"<< Background >>The European Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 aims to foster a high-performing digital education ecosystem, and to enhance digital skills and competences for the digital age and specifies “online, distance and blended learning” as specific examples of how technology can be used to improve and support teaching and learning.In 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced and accelerated the development and use of digital technologies in education. Higher education institutions (HEIs) switched very fast and to a large extent to online learning. While digital technologies enabled many students to continue their studies during the pandemic, it also proved a barrier for others. One main concern of stakeholders regarding digital transformation in education is how to ensure access, equity and inclusion and how to prevent “digital divides”. Yet the COVID-19 crisis is considered a “turning point” for technology use in teaching and learning, creating a sense of urgency, which provided continuity for education, but at the same time, led millions of students to drop out due to digital divide and other structural barriers (UNICEF, 2020). Current studies show that lack of a convenient learning place has been a barrier for students to participate in education during the pandemic (Baticulon et al., 2021; Kapasia et al., 2020).The dramatic rise of online, distance and blended learning in higher education has increased the extent and variation of learning activities, which take place outside of formal learning spaces, including synchronous/asynchronous and individual/collaborative online learning activities, in which students participate while they are physically in different locations. Due to the eroding boundaries between online and offline, the construction of space must be reconsidered. Research studies show that an integrated understanding of ""Onlife Spaces"" leads to changes of existing physical places and evokes the activation of new physical places.While barrier-free design has been recognised as precondition for inclusion, recent research findings provide broad evidence on the impact of physical learning environments on learners’ health, well-being and performance. These findings are increasingly being taken into account in the design and management of formal campus learning spaces, like seminar rooms or lecture halls. Although it is known, that students spend more time in informal than in formal learning spaces, these are only lately coming into focus.Informal and non-conventional learning spaces which can be categorized as places provided by university, by third party or personally provided (e.g. informal campus spaces, home learning environments, public spaces, learning cafés, public transport, outdoor spaces, public libraries, cafés) are thus taking on a new relevance and significant importance in the context of lifelong learning. Yet there is little information available where digitally supported higher education learning takes place, how these physical and hybrid learning environments impact students’ well-being and learning experience, and which barriers they pose on different student groups, depending on socio-economic background, gender, age, disabilities, family responsibilities and geographical location.With the project NIILS we want to address these barriers, which students in higher education face during digitally supported learning activities due to existing inequalities or lack of access to technical equipment, internet and suitable physical-spatial informal learning environments. We aim to create awareness for existing barriers, to mitigate inequalities and to promote technologically enhanced inclusive informal learning environments, which are conducive to learning and users’ well-being.<< Objectives >>One of the biggest concerns regarding the digital transformation in education is the exclusion of learners from vulnerable groups. Ongoing research activities, strategic measures and interventions address “digital divides” caused by inequalities regarding connectivity, accessibility, digital equipment and skills, as well as didactical implications and the impact of digitalisation on the design of formal learning spaces, like seminar rooms. But yet, there has been little discussion on the interaction of digital teaching and learning methods and the spatial environments in which students are located, while they participate in distance and online learning activities. Only limited information is available about where digitally supported higher education learning takes place, how these physical and hybrid learning environments affect students’ well-being and learning experience, and which barriers they pose on different student groups.In order to address the incurring chances and challenges, the NIILS project targets the following objectives: 1) Provide comprehensible information regarding the context situation and users’ perspectives in higher education institutions in different European countries and regions, as well as on the impact of technologically enhanced informal or non-conventional learning spaces on students’ well-being, self-regulation, knowledge acquisition and university belongingness2) Analyse and categorize digitally supported informal learning spaces for lifelong learning processes3) Identify structural, contextual and individual barriers related to informal learning spaces for different student groups, depending on their socio-economic status, gender, age, disabilities and geographical location, as well as approaches and strategies for mitigation and empowerment4) Create awareness among target groups and stakeholders and provide tools (mapping platform), methodological frameworks (learning communities) and practical guidance materials to promote inclusive and supportive technologically enhanced informal and non-conventional learning environments, to mitigate inequalities and to empower students with fewer opportunities5) Establish networks and enable knowledge transfer between participating institutions, involved target groups and stakeholders, to start a transdisciplinary and co-creative process and to build a foundation for further development and innovation regarding technologically enhanced inclusive informal learning spaces.Our vision for universities is to transform them as inclusive points of attraction with access to learning environments on and off campus that meet the needs of all students and learners. With the NIILS project we aim to contribute to a critical understanding on how to exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies for teaching and learning, to increase access, participation and completion rates of higher education students with fewer opportunities. Furthermore, we want to contribute to the understanding of how the necessary spatial, technological and didactical frameworks should be created to stimulate innovative learning and teaching practices, which also relate to the inclusion and diversity aspect of the Austrian National Strategy for Higher Education.<< Implementation >>To reach the defined objectives, to ensure high quality project results and sustainability of these results, the implementation of NIILS will be carried out in 4 partly overlapping project phases: (1)Data collection and analysis(2)Engagement of target groups and stakeholders(3)Co-creation and knowledge exchange(4)Review and sharing of experiences and project resultsThese phases will lead to five project results: “Country context analysis” (PR1), “Users’ perspective analysis” (PR2), “Mapping Platform” (PR3), “Learning communities” (PR4) and “Recommendations and guidance to promote inclusive and supportive informal learning spaces” (PR5). Each project result will be led by one of the project partners according to their respective expertise and experiences. The main activities leading to the project results will include:(1)a desk search and focus groups/interviews with stakeholders to gather information regarding the “state of the art” and the context situation in the participating institutions, project countries and regions(2)a students’ survey and focus groups with students and lecturers to collect and analyse data on the users’ perspective regarding availability, characteristics and usage of informal or non-conventional learning spaces by different student groups; their impact on students’ well-being, self-regulation, knowledge acquisition and university belongingness; existing inequalities and barriers; students’ and lecturers’ awareness and enabling strategies(3)the development of a mapping platform and conducting of walking interviews with students and lecturers to mark and share data on characteristics, usage and accessibility of informal and non-conventional learning spaces(4)the development of a learning communities co-creation framework and guidelines for creating learning communities which address inclusive informal learning spaces, based on previous project results, the collection of good practise examples, resulting in the implementation of one pilot community and four further learning communities with students, lecturers and university administration(5)the development and stakeholder review of recommendations and guidance material for students, lecturers, university administration and key stakeholders to promote inclusive and supportive informal learning spaces and mitigate existing barriers and inequalitiesFive national and one transnational multiplier event will be organised to reach beyond the partnership to all interested groups and stakeholders at the local, national and international level.We will also conduct a wide range of dissemination activities to make the project visible at local, national and international levels, to exchange ideas with the interested parties and to share our project results to ensure their sustainable usage. Project management and content development as well as dissemination activities will be closely linked. Internal and external monitoring processes will ensure quality and achievement of project results. The consortium will develop a sustainability plan to regulate the further use, data management and necessary maintenance activities for project results after the project ends to ensure their further availability and deployment.<< Results >>The project will produce five main project results and a number of related deliverables:PR1 Country context analysis: availability and infrastructure of informal learning spacesDeliverables will include 5 country context analyses and 1 comparative report, providing information regarding the “state of the art” and the context situation in the participating institutions, project countries and regions.PR2: Users’ perspective analysis: usage, perception and impact of informal learning spacesDeliverables will include 5 users’ perspective analyses and 1 synthesis report providing comprehensive data on the users’ perspective regarding availability, characteristics and usage of informal or non-conventional learning spaces by different student groups; their impact on students’ well-being, self-regulation, knowledge acquisition and university belongingness; existing inequalities and barriers; students’ and lecturers’ awareness and enabling strategies.PR3: Mapping Platform: collecting and sharing data on informal learning spacesDeliverables will include 1 mapping platform on which informal learning places will be marked with their characteristics using the data from walking interview participants and volunteers (students and lecturers) for presenting data on accessible informal and non-conventional learning spaces and their usage.PR4: Learning communities for students’, lecturers and university administrationDeliverables will include 5 learning communities with students’, lecturers and university administration addressing technologically enhanced informal and non-conventional learning spaces to enhance inclusion and support students with barriers.PR5: Recommendations and guidance to promote inclusive and supportive informal learning spacesDeliverables will include recommendations and guidance material for students, lecturers, university administration and key stakeholders to promote inclusive and supportive informal learning spaces and mitigate existing barriers and inequalities.Besides these project results an important outcome of the project will be the established networks and knowledge transfer between participating institutions, involved target groups and stakeholders.NIILS will provide the first step on the way to create inclusive and sustainable learning spaces that caters to students’ and lecturers’ well-being through use of technology in higher education institutions. Thus, the project outcomes will contribute to the development of a high-performing and inclusive digital education ecosystem in European higher education institutions."