The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 emphasizes the need to halt biodiversity loss driven by anthropogenic activities. However, to achieve this, it is necessary to understand how those activities affect biodiversity so that evidence-based conservation interventions can be made. Therefore, effective monitoring tools are needed that can be used to survey biodiversity changes over large spatial and temporal scales. Conventional monitoring tools, based on expert field surveys, are time-consuming and expensive and, therefore, inappropriate for such large-scale monitoring. Consequently, researchers worldwide are increasingly turning their attention to new technologies. When it comes to monitoring vocalizing animals, such as birds, which have been shown to be appropriate indicators of biodiversity, researchers focus on the use of passive acoustic monitoring methods. However, further development of those methods is needed before conservation practitioners can use them widely and reliably in the field to monitor bird communities. BIOMON's main objective is to extend the current state-of-the-art acoustic monitoring approaches through the novel use of machine learning techniques. BIOMON's overarching goal is to develop an innovative passive acoustic monitoring protocol that can be used to survey bird communities in biodiverse agricultural farmlands in the EU. The EU is home to many species of which the persistence depends on low-intensity agricultural areas, and consequently, developing appropriate monitoring tools for those areas remains a key research priority. The methods and monitoring protocol developed in BIOMON, through the collaboration of the ER, a conservation biologist, and the supervisor, a machine learning expert, have the potential to contribute to the objectives of the EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and other related policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy.

<< Objectives >>To give teachers and students the opportunity to develop their mental resilience and health and to improve their well-being at school. This will be done by offering an innovative teaching strategy: Teaching through instant contact with consiousness, close to Nature.<< Implementation >>1. A Desktop research, a survey, a scientific publication 2. An inspirational Guideline e-Book3. Pilot programms in implementation schools4. Establishment and Running of a European Educational Network5. A new aproach of School, as a Summer School6. An E-platform for the Network7. Three experts' workshops8. A Design of a blended Course for Teachers9. Dissemination of the Project10. A Final Dissemination Conference<< Results >>The exploration whether or not and if positive, then how, can emerge a school with instant contact with consciousness, using the intellect, attention and the senses, be happy, creative, enjoyable and useful.

Inclusive university – a set of tools dedicated to HEI for better respond to disabled student’s needs project will be implemented by international consortium of partners – HEI and NGO in the period between 01.09.2019 – 30.09.2021.the process of social cognition helps to select, interpret, remember and use information in order to make judgment and decisions on social world (Aronso, Wilson, Akert 1997). Such activity bases on simplification. Very often it deforms the image as it enables to create wrong opinions on other people, categorizing them and even creates stereotypes and prejudices. According to researches on stereotypical approach to disabled people, disabled person is: weak, withdrawn, frightened, failure-liable, unsuccessful, help and support needed rather than being treated like a partner. Due to the fact those stereotypes emphasize wrong, inadequate specifics of disabled people, they influence interpersonal reactions and social contacts. Our project’s main aim is to break this approach and build the image of disabled person as an equal member of university society. Our proposition is to launch “Inclusive university” project, which main aim is to contribute to improve the situation and functioning of students with disabilities at University. Taking into consideration year-by-year increasing number of disabled students at European Universities, we would like to develop a set of tools dedicated to HEI for better respond to special needs of disabled students.Goals of the project are to:-Equip didactics, academic teachers with the knowledge on how to organize and coordinate education processes for students with special needs and disabilities, with the use of modern technologies-Support academics on how to diagnose and develop educational programmes responding to needs of disabled students-Tailor education strategies and methods to different types of disabilities: blindness, deafness, mental disorders, autism, socially awkward, other difficulties-Raise awareness of university community (didactics, administratives and students) on the presence of disabled students at the university-Increase the quality of studying and feeling of self-confidence of students with disabilities-Increase the quality of teaching by developing new approaches in teaching programmes including the concept of universal designDuring implementation of our project 3 main intellectual outputs will be developed:Output 1 – Publication dedicated to academics on how to teach disabled students with different disabilities.Output 2 – Training programme – raising awareness of university staff (didactic and administrative) and students on the presence of disabled students at the universityOutput 3 – Training course for students - universal designThe consortium consist of HEI from Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus and NGO from Poland. All partners are experienced in the field of international cooperation on innovative products. Impact of the project (in short):-Academics will have opportunity to learn how to incorporate new methods to their work and increase its quality and have opportunity to learn how to make their everyday classes more interesting and understandable for disabled students-Administrative staff will have opportunity to learn how to professionally deal with students with disabilities and raise their awareness about needs of students with disabilities-Students will be equipped with knowledge and competences enabling them to be more open and helpful in cooperating with their peers that have special needs. The project and its outputs will contribute to increase the openness and feeling of solidarity.-Universities will be more open, inclusive and friendly places for students with disabilties

<< Background >>Skills such as taking the first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. According to the Center for Disease Control (2018) children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move (crawling, walking, etc.). Early identification of developmental delays is at the utmost importance in a child’s development. In order to have an efficient Early Identification and Early Intervention, certain practices must be set in place such as standardized instruments for screening and assessments as well as strategies for work with children with delays. In these modern times, we need to utilize all the available technology and create tools that are free and accessible to all. In that direction, this project will focus on creation of an e-learning OER that will contain various screening methods for identification of children with disabilities as well as early intervention working strategies. These instruments stem from the project results.The content from the web-based OER (enriched with developmental checklists and video/audio materials with exercises) will be the basis on which a development tracker mobile application will be created. Through this app, students in the early education field but also parents, caregivers, educators and special educators can monitor the development of each child and work with the children in home and/or professional settings.Ultimately, the content developed in the first part of the project will lead to the Update of University curricula in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delay in all HEIs participating in this project with a possibility of further dissemination with other universities, schools, preschool institutions and so on.The needs assessments indicate that such a web-based OER combined with a mobile app for easy access has not been made in Europe. Subsequently via the update of university curricula university staff and students in the relevant fields and practitioners and various experts in the relevant fields can benefit from such user-friendly OERs and apps which enable the use of high-education tools. The development and use of such a web-based OER will improve the digital skills of all, in alignment with the challenges set in the new century. Several HEIs are jointly working on different aspects of this web-based OER and updating their own University curricula in the process. In this way, the HEI professors will also acquire digital skills and improve the manner in which they teach special education and early intervention and they conduct practice. Several target groups will directly benefit from this project: pre-service early childhood and early intervention specialists (these are the future professionals in the field) but also in-service teachers and special educators that currently work with children in pre-schools or early intervention centers. Parents will also have the opportunity to track their children’s developmental progress with this application and find creative and innovative ways to boost their child’s development through the OER possibilities. Also, academic staff and students from other closely related fields will benefit from the final products envisioned within this project. Finally, the biggest benefit is for the children with developmental delays and their families, who will get to work with highly skilled and well trained professionals introduced to all the novelties in the special education area. In this manner we can achieve the goal of early intervention for children with developmental delay, and that is to give these children an equal opportunity in life.Addressing digital transformation through the development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity is the most relevant horizontal priority for the UPDEIT project. This project supports evidence-based practices and fosters innovative and creative IT solutions in the area of early childhood development and early intervention<< Objectives >>The following objectives are set within the frames of this project proposal:- Creating evidence-based practices in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delays.- Digitization of the early intervention (video) practices by the creation of web-based OER for Early Intervention.- Creation of a milestone tracker app for tracking the children’s development.- Updating University curricula in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delay (with which we will ensure the sustainability of the project results).- Enabling access (through dissemination) to the web-based OER and milestone tracker to parents, caregivers, and professionals in the area of disability.- Improving the level of key competencies and skills in professionals and future professionals in the disability area.- Foster quality improvements and excellence in innovation at the high education institution level through enhanced transnational cooperation between education and training providers and other stakeholders.- Promote and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society.<< Implementation >>I. Three transnational meetings are planned within the frame of this project:- First kick-off meeting with the purpose of fine-tuning of different aspects of the project activities, explanation of financial rules and procedures, as well as sharing ideas about the methodology for the research. - Second transnational meeting closely related to the second and third project results - Implementation and testing of the web-based OER and preparations for creation of the mobile application. - Third transnational meeting after the web-based OER and mobile application have been created and the University curricula updated and tested. Final remarks will be given and further project ideas and possibilities for cooperation between the partners will be discussed.II. Four results will stem from the project’s activities:1. The production of the first project result will be oriented towards exploring the best early intervention practices in Europe and worldwide. The research will entail desk-top and field studies for evidence-based practices, as well as strategies and exercises on how to improve the developmental outcome of every child. 2. The second project result is the creation of a web-based OER with screening instruments (development screening instruments) and early intervention exercises for children with developmental delay. They will be placed on a web-based open-source web-based OER for early interventions in children. Different types of screening instruments for different ages from birth-to-six will be created, adequate for the European region. The early intervention exercises for different developmental milestones will be created, they will be recorded and placed on the web-based OER. 3. The third project result will be the creation of an innovative solution - a mobile application for easy access of the web-based OER for early intervention. Photos and videos in this app will illustrate every milestone and make tracking easy. In this manner, students in special education, pedagogy, psychology, medicine, etc. then every parent, caregiver or professional in the disability area will be able to monitor the progress of every child and they will have information on what to do if there is a concern that the child is not developing at a certain pace. This information will be given through video tutorials.4. The fourth project results will be a well-designed curriculum that contains innovative elements (such as the created web-based OER and mobile app within this project) that nurtures both student learning and student retention. New and updated curriculums can improve the quality of e-learning as well. This updated curriculum will emphasize the learning outcomes or knowledge/attitudes/skills that should be attained by the students. In this way, the curriculum that will originate from this project will be a competency-based curriculum. All project countries that have special needs departments (N. Macedonia, Russia, and Spain) will update their University curriculums. The web-based OER and mobile app will be used as segments for e-learning. All project results will be developed and published in Macedonian, Greek, Spanish, Russian and English.III. Four multiplier events will be organized:1. The future of early intervention: Roundtable debate in N. Macedonia2. Conference in Cyprus: Novelties in mobile tracker apps for children with developmental delay3. Congress in Russia: Family-oriented early intervention4. Course development in early intervention in higher education: An assembly in Spain.IV. One LTTA will be organized in Cyprus: Training of trainers for OER use, app on-boarding and contextual learning,<< Results >>Tangible results:- Manual for development monitoring and strategies for work with children with developmental delays;- Web-based OER with child development-related content;- Web-based OER with strategies for enhancing children’s developmental pathways;- Developmental milestones tracker content;- A mobile app developed for easy access to the OER;- Updated University curricula in the area of early intervention for children with special needs;- More integrated use of ICT and open resources in University institutions;- New teaching methods and open pedagogy approaches;- Increased access to online materials to pre-service educators;- Increased access to online materials for in-service preschool teachers and special educators;- Increased access to online child-development content for parents;- Increased transnational cooperation and exchange of good practices in the field of special preschool education.Intangible results:- Increased IT and media literacy skills in HEI staff and students;- Improved connection between different types of formal and non-formal learning;- Increased motivation;- Increased satisfaction in everyday work;- Increased opportunities for the business sector;- Increased competition on the labor market;- Increased quality of education.

The attention to e-learning in higher education (HE) has been raised in the past years after the arrival of the massive online open courses (MOOCs) while digitalisation in HE stands high on policy agendas at European and national levels (Bologna Process Implementation Report, 2018). This year the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the largest disruption of education in history having an impact on learners and trainers in all levels and types of education (United Nations, 2020). The transition to online training wasn’t an easy task and particularly not for the educational staff. The higher education staff (HES) and particularly those that teach more theoretical topics do not necessarily have the appropriate ICT knowledge and skills to successfully support online training. Successful online training is not only accomplished by using online educational methods and tools such as interactive platforms, videos, web conferencing tools, online creation of assignments and quizzes or the selection of high quality online educational resources. It is the appropriate online delivery pedagogy that engages students through online learning. In management education (ME) this process is even more demanding as a set of social and economic studies which is associated with solving problems and decision-making situations (Carneiro, 2004). Thus, theory, practice and reflection must continuously be linked in the learning process. In this context adult educators should integrate technologies and pedagogies in order to create and maintain positive learning environments, where students are actively engaged, cooperate, analyse situations, make decisions, face and solve problems.OLMedu project aims at the creation of an open lab for the up-skilling of HES staff in online management education. Its main objectives are:a) To provide higher educational staff with the proper knowledge, skills and competences required to facilitate distance learning using technologies and tools of online training b) To cultivate their ability to embed the appropriate pedagogies, into the online environment, form their teaching-learning process using online methodologies, adjusted to the training context of management education c) To create training activities and learning material to be studied and followed by HEI educational staff in order them to effectively create positive learning environments for their students, train them to collaborate, make decisions, solve problems and integrate them into strategic scenarios d) To create the capacity of HEI training staff to develop online simulations and integrate them in their training offering practice using a newly developed user-friendly tool e) To create an open access learning repository and online community of practice for the development of online training delivery skills and competences for HEI educational staffFive organisations from three Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Greece, Italy) (4 HEIs and 1 SME), with experience in management education, development of platforms and tools for distance education and development and delivery of training and consulting services, are members of the OLMEdu partnership.The activities foreseen aim to produce the following outputs:a) The development of training content for the up-skilling of HES in the use of ICT technologies and online training in MEb) The development of learning material for the use of online training and ICT technologies in teaching managementc) The development of a Toolbox for developing online simulations in ME d) The development of an online learning repository for HEI educational staffOLMEdu will apply a combination of active, collaborative, experiential, reflective and transformational learning, employing project work, team work, design thinking, problem solving and other process-oriented, adult learning techniques. Such a combination has never been developed before in ME. The project approach is based upon 4 logical steps: RESEARCH – DESIGN – TESTING – STREAMLINING. Products will be tested in a piloting phase adapted and presented in multiplier events. Activities have been designed in a goal oriented and sequential manner. The results expected from the project are both tangible and intangible and the expected impact is multilevel and addressed at local, regional, national, European and/or international level. The potential of the funded activities will be maximised via the production of high-quality and transferable results and dissemination activities to ensure a large number of potential stakeholders shall use the results beyond the lifetime of the project.