<< Background >>Digital technologies are omnipresent, whether in science, business, politics or even in the most private spheres. It was though the COVID-19 pandemic that accelerated the pace, making clear that the future will require the workforce to adapt and learn new skills in a fast-moving technological landscape, the cultural sector included. To remain competitive, the cultural domains need to apply the technology-intense-experience to innovate along with an entrepreneurial mindset besides recruiting and retaining talents. Research undertaken however by the Partnership in 2020 has revealed: 1. CULTURAL CAPITAL DEFICIT: 90% of the EU citizens declare culture as important for everyday life (EUROSTAT:2018). The high demand for new contents online is an identified opportunity. However, cognitive-emotional accessibility to cultural content is alarmingly low, especially among the digitally innate youth. Thus, the digital transformation entails a fundamental questioning of central foundations of the cultural sphere and the digital (re-)production of culture. It is imperative to combat this gap with a new cultural pattern, that raise the awareness of the audience for semiotic codes and fosters critical thinking.2. 4th INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: e.g., the fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum/cloud computing, and other technologies. Still, the cultural supply stagnates in front of fossil professions with outdated skills languages/technologies, which result in the loss of this market (COUNCIL OF EUROPE, 2016: Culture 4D: Digitization, Data, Disruptions, Diversity; 2017: Empowering Democracy through Culture – Digital Tools for Culturally Competent Citizens). In this vein, Pact4Skills helps establish a new paradigm for upskilled pathways in the production of digital culture by addressing the changing nature of ICT, with multiple users interacting with multiple technologies 3. SUPPLY-DEMAND DIVERGENGE: Despite the fact that access to culture is a universal right, empowering personal/collective identities and critical thinking, in the PP 2007-2013 out of 47 billion EU Structural Funds, only 6 billion (1.7%) were allocated to culture; the reason is that its outputs are considered only of intellectual nature and are not appreciated as wealth generators. Along the lines, cultural and educational values were not recorded with dedicated indicators in the PP 2014-2020 (European Court of Auditors:2020). It is evident that the traditional generation of culture does not put cultural values in the heart of cultural planning and that public institutions have not yet developed feasible value propositions to adapting to the rising demands of experience seekers. To address this challenge, Pact4Skills shall employ a skills-shared reference code towards the generation of digital culture and open up new learning opportunities through the practical application of digital competences and entrepreneurial creativity.4. VIOLENCE CONTAMINATION IN THE DIGITAL SPHERE: Audiences are exposed to fraud, hate speech and fake news in an internet world that is projecting violence as a means for settling disputes (Stanford University 2018; Council of Europe Internet Recommendations 2016). Hollywood, Bollywood, disputable social contents in game alternate realities, discrimination and horror, invade the screens and the minds, without possibility for critical reflection and resistance. As the digital shell alone does not promote neither cultural values, nor the quality the cultural experience, or shared European identity, Pact4Skills proposes a CONTEXTUAL (R)EVOLUTION that can link cultural skills supply and demand with new fields of applications following the European Audiovisual and Media Services Directive/2018, which is providing rules to shape technological developments, disrupt violence contaminated content and preserve cultural diversity.<< Objectives >>Cultural heritage is consumed for very different and sometimes conflicting reasons. Still cultural institutions have not yet exploited the potential of digital culture to communicate their treasures, with many sites, museums and collections offering but silent objects to the audience. Pact4Skills empowers HED students in the generation of digital culture that can become a bridge between digital industries and cultural institutions by introducing validated skills and open new fields of applications. • GLOBAL OBJECTIVE to reconcile educational curricula/non-formal training and market demands for a competitive cultural sector. Sites such as EUROPEANA, the European Film Gateway or EU Screen now allow to access picture and sound recordings and videos, but technology alone does not solve all problems. Το boost innovation an integrative approach is adopted to address the unexploited potential of digital culture, replace obsolete skills and achieve a diversity of higher skills and competences as required by the EU Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 and promote entrepreneurship education as a transversal key competence in the cultural domains. Thus, 4 sub-objectives are set:• SO1: Research the needs of cultural agencies to develop domain specific innovation liaising results with the workforce. Pact4Skills identifies experienced based products and services and helps thus connect new skills and new jobs better matching job seekers' and labor markets' needs in the cultural sector: the digital narrative, offers more than any other medium an interactive experience and incorporates the most advanced technologies available while it becomes a stimulus for future creations. The Partnership is committed to promote the quality of the digital narrative, to improve standards in the design and production of digital artworks and encourage the inclusion of cultural education in the leisure time of the different audiences, thus gaining a new market to accommodate better paid jobs.• SO2: Stimulate entrepreneurial mind-sets by involving HED students into a cognitive-inquiry learning utilizing pervasive media/digital literacies hand-in-hand with rich contents and critical thinking. The heritage sector stagnates in front of the fossilization of professions with outdated skills and the use of outdated technologies that cause loss of audiences. Pact4Skills tackles this challenge with multiple pedagogies and comprehensive training schemes and tools, which provide evidence of interdisciplinary achievements, improve standards for cultural production and exploit technologies that facilitate the inclusion of higher skilled workers in the heritage sector.• SO3: Improve the transparency/recognition of qualifications/competences in the cultural domains. Pact4Skills shall investigates the production mechanisms in digital culture to formulate remedies for the quality of contents and define new paradigms of research and representation, to employ and replicate a market- shared reference code to meaning making. Pact4Skills improves sector alignment and employability at scale - such as portfolios of demonstrable evidence of applied and social skills, micro-credentials, and methods of accreditation which encourage constructive, creative, and passionate self-expression within any community of practice.• SO4: Reconcile the world of education and training and the world of work by embracing novel training practices and competences in the generation of cultural services and replicate the innovation across the EU and the cooperating countries. Pact4Skills investigates entrepreneurial and skill needs in the heritage sphere to assist actors become responsive to demand and labor market needs and identify a new generation of culture-driven products. Training of work forces and creating new products that bring the work to follow the development and meet market demands is the main educational task.<< Implementation >>Pact4Skills is remodeling the skills supply- demand pattern at museums and collections operating in the new service economy towards the promotion of creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and a new digital, intercultural and entrepreneurial skills set as per the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Deal. To achieve the goals aforementioned Pact4Skills is structured in a multilayered fashion.PART I: PROJECT MANAGEMENT which includes 5 Activities: A1: Management/AdministrationA2: Coordination including 6 transnational project meetings and project management workshopsA3: Monitoring and Implementation of the Physical and Financial Object of the ProjectA4: Reporting as per Guides of the Erasmus+ Program 2021-2027A5: Quality Control including a Quality Assurance Plan and a Risk Management Plan.PART II: PROJECT COMMUNICATION is a paper-free and low carbon implementation which includes 3 Activities2.1: Development of Media Tools (The Pact4Skills Website & Training Platform and the Social Media Toolkit) 2.2. The Target Group Strategy (The Pact4Skills Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan; 7 Press Events; 4 Multiplier Events; International Conference; Launch Event of the DIGITAL STARTUP Ecosystem)2.3 The Pact4Skills Extroversion Toolkit (The Visual Tools; Factsheets; Project Ad Spot) PART III: PHYSICAL OBJECT OF THE PROJECT, comprising 5 planned results:A.THE BLUPRINT FOR TRANSVERSAL AND RESILIENT SKILLS IN DIGITAL CULTURE, which includes6 Focus Groups, the Joint Survey in Skills Needs in the Museum Sector in the Project Area and the resulting Research Report with policy recommendations. B.THE Pact4Skills PEDAGOGY TO SUPPORT THE GENERATION OF DIGITAL CULTURE IN MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS which becomes the Digital Co-Working Space for 90 HED students at Partnership level and is structured in 4 web-based transnational tutorials (Cultural Resources; Digital Products and Services; Quality Experiences; Service Design). The Activity concludes with the Pact4Skills Portfolio and the OPEN ACCESS Digital Co-Working Space for Museum MentorsC.CO-CREATING TRANSVERSAL KEY COMPETENCES TO MOTIVATE HED STUDENTS VENTURE IN DIGITAL CULTURE offers the Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) with 4 Modules {M01(The Museum Competence Area); M02(Ideas and Opportunities); M03(Assets in Museums and Collections); M04(The Experience Design)} and formulates the Experience Designer Skills Set, which culminates in the professional profile of the “Museum Mentor”, which will be recognized by an Open Digital Badge. The activity is competed by an Open Access Cultural Resource Kit, a diverse media-format eLib and the Pact4Skills Mediathek which will be compiled with validated audiovisual materials across 36 training activities and 34 project events with trainees, stakeholders, the media and the game players/users of the web app. D. LEADING HED STUDENTS TO REWIND THE MUSEUM SUPPLY EXPLOITING THE POWERS OF DIGITAL CULTURE. 3 Activities are devoted to develop a cultural audience, design and deliver a digital experience and implement the Digital Game Prototype. Part D is concluded with the Digital Startup Ecosystem, the pool of (90 HED students, co-creators and stakeholders, which will inherit the Project Legacy and the Training Infrastructure.E. THE JOINT RECOGNITION OF SKILLS TO ATTRACT EMPLOYERS AND NETWORKS. 3 Activities are envisaged: 6 Novel Digital Cultural Services and the Joint Web App; the Open Digital Badge, devoted to the recognition of skills and the Policy Handbooks for the GLAM Sector.F. Pact3Skills co-designs with partners and 90 HED students the web app, that is the ultimate digital expression of the training, the values and the contents of the Project. The WEB APP teaches students how to qualify for content and the design process to successfully address an international, multigenerational audience via storytelling and trigger the interaction with artworks and heritage items.<< Results >>Pact4Skills is remodeling the skills supply-demand pattern in the museum sector, which operates in the new service economy towards the promotion of creativity and entrepreneurial: the innovation of Pact4Skills lies in the design and delivery of a new SKILLS PORTFOLIO in the generation of digital culture that allow European museums to launch a culture-driven new service of cognitive and emotional nature, addressing multiple audiences and technologies to unlock the values of cultural heritage. In this way Pact4Skills helps establish a new paradigm for upskilled pathways in digital culture by addressing the changing nature of ICT, with multiple users interacting with multiple technologies. Training and certifying 90 HED students in the Project Area Pact4Skills solidify common standards in the generation of digital culture, a key to European culture and identity. To effectively address the skills-job mismatch in digital culture, Pact4Skills supports transversal key competences, integrating acquired skills and media formats into the cultural domains through the creation of a new value-driven narrative with commercialization potential and the direct involvement of the audience. 24 quality standards for cultural heritage communication reshape public procurements benefiting authorities, the self-employed and cultural agencies throughout Europe. RESULT VIABILITY PLANAt the Project Closure Pact4Skills launches the legal association DIGITAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM, which inherits the PROJECT LEGACY and ensures the long-term viability of achieved results with 90 HED students and 69 stakeholders’ memberships.PACT4SKILLS RESULTS: Pact4Skills develops a highly replicable TRAINING INFRASTRUCURE, which includes:8 SKILLS-BASED INNOVATIONS―6 Digital Cultural Services generated by 90 HED students in CY/FR10/GE11ΚΗ/ITF5/NL329/EL42―The Open Digital Badge―The Digital Startup Ecosystem 36 TRAINING TOOLS & SKILLS BUIDING ACTIVITIES ―4 Web-based Tutorials ―4 Transnational Study Visits―1 Massive Online Open Course 4.0; ―4 Modules―The Open Access MEDIATHEK―10 C1 Activities in situ―The Experience Designer Skills Set ―The eLib―4 Collaborative Working Spaces (MIRO, ZOOM, MURAL, G-SUITE)―The Audience Development Exercise―The Experience Design Exercise―The 6 Service Prototypes (Practical Co-Working Training)21 STRATEGIES, METHODOLOGIES, & RESEARCH REPORTS ―18 Focus Groups Guidelines―Skills Assessment Survey ―Research Report―The Pact4Skills Portfolio for Museum Mentors61 RECOMMENDATIONS & COMMON POSITIONS 30 Recommendations for the skills updates30 Skills Needs detectedThe Pact4Skills Policy Handbook for the GLAM Sector1 EVALUATION & QUALITY ASSURANCE TOOL ―Quality Assurance PlanPUBLICATIONS (8)8 Peer Reviewed Academic Publications14 LOW CARBON COMMUNICATION TOOLS ―Project Website ―Social Media Campaign―Communication, Dissemination and Visibility Plan―Project Advertisement Spot―6 Factsheets―2 Press Conferences ―The Pact4Skills Visual Identity Kit ―Project e-Brochure12 PROJECT MANAGEMENT, ADMINITRATION, COORDINATION AND MONITORING TOOLS ―Steering Group Committee―Quality Control Committee―6 PM Meetings―PM Toolkit―Evaluation Plan―Interim Report―Final Report34 PROJECT DRIVEN EVENTS ―6 Focus Groups ―4 Web-based Tutorials―4 Transnational Training Events―6 Press Events ―4 Multiplier Events (incl. the International Conference and the Launch Event for the DIGITAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM) ―10 C1 Training ActivitiesPact4Skills adopts a holistic definition of learning needs, i.e. including hard and soft skills as well as competences and interdisciplinary knowledge. The Pact4Skills pedagogies, tested across 24M in CY/FR10/GE11ΚΗ/ITF5/NL329/EL42 and comprehensive training schemes and tools provide evidence of interdisciplinary achievements, improve standards for cultural production and exploit technologies that facilitate the inclusion of HED graduates in the labor market.

ESTA aims to improve the quality of Higher Education professional development of university science teacher educators staff towards teaching diverse sensitive methods in their courses. Thus, courses on diversity sensitive science teaching will be implemented in Georgia, the Philippines, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Starting from the needs analysis linguistic and cultural diversity is major focus here. In phase one, preparation will be done by Academic Staff Tour of Partner institutions in Program Countries. Second phase is development of courses following Action Research and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach, their implementation and evaluation. Innovative here is the interdisciplinary development of the courses, where educators from science disciplines develop their teaching methods cooperatively with educators from language, general pedagogy and intercultural education departments. Thus, different competences and skills will be combined. Both pre- and in-service teachers should be reached by the courses and the knowledge and skills about diversity science teaching should be shared. Following new teaching and learning materials for diverse science classes will be developed and implemented. This aims improving learning outcomes. Developed courses will be implemented at the partner institutions and promoted at the regional and national level among decision makers and policy makers. All new teaching and learning as well training materials will be offered at the ESTA website in the meaning of OER and will be evaluable not only to the participants of the courses but also to other interested pre- and in-service science teachers. Thus, possibilities of internationalization and networking is given.

LOVEDISTANCE project foresees to improve the access to and quality of inclusive higher education for minority ethnic groups, women in disadvantaged situations and in peripheral areas and disabled students in Israel and Georgia by supporting institutional capacities through the reinforcement and provision of student support services in both countries. The project also aims to enhance the access to education within and outside the classroom throughout a digital environment. Herein, courses already developed within the context of reinforcing the academic skills of target groups will be more accessible. The project reflects the importance to raise awareness on accessibility issues within Israel and Georgia as well as the necessity to ensure the long-term effect impact of the project for the benefit of women in vulnerable situation and minority ethnic groups.

The general aim of the proposed project is to enhance the quality of higher education by developing and implementing technology - enhanced teaching and learning in Georgian Higher Education Institutions. It aims to empower academic staff at Georgian HEIs in the innovative educational technology adoption in curriculum reform and course design; to improve the level of competences and skills in HEIs by developing new and innovative education programmes and providing trainings for academic staff to enhance their digital competences and skills’; to diversify the delivery methods, including on-line/blended teaching.The specific objectives of the project are: To Design and pilot new online/blended courses for GE HEIs BA and MA programs in line with EU best practices; To Design and conduct F2F/online/blended professional development training courses for GE HEI faculty and online instructors; To develop a common platform for online teaching and learning for GE HEIs; To disseminate best practices at institutional and national level via online platform, in-service teacher trainings and National Conference.The main target groups are students, academic staff and pre-/in-service teachers. All the activities within the project are planned in a way to address the needs of these target groups, which lead to the achievement of the overall objective of the project - to enhance the quality of higher education by developing and implementing technology - enhanced teaching and learning in Georgian Higher Education Institutions.GE institutions within the proposed project consider extremely important to develop and implement technology-enhanced learning and innovative teaching and learning strategies for the capacity building in higher education and creating conditions for learning and teaching in digital environment.

Georgia ratified the UN Convention on the right of persons with disabilities in 2014; However PwDs still experience unequal approach and their rights are frequently violated. Low professional competence of school teachers towards working with pupils with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN ) is one of the main factors influencing quality of inclusive education in Georgian schools. Till now no university in the country has an academic program in special education - at the same time there are about 1500 special teachers working in schools- without proper knowledge and academic diploma/certificate. The training program in inclusive education carried out by the National Centre for Teacher Professional Development is an only way for teachers to enhance professional competence in this regard. With existed curriculum GEO HEIs cannot deal with two main challenges the country has towards inclusive education - (1) Special teachers' proper education - providing them with academic knowledge and diploma/certificate and (2) subject teachers’ low competence towards working with pupils wit SEN - ensuing them with proper education at the university and provide with related continuing education programs. The project is focused on development new academic modules in special education that will be integrated in teacher education program at four GEO HEIS - graduates from the program, future subject/general school teachers will have a proper knowledge to work with pupils with SEN. In addition the certificate program in special education creates opportunities to prepare special teachers with academic knowledge and diploma; short term training programs gives opportunities to school/ field practitioners to refresh professional capacity in inclusive education. And finally strong network of professionals (academicians, school practitioners, NGO/DPO and state agencies) arranged with the frame of the project will create good background for better police and practice.