In the last years, different pedagogical approaches have been developed by pedagogists and experts in distance learning. The most advanced approach is called “action-based learning” and refers to “all learning that is orchestrated by some activity on the part of learners” (Naidu & Bedgood, 2012). These actions may vary from real participation by learners (in building or creating something), to learners watching a video clip that is later examined, reflected on and then subject to a decision-making process. This approach can be divided into different streams and it is generally based on reversing the traditional learning process. In fact, it proposes to “start from the end”, by starting from questions, case studies, real problems, datasets and then returning to the theory behind. The four approaches referring to action-based learning that will be addressed in the project are the following: 1) inquiry-based learning, 2) problem-based learning,3) scenario-based learning, 4) dataset-based learning. The objectives of the project are: (i) enhancing the pedagogical digital skills of the educators, offering them a set of toolboxes for easily putting these methodologies into practice; (ii) developing innovative online tools (SuperFastLearning Machines) that through data-mining extract relevant information from which developing digital contents (one for each methodology); iii) enabling lecturers and trainers to better understand the pedagogical methodologies that are behind training approaches.The project will be carried out by four Universities (University of Pisa, that will coordinate the project, Bordeaux University, University of Zaragoza, University of Bremen and Koszalin University of Technology) and one technology provider for data mining and Natural Language Processing (Erre Quadro).In order to reach the above-mentioned objectives, a structured methodology has been developed. The project members, organized in 4 groups composed of one Leader, one Fellow and three peer-reviewers will develop several tools that will be included in 4 Toolboxes, one for each action-based methodology addressed. Working in such groups should ensure the full involvement of all the partners in the preparation of the contents and allow an internal/external cross-fertilization process, considering also the opinion of less expert organizations. The partners will then make available the following tools: (i) SFL Machine: an IT tool adopting NLP methodologies and data-mining techniques hosted on the project website allowing to gather data and extract information using different document sources selected by the educators; (ii) theoretical background of the methodology in two versions: a) methodology in a nut-shell, for information/dissemination purposes and b) full scientific description, further researches); (iii) practical pedagogical guidelines: how to make an action-based learning lesson complying with pedagogical requirements, (iv) 9 presentations/good practices (1 prepared by IO Leader, 4 prepared by the other partners and 4 prepared by educators from other HEIs) and (v) an e-learning course to explain the use of the mentioned tools. During the project implementation the first version of the Toolboxes will be tested by the partners and also by at least 20 external testers, thus ensuring an external validation of their contents. After the release of the final version of the toolboxes on the project website, the partners will organize in presence and online training events (webinars) in order to train as many educators from STEM faculties as possible. When the Toolboxes will be available and an intense dissemination and exploitation phase will take place, the partners will develop an interactive tool to help researchers, lecturers and trainers to understand which is the best pedagogical strategy, among the four addressed in the project, that fits better with the features of the subject and topic they want to teach through e-learning courses. The tool consists in a number of questions on the kind of topic and subject the lecturers want to teach and his/her scopes and aims for the lecture. The impacts on the main target group (STEM Professors, Researchers, Lecturers of STEM faculties) are: In the short-term: - increasing digital and pedagogical skills - increasing knowledge on the 4 action-based methodologies - Practicing increased digital and pedagogical skills for developing contents that will be used as a reference by other educators - being able to select the most appropriate methodology according to the topic and subject In the long-term: - providing practical and handy tools to teachers more reluctant to online training - increasing the number of students enrolling to STEM faculties, thanks to the renewal of training content- Including the new skills for producing contents also for other purposes (frontal lessons, blended learning, ..) - adopting NPL and data-mining techniques for solving other education problem

The project Mathematics on-line learning model in engineering education was successfully carried out at the very right moment as in recent two years there has been a significant increase in demand for a 100% online mathematics course with interactive learning materials and large-scale practicing opportunities as well as for a mathematics online assessment model. This has made it possible to increase student support when studying independently and teachers support when planning an online assessment. Greater support for learning and teaching in the education sector gave it a more competitive advantage as it helps to decrease drop-out behavior of students and minimize the workload of teachers. According to the New UNESCO global survey studying the impact of Covid-19 on higher education (2021) the pandemic has had an impact on higher education systems in terms of access and quality of teaching and learning. Covid-19 has caused the suspension and cancellation of teaching activities and its major impact on teaching and learning is the increase in online education. Taking into account the above, this project has successfully developed a high level engineering mathematics online course as a basis for offering output oriented education in engineering mathematics.The following activities were performed during the project: Creating the report of educational needs analysis (IO1)- Needs analysis and data gathering of partner countries and institutions were carried out. - Analysis of mathematical on-line assessment systems for partner countries and institutions were prepared.- Pedagogical analysis for on-line assessment of mathematics was made.Creating a new innovative online course in engineering mathematics in seven languages (IO2)The next activities were performed:- Analysis of subject in partner`s institutions- Development of the online course with some theoretical, practical and assessment tests- Translation of the online course- Conducting the pilot course- Asking for feedback from students- Revising on-line course- Development of the definite online course with theoretical, practical and assessment tests, engineering applications and course guidelines- Training for teachers- Asking for feedback from teachers- Conducting on-line course- Asking for feedback from students- Revising on-line courseCreating a mathematics online assessment model (IO3)- Literature review were carried out- Mathematics online assessment model was createdIn order to achieve project results, partners fields of subjects related to engineering mathematics were studied (IO1). This material enabled the team to build up the online course (IO2) and student competition (C1). In order to guarantee the quality the subject was piloted to students before carrying out the definitive course. The quality of the course was piloted to mathematics teachers (teacher training and ME). Based on the experience gained, the online assessment model in mathematics (IO3) was improved. The high quality of the online course is proven by the fact that we passed the preliminary round of the 7th e-Learning Excellence Awards at ECEL 2021.Partners of this project were 6 highly skilled HE institutions: the TTK UAS from Estonia, the Letterkenny Institute of Technology/LYIT from Ireland, the Polytechnic Institute of Porto/P.PORTO from Portugal, the University of the Basque Country/UPV/EHU from Spain, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca/UTC from Romania and the Koszalin University of Technology/PK TUK from Poland. During the project unfolding the Spanish partner was replaced with Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya- BarcelonaTECH (UPC).This project involved various target groups, impact and benefits: - students and teachers, who benefit from a new innovative subject, which is added to the subjects of engineering mathematics. The innovative implementation makes the subject more attractive for students in each educational institution that participated in this project. The results are possible to use in other higher education institutions, secondary level schools and vocational schools.- expanding businesses, who will have a better educated workforce provided by educational institutions and by the research done by these institutions. As human resources are one of the most important resources in the company, it is important to provide high-quality education and competent employees to increase the productivity, effectiveness and competitiveness of the companies. Strategic international partnerships in the field of education and training are extremely important in order to increase the quality of education and training, which was one of the goals of this project, and it has become one of the most beneficial short and long-term outputs.The most significant indirect impact of the project was the rise of international cooperation between universities and higher qualification of the workforce of the participating institutions.

"EU4Dual will form the first European University dedicated to dual studies characterised by the fact it combines two places of learning, where, the university, emphasises ""theory"" and the workplace, emphasises ""practice"". Our 9 partner institutions, and our network of over 35 associate partners will work together to mobilise: education, research and innovation and service to society at the regional level with the mission to use transnational dual education to help Europe address major societal challenges. These Grand Challenges include: - future of work - green economy - healthy living Our collaboration will, by 2025 lead us to: • establish a sustainable cooperation mechanism that founds the “European Dual University” and provides for its longterm operations and funding; • set up a Centre of Excellence on Dual Education, which promotes research, knowledge exchange, capacity building and development of the sector; • implement new learning pathways for dual education whereby most of our programmes include research, teaching or internship elements from at least two members of the institution • launch 2 new joint masters programme, a joint dual doctorate programme and a joint micro-credential portal, offering continuing career development and new skills created by us as well as our industry partners • launch an ecosystem of joint research projects, at micro-, meso- and macro-level supporting our grand challenges • create an unparalleled transnational work-based learning scheme with strong support from international business • Provide mobility experiences for at least 50% of our staff and students Our innovative management model will see students, companies and regions lead the institution, by holding most voting rights in our management structures. Beyond 2025, we intend to grow the university to include members from 20 countries, and become the world’s premiere dual-studies institution in terms of quality, size and breadth of activities."

Representing 30% of its population and over 80% of its territory, EU rural areas are facing simultaneous demographic, climate, economic, social and environmental changes which affect their characteristics and metabolisms. Responding to these challenges requires a precise understanding of what rural areas are and what rural communities are facing nowadays. Definitions of rural areas tend to lean on population density or size. They do not provide sufficient insights into the dynamics, drivers and fluidity of contemporary diverse rural-urban relations and identities that characterize ruralities across Europe. Despite the increasing acknowledgement that rural areas are diverse and that typologies should better reflect the identities of such territories, the lack of data at a fine scale prevents such innovations. Departing from an updated conceptualisation of rurality based on the multi-dimensional nature of contemporary rural-urban interrelations and interdependencies, GRANULAR will generate new insights for characterising rural diversity based on a multi-actor and interdisciplinary approach. Based on insights from Multi-Actor Labs, it will generate novel datasets using a wide range of methods and primary data, such as remote sensing, crowd-sourced data, mobile phone data and web-scraping. This data will then be combined with a variety of existing institutional data to derive indicators relevant to rural communities for the implementation of the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas (LTVRA), so to measure resilience, well-being, quality of life and attractiveness. This will enable GRANULAR to create a Rural Compass, that take into account the factors affecting rural communities and their functional characteristics, informing policymakers and rural actors for the design of tailored rural policies. After ensuring the up-scalability of the results, datasets, data visualization and other tools will be directly available on a dedicated platform designed by and for rural actors.