The Middle East suffers serious environmental issues and hence needs modernization and capacity building on environmental management. This project aims for sustainable capacity building on using spatial data infrastructures (SDI) and related technologies for environmental management in the Middle East. EU and non-EU universities as well as local stakeholders in the Middle East will collaborate as a consortium to perform the project. An existing master program in environmental management using GIS (GeoNetC) will be implemented in Yemen as well as more universities in Iran. Three innovative and blended courses on applications of spatial data infrastructure and related technologies for environmental management will be developed to be taught in HEIs. The courses will be developed based on the needs of universities, stakeholders and the region in general. E-learning systems will be setup in partner universities to offer the courses to students and stakeholders on a distance and blended mode, besides in campus training. It is in line with meeting the priority of the region on using ICT-based and flexible education in the Middle East. A Geoportal for environmental management (emGeo) will be developed and implemented to facilitate spatial data management, sharing and analysis in the region to support a better collaborative knowledge-based environmental management. Training of trainers will be conducted for partner universities on how to teach and update the courses and use emGeo. Several workshops with the participation of HEIs, stakeholders, associate partners and students will be held to disseminate the outcomes/outputs of the project. Culturing the use of SDI and related technologies for environmental management and enterprise-university cooperation will be motivated and addressed during the project, especially in the workshops.

GraDAna consists of 5 EU partners (3 top HEIs+2 SMEs) and 7 top Iranian HEIs. The involved Iranian HEIs lead research & education nationwide and are geographically balanced. The project seeks to foster HE cooperation between EU and Iran. It improves entrepreneurship and employability of Iranian HE graduates by elevating their competences in the emerging field of Data Analytics (DA). Involved EU partners have outstanding background in DA and related disciplines. GraDAna transfers know-hows, experiences and best-practices to Iranian HEIs through its sustainable international university-enterprise cooperation plans.GraDAna aims at:Exploiting Iran’s potentials in science and industry as a “terra incognita”, especially after the recent removal of long time sanctions and new cooperation agreements between Iran and EuropeansImproving entrepreneurship, employability and competitiveness of graduates through modernised trainings in DA and related disciplinesSupporting the 2nd largest unemployed group of graduates in Iran (IT sector) by enhancing their professional competencesAddressing “Iranian Governmental Policy on Developing Strategies to Support VET for HE Graduates”Proving the extrovert, multicultural and collaborative EU approach to globalizationSharing European expertise from internationally renowned HEIs and cross-fertilization with Iranian priorities in HEInclusion of regional business/industry stakeholders in the project events.GraDAna has strong impacts on:Capacity building in HRM through training and mobility of HE staff and graduatesAdvancing international competitiveness of Iranian IT sector by modernizing domain specific know-how in lines with European standardsStimulating successful entrepreneurship and economic growth in Iran by shortening the gap between HE & enterprises in IT sectorSustainable dissemination and exploitation of the project results in micro and macro levels through engagement of regional/national/international stakeholders.

UNI-TEL has the aim to modernise Engineering and STEM curricula in the PC HEIs involved in the project thanks to the development and implementation of an innovative pedagogical methodology that promotes computer-supported collaborative learning approaches. The main idea is to put together EU HEIs which possess and supply cutting-edge developments, innovative learning practices and extensive international experience and HEIs from Iran which need and demand the same developments, practices and experience for the sake of Harmonisation of the HE systems. The consortium combines the expertise of 3 EU HEIs in IT, FI and PT and 1 company in GR, as well as 7 HEIs and 1 company in IR. The following key results will be achieved:1. A more flexible accessibility to training opportunities thanks to ICT-based approaches, innovative tools and systems (virtual labs, e-tivities etc.) and self-assessment procedures2. Training and assistance to lecturers and instructional designers in pedagogical scripts and instructional scaffolding to enhance self-directed and collaborative learning, integrating methodology and contents that would equip them with transversal and key competences for their active inclusion in the global digital learning space3. Modernised University curricula in Engineering and STEM studies where the contemporary TEL approaches and contents are integrated4. Implementing a quality based approach for quality assurance of TEL courses according to standard accreditation practices at PC HEIsUNI-TEL is expected to create short/long-term benefits for HE, business and society through:- enhancement of the inter-cultural dialog among the participating countries;- inspiring the supply of open accessible and free of cost educational resources;- provision of a common framework for the exchange and synthesis of experiences and best practices gained through collaboration of experts from different sectors of EU and Iran;- fostering the link: education-business-society.