The meeting was attended by TUL Spanish partners from the University of Vigo and FEMXA training and education services provider, Portuguese partners from the University of the Azores, Lithuanians from the Kaunas University of Technology, who also happen to be our partner in the ECIU consortium, and last but not least, Southern Italians from the University of Salento.
The guests were received by a team of research and teaching staff from the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering (dr hab. inż. Anna Laska-Leśniewicz and dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Znajdek) and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (dr hab. inż. Aleksandra Jastrzębska and dr inż. Krzysztof Jastrzębski). The project was officially pronounced launched by Andrzej Romanowski, TUL prof., TUL Vice-Rector for Education.
The agenda for the meeting included a range of activities: a discussion concerning the goals of the project, analysis of the work packages, planned events and activities. It also included a campus tour and visits to laboratories for creative work.
An extracurricular activity was also offered: a short tour of Łódź. After all, learning more about the host city is worthwhile not just for its globetrotting qualities. It also allows one insight into the culture and history of the hosts. TUL’s international partners had the opportunity to visit the Jewish Cemetery, Radegast Station, Poznański Palace and the adjacent Manufaktura. For the Spaniards and the Italians the sightseeing tour was extra special, courtesy of the snowy and cold winter weather.
The project Blended outdoor learning for fostering the employability of newly graduates [sic] won an Erasmus+ grant of 400,000. Coordinated by Lodz University of Technology, the project partners will be working on it for the next three years to design a training program based on outdoor learning methodologies, which should facilitate less conventional, more attractive and engaging ways of learning for students who are about to graduate and enter the job market. Development of soft skills, building self-esteem, and empowering students to manage their careers are also among the project objectives.
The consortium has already begun working on a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) type of educational platform, based on the following three European frameworks of competencies: DigComp (European Framework for Digital Competencies), LifeComp (European Framework for Key Personal, Social and Learning Competencies), and GreenComp (European Framework for Sustainable Development Competencies).
The project partners expect to be able to demonstrate the first results of the project within just one year, which will be followed by pilot training programs.