SO42 Education

Key Information

Summary

Linguistic, social and intercultural competences are essential components of a positive development of the border regions and the basis for future cross-border cooperation. Supporting these competences from an early stage is key to creating equal opportunities, social cohesion and economical benefits. Additionally, language acquisition starting at a young age benefits the personality of individuals and creates favourable conditions for competitiveness in professional life later on. Therefore, this project focuses on fostering the above-mentioned key competences in kindergartens and schools and additionally develops new and innovative approaches in cross-border cooperation between partners. The innovative aspect comprises a systematic and comprehensive approach (kindergartens / parents  / schools / administration / educational training), quality development for continuous language acquisition in the project region and applying cross-institutional methods.

The key outputs are:

• Creation of new educational materials in order to foster the acquisition of neighbouring languages and multilingualism in the area of kindergartens and schools.
• Installation of a virtual knowledge platform for sustainable use and integration of new methods and materials as well as for training of educators according to latest scientific findings.

Approach:

• Providing the necessary training and cross-border education, including internships for students, as well as connecting educators
• Creating an integrated network of administrative and educational institutions, ensuring the sustainability of outputs.
• Cross-border activities between educational institutions for children and students
• Applying cross-institutional methods and models for age-specific and continuous language acquisition of children and students
• Consciously involving and informing parents in order to create an added value to multilingual education and foster a shared educational landscape.

Key Information

Summary

In the cross-border socio-economic space, the language and cultural knowledge constitutes an important part of employability of future young adults in the dynamically changing working life of labour. Scientific, technical and digital competencies have a high priority value in the educational landscape of both countries. Strengthening these competencies is at the heart of the cooperation. The innov. aspect lies in combining language teaching with knowledge transfer, by which learning opportunities will be created which are characterised of a high quality of language knowledge. Furthermore, it is an innov. approach that regional potentials (e.g.museums, enterprises, conservation areas, energy production) will be used as places of learning and as resources of cross-border educational area in order to elaborate educational competences.

By the cross-border elaboration of collecting materials will each project partner bring in their own existing knowledge and educational priorities for the work and they will present proven approaches and concepts to the rest of the partners, by which the new impulses can be used in the whole project region. By this, the project contributes to language-sensitive knowledge transfer which increases the learning outcomes of children and offers new possibilities for pedagogues in the field of language teaching in a regional context. Both experts and students took part in the development, therefore theory and practice will be linked and also educational institutions will be more extensively engaged.

In order to anchor pedagogic innov. in the institutions, in the BIG_inn also management members will be professionalised, and qualification approaches will be elaborated in the field of innov. management for the management and those responsible for quality. For the first time, in the BIG_inn an intellectual capital reporting will be carried out by each PP in order to make visible the created added value in the field of knowledge growth.

Key Information

Summary

Producing safe and high quality poultry products and decreasing the incidence of zoonotic diseases are common goals of Austria and Hungary. Both countries meet challenges in improving animal welfare, decreasing environmental pollution and feeding poultry with GMO-free feedstuffs (feed free from genetically modified materials). In order to achieve these goals, poultry health and nutritional aspects are of outstanding importance.

The Poultry Clinic of Vetmeduni, Vienna, and the Georgikon Faculty of the University of Pannonia are recognized as leading institutions in poultry health and poultry nutrition. Their common project involves joint research, advisory and teaching activities; and combines their different, but synergistic scientific profiles and infrastructure. The joint handling of nutrition and health aspects of poultry production establish an unprecedented approach to the common challenges in the region and beyond.

The involvement of the national poultry organizations as strategic partners from both countries to raise awareness of the most relevant problems and disseminate the results of the research and advisory activities in the region is an important point of the project.

Outcomes of the project include joint publications for the scientific community, for poultry and feed producers and consumers; wider knowledge base of students; and intensified contacts of the two poultry sectors in order to exchange best practices and address shared issues.

Last but not least, the various public events and intercultural activities can help establish long term personalized contacts between the participants from the two sides of the border. On the long run, the present cooperation can generate new projects in poultry production. Better understanding of poultry health and nutrition will also support more efficient use of natural agricultural resources, and help to boost agricultural livelihoods and sustainability in the region.

Key Information

Summary

Skills shortages, insufficient competitiveness and job market mobility are reflected as joint problems of the region in the current OECD AT / HU-PISA results. The measurements show below / average performance in literacy, mathematics and science. It is however, exactly these competencies along with social, civic and intercultural competencies that are requirements for successful entry to the world of work. Therefore the overarching goal of CODES is to systematically build up cross-border cooperation between educational institutions in order to achieve a positive change to this base line situation starting already in primary school to continuously strengthen these key competencies among our pupils. Core outputs are a cross-border network of educational institutions and competence-oriented education programs that benefit the AT-HU region so that our future generation is best prepared for the challenges of the European job market.

The planned approach is to develop and implement a sustainable overall package for primary school teachers in grades 1-4 (pupils: 6 to 10 years old) in close cooperation with educational institutions in the program region.

This is characterized by 3 activities: 1. Establishment of regional information and advice centers as part of the cross-border network, 2. Development & piloting of competence-oriented teaching materials, 3. Educational programs for primary school teachers and trainings for multipliers

Cross-border cooperation is imperative as it will successfully exploit the synergies of both countries in a coordinated educational initiative bringing sustainable strengthening for all regions.

CODES will bring the following innovations: Improved efficiency of education systems / Higher education level of pupils by specially qualified teachers / Improved labor market opportunities for future generations

Key Information

Summary

Similarly, to large parts of Europe the AT-HU border region also faces the problem of a skilled workers shortage in industry 4.0, the cause of which lies in the increased demand placed on the respective competences. Innovative cross-border training measures are necessary to alleviate the consequences of the migration of skilled workers in the project region. Information and communication technologies are key strengths of the Viennese economy (Digitale Agenda Wien 2025).The study "Industry 4.0 in Burgenland" confirms that digitalisation can stop the emigration of industry and thus also the brain drain.Digitalisation is according to studies, the future for the industry in Western Transdanubia (GYMSKIK).The overall project objective is to sensitise young people (12-24 yrs) to apprenticeship training and through appropriate upskilling prepare them for the labour market, but also to improve the image of apprenticeship training as well as the identification of future careers with a shortage of skilled workers and to facilitate cross-border exchange. Since the target group is "digital native" (Prensky, 2001), growing up with digital tools and media, their way of thinking and learning must be adapted to vocational orientation. Within the framework of DigiComp 4.0, young people are to be introduced to the industrial sector via vocational orientation measures and training, and the necessary digital skills are to be imparted in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in industry.The innovative core outputs are the regional knowledge hubs and their cross-border network, where solutions on topics such as vocational orientation for the job world 4.0, trial training and industry 4.0 are offered together with stakeholders.The know-how will be based on analysis of the qualification needs of industry 4.0, (trainer) trainings.Vocational orientation workshops for young people will be offered and a ´Serious Game´ for vocational orientation will be created.

Key Information

Summary

The future development of the economy, prosperity and quality of life in Europe will strongly depend on the following factors. Modern processes and methods are crucial for competitive products on a global scale. Smart production as the interplay of robotics, computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) will become more and more important. Furthermore, novel and innovative products and services will be necessary to develop the economy sustainably. In order to enable such products young people with knowledge and skills in robotics and AI will be needed. An appropriate developed labour market will significantly contribute to the strategic goals (smart, sustainable, inclusive growth) given by the underlying cooperation programme. Novel ideas and improved human capital enable companies to generate qualitative jobs in the project region. All this will contribute to the strategic goals as well as the operative goal of strengthening the labour market. In order to achieve this we propose to establish a standardized training and certification system for young people in the areas of robotics and AI. The training will be on a high professional level allowing the young people to develop an exceptional and satisfying career.  A professional certification system similar to the ECDL as well as the involvement of stakeholders (educational institutions, public institutions, companies, …) in the project development will foster a great acceptance of the provided training system and will also allow companies and educational institutions to recognize the obtained skills of young people. The "train the trainer" approach will allow to roll out the system in the entire project region. Because the above problems exist in all areas of the project region such a project needs to be developed in a cross-border fashion.

Key Information

Summary

The increasing digitalization and automation through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the working world (industry 4.0, Smart Logistics, Big Data, etc.) and our everyday life (assistance systems, smart devices, social media, etc.) posts great challenges for society and education. This ranges from building awareness, increasing acceptance and teaching the foundations of the technology, to fostering a meaningful, creative usage as well as an assessment of threats, risks as well as opportunities and potentials. The program area is characterized by a few urban centers and a large number of rural regions. To prevent a brain drain from the program area as well as to ensure a sustainable and responsible usage of technology, young people with skills to understand and use these new technologies are required. AI applications in particular allow an added value away from urban centers or without access to natural resources. Stimulating enthusiasm as well as facilitating a basic understanding has to be done at an early age. This provides a sound basis for young people’s decision to pursue a career (job, training, study) in an AI related sector. The project addresses these challenges at two levels: On the one hand, fostering young people’s (aged 10-14) interest in AI and facilitating a basic technical understanding at an early age. In this context, the integration of teachers and instructors, using a train-the-trainer approach is the key and ensures a broad and sustainable dissemination. On the other hand, building awareness regarding social, economic and technical aspects and potentials of AI among the general public (children, parents, apprentices, working persons, etc.) using open, low-threshold activities. Since the described challenges concern the entire program area, a cross-border project implementation is vital.

Key Information

Summary

The HU-AT border region, with its common economic, working and cultural space, has a commonly grown cultural heritage that finds one of its clearest manifestations in traditional, historically anchored crafting techniques. As in many other border regions, many of these craft techniques have not made the leap into modernity due to a lack of openly accessible and uniformly qualified training. They have often been neglected in conservation measures due to their "not only" national importance or due to general negative public perception and are now in acute danger of being forgotten. This threatens the decline of intangible cultural heritage, cultural infrastructure (such as castles and monasteries) and other cultural assets for which these crafting techniques are essential. The problem affects the entire region – therefore common solutions must be found through cross-border, innovative measures, from which the entire program area benefits. The project aims to permanently revitalize old crafting techniques through cross-border, novel institutional networks, extensive scientific processes and effective communication measures as well as innovative trainings. For this purpose, after an analysis of the current situation and preparation of all available data, curricula, tests and implementation measures will be developed and applied in practice. By means of modern analysis, further education and qualification methods and the cooperation of relevant institutions, a revitalizing work-economic structure is created, whose goal is the sustainable preservation, transfer and practical and economic application of these rare crafting techniques. The craft academy planned together with the EUREVITA SIAT 285 project ensures sustainability, even beyond the program region and the project duration.

Key Information

Summary

Effective climate protection and sustainable energy supply is more urgent than ever and can only be achieved by all countries working together. The first step towards a stronger international collaboration is closer cooperation with neighbouring countries. An obstacle on the road to a more sustainable energy system is the lack of skilled personnel. In Hungary and Austria there are many well trained skilled personnel in areas such as civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, who are already in work and who would like to undertake jobs in the energy sector. In the previous REBE project, the foundations were laid for cooperation on education, and REBE II will offer 50 of these skilled personnel practical, high quality and work-based pilot training to become certified energy engineers. The new rules of the European Higher Education Area make it possible for this training to be undertaken jointly by Austria and Hungary. In this tri-semester training, students will acquire comprehensive knowledge on the basic principles of energy technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy and expertise in cross-border cooperation. Subsequently they can become qualified engineers with a further two to three semesters. Bilateral courses, projects and additional measures such as a regional exchange for final year projects to promote closer cooperation between universities and businesses and a cross-border platform for the presentation of innovative, regional pilot projects will contribute towards intensifying cooperation on education and the transfer of knowledge in the border area. Bilateral training to become an energy engineer will be undertaken on a regular basis after the successful end of the project by the four participating educational establishments in Keszthely, Wiener Neustadt, Weiz and Györ. The increasing number of "bilateral graduates" will accordingly have a positive effect on a sustainable increase in cross-border cooperation.