<< Objectives >>We aim to create a Maker ABC, a guide for the exchange of best practices between stakeholders of the maker movement, a contemporary subculture, promoting the values of environmentally conscious design and production, community engagement and sustainable business modeling, in line with the UN sustainable development goals.<< Implementation >>The project activities include:- three adult education training on essential areas of focus: entrepreneurship, sustainable development and community engagement, for adult learners, representative of the maker movement: makerspace coordinators, makers, educators, policy experts- The Maker ABC, a best practices guide to be used as a tool to support entrepreneurs and educators- meetings with local and international representatives of the maker movement - sharing of best practices with the gen<< Results >>1) the development of key competences for adult learners connected with the maker movement.2) the creation of synergies between local and international actors of the maker movement.3) The Maker ABC Best Practices Guide - a methodology on how entrepreneurship, sustainable development and community engagement can support actors involved in the maker movement to thrive and to raise awareness about the maker movement among policy makers

<< Background >>CONTEXTThere is growing recognition and awareness that nature can help provide viable solutions that use and deploy the properties of natural ecosystems services in order to address urban environmental, social and economic challenges. The European Commission (EC) defines NBS as “Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions”.The EC has several objectives focusing on NBS, being one of them the advancement in “the development, uptake and upscale of innovative NBS”. In order to reach this objective, the EC has funded several NBS implementation projects under the H2020 programme (EdiCitNet, CLEVER Cities, proGIreg, URBiNAT, CONNECTING Nature, GrowGreen, UrbanGREENUP, UNALAB, CLEARING HOUSE, REGREEN, RECONECT, Operandum, MyBuildingIsGree). Cities are showing a growing interest in the integration of NBS to address urban challenges. Currently, NBS projects for cities are mainly developed by external entities specialized with the necessary knowledge to develop such complex projects, where experts from the fields of botany (e.g. plants resistant to pollution), technology (e.g. irrigation, impermeabilization), design (e.g. integration of the project in the existing urban environment) and economy (e.g. economic impacts of the implementation of NBS as savings in the Health sector, possibility to create extra incomes for citizens as in the case of urban cultivation) are required. In order to further strengthen the integration of NBS in cities, experts working in the public sector need to be empowered and trained with a transdisciplinary knowledge. In turn, this will help: (1) introduce NBS projects in the cities with more efficient action plans and visions targeted at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG 13 Climate Action; (2) integrate NBS in the urban and climate action plans; (3) develop new innovative NBS projects; and (4) receive,implement, and manage NBS projects developed by external entities.<< Objectives >>“Green Skills 4 Cities” aims to establish a transdisciplinary educational platform targeted at the development of skills in the field of NBS implementation in cities. The project will bring together trainers and learners from the fields of botany, technology, design, and economy and cities involving them in an unique transdisciplinary learning environment aiming at the development of curricula targeted at working in the public sector.GOALS:The project goals are: > Develop curricula of professionals targeted at NBS implementation, thus increasing cities sustainability; > Increase the quality and relevance of higher education, focusing on the transdisciplinary dimension, to better respond to the labour market needs;> Reinforce networks in the field of urban sustainable development, establishing collaborations between HEIs, RTOs and Municipalities, thus facilitating the introduction of the learners in the labour market;> Produce results that are reusable, transferable, up-scalable.CONCRETE OBJECTIVES:In order to reach these goals, the project has the following specific objectives:> OBJ 1 Setting up a “Training for Trainers” Programme to enable trainers to develop transdisciplinary educational formats for learners;> OBJ 2 Setting up a “Long-term Programme” aimed at creating a transdisciplinary educational format embedded in each of the participating Educational Institutions academic programmes;> OBJ 3 Setting up a “Short-term Programme” aimed at the development of a one week format for professionals (lifelong learning);> OBJ 4 Setting up a series of dissemination activities in order to promote the upscaling and replication of the project. All the activities will be jointly designed and implemented by municipalities and HEIs and RTOs.<< Implementation >>The project is going to implement educational activities with the following characteristics:> Trainers will be trained to work in a transdisciplinary environment, incorporating teaching methodologies from other disciplines;> Curricula will be jointly developed by Educational Institutions and Municipalities;> Learners will work on the Urban Challenges defined by the Municipalities;> Municipalities will review the work of the learners;> Trainers and learners will be involved in a transdisciplinar environment learning about botany, technology, design, and economy;> In the three training programmes (Training for Trainers, Short-term and Long-term Programmes) learners will receive classes with “Flip Teaching” methodology: they study the resources made available online and the theoretical transdisciplinary classes are used to solve doubts, consolidate knowledge, and envision new ideas;> Theoretical transdisciplinary classes will be given online at the same time to all the learners participating from the different countries;> Within the Long-term Programme, students from different disciplines will work online to jointly develop a project targeted at the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions for a specific municipality;> Within the Long-term Programme, the “Learning by Doing” methodology will be applied: design students will build a working prototype of the project jointly developed with the other students, thus testing its performances.<< Results >>The project outcomes and results will be related to the project objectives:OUTCOME 1 - “TRAINING FOR TRAINERS” (related to OBJ 1):“Training for Trainers” is aimed at enabling trainers to develop transdisciplinary education formats for students.It will include:> educational resources aimed at enhancing the transdisciplinary skills of the trainers and to allow them to co-design the “Long-Term Programme” and “Short-term Programme”. They include the description of the basic concepts and fundamentals of each discipline and the teaching pedagogy and methodology.OUTCOME 2 - “LONG-TERM PROGRAMME” (related to OBJ 2):The “Long-term Programme” is an educational format embedded in the academic programmes. The learners will be selected within the students of the 3 educational institutions (IAAC, UNIGE, WU). It aims to form professionals able to work in municipalities and public bodies on urban sustainability enhancement through the implementation of NBS. The students will be involved in a transdisciplinary theoretical module and a practical module in which they will cooperate transnationally towards the development of a project addressing urban challenges selected by the cities.It will include:> Curriculum and guidelines for the “Long-term programme” - report including the characteristics of the curricula developed, the students selection process, the guidelines for the course implementation, the evaluation implementation procedure.> educational resources (e.g. books, videos, etc.) addressing botany and technology dimension, design dimension and economic dimension.OUTCOME 3 - “SHORT TERM PROGRAMME”(related to OBJ 3):The “Short-term Programme” is a 5 days long educational format targeted at lifelong learning. It aims to introduce the participants with the key concepts related to urban sustainability and NBS implementation and guide them to a better understanding of the theory through the development of a practical exercise. The learners will be professionals, employees of municipalities and public bodies and university students in the fields of botany, design, architecture, urban planning, engineering, business. The learners will be involved in a transdisciplinary theoretical module and a practical module in which they will develop a project addressing local urban challenges selected by the cities.It will include:> Curriculum and guidelines for the “Short-term programme” - report including the characteristics of the curricula developed, the learners selection process, the guidelines for the course implementation, the evaluation implementation procedure.> Educational resources (e.g. books, videos, etc.) addressing botany and technology dimension, design dimension and economic dimension.OUTCOME 4 - “DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES”(related to OBJ 4):The dissemination activities will take place along the entire duration of the project. They will be done through the use of online media channels (e.g. the website and social media channels of the project and of each partner, through external platforms and journals, etc.) and through 7 multiplier events specifically organised to promote the main results of the project and foster its replication. In detail:3 National Symposiums, one for each country where the programmes will be implemented, to disseminate the results of the whole project. 1 Webinar to promote the educational programmes and to present the NBS projects produced by the learners to municipalities and public bodies.1 Webinar to promote the results of the Training for Trainers programme to Higher Educational Institutions and RTOs.1 Webinar to promote the results of the Long-Term Programmeto Higher Educational Institutions and RTOs, municipalities, public bodies and students.1 Webinar to promote the results of the Short-Term Programme to Higher Educational Institutions and RTOs, municipalities, public bodies, students and professionals.

The creative sector is an important actor for the development of societies, economy and emerging futures. Important components of this growth have been advertising, visual communications and design. According to an independent study by Deloitte (Value of Advertising, 2017), every Euro spent on advertising approximately adds seven euro to the GDP. The EUR 92 billion spent on advertising in 2014 in the EU contributed EUR 643 billion to the GDP, representing 4.6% of the overall EU GDP. Additionally, there are as many as six million jobs in advertising in the EU, equivalent to 2.6% of all EU employment.Creativity is also becoming increasingly valued by people across commercial sectors, with research led businesses such as McKinsey finding strong correlation between creativity and financial performance (Mckinsey: Creativity's Bottom Line, 2017). With digital and mobile technologies becoming an increasingly important facet of modern life, it is necessary to ensure that the skills taught in education match the pace of innovation. Among various European stakeholders, there is great concern on the need to address the gap between the changing needs of the industry and the availability of a highly skilled workforce at the EU level. This challenge is widely described in policy documents such as the Digital Education Action Plan, the report on a coherent EU policy for cultural and creative industries, A new skills agenda for Europe, the Council Recommendations on key competences for lifelong learning or A new European Agenda for Culture, among many others.On the industry's side, each year D&AD uses the insight that it gets from the 20,000 pieces of work entered into its professional awards along with the thousands of student award entries to identify the gap between what is taught in universities and colleges and the skills required by the creative industry.Drawn on a detailed analysis of needs from D&AD and Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE), Bridging the Creativity Gap will focus on skills such as Storytelling, Ideation & Critical thought, Prototyping, Craft, Digital (UX, UI) for the following targeted audiences:The student: those studying - advertising, branding, visual communications, graphic design, service design, product design, interactive design, UX and UI - and the emerging creatives entering the market, with and without professional experience.The tutor: those teaching the above-stated subjects both in VET and Higher Education as well as in-company tutors for the creative industry.In Bridging the Creativity Gap, D&AD, ADCE, Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia | Fab Lab Barcelona (IAAC), KERSNIKOVA Institute | Rampa and University of Oulu will partner to attain the following objectives:(1) To produce a Learning Curriculum encompassing those skills demanded by the creative industry to enable the prosperous incorporation into the industry and career development. (2) To explore a global-local framework for shifting the content of learning and the mechanisms by which it is delivered to more closely mirror the challenges of the creative industry. (3) To design, create and validate interactive OERs (videos, podcasts, tutorials) to properly address the skills gaps among BCG target groups. (4) To promote creative industry VET tutors’ professional development, adapting their key competences to the new challenges (eg. digital and technological innovations) (5) To showcase, disseminate and replicate proven methodologies, tools and practices for the EU creative VET ecosystem. Bridging the Creativity Gap will produce:- Five Intellectual Outputs (i) Learning Curriculum. Competence Matrix (skills and indicators including a paper/study).(ii) methodological toolkit(iii) set of OERs (videos, podcasts, articles, tutors guides) (iv) Teachers’ guidelines. Tutors guidelines, a comprehensive approach for building capacity skills for creative students (facilitation and evaluation handbook (v) Quality Assurance Framework- Two Short-term joint staff training events in London and Barcelona- One blended mobility of VET learners activity in Ljubljana- Two multiplier events in London (D&AD's New Blood Festival) and Barcelona (ADCE's High Potential) addressing an overall audience of at least 200 professionals, students, tutors and stakeholders from the EU creative sector.BCG's activities and results will contribute to reaching a wide impact at the local, regional, national and European levels among the project's participating organisations as well as BCG's targeted groups

<< Background >>According to the National Academy of Engineering, engineers today work in diverse and diffuse teams, often across time zones and national borders. However, shortly engineers will have an even more diverse environment to work in and more significant humanity's issues to solve than ever before. The project highlights and addresses three main problems: 1. Sense of innovation, critical thinking, and a holistic view are significant capabilities for engineers. However, activities intended to develop these abilities are missing (or are not fully applied) in HE study programmes. Modern world engineers need to solve problems from innovative, sustainable and social perspectives. 2. In Europe, there is a lack of engineering study programs based on CDIO (conceive-design-implement-operate) methodology, which adds the transdisciplinary approach to the learning practises. Instead, study programs usually are created based on a traditional and well-known project- and problem-based learning method (PBL). 3. The innovative and modern engineering education programs usually have limited availability (e.g. study programs available to a particular HEI or a specific network (e.g. to members of Design Factory Global Network or FabLabs).Therefore, the “Makers Academy: Developing Future Engineer’s Skills” (MAKEADEMY) project addresses the need to supplement the HE engineering study programs with an innovative solution-oriented and widely available program as a platform to recognise and engage with the macro-ethical, adaptive and cross-disciplinary challenges embedded in professional issues.With this need, the MAKEADEMY project aims to develop the soft & missing skillset of future engineers, which are not just technicians but also are sustainable world creators taking account of the transdisciplinary perspective & with the incentive of solving real-life problems from multiple perspectives.<< Objectives >>OBJECTIVES:The concrete objectives of the project are to: 1. Improve the HE engineering studies while creating and developing a widely available and flexible framework of study module MAKEADEMY (O1). 2. Develop the transdisciplinary oriented study materials applicable to a wide range of engineering disciplines, in which engineers are involved in all phases of a product life cycle (O2). 3. Develop the hardware production skills of HE students, essential for the O2 activities' implementation, while creating a prototyping study materials (O3);4. Make developed study materials (O2&O3) publicly available via Open Educational Resources (OER) & Future Engineers E-Learning Platform (O4). 5. Test & improve created project results while training the first generation of HE students through learning, teaching, training event. TARGET GROUPS:DIRECT:a) HE INSTITUTIONS, who wish to increase & strengthen the HE engineering studies with innovative study module;b) HE STUDENTS, which will be prepared for the fast-changing labour market with their gained skills for innovation. INDIRECT:c) MAKERSPACES and other creative TECHNICAL SPACES, who wish to empower their infrastructure while implementing OERs (O2&O3) in their daily work. d) Other creative COMMUNITIES and members of SOCIETY (e.g. workers of public libraries, primary school teachers, etc.), who wish to gain skills in rapid prototyping and use it in their daily work or for individual reasons.<< Implementation >>The main activities of the project are:1. PROJECT COORDINATION & MANAGEMENTVILNIUS TECH will lead project coordination and management. This activity will help to deliver project results in time & as expected. It will assure that the project is going as planned in the workbook and all the partner organisations are working according to their roles.2. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPACT ACTIVITYThe leading organisation of Quality Assurance and Impact activity (AU) will prepare an impact evaluation strategy and will be responsible for the quality control and impact measurement. The QA standards will be defined at the beginning of the project.3. CREATING 1ST PROJECT RESULT (OUTPUT NO 1) – A FRAMEWORK OF A STUDY MODULE MAKEADEMYThis result will enable universities to have a practice-oriented study programme that better meets the labour market needs. It also helps to improve the skills of HEIs teachers and engage the students with the study process4. CREATING THE OER FOR CREATIVE INNOVATORS (O2)The OER will improve abilities to foster students' creativity & creative business development. Also, it will result in new soft skills for engineering students & increased entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurship opportunities. 5. CREATING THE OER FOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT (O3)The developed study materials on rapid prototyping will improve students’ technical skills, provide better knowledge of what the labour market needs, and also will foster digital fabrication and use of digital tools. 6. DEVELOPING THE E-LEARNING PLATFORM (O4)Developing the E-learning platform will ensure free and easy findable access for all project results. A wider audience of HEIs teachers and students will have access to created materials. 7. DISSEMINATION & SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIESDissemination and sustainability activities will help effectively reach and impact target audiences across the participating countries and beyond. Also, this workflow will ensure that project's deliverables are highly replicable and extendable.<< Results >>TANGIBLE RESULTS 1. O1: The framework of a study module MAKEADEMY. The framework will consist of all the steps needed to implement, apply and organise the study module MAKEADEMY.2. O2: Open Educational Resources for creative innovators. The OER will consist of study materials based on a Conceive —Design —Implement —Operate (CDIO) methodology. 3. O3: Open Educational Resources for skills development: Everything about Prototyping. The OER will consist of study materials focusing on hardware production. 4. O4: Future Engineers E-Learning platform, which will give direct access to OER for educators, students and other stakeholders.5. Learning/teaching/training activity – the Future Engineer’s Hackathon. INTANGIBLE RESULTS1. At least 50-60 HEIs (10-12 in each partner country) will be informed about the study module MAKEADEMY. At least 20 HEIs (4 in each partner country) will use the framework O1 and implement the study module in their study programmes within the first year after the project ends. 2. At least 2500 HE educators and students (100 per partner and year during the project lifespan) will use OER (O2&O3). 3. At least 3000 visitors (1000 visitors per year during the project lifespan) will visit the project's Future Engineers E-Learning platform (O4). 4. At least 1000 (200 per partner contacts) new contacts will be knowledgeable and committed to disseminate the project's outputs to a wider audience. 5. 20 HE students will benefit from MAKEADEMY Hackathon activities during the project's learning/teaching/training event;6. 10 HE educators will learn about the MAKEADEMY study module during the project's training event; 7. Project partners will deepen their knowledge in the innovation and hardware production field & its importance to HE engineering students and build a long term collaboration mechanism within and beyond project partnership.

"Recognising climate change as one of the greatest threats to life on Earth, the EU pledged to be the first climate-neutral continent. Aligned with this challenge, COCOON aims to promote positive changes in industry and education. A large-scale project to accelerate transfer and co-creation of knowledge in the field of biodesign and biofabrication, CoCoon brings together a team of experts belonging to 5 institutions, 4 from EU, committed to share experiences and develop new knowledge to contribute for a greener future. The project will identify suitable living bio-based solutions used to produce materials that replace fossil based materials. CoCoon will develop methodologies, pilots and test processes for teaching bio-design to educators and students at universities, vocational schools and life-long learners; systematise procedures for implementation in the curricula of different learning systems. The objective is to increase awareness of the most promising existing technologies globally and empower people to find alternative ways of making more environmentally sustainable products. It also advocates sustainable open access policy to workshops (green-labs) that enable the innovative use of bio-based products and materials. By applying a ""learning by doing"" methodology, the project will: a) map the state of the art of bio and green labs; b) identify levels of safety and define terms of use; c) propose a best practice guide defining goals and strategies for infrastructure, human and material resources, maintenance, and knowledge update; and d) transfer knowledge to a broader audience of trainers, learners, makers, and the market. In addition, Cocoon’s policy observatory will: a) map related policies and stakeholders; b) develop and validate through participatory processes; and c) transfer resulting policies propositions through workshops and recommendations."