Promoting excellence in employability and transversal skills Erasmus Project

Project Title

Promoting excellence in employability and transversal skills

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Context/Background
PEETS – Promoting Excellence in Employability and Transversal Skills (skills which are readily transferable and flexible) is our international 4-partner collaboration. PEETS comprises Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), Scotland, Lahti University of Applied Science (LAMK), Finland; The Hague University of Applied Science (THUAS), The Netherlands, and Constructionarium (Scotland) Ltd.
(3 University and 1 Industrial partner)

As “new Universities”, with student populations from 5,000 to 25,000, we offer 4-year degrees including Computing, Engineering, Marketing and Business. Supporting widening participation students is a priority (eg GCU recruits 40% from SIMD40 backgrounds). These students are less inclined towards, but have the most to gain, from study abroad.[i], [ii]. Constructionarium, our industrial partner, provides hands-on learning in civil engineering and construction management.

We built upon successful longstanding relationships:
1) GCU and Constructionarium’s “real-life” managed simulations
2) GCU and LAMK’s interdisciplinary “short-term European Study Trips”[iii] and winter schools
3) LAMK and THUAS’s joint winter schools
Team roles and responsibilities are outlined in Figure 1. Wider team support in each institution comes from various departments including careers, student well-being, diversity etc.

We wanted to develop an approach to teaching and learning around the concept of “Global Citizenship” using a sustainable development initiative that inspired our students and supported their graduation and employment. Central to this is working across disciplines and borders necessitating students developing transversal skills and engaging in teamwork and industry challenge.

This concept arose out of informal networking across our universities with our industry partner, and led to the formation of our multi-disciplinary and international PEETS team (Figure 1). Led by GCU, the University of the Common Good, we created an Erasmus+ bid in 2015. We revised/enhanced this unsuccessful bid and successfully resubmitted in 2016. We operationalized PEETS through the following initial objectives:

1. Develop an online diagnostic tool (ICApp) to:
a. Establish an understanding of the International Competencies (IC) required of graduates to the European renewables industry
b. Enable students to diagnose and track their development in these competencies
2. Develop innovative learning approaches and resources to interdisciplinary and multicultural participation in a ‘real world’ renewable energy project where students could develop transversal skills including communication, team-working and leadership
3. Deliver an industry-informed, 10-day Intensive Study Period (ISP) for 42 multidisciplinary/international students (repeated and enhanced annually)
4. Evaluate the effect of these learning activities on students’ graduate job search strategies and first job after graduation
5. Develop a 5 ECTS credit module (integrated into partner institutions’ curricula)

Main activities

Together we created industry informed, multidisciplinary and intercultural learning designs and resources to enhance the professional development of HEIs students and staff. This included
– designing learning activities and curricula to develop skills and competencies addressing labour market needs
– enhance international exposure of students during their studies
– develop multidisciplinary curricular activities
– promote transfer of innovation in learning and teaching both within and outwith partner institutions
– increase students understanding of different cultural activities
– provide students with the opportunity to measure their journey travelled in the development of transversal skills
– strengthen international cooperation between Higher Education and Industry

All objectives have been achieved with impact continuing to be created over an ever widening institutional, geographical and cultural area

Outputs and results have been disseminated through a continually enhanced dissemination plan (E+ PR platform). This includes:

successful delivery of an annual intensive study period (Scotland 2017, Finland 2018, the Netherlands 2019) with over 150 students, staff and external participants
presentations at over 20 international conferences in 3 continents
PEETS website, LinkedIn and Facebook groups
sharing of results on partners intranet
invited to write “Blogs” for Advance HE
selected as a best practice case study by British Council

Overall success of our project has been evidenced through :

internal review and evaluation – eg participants completing pre and post “transversal skills” questionnaires
external independent review for each annual cycle
PEETS – shortlisted for the finals of the Scottish Green Energy Awards in 2017 and 2018
PEETS awarded with the prestigious Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (Advance HE 2019)

Our “PEETS Family” are rightly very proud of our achievements.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 244476,36 Eur

Project Coordinator

THE GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY & Country: UK

Project Partners

• STICHTING HOGER BEROEPSONDERWIJS HAAGLANDEN
• Constructionarium (Scotland) Limited
• LAB AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY