Most professionals involved in the design and building construction sector state, that the age of sustainable high-rise timber buildings has started. They agree that timber is an ideal material when grown in sustainably managed forests. It is being used more and more extensively in the building and construction industry. This movement regarding the construction of high-rise timber buildings is transnational and is being implemented in the EU and worldwide, for example in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. However, education in high-rise timber construction is still very limited, especially in Europe. Most HEIs in the EU, that have technical degrees in design, construction and materials for high-rise buildings have curricular implementing the studies of concrete and steel, being prefabricated or manufactured on site. Normally, education in construction from timber focuses on 1 to 2 storey timber buildings (one family houses, etc.). However, architects and engineering companies are already working on sustainable high-rise timber buildings of up to 16 stories high. Thus, there is an urgent need to educate students with innovative applied skills needed in this area at an undergraduate degree level.The wider objective of this project was to develop a trans-disciplinary and transnational course/ elective element in the EU HEIs in the design, construction and management of sustainable high-rise timber buildings in order to enhance the quality and relevance of students’ knowledge and skills for future labour market needs. The project was implemented by five higher education institutions from Denmark, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Portugal, Estonia and Lithuanian Study and Consulting Center together with Estonian Woodhouse Association.The specific objectives of the project were:1) To strategically research at which level the sustainable design, construction and management of high-rise timber buildings are to be planned and implemented in the partner countries.2) To educate all participants (students, teachers, entrepreneurs) in the field of the sustainability and the emerging global problems. 3) To develop and implement the new strategic trans-disciplinary module/elective element, which meets the needs of the HEIs and market representatives, fulfils the future challenges of sustainable design and construction of high-rise timber buildings.4) To improve competencies of students and teachers in problem solving and team work, innovative thinking, motivation, awareness of cross-professional project input and project management by using project-based learning approach.5) To ensure open awareness of the project results to local, national, EU level and international target groups.Working in international in trans-disciplinary groups, participants increased their knowledge, motivation and obtained a wider view of today’s rapidly growing environmental problems, faced in our planet, for example green-house gas emissions, carbon and ecological foot printing, as a background to explain why the use of sustainable timber in high-rise buildings and construction is important for the future world-wide construction industry.35 teachers from five universities have enhanced competences on innovative module development and teaching strategies, by taking part in intensive trainings, workshops, development of intellectual outputs. They have learnt about the most challenging issues in design, construction and management of sustainable high-rise timber buildings and are using their knowledge and skills in daily education and research activities.The new module was jointly developed by academic staff and business enterprises. The module was integrated into the existing study programmes, thus undergraduate students have direct access to outcomes of the project. 82 students participated in intensive short-time mobility periods and worked together on real projects. Students gained innovative knowledge on HiTimber issues, moreover, by project-based learning they improved their skills in critical thinking, problem solving, group working, negotiation, reaching consensus, taking responsibility for their own learning and social participation. Thus, HEIs have opportunity to educate new professionals, who will be able to apply their knowledge and contribute to the design, construction and management of high-rise timber buildings in labour market. Stakeholders, e.g. public authorities, professional associations, building entrepreneurial associations and private companies were in-depth involved in the process of definition of the new professional profile, development of the new module and teaching materials.By sharing innovative knowledge to all target groups the HiTimber project contributed to the extension of knowledge in the HEIs and building industry by disseminating idea of sustainable buildings constructed in timber to give an overall European context in the sustainable and construction sector.

"Young people’s participation in education, employment and society could be negatively affected by issues such as poverty, social marginalisation and discrimination. Social inclusion is a top priority for the EU and it is also high on our agenda as project partners. We feel strongly about being more well-equipped to include disadvantaged youths in Judo training and the activities of the Judo clubs that are affiliated to our federations. The Malta Judo Federation in collaboration with 6 other federations from Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Estonia and Denmark will be undertaking a Strategic Partnership supporting the exchange of best practices, entitled 'Empowering Ourselves to Empower Youths'. The project will last 8 months from September 2016 until June 2017, bringing together 21 participants from different European countries to share their experience and gain more knowledge through discussions, videos and research. These 21 participants will be 2 coaches and one disadvantaged youth from each country participating in the project.As a result of our project, we will publish and distribute guidelines on how to better integrate disadvantaged youths during training and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Our project will also result in improved competences in dealing with disadvantaged youths from the perspective of Judo coaches and other organisation staff who work directly with disadvantaged youths. In terms of methodology, our project will not only involve the seven Judo federations mentioned above but also all 43 of the other Judo federations that together with us make up the European Judo Union (EJU). This will mean that the guidelines resulting from this project will be applicable and of interest to all EJU federations. This cooperation will take place through constant communication through e-mail, virtual conferencing and social media. Also, the seven disadvantaged youths participating in our project will act as intermediaries between us and disadvantaged young people who practice Judo from across Europe. To achieve this they will be blogging, promoting the project and attracting participation through social media and being active on online forums so that disadvantaged youths can give us their feedback and opinions anonymously should they wish. The objectives of the project are: > Exchanging best practices (highlighting success stories)> Understanding better the link between sports and youth development, which is essential for coaches who work closely and regularly with youths > Learning how to promote and encourage the active participation of youths and a healthy lifestyle, which is an informal learning experience > Improving coaches' communication skills, to better communicate with and understand the young Judokas - including learning about the type of communication tools which may be used during training > Developing a set of guidelines applicable to all 50 European Judo Union federations on engaging disadvantaged youths These objectives will be achieved through the following activities: > Remote cooperation through an online platform that will also serve as a website for the project. We will tackle a different topic each month: Month #1: Introductions and the definition of ""disadvantaged""Month #2: Exchange of best practices Month #3: PilotingMonth #4: Sharing success stories Month #5: The guidelines> Transnational project meeting lasting 5 days to continue sharing best practices (based on the piloting of activities in the previous month) and to finalise the first draft of the guidelines> Consultation with stakeholders to gather their feedback on the guidelines, to make any necessary amendments before publishing them> Project conclusion and final evaluation By the end of this project, the participant will have the experience how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, how sports will keep them active not only physically but also as an active citizenship, the ability to work in a team and to cope with conflicts. All partners participating in this project will benefit from having coaches and other personnel within their organisation enhance the competences they already have in working with young people, promoting youth development through sport."