COVID-19 pandemic has shaken all sectors and all countries without exception. Even though technology is all over us, we have faced unprecedented challenges to adapt to this new reality. Education is the pillar of the development of any society and in the pedagogical domain, this pandemic came to expose the gap on educational demands to assist both the educators and the students (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020XG0626%2801%29; Unesco, GEM Report, 2020). As such, higher education institutions will need to develop a new value proposition that reassesses the quality of learning and delivery mechanisms in the classroom, and that addresses the needs of an international student population that may be less willing to cross borders for the sole purpose of study (OECD, Education and Covid-19, 2020) In this context, the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and the creation of technological solutions to use either in or outside a physical classroom, gain a new meaning and are proposed in this project. In this domain, educators need professional development aiming at fostering digital competences and ways to implement these new tools. Simultaneously, understanding how students use technology for educational purposes is also explored to adjust their needs accordingly. It is also very important for educators to get entrepreneurial education skills, and a clear understanding about the entrepreneurial competencies European youth needs to improve their employability and contribute to creating new opportunities, better jobs and solutions to the big challenges we are facing as EU and society. The project includes at least 40 HEI Educators (professors, teachers, lecturers, researchers, assistants, etc) from UC, UNL, UNIZG and LUT testing the project proposed deliverables, contributing to an iterative process for validation and quality increase of the final outcomes. In addition, at least 100 professors, teachers and educators in participative countries are given the opportunity to express their needs in an initial survey. By delivering digital training that will be promoted especially among European HEI educators, but accessible to any person interested, we will contribute to increasing the online educational skills of at least 1000 participants.This intervention benefits at least 80 university students from different study degrees of University Cantabria (UC), University NOVA Lisbon (UNL), University of Zagreb (UZ) and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), that will take part in the pilot experiences to be implemented by educators from the four universities partners of this project. Whenever possible, we will promote the inclusion of young people with a migrant background. Also, at least 160 key stakeholders, especially from the educational sector and policymakers, will participate in 4 multiplier events in 4 countries.Thanks to a big effort in communication, at least 3000 persons (with special emphasis in educators and teachers) will also be reached by the e-DESK project, contributing to awareness and free access to the developed tools and methodologies, whose intellectual outputs deliverables will be downloaded as an Open Educative Resource from the project's webpage at least 500 times, seeking for replicability and scalability among Europe.Project activities comprise (1) the development of a guide on best practices on hybrid educational programs and their common key success factors. Hybrid education involves the creation of an environment that places students at the centre of the teaching process, being able to combine both the digital and face-to-face environment, depending on the context, in order to answer to new societal demands (Gornitzka, Åse & Maassen, Peter. (2000). Hybrid steering approaches with respect to European higher education. Higher Education Policy); (2) the design and production of a stand-alone digital course (MOOC) that will give the needed skills and tools for educators to manage successfully their teaching activity on a digital environment; and (3) the design of an adaptable, transversal, scalable and replicable high-quality hybrid education methodology that will be tested in a pilot course in 4 HEIs to validate the methodology, its effectiveness and replicability. Finally, the project will launch a wide range of dissemination activities such as the organisation of multiplier events.The project is expected to result in the minimization of the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic while simultaneously, promote training and development of new skills to Educators, and shape the way we perceive education and the importance of developing innovative methodologies to deliver educational contents in an era of rapidly changing and digitalization so that in the future this methodology will be commonly used and applied in every educational institution that has to fulfil these needs.

<< Background >>Education is the pillar of any society and society is constantly changing. As such, the pressure on educators and the educational system to adapt and meet the ever changing needs is high. Evolution of the educational systems have already seen deep transformations, either by the development of more practical and hands-on systems, to different ways of delivering contents using technology enhanced learning or even becoming fully digital, like the ones observed during COVID19 pandemic, where teaching became online worldwide. There is not one single practice that works for all and the development of new methodologies allows creating diversified options that may attend different contexts and social environments, and this is more needed than ever due to the consequences of the COVID19 pandemic.Entrepreneurship education came to promote the development of skills and competences that allow shaping an entrepreneurial mindset and play a major role on the creation of new entrepreneurs, and those skills have proven to be a huge added value in the future employability of youth Europeans, but not only for them. In fact, the Europen Union considers entrepreneurial skills as 1 of the 8 main life-long learning competences and has designed the EntreComp Framework to foster its dissemination during educative and professional life. On the other hand, we have also observed that the use of mentoring, guidance and coaching approaches to support the development of leaders and teachers, is extensive (Baugh & Sullivan, 2005; Feldman et al, 2010; Giraldo & Panalvo, 2020). These kind of skills are of vital importance to benefit and train the next generation of knowledge creators and disseminators. But despite the latest developments there is still always a gap between Academia and the real business sector, which remain somehow disconnected. As a consequence we still face students leaving university without a clear sense of what is next, without a clear notion of what they want to do with the tools we gave them. During the last years, many institutions promoted mentorship programs, but most of them will benefit these students only once they have finished their studies and maybe want to start a business, and also most of them lacking from a direct connection between the educators and the mentors, as these initiatives happen at a different moment of the youth beneficiaries life.In this project we want to contribute to strengthen the resources available for mentoring our students, integrating their educators on an entrepreneurial mentorship scheme that will allow them to facilitate also the students' self knowledge process, the discovery of the challenges they want to contribute to solve thanks to their talent and studies. This scheme will also promote shortening the gap between Academia and the business sector by creating an ecosystem that takes advantage of existing mentoring networks, business experts, key stakeholders, together with the consortium HEI partners' knowledge and scientific poll, a constant exchange and interaction between both educators and mentors that will share common tools and entrepreneurial skills, but also will complement each others expertise and knowledge in the benefit of the students.We want to provide European educators with a state of the art training program that will use entrepreneurial education tools and techniques to facilitate the creation of this ecosystem of knowledge and collaboration, of mutual reinforcement, between Teachers, Researchers, Educators, Business oriented Mentors, Coaches to provide them with the right skills to become facilitators from the school years in orienting students into that self discovery process for getting to know what they really want to do with their careers, being proactive for achieving their goals and fostering their employability, but also, contributing to a more sustainable society that will be more ready for facing the actual and future challenges<< Objectives >>We want to create a training program that focuses on developing a set of Facilitation techniques to allow Educators to gain new skills and competences that will allow them to engage better with students and support them in achieving their goals and personal objectives. This facilitation techniques will be generated taking into consideration important aspects of mentoring and coaching methods. This means that, although we do not envisage Educators to replace mentors or coaches, we want to provide them with a set of tools and techniques that will allow them to incorporate that in their classes and their approach to the students.Additionally, we want to try to reduce the gap between HE institutions, and the Business sector by taking advantage of the Entrepreneurship education that partner institutions of this project have already implemented with a high rate of success, and promote the exchange of knowledge between Educators and actual mentors (CEOs, business experts, entrepreneurs) and coaches to have a better understanding of what employers and the market seeks but also to meet what the students aim, promoting their engagement and work satisfaction. We will do this by creating a set of outputs that will be both adaptable and replicable among not only the partner HE institutions of the consortium but also other HE across Europe. Those outputs will be a methodology on the facilitation techniques that will be developed considering the state of the art in the different topics and in practice around the best HEI in the globe, but also a set of digital tools (Open Education Resources) comprised of a set of videos using interactive content exercises to create a dynamic environment and facilitate the learning process, frequently asked questions that will be as comprehensive as possible considering the inputs of the work developed throughout the project development, the staff training and the pilot training. We expect this digital tool box to serve as the basis for self learning of the Educators, but also a source of resources that Educators can use and adapt according to their needs.Lastly, we will apply this methodology and understand both the internal and the external impact. On the internal impact side, we will promote a staff training program to train the Educators in this new methodology. The Educators will have a chance to explore the digital tools beforehand and practice it in a face to face experience surrounded by experts and trainers to ensure a good knowledge transfer. The internal impact will be measured by assessing the quality of the training. Later on, the external impact will be measured by the Pilots implemented in the partner HEI where students will be exposed to the methodology.We expect to train at least 40 members (including professors, teachers, lecturers, researchers, assistants) of UC, NOVA, UNIPD and UCLL with the support of our digital tools and blended methodologies, testing the project proposed deliverables, contributing to an iterative process for validation and quality increase of the outcomes. They will also propagate in the future the knowledge among their peers. In addition, at least 80 professors, teachers and educators in participating countries can express their needs in an initial survey, understanding the difficulties faced by them but also by students in their decision-making process. By delivering digital resources as an OER, we will contribute to increase the skills of at least 500 participants.FEEF benefits at least 80 HEI students from partner institutions, that will take part in the pilot experiences. We will try to promote the inclusion of young people with a migrant background. Also, at least 160 key stakeholders, especially from the educational sector and policymakers, will participate in 4 multiplier events in 4 countries.WIth communication efforts, at least 2000 persons will also be reached by the FEEF Methodology and 500 downloads expected, seeking for for replicability.<< Implementation >>Project activities comprise the achievement of: (1) development of a guide on best practices on facilitation techniques using blended methodologies. Facilitation techniques involves the creation of a set of tools and strategies that places students at the center of the teaching process, in order to understand their goals and ambitions and answer to new societal demands (Jackson & Tomlinson, 2020; Tinoco-Giraldo et al, 2020); (2) design and production of digital tools and content that will contribute to give the needed skills and tools for educators to develop facilitation techniques successfully and improve their teaching skills; and (3) design of an adaptable, transversal, scalable and replicable high-quality methodology to promote facilitation techniques among classes that will be tested in a pilot course in partner HEIs to validate the methodology, its effectiveness and replicability. Finally, the project will launch a wide range of dissemination activities such as the organisation of multiplier events.MANAGEMENTA.1.1Preparatory Actions and AgreementsA.1.2Design and launch of internal communicationA.1.3Kick-off meeting Lisbon (PT)A.1.4Project Management and Info Systems (PMS&PIS)A.1.5WP Leaders Team Set up and meetingsA.1.6Quality QAC Team Set up and meetingsA.1.7Technical and financial follow-up REPORTSA.1.8.1Follow-up Meeting Leuven (BE)A.1.8.2Follow-up Meeting Santander (ES)A.1.8.3Follow-up Meeting Padova (IT)A.1.9Evaluation and final project reportCOMMUNICATIONA.2.1Communication PlanA.2.2Design and management of the project Website & Social NetworksA.2.3Design and production or project communication and merchandising materialA.2.4Production of multimedia contentA.2.5Design and publication of other FEEF materialsFEEF METHODOLOGY DESIGNA.3.1Data collection, research and analysis of existing Mentorship and career assessment models that could fit FEEF CourseA.3.2Application of research results to design the FEEF Methodology, integrated with the EntreComp frameworkA.3.3Elaboration of step-to-step guide on the FEEF MethodologyA.3.4QAC ValidationA.3.5Delivery the FEEF Methodology for PILOTA.3.6Adaptation materials based on PILOT resultsA.3.7FINAL deliverable as an OERCONCEPTION OF THE DIGITAL LEARNING ITINERARY, CONTENT AND RESOURCESA.4.1Design and conception of an inspirational video on the course objectives, content, relevance and resultsA.4.2Design and conception of online FEEF training platformA.4.3Design and conception of a OER series on facilitation techniques including interactive content exercises (digital training itinerary for FEEF educators)A.4.5Design and conception of recorded interactive classes for the digital FEEF learning itinerary including 4-6 classesA.4.6QAC ValidationA.4.8Delivery for PILOTA.4.9Adaptation materials based on PILOT resultsA.4.10FINAL deliverable as an OERCONCEPTION OF THE BLENDED TEACHING ITINERARY AND CONTENTA.5.1Development of blended teaching materialsA.5.2Design, conception and production of tool-kit with course materials, lessons & learning itineraryA.5.3QAC ValidationA.5.4Delivery for PILOTA.5.5Adaptation materials based on PILOT resultsA.5.6FINAL deliverable as an OERA.5.7Organisation of short-term joint staff trainingPILOT FEEF COURSE in 4 HEIA.6.1Preparation of PILOTA.6.2Publication e-DESK Pilot Course to educatorsA.6.3Delivery of PILOT in 4 HEIs (ES, IT, BE, PT)A.6.4Result analysisA.6.5Adaptation and Validation Methodology and ToolsA.6.6QAC FINAL Evaluation and Validation of O1-O2-O3DISSEMINATION OF RESULTSA.7.1Design, editing, and prepare deliverables O1-O2-O3A.7.2Dissemination of project results through social networks, project website and mediaA.7.3Publication in international journalA.7.4.1National Multiplier Event (ES)A.7.4.2National Multiplier Event (IT)A.7.4.3National Multiplier Event (BE)A.7.4.4National Multiplier Event (PT)<< Results >>FEEF main outcomes are a better prepared critical mass of students with a strong capability to take the lead of their career paths but also with the right competencies the market is, nowadays, looking for. We aim to foster the capabilities of HEI teachers and educators to transform them into facilitators with a wider repertoire of skills and tools to transform the way education is nowadays perceived, and to strengthen the collaboration and knowledge interchange between HE and the Business sector to adjust the needs of both contexts and better answer the future challenges.An innovative, replicable and scalable blended educative methodology, high-quality learning tools and resources for HEI that increase educators’ and students entrepreneurial skills and at the same time foster universities engagement as a key player in promoting strategic cooperation, thereby contributing to increasing students’ employability.COVID-19 pandemic has shaken all countries without exception. Despite the efforts, we have faced unprecedented challenges to adapt to this new reality, especially our students, as this crisis has risen even more the already youth unemployment rates. Education is the pillar of the development of any society, but today's challenges demands a higher interconnection between Academia and the business sector, a collaboration that, together with entrepreneurial skilled educators, reinforces a mentorship ecosystem and creates a more complete network that ultimately facilitates youth employability.HEI needs to develop a new value proposition that increases tools and skills available for educators in the classroom, and that addresses the needs of European students demanding more complete and real experiences. It is very important for educators to get entrepreneurial education skills and of course, to be connected to experts and stakeholders that are willing to collaborate as mentors in the education of our students.The project is expected to result in the promotion of the development of successful career paths by adjusting the educational context to the students and their objectives, giving new tools and skills to their educators so they can facilitate processes and interconnect with mentorship networks. We also expect to contribute to a higher engagement of the Educators by promoting their training and development of new skills and promote closer access to knowledge transfer with actual business mentors and coaches to potentiate the interchange of knowledge between Students-Academia-Business.

<< Objectives >>The children of today face grand challenges, ranging from the climate crisis to social challenges like increasing inequality. The project ‘Impact-Driven Entrepreneurship Education for Children’ (IDEEC) supports teachers in school education, impact-driven entrepreneurship education providers, and educational and economic policy makers to build and support effective programs that empower children aged 9-15 to develop entrepreneurial solutions for environmental and social challenges.<< Implementation >>The activities in the IDEEC project lead to four main products:1)a competence framework and didactics guide which provide a baseline to build an effective impact-driven Entrepreneurship Education (EE) program for children aged 9-152)a tested and piloted toolbox with practical building blocks for such programs 3)a tested simple impact measurement tool for such programs 4)a policy brief, aiming to inform educational and economic policy makers of the added value of impact-driven EE programs<< Results >>We need to equip our future leaders with knowledge and competences that allow them to find entrepreneurial solutions to grand challenges. The IDEEC project provides a baseline and a set of practical building blocks for teachers to apply effective programs that help children develop impact-driven entrepreneurship competences. By showing the potential of such programs, educational and economic policy makers are equipped to build policies to support impact-driven entrepreneurship education.

BLUES project was designed for a macroeconomic context of increasing inequality between different EU countries and regions, with Southern Europe suffering from high youth unemployment rates, including university graduates, and serious public funding constraints. In this context, HEI are increasingly being judged by the ways in which they respond to the social and economic needs of society, their actions to enhance graduate employability, their contributions to national economic growth and local development and the ways in which they stimulate the birth of new enterprises and innovation in existing firms. BLUES project considers that HEI can respond to these challenges by promoting students entrepreneurial mind-set and transversal key skills in order to increase their employability and contribute to economic growth. Southern Europe’s HEI need innovative low-cost methodologies and educational models such as the ones designed by BLUES to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in terms of skills acquisition and development.BLUES project seeked to contribute to higher effectiveness, relevance and quality of students skills and HEI education through the conception, design, validation and dissemination of a pioneer model of an international blended-learning entrepreneurship education methodology that takes advantage of the benefits of face-to-face and digitial education to increase the effectiveness and quality of learning outcomes; and through the conception, design, production and dissemination of high-quality digital and face-to-face educational resources and tools that would be replicable, editable and adaptable as an open educative resource for every European institution interested in its use. All this, also aiming to contribute to the reduce of youth unemployment in Europe, specialy in southern European countries.BLUES consortium comprised 5 EU HEIs, 1 Scientific and Technology Park, 1 International Entrepreneurship Center, 1 Regional Business Association and 2 Chambers of Commerce from 5 EU countries (Finland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Slovenia).The active engagement of business representatives with HEIs in the project was designed for ensuring that the BLUES methodology and outputs responded to employers and entrepreneurs needs with regards to the skills that they expect from their future employees or peers.Participants of the different project activities included, among others, 106 students from different degrees of University Cantabria (UC), University NOVA Lisbon (UNL), University Perugia (UP) and University Ljubljana (UL) that participated in the 5 pilot courses based on BLUES blended-learning methodology; 1,239 persons that participated in the BLUES MOOC’s first edition; BLUES also had the participation of 54 HEI lecturers together with researchers and decision-makers as well as business people and entrepreneurs from Cantabria, Lisbon, Perugia and Ljubljana in the different project activities. In addition, the project included an external Advisory Board comprised of 7 internationally renowned entrepreneurship and business experts that revised and validated the project activities and results. Also, 835 youth entrepreneurs from Europe and Latin America and 235 Erasmus students had the opportunity to learn about BLUES project, its objectives and results during differnte events; Finaly, 349 national and international key stakeholders (119 of them via streaming) participated in the BLUES national and international dissemination events.BLUES activities included the design of an adaptable, transversal, scalable and replicable blended-learning entrepreneurship education methodology that provides HEIs with a complete learning context to develop students’ entrepreneurial mind-set and key transversal skills required by the labour market and for successful entrepreneurial initiatives; and the conception and design of innovative digital and face-to-face training resources and tools that are available for download as an open educative resource at BLUES webpage. The project conducted 5 pilot courses based on BLUES methodology in 4 HEIs in order to validate the methodology as well as to test its effectiveness and replicability, and launched a wide range of dissemination activities such as the organisation of 1 international conference and 3 national events. BLUES also celebrated 5 transnational project meetings, 2 short-term joint staff training activities and 1 validation workshop.BLUES project implementation led to the production of the above mentioned resources, that contributes to increase students entrepreneurial mind-set and skills, and to improve their possibilities of employability. BLUES also collaborated to strenghten university-business cooperation, increasing awareness and providing with innovative methodologies and tools that can be easily scaled, replicated and adapted to the particular needs and context of local environments using innovation and focusing as well in social impact.

The twin green and digital transition is expected to bring benefits to all parts of EU society. However, for it to successfully happen, education, VET, and businesses in particular need to join forces. EU citizens are called to upskill and re-skill themselves in the domain of entrepreneurship, together with digital and green skills to be able to contribute with sustainable solutions to a stronger and more resilient Europe. Indeed, entrepreneurship is the key to enable this change. The EntreComp4Transition aims at developing new, innovative, multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning paving the way for the future “Green Transition Facilitator” by fostering an entrepreneurial mindset, facilitating co-creation and ensuring recognition of learning outcomes. It will rely on country clusters forging innovative alliances to support teachers, trainers, businesses and end users in the learning pathway. Activities include an in-depth analysis of skills gaps, the development a dual blended methodology with innovative learning content delivered via a MOOC in line with ECVET and EQAVET frameworks, pilot sessions, a mobility scheme, and the creation of open badges to support HE/VET and enable businesses to verify acquired competences. The project will also produce a sustainable AI-based tool to support companies in identifying skill gaps and raise their competitiveness. More than 30.000 stakeholders across the EU ranging from businesses, HEIs, VET providers, public authorities, civil society, and students will be involved and directly benefit from the project in the short-term and/or long-term. The project will produce 27 outputs, including high-quality insight reports, guidelines, and digital tools. Thanks to its well-defined governance at national level, the EntreComp4Transition project is designed to gather actors together in a strong alliance for innovation, the results of which will bring benefits to each of them, to different contexts and beyond in the long-term.