an economic, political and social point of view. Only through this can the employability of disabled persons be enhanced, and public policies focusing on the promotion of work, income security, poverty prevention and social exclusion can be supported. In this context, Chile, Argentina and Mexico goverments and HEIs have taken some measures to provide the necessary legal frameworks for the inclusion of disabled students within society however there are enormous voids between the law, public policies, and actual practices.The MUSE project proposal “Disability and Modernity: Ensuring Quality Education for Disabled Students” is an ambitious initiative with a wide range of stakeholders, activities and operational goals to cope with complex challenges. Taking into account the substantial expertise and advancement in this domain in recent years by European universities, the project aims to raise awareness on inclusive education through exchange of good-practices between EU and LA HEIs. The main objective constitutes the development of a sustainable knowledge base and support structure allowing for a coherent implementation of disability initiatives, and directional strategic plans in LA HEIs. A network will engage stakeholders in an educational and social discussion for the inclusion of disabled students in HEIs and a new external relation framework will be created to facilitate their economic integration.