The objective of the project ERA-Chair: Striving for excellence in forest ecosystem research (EXCELLENTIA) is to create an excellent interdisciplinary research group engaged in Forest Ecosystem Research (FER), under outstanding scientist Professor Douglas L. Godbold at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT) Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU). He will be a scientific leader guiding FFWT structural changes and transferring the faculty into a modern and accountable institution. The structural changes include, i.e. implementation of sustainable research & innovation, accountability in intellectual property rights and research data management, and codification of scientific morality in practice and career guidance. The FER researchers will focus on climate-driven change in European forests, the sustainability of their functions, methods to ensure forest stability in the following decades, and the tree predisposition to death. In addition, the FER group will study the effects of predicted future climatic scenarios on Central European forests. EXCELLENTIA will use the enormous potential of the Training Forest Enterprise (UFE) Masaryk Forest in Křtiny, a long-term research site. Some of the research plots at UFTE were established in 1973, and tree growth data has been measured continuously, which has led to unique datasets. Prof. Godbold will be head of the FER Research Group which will have the same status as the other Departments at the FFWT. This enables high autonomy in defining scientific themes and approaches in research. EXCELLENTIA will be built on the data availability, previous research investments and the research programme developed at the FFWT.

Current curricula of Computer Science are based mainly on commercial solutions. IOSCS project proposes development of innovative Computer Science courses which would be based on Open Source tools, i.e. on Open Software and Open Hardware solutions. Nowadays all of the consortium organizations are a little experienced with introducing such courses. The goal of IOSCS project is to develop 6 study courses, all of them based on Open Source approach, which then will be embedded into existing curricula. Developed courses will cover fields of programming, mathematics, operating systems, embedded systems, systems controlled by computer and other hardware and/or software applications. The results of IOSCS project will be: descriptions of the courses, materials necessary for lectures and practical classes, analysis of the new courses' implementation experiences during summer intensive courses and the handbook composed of the materials necessary to follow the courses by the students. Newly developed Open Source courses will be tested during summer intensive courses, in which students coming from consortium organizations will participate along with the university teachers who will try to deliver new contents and gather feedback. Finally, all the results will be publicly available on the website of the project and involved organizations as well as spread during International Conferences on Open Source tools in Computer Science university education, which will be held every year.

<< Background >>The project BioFoodVirLabs is aimed at supporting digital capabilities by development and promoting of new forms of remote and distance learning focused on higher education in the field of biology, biotechnology and food science based on mutual cooperation of participating universities: Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (SUA), Mendel University in Brno (MU) in Czech Republic, the University of Debrecen (UD) in Hungary and Pedagogical University of Krakow (UP) in Poland. Addressing the digital transformation through the development of digital preparedness, resilience and capacity is essential given the priorities set in the context of the ongoing digital transformation of the economy and society under the influence of innovative technologies and the global megatrends of the digital age. The digital transformation brings primarily a societal and not just a technological challenge that affects all citizens in Europe. The aim of the project is to develop and use digital technologies, practices, new methods and approaches to learning and teaching through virtual laboratories to improve higher education and optimize their contribution to the economic, social and environmental growth of countries with an emphasis on sustainable development. That is why the strategic goal of the state is to approach the topic of digitization of the higher education conceptually and to apply the supra-ministerial principle in order to significantly advance the digital transformation in Europe by new learning and teaching methods and approaches. The project builds on the experiences obtained during the outbreak COVID-19 pandemic. The massive transformation from face-to-face forms to completely online and distance learning forms was observed, however digital readiness, resilience and capacity have not been on such level allowing seamless transition. Although initial responses of higher education institutions were in change of their traditional curriculums to fit an online environment, the transitioning contents to an online learning environment is not enough. Innovative virtual forms in higher education became of high interest and importance. Along with transformation of theoretical lectures, where the transition towards online was less problematic, especially courses based on practical experimental work or on learning the technological processes were endangered due to pandemic restrictions and state of readiness to transformation of face-to form towards online and distance learning. However, one year experiences helped to transform many courses, practical education presents still the challenge for innovation in learning and teaching. The stimulation of the innovations is involved in the aims of the project. We propose the approach based on the conceptualization of virtual labs in three scientific areas and preparation of the background for creation these virtual labs. The horizontal priority addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity is involved in the project as a whole. In the initial steps, identification of the teaching materials of different forms and their collection by all participating partners will be made. Creation of digital materials, their collection and exchange/mediation among the partners within the join virtual platform present the development of digital readiness for demand of such teaching materials. The digital platform will provide continuity in access to teachers and students deals with a digital resilience and capacity. Both teachers/students and educational institutions face numerous difficulties associated to access to technology, quality of online learning, and available infrastructure. The project takes into account the legitimate issues and goes beyond short-term solutions towards potential solutions in virtual labs preparation to minimize these problems faced by higher education.<< Objectives >>Common practice in the tertiary education is nowadays significantly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new approaches present an opportunity window in educational process. Especially those connected with remote and distance learning, since the various restrictions affected teaching and learning process in courses and practical training, as well as in international mobilities. Innovations in tertiary education are shifted mostly towards searching for the novel use of digital and information-communication technologies to cover the gaps that appeared. Transformation of education meets barriers in practical vocational courses/trainings. In this context a significant improvement over the classical teaching approaches in agricultural and life science education can be found in developments in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies. Virtual labs, as a kind of virtual reality, present an interesting form of modern digital technologies. Those advantages are breaking down the barriers of time and distance while maintaining a research-based learning approach. Promotion of remote laboratories makes available biological, biotechnological and technological processes and enhances experiment based on learning in higher education in digital way. The main objective of the project BioFoodVirLabs is fostering in higher education by development and promoting of new forms of remote and distance learning, new learning and teaching methods and approaches focused on vocational higher education in the field of biology, biotechnology and food sciences. The following 4 sub-objectives of the project are needed to meet the priority objective: (1) a survey and comparison learning and teaching methods and approaches, using information and communication technologies in the teaching process at the partner universities; (2) suggestion of innovative on-line forms of education, learning and teaching methods and approaches; (3) creation of digital materials, their collection and exchange/mediation among the partners within the virtual platform; (4) concept of common practical training and laboratory courses using modern digital technologies by virtual labs.The opportunity to learn from the transformation of education is a need that was brought by pandemic. The result is in reflection in development and use of novel approaches, reactions and discovering of best practices in tertiary education process. The project outcomes (virtual labs proposed) have to deal with the following challenges and needs to be fulfilled with the project solving: (1) reflection on current situation in the field of vocational education; (2) a need of safe environment to build up experience in vocational studies; (3) minimization of time and geographical limitations to make it accessible for a wide audience; (4) environment to build up soft skills for new generation; (5) inclusiveness – involvement of disabled students and their specific requirements.<< Implementation >>The design of the concept of virtual labs of the presented project will ensure key interdisciplinarity and summarization of theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of biology, biotechnology and food sciences, which will be distributed by modern technology to other educational areas, which fundamentally innovates the current educational environment. Emphasis will be placed on achieving an international quality educational-practical process with an essential link to research and innovation. The aim of establishing virtual labs at the university environment is to support the professional and personal progress of the graduate, the development of key theoretical and practical competencies of the graduate, the development of critical thinking or progressive stimulation of research and innovation at university conditions. A significant added value is the quality preparation of the graduate for a future career with the assumption of easier application and higher competitiveness on the European and global market. The design of the concept of educational, practical and innovative activities, which will be an integral part of the virtual labs, will be created thanks to the cooperative activity of the universities of Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The acquired theoretical knowledge and scientific experiences of the institutions involved will be shared, assuming that the ideas and experiences of renowned foreign experts in the field of education and research will ensure the emergence of a quality international platform virtual labs. The concept itself will consist of internationally recognized study materials, methodological procedures, proven laboratory tasks, practical demonstrations, demonstration videos or interactive presentations, which will provide graduates with specific competencies, including the ability to design experiments, formulate goals and hypotheses or the ability to correct statistical evaluation and draw exact conclusions. An integral part is the development of creative thinking, the development of self-solving skills and especially foreign networking in the field of food science, biotechnology and biology. We are convinced that the concept of virtual labs will significantly increase the interest of future domestic or foreign graduates about the educational and practical process at partner universities.<< Results >>Expected results are summarised as follows: (1) Concept of 3 virtual labs – Biology, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, (2) Libraries of virtual labs: library resources, scientific methodologies, multimedia materials, inquiry-based learning activities, interactive objects, video and audio tutorials, virtual experiments, interactive learning activities, (3) Evaluation of outputs – the result of testing of collected materials will deal with: Promoting of joint research and educational activities within the international framework as a priority area with the use of the modern on-line education methods, Exchange of knowledge, experiences, good practice in the research process, Learning new approaches – personal communication, consulting with experts, Questionnaires on materials and their usability (interactive presentation software), Joint scientific publications - preparation of publications, Possible kick-off for preparation of joint projects in future. The project results will be in accordance with the main and partial aims focused on promoting the connection of theoretical knowledge and practice by applying innovative methodological procedures. The project enhances the internationalization of common teaching materials with innovative remote and distance technologies and materials which promote the international scientific knowledge and knowledge of involved institutions. This concept will include a summary of key areas in biology, biotechnology and food science for the successful and quality security of education and the creation of an educational environment in higher education.

<< Background >>Technical fields in the wood industry are not very attractive for the young generation, for reasons such as low social recognition and salary, which often do not reflect the difficulty of studying, but also the overall image of students about the form of teaching. For the reasons described above, the form of teaching does not reflect social development and is unable to speak to the current young generation in the language of their environment, which is whether we want or not the digital world of the Internet and through media of their daily use, where video plays the major role. One of the biggest difficulties in the practical teaching of CNC technology is also the high number of students in the group. The degree of complexity of operations with these machines is very high, and therefore an almost individual approach is necessary so that each student can acquire proper skills. At present, these factors are compounded by the long-term coronavirus crisis. This crisis resonated even more the problems of teaching practical skills and practical demonstrations of CNC technology, without which students are equipped with theoretical knowledge only.<< Objectives >>The main goal of the project is to create sets of professional instructional videos that will be closely focused on the issue of practical procedures in the field of CNC woodworking technology. These videos will serve as a support for theoretical and conventional teaching to illustrate the issue in practice and in conjunction with the future use of teaching in virtual and augmented reality. They will also serve as a teaching tool qualitatively immune to crisis situations where distance learning is needed. A partial effect of these videos is also the attractiveness of theoretical information thanks to the use of modern digital media. The concept will make it possible to transfer practical information to numerous groups of students while maintaining the benefits of an individual approach.<< Implementation >>Three work packages are designed, representing a selected portfolio of activities (set of video; profile on social network, online workshop). Further, a three-day competition focused on verifying skills in CNC programming and production. The outcomes created during the activities mentioned above will be available open access educational materials.<< Results >>Sets of professional instructional videos will be created, which will be closely focused on the issue of practical procedures in the field of CNC woodworking. These videos will serve as a support for theoretical and classical teaching to illustrate the issue in practice and in conjunction with the future use of teaching in virtual reality, they will also serve as a teaching tool qualitatively immune to crisis situations where it is necessary to activate distance learning. The common language of communication of the whole consortium is therefore English. For all the reasons mentioned, our instructional videos will also be in English. At the same time, these videos will be supplemented with subtitles in their native language (CZ, PL, SK,).The videos will be divided into two categories (videos for teaching and videos on social networks)Information channels on social networks:At the beginning of the project, a publicly accessible common profile (in English) will be established on common social networks. The analysis of the need to establish an information channel results from a questionnaire survey, where students call for a change in conventional teaching methods. This information channel should expand and supplement the knowledge of students of courses focused on CNC woodworking in a non-violent and fun way using the platform to which they are accustomed and which they commonly use daily. This profile will therefore focus mainly on supplementing information that cannot be included in teaching, due to insufficient time allocation for these courses. However, this profile can expand the knowledge and skills of the professional and lay public, which are interested in the issue. The main goal of this output is to popularize the issue and spread it not only among the interested professional public, but also to the general public. Papers will consist of popular science articles, news from the field of CNC technology and Industry 4.0, quizzes and questionnaires, examples of student work created on CNC machines, information about the Erasmus + project, about partner institutions involved and short popularization videos.WorkshopAt the end of the project, an international online workshop will be organized, at which the outputs of the project will be presented. The expected platform on which the workshop will take place will be MS Teams or ZOOM, with which the partners have sufficient experience. Furthermore, this workshop will discuss the possibilities of developing outputs, their application, and the possibility of further cooperation within the consortium, as well as addressing potential other partners. It is expected that experts will focus on practical training on CNC technologies, as well as affected students and interested companies from the commercial sector. Not only the addressed target groups inside the partner workplaces will be invited to the workshop, but also those interested outside the partner consortium. The participation of representatives of all partners within the consortium is a matter of course. The communication language of the workshop will be English.

"The WooD+ project aims at raising graduates' profiles, strengthening excellence in key competencies such as multilingualism, critical thinking, and creativity, and strengthening international collaboration in the field of Wood Science and Technology. The project is strongly focusing on skill development for green jobs, by designing and up-growing university curricula. The WooD+ is strongly emphasising on digital competences, relevant to learners as well as educators. The digitalisation is radically transforming societies with an additional urgency due to the COVID-19 pandemic phase. This project is adhering at very critical problems of today's society. Global climate change is causing regional drought situations with the consequence of high mortalities and losses in the forests. During the past two years, the volume of forest damages amounted at around 118 million m³ in Central Europe, with Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria being hit the most. The situation is further expanded with over-exploitations of wood species in selected regions since the industry is focusing on a small number of wood species only. Wood consumption is rising, primarily in the engineering sector for buildings, but also for interior, and many utilitarian items. A broader base of wood supply is needed in the future, even to adapt to the future changed-climatic pattern, and meet policy changes for a future bioecomomy. A primary strategy is to take advantage of wood species that have been used not much so far, due to insufficient knowledge in their relevant properties, their specific strengths, and the many manufacturing technologies. These ""lesser-known wood species"" (LKWS) are in the centre of this project, facilitating aspects of their use through educational measures. Some LKWS are better climate-adaptable, and their specific property profiles create new opportunities for innovative products, for new applications, and therefore also economic opportunities across Europe.The WooD+ consortium integrates educational key-players in wood science and technology, coming from the Czech Republic (MENDELU), Germany (UHAM), Austria (BOKU) and Slovenia (UL). Further, the European organisation InnovaWood, located in Brussels, with 57 wood-related members from 28 countries, is also associated.Three technical work packages are designed, representing a carefully selected portfolio of educational activities, with four e-learning activities, an eBook compilation, a virtual laboratory teaching, then experimental design and data analysis, to training on European dimensions in the subject matter. Further, a two-day conference, several technical programs for learners, short-term joint staff training events, including digital-age learning and didactics, then many forest-related and lab-focused events to European dimension events, the latter in connection with Brussels-based InnovaWood. The outcomes created during the activities mentioned above are licensed as Open Access Educational Materials.Primary objectives are to develop, promote and integrate innovative interdisciplinary, collaborative content-based approaches to Wood Science and Technology curriculum with particular focus on lesser-known tree species. This is achieved by redesigning the learning environment through enhancing in-class HE instruction with innovative online modules. Online modules will combine skill and content-based approaches with foreign language learning and teaching and will enable students to individualise and internationalise learning pathways through the promotion of collaborative practices. Additionally, the project allows for the assessment frameworks across partner curricula in the EU Higher Education institutions through the internationalisation of HE shared content. With WooD+ Objectives are targeted, Opportunities are taken and make a Difference under the ERASMUS+ umbrella."