Blended Learning through Innovative Tools for Sustainable and Safety Engineering and Social Inclusion Erasmus Project

Project Title

Blended Learning through Innovative Tools for Sustainable and Safety Engineering and Social Inclusion

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Quality and Relevance of Higher Education in Partner Countries

Project Summary

The European engineering institutions, as well as international employers of engineers, are asking to the hired engineers to have some knowledge of their professional tasks for managing risk. On the other hand, the extent to which this information is available in the engineering branches is difficult to quantify or audit. Additionally, the principles and training of health and safety are critical points to the engineering industry. The reality of our days shows that many young engineers are leaving university with an inadequate understanding of concepts regarding health, safety and social inclusion in the workplace. Testimony to this fact are the statistics concerning the workplace accidents and unemployment rate of persons with disabilities. Specifically, the Internationally Labour Organization estimates that there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses annually. EUROSTAT shows that the number of fatal accidents at work EU-28 is 1,65 fatal accidents per 100 000 persons employed, rare events if we are considering the EU average, but with the highest incidence rate among the EU Member States recorded in Romania: 4,49 fatal accidents per 100 000 persons employed. Higher rates respect to EU-28 were registered also in Italy with 2,1 and respectively in Spain with 1,99 fatal accidents per 100 000 persons employed.

Even if specific regulation on diversity in the workplace is established at national, European and international level, people with disabilities still have not the same experience concerning the access to work comparing with their counterparts without disabilities. Statistics of 2017 from the EC show that the percentage of persons with disabilities who participate in the labour market is about 60%, with 22% lower than the percentage of persons without disabilities.

Inclusion of professionals with disabilities in the workplace is a big challenge not only for human resources management, but generally for employers and people who are already integrated at a workplace. These are reluctant to work with persons with disabilities or special needs. Social inclusion in the workplace should provide workers with the conditions they need to feel valued in their circumstances. In this way, they will be able to feel their ability to contribute to society without sensing their limitations.

The engineering industry based on the principles and practice of health and safety, but also on social inclusion, brings changes to welcome all individuals without discrimination, irrespective of employment, leisure or other daily life situations and to answer the most serious threats that our society must to manage like environmental degradation, climate change and unsustainable development. These are important issues if we are considering that environmental and health costs often exceed the gains from economic activity.

The designed Strategic Partnership is concerned on the development of innovative tools for engineering higher education sector, supporting the improvement of some learning-outcomes-oriented curricula that better meet the learning needs of students, while also being relevant for the labour market and for the wider society. Consequently, the general objective of the project is the development, test and implementation of 4 stackable course modules for engineering development training programmes that are answering to society needs and environmental health and workplace safety requirements. Practically, throughout the project implementation, specific knowledge (occupational health and safety, environmental risk assessment, safety in process industries and social inclusion of peoples with disabilities in the workplace) will tackle the current skills gaps of engineers that partner universities are preparing.

The Specific Objectives of the Project (OP) are:
SOP1. Development and implementation of 4 stackable e-learning course modules and related practical works with open online access
SOP2. The development of best practices, common standards and guidelines for designing and making e-learning courses
SOP3. Testing the innovative practices developed in the framework of SafeEngine project through innovative ICT technologies and mutual learning
SOP4. Dissemination and Exploitation of project results

The project addresses the EU priority in the national context named “Social inclusion”, through an innovative and integrated approach. Integration of specific knowledge regarding workplace social inclusion, occupational health and safety and environmental risk assessment make that the proposed project to have results and potential long-term impact as:
• increasing of the acceptance of future engineers towards social inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace
• people with special needs’ inclusion in labour market
• raising awareness of health and safety at workplace
• enriching students’ knowledge in environmental risk assessment

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 263624 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITATEA POLITEHNICA DIN BUCURESTI & Country: RO

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA DIN SIBIU
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II
• UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA