Ongoing

Ongoing Projects

PRINTeL

The PRINTeL Project, entitled “Change in Classroom: Promoting Innovative Teaching and Learning to Enhance Student Learning Experience in Eastern Partnership Countries”, is a Multi-Country, three-year duration Joint Project funded by the ERASMUS+ CBHE programme of the EU (registration number: 585760-EPP-1-2017-1-AM-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP / 2017-3076/001-001).

The Project intends to implement significant change in the ways teachers are teaching and students are learning nowadays by promoting innovative and technology enhanced teaching & learning (T&L) with the ultimate aim of enhancing student learning experience in Armenian, Georgian and Belarusian partner universities.

The aims of the Project are:

• To enhance student learning experience in the partner countries (PC) in accordance with the ET 2020 objectives by promoting development and innovation in teaching & learning (T&L), supporting integration of technology and research, and dissemination of good practice.

• To modernize HE in AM, GE and BY in line with the Bologna agenda and to establish cooperation in education & training between EU and the partner countries and amongst PCs by promoting virtual mobility of teachers and students, and enhancing lifelong learning resources & means.

These aims will be achieved through completion of the following specific objectives:

1. To strengthen Teaching Staff Development Centres (TSDC) in the PC HEIs by enhancing capacities of staff and trainers, modernizing infrastructure and introducing innovative teacher training and academic leadership programmes.

2. To build up capacities of the partner HEIs’ teaching staff by developing their innovative and technology-enhanced T&L skills and abilities of competency- and research-based teaching.

3. To establish a Virtual Academy of Teaching & Learning (VATL) as an international community of teachers, staff and students interested in using and sharing Open Educational Resources (OER) for the improvement of technology-enhanced T&L.

4. To promote greater awareness on the types and methods of innovative and technology-enhanced T&L and to disseminate best practices within and between HEIs in the PCs.

WHY PRINTeL

See official web page of the PRINTeL project

https://www.printel.am/uploads/page/pdf_en/PRINTeL%20Leaflet_Final.pdf

PRINTeL Newsletter N6

https://printel.am/uploads/page/pdfs/PRINTeL%20e-Newsletter-1.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/printel.tesau

https://www.facebook.com/ErasmusPlusPRINTeL/

https://printel.am/uploads/page/pdfs/PRINTeL%20e-Newsletter_2.pdf

http://printel.am/uploads/page/pdfs/PRINTeL%20e-Newsletter_6_.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3U_h1wh46pUqkMENiFXWC8gYc96XFXFi8xFzUg3imLTgNs4UxQ_Bs1Kek

Erasmus + KA2 "Raising Research Capacity of Georgian HEIs through Developing R&D Units (HERD)"

Project reference number: 598207-EPP-1-2018-1-GE-EPPKA2-CBHE-SP (2018-2578 / 001 – 001)

The project aims to upgrade the research capacity of Georgian universities through developing the R&D units within the target universities. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives are set:

· To establish a joint research platform that would facilitate the planning, implementation and evaluation of research activities in the target universities.

· To create an Online Georgian Research Portal that will display the state-of-the art information on the activities, human resources and infrastructure of the academic institutions in Georgia.

· To upgrade the research management and data analysis skills of university administrative personnel for producing high quality research management, analyzing institutional research data and providing ground for further forecasting and strategic planning.

· To enhance the capacity of the target universities in respect to research transfer and university-industry collaboration.

Project Partners from “Program Countries”

1.Technische Universitaet Dresden (TUD) – Germany; 2. Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA) – France; 3. University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS) – France;

Georgian partners:
1. Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) (HERD Project Coordinator)
2. Ilia State University (ISU)
3. Georgian Technical University (GTU)
4. Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU)
5. Akaki Tsereteli State University (ATSU)
6. Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (BSU)
7. Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University (TESAU)
8. V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire (TSC)
9. Caucasus University (CU)
10. David Tvildiani Medical University (DTMU)
11. International Black Sea University (IBSU)
12. Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA)
13. Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia (MESCS)
14. Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG)
15. National Center for Education Quality Enhancement (NCEQE)
16. Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA)
17. National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (IPCG)

http://herd.tsu.ge/

The overall aim of the E-PSY project (implementation period - 2021-2023) is improvement of student services at Georgian HEIs by means of establishing psychological counselling centers for students at target partner universities in all regions of Georgia.

Specific objectives of the project are:
1. Establishment of psychological counselling centers at target partner HEIs for students.
2. Preparing and retraining staff to work at psychological counselling centers.
3. Elaboration of recommendations and legislation documentation for policy makers and governmental agencies of Georgia.gh
4. Raising mental health awareness among students and wider audience.
5. Creation of Association of University Psychological Counselling Centers of Georgia.

With the aim of raising mental health awareness among the students, academic and administrative staff of the partner universities, and wider audience, in general, it is planned to hold public information campaigns in the following regions of Georgia: Shida Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti, Samegrelo, Adjara, and Samtskhe-Javakheti. As a result of the campaigns, the students and the wider audience will become better informed about the importance of psychological couselling and mental health.

With the establishment of psychological counselling centers, the students of the partner higher education institutions will receive psychological counselling and assistance upon their request. The psychologists and counsellors will undergo special training at the Universities of Economy in Bydgoszcz and Transylvania University of Brasov, as well as participate in the workshops and seminars organized by Georgian and European specialists. By the end of the project, the consortium will develop specific recommendations and legislative documentation for policy makers. To ensure the sustainability of the project, an Association of University Psychological Counselling Centers of Georgia will be established.

Sokhumi State University (Project Coordinator)

Transilvania University Of Brașov

STEPs (Strategies Nd Tools To Enhance People’s Skills)

Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University

Samtskhe Javakheti State University

Gori State Teaching University

Kutaisi University

Shota Meskhia State Teaching University Of Zugdidi

Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University

Ministry Of Education, Science, Culture And Sport Of Georgia

Tbilisi Mental Health Crisis Intervention Service (TBILISI KIS)

Caucasus University

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

"Common borders, Common solutions"

''Jointly preparing the conditions in the agricultural and connected sectors in the BSB area for the digital transformation''

Developing and implementing a replicable and transferable model for preparing the conditions for ensuring the digital transformation in agriculture in the Black Sea Basin area.

The project will improve the capacities of the farming community, academia, public institutions, industry actors and entrepreneurs for cross-border trade opportunities in order to meet the common territorial challenges related to the lagging behind in the modernisation in the gricultural and connected sectors.

Smart Farming represents the application of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into agriculture, leading to what can be called a Third Green Revolution.

Following the plant breeding and genetics revolutions, this Third Green Revolution is taking over the agricultural world based upon the combined application of ICT solutions such as precision equipment, the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and actuators, geo-positioning systems, Big Data, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, drones), robotics, etc.

The Project supports sweeping away some of the main BSB countries demerits related to the upcoming digital transformation, boosting entrepreneurship with a well-planned and relevant activities to a number of challenges and opportunities arising from the main territorial running processes in three dimensions.

What are those 3 dimensions?

The project answers the immediate and unmet need for a significant change in the existing conditions in all Black Sea Basin countries related to the surge of the digital transformation in agriculture and connected sectors worldwide that also affect deeply the area. The digitisation of the agricultural sector requires transition from traditional cultivation to modern methods by way of new technologies and the project answers the main territorial challenges in three dimensions:

1. The first dimension is related to the consistent external and internal pressure for improving the conditions for modernisation the agriculture and connected sectors in the area as the economic structure in the BSB eligible area still shows overall a larger share of agricultural and industrial sectors.

2. The second dimension is related to the challenges afore the main driver of economy and local people welfare – the SMEs in the region. SMEs play an important role as key engines for economic growth in the area. There is still potential for growth, in particular in the Eastern part of the Basin.

3. The third dimension is answering the socio-economic challenges in the area – the brain and skill drain and the brain waste, the migration flows, the regional disparities related to urbanisation and the seasonal increase of activities in coastal zones that puts additional strain on local infrastructure and the environment.

What is the project approach?

The project applies a combination of innovative methods for deploying the planned change towards a model for improving the conditions the digital transformation for modernization in the agriculture and the connected sectors in the BSB eligible area countries.

Project Partners:

The lead partner organization is Pieriki Anaptixiaki S.A._O.L.A. Local Development Agency, Ellada.

Member institutions are from BSB 6 partner countries such as:

Business Agency Association, Bulgaria,

Fund “Investment Support Center”- Armenia,

"Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati (UDJG) Romania,

Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University, Georgia,

Business Advisory Center, Moldova.

The main objective of the project is to develop and implement a highly replicable and transferable model for preparing the conditions for ensuring the digital transformation in agriculture and connected sectors in the area - a process intensively unfold across the world. It encompasses actions to be deployed in 6 partner countries with partial outputs to be made accessible for 2 more countries. It will contribute to foster a significant change in the preparedness of the agricultural and connected sectors in the BSB area for the digital transformation, improving the capacities of the farming community, academia, public institutions, industry actors and entrepreneurs for cross-border trade opportunities in order to meet the common territorial challenges related to the lagging behind in the modernisation in the agricultural and connected sectors. It supports sweeping away some of the main Black sea basin countries demerits related to the upcoming digital transformation, boosting entrepreneurship with a well-planned and relevant activities to a number of challenges and opportunities arising from the main territorial running processes in three dimensions. The first dimension is related to the support for changing the conditions for the modernization of the agriculture and connected sectors in the area as smart digital farming is listed as the highest-ranking technology opportunity in terms of its expected positive impact. The second dimension is related to the challenges before the main driver of economy

and local people welfare – the SMEs in the region. The project ensures a sustainable territory for further supporting the knowledge and ventures exchanges between the countries at different levels of deployment of the innovative SMEs’ ecosystems. The third dimension is answering the socio-economic challenges in the area – the brain and skill drain and the brain waste, the migration flows, the regional disparities related to urbanization and rural areas depopulation. The project also reacts to the depopulation and ageing processes and the unplanned migration pressure unfolding opportunities for the usage of ICT skills and competencies even in the most underdeveloped areas in the BSB area. The project complies fully with the principles of environmental sustainability and ensures stable conditions for their observance in the BSB area. Farmland expansion is responsible for over 90 percent of global deforestation and degradation, while agriculture, forestry and other land uses contribute up to 24 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Farming’s use of natural resources is having a major impact on the environment and the Earth’s ability to regenerate and replenish those resources. The project applies the quadruple helix approach in dealing with target groups and stakeholders and also envisages measures to inform the wider public and support and foster the digital transformation in the agriculture and connected sectors in the BSB countries. Local authorities will be supported to collaborate locally

with neighbouring authorities, local farmers and the local community, as well as with private sector firms, universities, social enterprises and third sector experts to make the local economy better and more competitive and uplift the quality of life of local people. The project supports the principles of democratic governance of the regions, that is driven by the public welfare of all society layers. The project enlarges the access to the drivers of welfare of today - the modern ICT technologies and application, opening the doors for people from even the poorest villages to the endless opportunities of the digital world through the accessible multi-languages platform that will serve as a free and comprehensible pool of new knowledge. Gender issues cut across virtually all aspects of agriculture. In BSB area countries women constitute a large portion of the economically active population engaged in agriculture, both as farmers and as farm workers. They often face obstacles in other position than the lowest jobs with lowest wages, to formal employment, and to training and support services. The ICT technologies are very positive in terms of the gender dimension of agriculture development, as they give women the opportunity to start own business, to get liberated from the dependance on physical force or endurance when competing with men, to get access to new jobs and new forms of training especially in the distanced rural areas. The project creates better conditions for women in the BSB area, as it supports the digital transformation in agriculture and help local women benefit from the opportunities the smart technologies and IoT create as a driver for entrepreneurship in ICT technologies in farming, and as drivers for modernisation in farms.