In the last decades Space has become a highly competitive sector with global scientific and economic challenges. The EU Space Programme promotes a European New Space eco-system to foster entrepreneurship within the European space industry.The GeoPlaNet EMJM in Planetary Geosciences (PG) aims to train the future cohort of tomorrow's best researchers (72 top international students) with a unique and world competitive European learning experience based on a strong education by research. It will prepare them to design, analyse and interpret the data of the future space missions and to address the many challenges of the oncoming Earth and Planetary exploration programmes. This project was born from a long-lasting partnership of 3 European HEI: Nantes (FR), Chieti-Pescara (IT) and Coimbra (PT), world renown experts in the combined disciplines of PG and involved in the main international space missions. Associated partners include the GeoPlaNet Consortium of 19 partners, main actors of space exploration worldwide (ESA, NASA, Europlanet), and private companies specialised in Virtual Reality and space instrumentation.GeoPlaNet EMJM is based on 3 existing masters and a full semester research internship within the network of associated partners, for a 2-year programme of 120 ECTS, validated by a joint diploma.The objectives of the project are 1) to offer a European structured and internationalised programme of excellence in PG, 2) to develop students research and numerical skills, including disruptive technologies, the use of VR tools and the creation of collaborative virtual universes for space exploration, in an international and multidisciplinary environment, 3) to reach 100 % of employment after graduation and create a wide network of employment opportunities within research & industry.Activities and results will contribute to support the EU Space policy in terms of scientific research, international networking activities and disruptive technologies.

Religious Diversity in a Globalised World (ReD Global) is a two-year, international, Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) programme with a unique focus on the role of religious identities and diversity, and their complex interplay with processes of globalisation. The increasing heterogeneity of societies has strained democracies across the globe, thrusting issues of religious prejudice and intolerance, often born of ignorance, into the public limelight.Within that context, ReD Global contributes to the urgent need for greater religious literacy and understanding. Graduates of the ReDGlobal Partnership will have a solid historical and theoretical foundation, coupled with the ability to perceive continuities across time andspace, enabling them to efficiently and effectively address modern-day societal challenges.ReD Global attracts the best students worldwide, who benefit from an integrated international and cross-sectoral programme. Studentsdesign their own flexible learning pathway, selecting international hosting institutions from the second semester, and either a Research or aProfessional Track in Year 2.ReD Global trains approximately one hundred individuals across four student cohorts, implemented between 2023 and 2028. TheConsortium consists of three degree-awarding Full Partners in Europe, and six Academic Associated Partners in Europe and Latin America.Moreover, more than twenty professional organisations have expressed their support for ReD Global. They contribute to programmeimplementation via, for example, internship placements, guest lectures, and co-supervision. Additionally, selected organisationsparticipate in the Programme Advisory Committee, ensuring the programme’s continued societal relevance.ReD Global graduates receive a double master’s degree from two of the following European institutions: University of Groningen (TheNetherlands, Coordinator), Universidad de Córdoba (Spain) and Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal).

"The purpose of the project ECI: From A to Z is to contribute to the development of competences and skills in higher education systems. The formal curricula provides higher education students with the basic framework to develop their professional activities, but in general they do not take into account the need to promote civic engagement and participation in several spheres of public life. This project aims to fill in this gap and provide a structured offer within the participant organisations that allow for the development of civic engagement and participation skills within a Higher Education environment. This will constitute a life-long experience that will accompany students for the rest of their lives and provide them with tools that they can and probably will use in their path to an ever-increasing active and inclusive citizenship. The instrument of the European Citizens' Initiative established in Treaty of the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is a field of excellence for this engagement and participation to take place since it involves procedures and mechanisms that have a defined scope and purpose and where participants can understand the relevance of their arguments, proposals and activities. Also it furthers the bettering of the European Union through critical thought and leads to more open policies and legislation.The core purpose of the project is to develop new methods and tools for learning processes that are to be applied in a collaborative and practical way (learning by doing) in which students are the co-constitutive creators of their own European Citizens Initiative. At the final parts of this project (that is divided generally in two parts, each with a different group of students) students will understand the relevance of their participation within the European Union, will be able to recognise and apply participatory instruments and use them in a argumentative and technically sound way, and evaluate the goals and, so far, the effects of the ECI.Therefore besides sharing knowledges about the ECI, this project will promote collaboration and inclusiveness as well as it will help finding and defining subjects of common concern in European Union ""extremes"".The organisation of a wide number, scope and relevance of intellectual deliverables and of learning, teaching and training activities - all of them integrated into a well oiled system of outputs, that will be disseminated online and offline - is the central part of the project. The combination of diverse processes and methodologies such as peer-learning, courses on ECI and Models ECI, allow for a constant effort and engagement on the project both from researchers/tutors and from students. Also many of the outputs will outlive the project and stay available according to an open-access policy, multiplying even more the impact of the project.The project will certainly touch positively:- Students directly committed to the project, given the possibility to experience a new instrument and methodology with colleagues from other backgrounds and universities;- Other Students and persons that wish to participate more actively in public life and that will have the basic knowledges and tools to do so;- Researchers and tutors, whose teaching, coaching and social skills will be highly augmented by the general concept of the project and by the several activities and outputs it entails;- Other Researchers and tutors who might feel motivated by the project and replicate it in their Higher Education Institutions;- Stakeholders that will be involved during the project or that will be touched by it in their areas of activity (for instance, by one or more of the topics chosen by the students to be subject of an ECI);- The legislative and political actors, that will have contact with the project and may use it as a platform of discussion on their own strategies and activities;- The community of European Union Citizens since this project will raise the bar in what regards participation within the European Union, leaving behind a trail of activities and outputs (on-line and on paper) that will continue to stimulate the expression of opinions and the active participatory abilities of youth."

Experiences during the first three years of life have been shown to have a lasting effect on a child's development, and eventual life outcomes. Consequently, the need for high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is well recognised. Countries across Europe are facing complex problems that negatively affect their children. Challenges of immigration and integration are common. One in four children under the age of six in Europe is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and may need specific measures to support their educational needs. Prevention and early intervention practices and approaches have proven to be effective in addressing these challenges, particularly when they are focused on the earliest years of life. This project aimed to share best practice in the areas of prevention and early intervention (PEI) in disadvantaged populations, evidence-informed practice, practitioner training in PEI approaches, and the importance of ECEC as a preventative tool. The objective of the learning exchange was to allow partner organisations to develop and reinforce networks; increase their capacity to work at a transnational level; share and confront ideas, practices and methods in ECEC and PEI.The project comprised four partners:•International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), a Dutch non-profit organisation with a worldwide brief;•the University of Coimbra in Portugal whose Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences is involved in research in the fields of parental and family education, early childhood education, and socio-educational interventions with children and families; •UiT – the Arctic University of Norway whose Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare is involved in research and education of professionals within child welfare and mental health in Norway; •the Northside Partnership hosted Prevention and Early Intervention Network (PEIN) in Ireland, a network of evidence-based practice, advocacy and research organisations across the Republic of Ireland that share a commitment to improving outcomes for children, young people, and their communities.The project involved a series of learning exchange visits to each of the partner countries, though the final study visit to Ireland had to be conducted online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Activities during the exchanges included: visits to the host organisation with presentations on their work; site visits to local projects; expert inputs from academics, policy-makers and practitioners; project meetings. Each visit also involved larger open learning events with local and national stakeholders. Learning exchanges focused on a mix of research, policy and practice, and brought together experts in those fields. A total of 89 individuals from across the partner organisations participated in the four learning exchanges, with a considerably larger number attending the open learning events.Informed by the overarching theme of the project, each learning exchange visit focused on a relevant ECEC theme as follows:•Norway and Portugal: Prevention and intervention in the early years•Netherlands: How prevention and early intervention works for children with additional needs•Ireland: Pregnancy and early childhood, preparing for pregnancyThe partners adopted a range of methods to assess the impact of the project. These included:•an evaluation of each study visit, completed by participants immediately after an individual learning event; •an impact evaluation questionnaire that was completed by participants a number of months after a learning event. Notable short term impacts expressed by participants from across the four learning exchanges were:•new learning arising from exposure to diverse learning experiences;•appreciation of information-sharing and knowledge-exchange across jurisdictions•generation of new ideas for future research, practice and training in ECEC.Longer-term benefits consistently noted by participants were:•impact on individuals’ ECEC knowledge and practice, and on their perspectives relating to prevention and early intervention;•participants’ intent to apply new learning in practice, particularly in the development of new ECEC projects;•new learning acting as a basis for future institutional cooperation (for example, thirteen months after the study visit to the Netherlands, half of the participants had made follow-up contact with partners met during the exchange);•participants’ commitment to disseminate learning garnered through exchange visits across a range of fora.A quote from one of the project evaluation reports summarises the primary value of the project:“Information and sharing experiences appear as crucial to the improvement of professional and personal skills… Sharing knowledge and having the opportunity to watch and be immersed in real experiences seems to be a rich way to learn, develop new ideas and to project new programmes.”

Energetic and ballistic systems (EBS) include all the applications of energetic materials (explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics), propulsion systems using energetic materials (EM) or compressed gases and ballistic protective systems. EBSs are widely used in extractive industry, automotive safety, space but mostly in security and defense sectors. In the context of harsher European environmental legislation and global concern related to environmental impact and safety in manufacture, use and disposal of EBSs, technological innovations have reshaped the strategy of developers, industry and beneficiaries from the entire spectrum. Given the fact that EU faces difficult economic times and a lot of EBS production/use capacities have been decreased, relocated or closed due to the environmental legislation or safety issues, the concrete aim of the project was to provide an Intensive Study Programme for MSc and PhD students coming from four prestigious HEIs across Europe: University of Coimbra; Ecole Nationale Superieure De Techniques Avancees Bretagne – Brest; Imperial College Of Science, Technology And Medicine - London and Military Technical Academy – Bucharest, as program coordinator. The IP addressed the latest approaches and concepts in the field of greener and safer EBSs, using ICT tools and Open Educational Resources. This included a wide range of multi and inter-disciplinary lectures in the following areas: Environmental impact of EBSs; Greener EM and their applications; Insensitive EM and their applications; Materials and techniques for ballistic protection (projectile, blast and shock effects mitigation); ICT tools for modeling and simulation of EBSs and protective equipment; Environmental and toxicology Life-Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of EBSs including the use of ICT tools. The main target group of the IPs were 62 (2x31/IP) students from MSc (or BAC + 4 years higher education students) and PhD study programmes related to EBS subject, from the partner universities. A broader target group was addressed by the dissemination activity, especially by the conferences organized after each IP. This group included more than 200 young teachers, researchers, specialists from industry and governmental organizations, active in the field of EBS. The main activities of the project consisted in: 2x10 days intensive study programmes (one IP/year, during two years); 2 multiplier events (one international conference/year, during two years and one international workshop) that brought together more than 300 participants, national and transnational specialists; 4 transnational project meetings and numerous dissemination activities. The main beneficiaries of the IPs were the participating students. They had the chance to acquire knowledge and skills in the area of greener and safer EBS under the coordination and supervision of renowned European teachers and researchers. These knowledge and skills gained in cutting edge technologies during the Intensive Study Programme should provide decisive competitiveness in the EBS industry and related governmental positions. The students had the chance of gaining experience of working in a international environment. The teachers also benefited through the exchange of ideas and best practice in the area of EBSs. The interdisciplinary approach of the IPs provided to the teachers and students a wider perspective over the field of greener and safer EBSs, and enhanced their skills in the area of didactic and pedagogical methods. The IPs will facilitate further development in the field of teacher and student mobility between the partner universities. The nature of the lectures and the broad spectrum of teachers provided new links and opportunities for new joint degree study programs or other form of collaborations (stages, publications). Besides the lectures taught during the IPs, the presentations and papers disseminated through the conferences, website, proceedings, posters etc., contributed to the education of numerous (more than 100) specialists from industry, government, academia, and research area. The implementation of the IPs increased the level of cross-cultural dialogue and cooperation by the involvement of students and teachers from four countries. It also provided to all the participants experience and new skills in the field of management and coordination of international cooperation projects. By implementing this IP the administrative structures of the partner universities enriched their experience regarding the management of Community Programmes. The staff involved in the project management gained experience in organising transnational and intercultural processes, methodologies and events, increasing their skills in development and implementation of EU programs.