FUTURES – Future laboratories for professional and personal development Erasmus Project

Project Title

FUTURES – Future laboratories for professional and personal development

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: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The present project aims at the development of innovative, future-oriented processes, tools and methods that will foster personal and professional development among European University students, Early Stage Researchers and high school students, including also those that aspire to enrol in University. There is a growing consensus regarding the importance of high-quality adaptation skills as a means to support individuals in acquiring and developing key competences. Conversely, a major part of these transversal competences and “soft skills” is the development of integrated and innovative ways supporting personal development, resilience, adaptation and critical thinking. As Futures Literacy increases individuals’ capacity to ‘use the future(s)’ to explore the present, the project aims to adopt such methodology also to foster professional development.

In other words, the training materials developed in the project will empower individuals to realize that their images about the future (anticipatory assumptions) have a significant bearing on (limit or open up) their actions and choices today.
The objectives of the project include:
– Conducting research on the interconnections of distinctive areas – namely future literacy, foresight, personal and professional development and theatre arts;
– Identify skills gaps and shortages, regarding futures literacy skills, common to the partner countries which are preventing students from reaching their full potential, from a personal and professional point of view;
– Contributing to innovation by developing, adapting and testing foresight tools and methods (including future-oriented performance-based pedagogies) pertinent to personal and professional development;
– Strengthening the exchange of knowledge and practices about foresight and futures literacy amongst key organisations, promoting lifelong learning and counselling for the personal and professional development of young people;
– Facilitating increased recognition of futures literacy skills at the European level within the communities concerned.

The proposed project calls for the establishment of a well-grounded partnership, consisting of experts and practitioners in the fields of foresight, futures literacy, theatre arts and personal and professional development that will assume the following project activities: Research activities, development of two Foresight Toolkits, one for University students and Early Stage Researchers, the other for high-school students. These toolkits will also include Training Manuals so as to enable other teachers and counsellors to replicate the contents of the training courses designed. All the course contents will be piloted in the 4 countries (Poland, the Netherlands, Greece and the United Kingdom) and will be then revised according to the feedback received from the participants.

The methodology to be used in carrying out the project involves:
– The implementation of research and evidence needs analysis;
– The design of skills development material and tools (toolbox);
– The implementation of multiplier events to disseminate the research findings and the toolbox.

The project will undertake comprehensive research to contribute to a greater understanding of futures literacy skills, and on how to use foresight to anticipate changes and to improve personal and professional development. The project is expected to have concrete results regarding the research and practical outputs which will cover theoretical, practical and design aspects.
The project is expected to have a strong impact for the involved communities at local, national and European levels, from various perspectives. The desired impact could be summarised as the aim to disseminate a novel approach and innovative methods for Futures Literacy and Foresight techniques resulting in personal and professional development.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 398173 Eur

Project Coordinator

POLITECHNIKA BIALOSTOCKA & Country: PL

Project Partners

• MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION
• Valuedo srl
• IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNAS
• HANZEHOGESCHOOL GRONINGEN STICHTING
• SIEC BADAWCZA LUKASIEWICZ – INSTYTUT TECHNOLOGII EKSPLOATACJI