The proposed research project "Developing Action Competence for Insect Preservation" (DACIP) approaches the current problem of insect decline from an educational perspective using methods of Educational Design Research (EDR). The research project aims to (i) improve theoretical understanding of citizens’ readiness to take action against insect decline and (ii) to design and investigate options to raise citizens' abilities to preserve insects. To achieve these aims, a novel theoretical framework - Action Competence for Insect Preservation (ACIP) - will be developed in a first step. In a second step, this framework is used for developing novel quantitative and qualitative research instruments to investigate citizens' abilities to preserve insects and for designing innovative educational interventions to raise citizens’ ACIP. These interventions will include wildlife gardening and citizen science as core elements. In a third step, the effectiveness of these interventions will be assessed: For this assessment, the designed interventions will be implemented at compulsory schools in Karlstad (grade 7). The change of ACIP will be assessed in a pre-post-design with 500 students, comparing the intervention group with a control group using the new quantitative and qualitative instruments. Consequently, the proposed research project provides three important benefits: a) The new framework (ACIP) builds a foundation for the development of conservation initiatives addressing citizens effectively b) The new instruments make it possible to investigate citizens' abilities in preserving insects: This can be used to assess the effectiveness of initiatives focusing on insect preservation, which can boost the effectiveness of such iniatives by enabling targeted improvements. c) The designed interventions to foster citizens' ACIP will be made available on a large scale. Therefore, the project can contribute significantly to achieve global biodiversity and sustainability goals.

The proposed project ‘Developing talent in science: Breaking the gifted education taboo’ seeks to gain new insight of how to address gifted students’ needs in inclusive education (IE) systems. IE systems, described as ’one school for all’ aim to ensure education is accessible for all students, however in reality have focused on the needs of average or lower-achieving students. Gifted education (GE) has been considered elitist, even taboo, and thus the needs of gifted students have been largely neglected in IE policies and schools’ pedagogical strategies. However, individuals gifted in science are key persons to develop responses to societal challenges and to increase innovation and economic competitiveness – if the education system allows them to develop their potential into actual competencies. Neglecting gifted students’ needs may also lead to negative consequences such as underachievement, bullying, and depression. The project will include the perspectives of gifted and regular students, parents and science teachers, and compare the results from Sweden and Finland using mixed methods. It will examine how gifted students’ socioemotional and learning-related needs are supported in inclusive science classrooms and what are gifted students’ and their parents’ lived experiences of specific GE strategies, such as acceleration and grouping – two potentially very effective but understudied and underused strategies in inclusive GE. The project will also examine how science teachers support gifted students’ learning with regard to competence development teachers have had or wish to have, and it seeks to find and showcase the best practices in inclusive GE. The project will produce highly relevant scientific knowledge from the IE context and improve teacher education; strong research-based teacher education manifests in higher science competencies among all students. The impact will extend beyond the Nordic context, as IE has recently generated significant global interest.

MATT wants to investigate new multiscale mathematical problems where the evolution of fluctuating internal surfaces with respect to time and space has to be considered. Such evolutions happen at small, unobservable spatial scales, as the evolving surfaces are typically contact interfaces between microscopic material phases. A prime example is the modeling of mechanical microstructural changes in steel (e.g. Bainite formation from Austenite) under fast temperature changes (pointwise sensor measurements are here unavailable). Besides thermoelasticity, other real-world examples leading to the same class of mathematical problems include swelling of porous media, growth of tumors, and thawing of glaciers/permafrost (now, a global problem). As the scale heterogeneity renders numerical simulations impossible, one must identify simplified models that are able to accurately describe and predict the material behavior while still being simple enough to allow for fast numerical simulations within the expected physical range. The objectives of MATT are: (a) develop a general mathematical framework for rigorously connecting different scales crossed by free boundaries, (b) design multiscale numerical schemes to simulate and validate the produced models, (c) facilitate the Researcher a quick development towards scientific independence, (d) boost the Researcher's awareness of the role the applied mathematician must play in science, technology, and society. Mathematical homogenization (two-scale convergence/periodic unfolding) is the main working tool. Due to the inherent non-linearity of moving boundary problems, several new results regarding uniform estimates and compactness arguments will be established and used to ensure convergence. Multiscale numerical schemes will be designed and implemented in Python/FEniCS. Experimental data for the Bainite transformation from Austenite will be used to validate our findings.

Recent years have seen profound and enduring changes to the global labour market. It has never been more important for graduates to be prepared for diverse careers, or for university support staff to be ready to advise and guide them as they transition into employment. Numerous reports and studies highlight the importance for employers of entrepreneurial and creativity competences among the graduate population from which they recruit. There is a growing requirement, beyond the technical knowledge gleaned from education, that graduates bring a range of ‘soft skills’ to bear on workplace challenges, chief among which is the capacity for creative problem-solving. At the same time, the number of graduates entering the labour market remains high across Europe. To navigate this highly competitive environment successfully, students need to understand the context in which employers operate, to learn how to shape their skill-sets to meet employer needs, and to communicate their skills and the value of their experiences to an array of employers, potentially across multiple sectors. The Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership KA2 project ‘CRE8® Europe’ (2018 - 21) was formed with the aim of developing a transnational event programme to address these issues around student employability and competence development. Led by Karlstad University, the project consortium comprised Inland Norway University, Jaume I University and Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu. The methodology for the programme produced in the project is creative problem-solving in a workshop format, with additional activities to develop complementary skills and expand participants' professional networks. In the pilot delivery, equal numbers of undergraduate and master's students were drawn from each partner, with a good mix of institutions and disciplines represented in the cohort. Four teams of five students were given a scenario with which to demonstrate their problem-solving skills. The teams had a set time to develop and pitch their solution to a jury. These were ‘real world’ scenarios, sourced from partner alumni in companies and the public sector, who also sat on the jury. The jury provided feedback on the pitches and chose a winning team. During each of the four week-long events, multiple CRE8® workshops were held at partner institutions, each covering different employment sectors and scenario types. These were complemented by ancillary activities, such as creativity development exercises and pitch training. The rationale for the project being undertaken as a transnational enterprise was to gain a more complete, European, view of good practice on student skills support. While there are shared challenges around graduate employability across Europe, the precise focus varies between countries, and so different areas of national expertise develop. A transnational project allowed the sharing of good practice in these areas, with the creation of a programme stronger than one based on a single national experience. The materials produced during the project may be found, together with other resources and outputs, on the project website (https://www.kau.se/en/cre8-europe). The intention is that the programme will be embedded in the training provision of the CRE8 Europe® partner universities, and all materials have been made available for it to be fully reproducible at other universities now that the project has concluded. A range of ongoing career-tracking surveys will add to the continuous improvement and evaluation of the CRE8 Europe® model post-project.

Context: The Covid pandemic has prevented the normal flow of student mobility in many areas, including VET and Vocational teacher education (VTE). It has also forced digitalisation further up the agenda of all schools, universities and other educational institutions.Background:A recent systematic review of research on international mobility (Roy et al 2019) concluded that, although the evidence base was relatively weak, there were demonstrable benefits for students from short-term international mobility. These included increases in cultural awareness, cultural intelligence, global mindedness, cultural sensitivity and empathy, adaptability, language and communication skills, and intercultural competence. There were also personal gains such as increased confidence, self-awareness, perceived employability and career development. From a societal perspective, the students' future mobility and earning power were likely to be enhanced.The DIVE project will take a positive approach to these developments. Whereas student and teacher mobility, in a physical sense, is necessarily selective, digital mobility can be inclusive, providing opportunities for all. However, this requires careful thought about the educational benefits of international and intercultural exchange. Can these be replicated through online exchanges or other forms of activity, at home or in the classroom? Vocational education has particular requirements for internationalisation, specifically the provision of work placements in occupational specialities. VET teacher students are involved in a combination of pedagogical studies and occupation-specific learning, whether in construction, healthcare or any other area. It is difficult to recreate the experience of an actual workplace online, but in DIVE, we will implement novel forms of peer-to-peer interaction based on available technology, such as Go-Pro cameras and live streaming to simulate authentic work environments. This provides an opportunity for innovation, since it is not always possible to arrange the right placement for every student. Collaborative techniques, including digital story telling, will allow peer-to-peer interaction to substitute for the physical presence of visiting students. DIVE Objectives:1) Develop a framework for internationalisation-at-home via online and local interaction (measurable by timely achievement of Intellectual output 1)2) Incorporate this framework in VET programmes at local level, in the areas of sustainable development, values in education and citizenship & democracy (measurable by reporting of partners on incorporation and interaction of outputs 2,3,4,).3) Promote the use of the framework and programmes to other actors in vocational education and beyond (measurable by indicators of impact and dissemination - see respective sections) Participants: We will work with VET teacher students and VET teacher educators. We expect initial participation of around 120 persons across the four partners, with a cumulative total of 250 direct and 800 indirect participants by the end of the project.The concrete activities of DIVE will comprise:1) Preparation by all partners, led by NTNU, of a framework for development of three online programmes for vocational teacher education, each based on one of the themes sustainable development, values in education and citizenship & democracy, in the overall context of internationalisation at home..2) Parallel development of the three programmes by the respective partners in conjunction with local and international online colloquia3) Implementation of the programmes as a background for local and international colloquia to be held within the partner institutions.4) Iterative development cycles, incorporating feedback from participating teacher students and teacher educatorsMethodologyOur theoretical framework will use concepts of proximity, mobility and possession, which we see as three essential dimensions of any given space. This in turn enables us to compare digital, national and international activities along these dimensions, and adjust some of the conditions within any space to recreate the benefits of moving across spaces. A central idea in DIVE is that staying at home, in a general sense, should become more desirable and less isolating than currently experienced by many people.Results and impactOur impact will be to make the benefits of international mobility available to a much wider range of participants in and outside VET. We will work with vocational teacher students as they will have future influence on young people and will be able to bring the benefits of DIVE programmes to a wide audience. However, the underlying principles of DIVE are transferable to any educational setting where mobility is desirable. Indeed, it will make it possible to bring international mobility to group who would otherwise be unable to engage in mobility, such as younger age groups or adults with families.