The significance of vocational education varies considerably throughout the states of the European Union. The situation in Greece e.g. can be considered as an example of occupational selection behaviour by adolescents graduating from secondary education that is influenced primarily by the aim to attain the highest possible educational level: In favour of presumed better career perspectives, the path of vocational education and training is quite often disregarded. In view of the considerable unemployment rates among young people in several European countries a mismatch problem between company needs and education output becomes apparent. The proposed project intends to generally raise the esteem for vocational education and training (VET) as a career option for young people and support recently begun relevant changes in different countries like Greece and Romania.The main objective of the project is to promote open and innovative education, training and youth work with the implementation and adoption of an innovative modular VET BSIT Tool in order to model and simulate business processes of real enterprises. Modeling and simulation of business processes of real enterprises is the cornerstone of the project since the establishment of a virtual lab is going to serve that purpose and it will be an invaluable tool for educators and enterprises due to its modularity and it will also stimulate and engage not only VET students but also current employees, educators and entrepreneurs. In this way, the transition from education/training to the world of work will be enhanced. These aims will also be pursued by organizing different workshops and establishing networks with the relevant stakeholders by stimulating transfer of know-how between VET experts in different EU countries.The project contributes to change a purely school-based VET system step by step towards a dual (school and company-based) VET system. This will be affected by creating supportive materials and instruments (action guidelines), which can be applied also to other countries.

The aim of the current MSCA RISE project CybSPEED is to advance a novel framework for analysis, modelling, synthesis and implementation of Cyber-Physical Systems for pedagogical rehabilitation in special education, based on a combination of the best of experience and achievements of the partners in the domains of brain-aware robotics, cognitive biometrics, computational intelligence and reasoning in humanoid and non-humanoid robots for education. CybSPEED project builds on the results and insights of the recently completed project funded by EEA Grant of Bulgaria and Norway "METEMSS: Methodologies and technologies for enhancing the motor and social skills of children with developmental problems" (IR-BAS), on a logical projection of the EU funded project "Social & Smart", called “Storytelling NAO” of Spain (UPV/EHU) and on the ongoing research of the project “Special Education Robot Teaching Assistant (EduBot)” of Greece (EMaTTech) funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foudation. CybSPEED project emphasizes the intrinsic-motivational approach to learning by designing human-robot situations (games, pedagogical cases, artistic performances) and advanced interfaces (brain-computer, eye-gaze tracking and virtual reality) where children and students interact with the novel technology to enhance the underlying self-compensation and complementarity of brain encoding during learning. The CybSPEED project aspires to establish as well as to sustain an innovation network across the EU, Japan in the Far East, Chile in South America and Morocco in West Africa that will pursue top-level research on three levels – 1) analysis of cognitive biometrics signals, 2) modeling of the learner-robot interaction and 3) development of novel instruments toward an optimal design of Cyber-Physical Systems for improved pedagogical rehabilitation in education.

Graduates of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a specialisation in accountancy need specific competencies (e.g. technical knowledge, pervasive skills, values, professional ethics and attitudes). Current information from the profession (Accountancy Europe) point out the relevance of keeping the accounting profession attractive as well as the education and behaviour highly qualitative.The project’s title is ‘International Learning Platform for Accountancy (ILPA)’. Aspects of Financial Reporting, Auditing of Financial Statements, Financial Statement Analysis and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting were included. Competencies in these areas cannot be acquired effectively through a didactic concept that involves only traditional lectures and seminars. Graduates will mainly be employed by large institutions (e.g. large audit firms, corporate groups) that work in an international, complex and changing environment. A learning platform has been developed to address these needs. Hence, the project meets the current needs for accounting education. At the time of project application, no suitable learning concept in accountancy existed for HEIs.The overall objective of the project was to generate a learning platform in accountancy that supports students in the development of the specific competencies required of accounting professionals. Therefore, we(1) generated a unique teaching concept, consisting of integrative cases (including financial accounting, auditing, CSR, evaluating and analysing issues) based on real life problems;(2) defined a didactical concept of how to use the cases to create a motivating teaching and learning environment and how to integrate social, ethical and technical aspects;(3) developed theory-based, didactically and practically proofed teaching material relevant throughout Europe (e.g. the content of the platform includes national case solutions and the current state of the implementation of CSR regulations in participating European countries);(4) evaluated the learning platform with accounting students through Intensive Study Programmes (ISPs) and in selected courses that took place at the participating HEIs;(5) integrated the outputs of the project in the curricula of the project partners;(6) will continue to update the platform even after completion to ensure its continued relevance and integrity.Ten HEIs worked together on this project. All partners have a focus on financial accounting, social accounting and/or auditing pedagogy and are engaged in research in the field of accountancy. The partners are part of a network of Universities and Business Schools that have enabled student and faculty exchanges and organised EU Intensive Programmes for many years.To develop the learning platform in accountancy as the intellectual output, different activities were taken. The testing and evaluation phase within 3 ISPs was of critical relevance for development. Student feedback facilitated and focused improvements to the learning platform. Semi-annual project meetings took place in order to collaborate and refine materials and organise the ISPs. A project secretary, a dissemination appointee and a quality assurer were appointed to coordinate the activities and enhance the quality of the project partners’ work.The final output of the project is a unique, innovative and comprehensive learning platform. The learning platform has already been integrated into the curricula of many accounting units. All generated teaching materials are available on the e-learning platform “OLAT” at the University of Innsbruck.The project has the potential to have significant impact at a regional, national and European level. The outcomes of the project will further enhance the quality of education at HEIs using the platform. Participating students develop competencies required in international accountancy practice, enhancing their employability for SMEs as well as multi-national organisations. In this sense, the project should facilitate international labour market mobility. The platform includes national as well as international knowledge, embedded in the European context. The IFRS as used in the EU, the content of recent European regulations and the European Airline industry underpin the learning platform. The project has significantly enhanced accountancy pedagogy in European HEIs.The competencies of accountancy professionals are of fundamental importance for the economy of the EU and all Member States. Well-trained students in the fields will be aware of their responsibilities. These students (specialised in accountancy) are the emerging professionals who will significantly influence the future European economy.

Soil and fluvial bioengineering is a technical and scientific discipline that combines technology and biology, making use of plants and plant communities to help protect land uses and infrastructure, and contribute to landscape development. It matches technical (protection and stabilisation), ecological (eco-systemic restoration), landscape (improve the landscape integration) and socioeconomic (more efficient and source of employment) The aim of this project is to generate a sector-specific theoretical and practical syllabus essential for the specialization process of the soil and water Mediterranean bioengineering sector. Also, to jointly develop a long term interaction scheme among the stakeholders of the bioengineering sector and to deliver a training courses programme technology enhanced in Soil and Fluvial Bioengineering, Hazard Assessment and Techniques Selection in Mediterranean Environment. This new syllabus will be generated during the implementation of the long term strategy of the proposal “Specialisation process for a soil and water bioengineering sector in the Mediterranean environment (ECOMED)”.The main objectives will be:- To develop and implement a long term interaction scheme between companies and HE centres related to bioengineering sector.- To take advantage of the accumulated experience of the sector throughout the Mediterranean environment by recording/implementing/standardising/transferring it throughout the bioengineering sector.- To develop modules tailored to bioengineering techniques planning, design and construction in Mediterranean environment.- To develop a virtual learning environment that facilitates experiential learning and assessment constructively aligned with the learning objectives- To improve the know-how of the sector by: * disseminating the results to a wider audience and in other similar climatic regions of the world. * exploiting the results by organising the knowledge transfer to other practitioners.