"<< Background >>The development of scientific research and the transfer of its scientific knowledge to the educational process is the main strategic goal of all partners involved in the project. Internationalisation is considered an integral part of universities' development strategy, so opportunities are being sought to develop multilateral activities. Cooperation with foreign universities and access to scientific experience has been and will be a great stimulus in the future for improving the quality of education and research at the national and transnational levels. One of the main priorities of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra is to create and strengthen transnational cooperation with major European and global research and educational institutions to strengthen the internationalisation and modernisation of higher education not only at the local but also at the global level. Within the call ""European Universities"", SPU is the coordinator of the university alliance INVEST, which proves the exceptional position of the university on an international scale. Within the consortium, an exchange of knowledge is carried out to analyse the effectiveness of the use of best practices in higher education and the innovation of existing online education methodologies with the direct involvement of the most modern digital tools. The presented project is an application and extension of the excellent position of SUA in education in the field of sustainable management of animal genetic and food resources. The project's added value is the incorporation of the national priority of the program in the field of inclusion of participants with a lack of opportunities. The University of Siedlce is the first higher education institution in Poland which expand study for participants with a lack of opportunities by adapting study programs and educational methodologies to improve inclusion. Another part of the consortium is the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. The CULS's long-term internationalisation strategy is to establish partnerships with relevant international organisations that initiate debates on food security, agricultural innovation and climate change. Establishing and maintaining cooperation with such organisations strengthens the position of the CULS, increases its prestige in the international field and opens up new opportunities for the university and its staff. Mendel University in Brno is very active in internationalisation and cooperates with more than a hundred partner institutions worldwide. In addition to these traditional programs, MENDELU also offers programs focused on regional development. Digitisation is recognised as one of the main management problems in recent years and is the key issue for internationalisation. Digitisation of education is an important form that enables full participation in international programs. The need to create a partnership arises from the annual evaluation of educational activities, which is carried out annually at partner universities. Part of the annual evaluation is also the evaluation of the quality of educational activities, which is carried out in the form of questionnaires for students and the form of self-evaluation of academic staff. This assessment is the basis for the needs analysis. The needs analysis shows that most students are interested in completing part of their studies or internships in an international environment. In more than 95% of cases, students mention the Erasmus plus program as the most suitable alternative for securing their stay at a partner university or company abroad. The analysis also revealed a requirement for open access to the digital content of study materials for the offered subjects. The self-assessment of academic staff revealed the need to increase competencies in the area of innovation of the pedagogical process, response to current knowledge, methodological development, active international cooperation and acceptance abroad.<< Objectives >>Ensuring the nutrition of the population is the main task of agriculture and animal production. The livestock sector is currently suffering from a shortage of skilled labour. This is due to the low interest in studying and especially the insufficient competencies in the changing and increasingly diversified conditions of the production environment. The advantage of the cooperation of partners in the preparation of experts for production practice is the possibility to acquire skills and competencies related to differences in production systems. The main goal of the project is to introduce digital modules at all levels of education to enable international cooperation in teaching focused on sustainable management of animal genetic and food resources at universities that prepare graduates for the production of food resources of animal origin. These activities will be of a multiplier nature, as international cooperation in education will contribute to the intensification of cooperation in the field of science and research as well as the education of academics and professionals in practice. The aim of the project is 1) Acquisition of competencies and development of digital skills in the creation of educational modules 2) Increasing the prestige of partners through the transfer of knowledge of teachers and learners 3) Promoting equal opportunities and access, the inclusion of participants with a lack of opportunities so that they are accessible to all In order to achieve the desired state, it is necessary to solve international projects and develop activities that will contribute to increasing the interest of students at all levels of study, the quality of education and the attractiveness of study. The intensification of academic exchange will be reflected in the resumption of the activities of joint program boards and commissions for all levels of study, as well as habilitation and inauguration events. Through involvement in the project, students will gain knowledge, practical skills and competencies that can be used in their future careers. Teachers of partner universities will increase their competencies in the methodological and professional field as well as digital competencies.<< Implementation >>Project activities will be divided into the following horizontal activities: HA1) Harmonisation and innovation of curricula. Harmonisation and innovation of the content of courses for the 1st university degree; Harmonisation and innovation of content of courses for II. University degree; Harmonisation and innovation of content of courses for III. university degree; Within this horizontal activity, emphasis will be placed on unifying the didactic procedures of the theoretical and practical part of the courses offered, with emphasis on providing current knowledge based on the requirements of production practice, including innovation in the context of precision farming and social requirements: (a) the relevance of the link to EU legislation; (b) the relevance of the link to the environment and climate change in the context of the long-term sustainability objectives (UN SDG); (c) the timeliness of the link to technical and technological innovation towards practice; (d) the timeliness of the link to computerisation and digitisation in the context of precision farming; HA2) Creation of interactive educational materials. Innovation and elaboration of interactive electronic teaching materials for the 1st university degree; Innovation and development of interactive electronic teaching materials for II. University degree; Innovation and development of interactive electronic teaching materials for III. University degree; Introduction of lectures and interactive courses for students; Compilation of a methodological curriculum for the education of students with fewer opportunities; Within this horizontal activity, emphasis will be placed on the technical, organisational and content side of courses for all higher education levels, with emphasis on the implementation of: (a) up-to-date information and the latest research results; (b) up-to-date information in the context of the existing structure of study programs; (c) the current content of lectures and seminars in relation to the latest trends; The common goal of activities HA1 and HA2 will be the preparation of a common digital module of electronic materials for teaching students at all university levels, accessible to students of partner universities. HA3) Improving the quality of university teacher education. Joint didactic seminars for academic staff of partner universities in the field of digital education; Joint didactic seminars in the field of problem-oriented teaching of hard / soft skills in education. Within this horizontal activity, emphasis will be placed on the professional and methodological readiness of academic staff for teaching in a virtual environment: (a) innovation in self-monitoring and self-assessment; (b) effective guidance of learners; (c) open access for students with fewer opportunities. Project activities were planned so that it was possible to meet the project objectives. The content of individual activities includes a specific division of work, tasks leading to the creation of the result and the methodology used.<< Results >>The first type of outputs will be the development of comprehensive modules for the education of students with a high share of innovation, interaction and digitisation. The training modules will be designed to take into account the inclusion of participants with a lack of opportunities: 1) Creation of an electronic module of study materials for students focusing on animal genetics; 2) Creation of an electronic module of study materials for students focusing on the conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources; 3) Creation of an electronic module of study materials for students focusing on animal breeding; 4) Creation of an electronic module of study materials for students focusing on precise animal husbandry. The second type will be outputs aimed at increasing the competencies of academic staff: 1) Didactic seminar for academics in digital education; 2) Teacher training in problem-oriented teaching; 3) Training of teachers in the field of inclusion of participants with a lack of opportunities. Outputs of the first and second types will be finalised in the form of a multiplier event aimed at participants outside the partnership. The multiplication event will take the form of a professional conference with international participation entitled: The use of digitisation in the innovation of the content and structure of study programs and the inclusion of students in the management of animal genetic and food resources. All project outputs will be publicly available on the created project website in digital form. The partnership will also include the renewal of joint pedagogical, scientific events of partner universities and professional seminars with a link to practice. As part of the project dissemination, we will use the E + Project Results Platform created by the EC for the E + program. We will use the platform as a useful tool for free access to all project outputs and results. When expanding knowledge and contacts in the field of education, we will focus on the use of the ePALE platform used to support and strengthen professions in the field of adult education. We will use the platform to promote planned multiplication events and project meetings through blog posts, discussion forums and a calendar of professional events."

The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, access to information and more. It is essential that the Web is accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to persons with disabilities. An accessible Web (and mobile web) can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society. Persons with disabilities in Europe are a significant group. Around 80 million people in the EU are affected by a disability. As the EU population ages, the figure is expected to increase to 120 million by 2020. It means that more and more people will have access needs. For them, equal integration into society, including digital access can be a real challenge. According to the EU Parliament, only one-third of the 761,000 EU public sector websites meet basic web accessibility standards. In its estimation, more than 167 million EU citizens have difficulty accessing public websites to use online public services. They also represent a huge market potential for businesses that use digital approaches what it can mean economic gains, as they can reach a larger customer base. Digital accessibility is becoming a must. The directive (EU) 2016/2102 on making the websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies more accessible have recently published (on 2 December 2016) and entered into force on 22 December 2016 (the Member States have until 23 September 2018 to transpose the text into their national legislation). The consortium consists of 6 partners from 4 EU countries, covering Southern, Middle and Northern Europe. All of the partners are from countries with a very low share of accessible web pages and almost not existing national/industry regulation of digital accessibility, where the training on digital accessibility is the most needed. Therefore it is important that website developers, designers, marketing and public relations people as well as managers and policymakers, have knowledge and skills for improving accessibility to disabled visitors of their websites / mobile apps. The aim of this project is to develop VET training modules and an Accessible web platform totally focused on digital accessibility to improve the knowledge, skills and competencies of key stakeholders according to web accessibility standards and in order to enable them to respond to the needs of visual, auditory, physical or cognitive disabled as well as older persons or low literacy website visitors/apps users, so they, in turn, are able to fully access and benefit from the digital era. The project aims to meet the following objectives: - create an ACCESSIBLE WEB PLATFORM - develop DIVERSE TRAINING MODULES - develop and implement CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS for trainers - increase the participation rate of disabled people in digital society - promote inclusion of disadvantaged groups in the labour market The training modules are to be embedded into the existing VET educational programmes to improve competencies of VET learners, students as future experts on one hand, and to improve competencies of already existing professionals in the professional field of websites/marketing, all that to contribute to more inclusion and equity in education and lifelong learning. Indirectly, VET trainers from all over Europe will be involved through the publication of modules as freely accessible materials of the modules. The project will also: - contribute to better access to training and qualifications for all, through making all materials accessible to all and freely downloaded from the web portal, - have an impact on the social inclusion of people with disabilities by promoting and encouraging learning about accessible webs and apps - strengthen the professional development of trainers, teachers. The project will improve the quality of training (initial education and continuing development), the quality of teachers, trainers and other professionals in the sector and will make courses more relevant to the labour market. Furthermore, the EU Added Value of the project is, on the one hand, provided by the ACCESS WEB PLATFORM, the enhancement of the new, updated, holistically approached to those people who want to learn accessibility of website/apps and on the other hand improved, intensive multidisciplinary modules for teachers but also for professionals and students in the field of Digital Accessibility, which will result, in the long term, in equally accessible for an increasing number of disabled people in Europe and in promoting employability in economically prospering, and necessary, sector of the digital economy. High-quality, certified and on European level recognised training will contribute to increased employability of people with disabilities. In the final stage, this type of education will contribute to the EU objective to ensure web accessibility for all.

Urban areas are seeing an increasing population of older people and existing approaches to care for them are becoming unsustainable creating a European wide societal challenge. Assistive technology can provide them with security that will enable them to live independently e.g. wearing alarms and tracking devices around the arm or neck to alert carers to falls or their location if they wander. However such technology is often unsightly and stigmatises the user resulting in high abandonment rates. The MATUROLIFE project will integrate creative artists and fashion designers into the research team to facilitate design-driven innovation. The project will build on existing technological advances in materials which have produced a highly innovative selective metallisation process that utilises nanotechnology, electrochemistry and materials science to encapsulate fibres in textiles with metal and thereby provide conductivity and electronic connectivity. In this way, better integration of electronics and sensors into fabrics and textiles will be possible. This will give the fashion designers and artists the tools to produce AT for older people that is not only functional but is more desirable and appealing as well as being lighter and more comfortable. Building on exiting best practice the consortium will include societal stakeholder groups representing end users (i.e. older people) who will be heavily involved in the design process as well as giving feedback and direction on the development of AT prototypes contributing significantly to end-user acceptance. The prototypes will demonstrate proof of concept and the industrial scalability of the selective metallisation process will be validated. Thus, the project will end at TRL7. The Assistive Technology produced as a result of the project will benefit all the SMEs in the consortium but particularly those in the creative sector who expect to see sustainable growth and an increase in jobs as a direct result of the project.