Fostering Ethic of Excellence in European Education to Nourish Entrepreneurship and Green Responsibility of Youth (4E_nergy)

The ethic of excellence in education and development are fundamental values to achieve peace and dignity for all human beings. This project will act as a facilitator for activating the community, through an educational approach in order to create and transform energy and resources. This process is necessary for the development of both individuals and society.
The mission of 4E_nergy is to foster and support the sustainable development of local communities, to nourish the entrepreneurship and the green responsibility of youth through education, training, and international cooperation.
The 4E_nergy project has a twofold aim: preparing STEAM undergraduates, particularly females, for the new roles required by the labour market by promoting innovation, new skills required by the market (especially post Covid and considering the worrying escalation of what is happening in the east of Europe in Ukraine while we write this project proposal) and help them to use the initiative by giving them entrepreneurial mind-sets, in a European context of exchange of best practices. To obtain this, the project will train bachelor’s students by stimulating the growth of professional skills and improving their organisational management abilities. On the other hand, within this project, we will also create a European network of teachers comparing ideas, practices, methods in order to develop innovative learning paths fostering the ethic of excellence belonging to the students, disseminate and put them into practice. Furthermore, the trained teachers will help and support students from last year secondary school education to increase their awareness of the social economy, the green responsibility, as a tool to build a better future, making their choices about their university careers more informed and responsible.
The proposed outcomes are: a desk- based research report, teaching materials, training activities and exchange of best practices.

The development of soft and transversal abilities should be fostered within each course of study, enabling learners to acquire and maintain skills that facilitate full participation in social life, promoting active citizenship, social inclusion, and improving prospects for employment or self-employment. The European Union has recently updated the list of key competencies, for the fulfilment and development of the person and to promote employment, which is identified with reference to eight areas of a cognitive, implementation, managerial, relational, and communicative nature [1]. In this context, for example, the Teaching & Learning Centre of the University of Palermo resolved to make available, starting from autumn 2022, a series of supplementary activities and courses to develop these transversal and soft skills. The activities proposed should be designed with the aim of developing practical competences, increasing problem-solving skills, and providing design abilities with the idea of gaining a deeper understanding of core disciplinary concepts while strengthening soft and teamwork skills. These activities, freely chosen by the students, should enrich their personal, cultural and professional background and prepare them for their future life.

In a European context of exchange of best practices, the 4Energy project has a twofold aim: preparing undergraduates, particularly females, for the new roles required by the labor market by promoting innovation, new skills required by the market (especially post covid) and help them to use the initiative by giving them entrepreneurial mind-sets, To obtain this, the project will (i) develop educational material to train Bachelor’s students by stimulating the growth of professional skills and improving their organizational management abilities and (ii) organize training session/ workshops/ webinars in the field of social economy and green development. 

On the other hand, within this project, we will also create a European network of teachers/professors/educators/stakeholders comparing ideas, practices, methods in order to develop innovative learning paths fostering the ethic of excellence belong the students, disseminate and put them into practice. Furthermore, the trained teachers will help and support students to increase their awareness of ethic of excellence, social economy, green responsibility, as a tool to build a better future, making their choices about their future careers more informed and responsible.

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In most cases in the countries of the Consortium there are no system actions (in the context of Degree Programs, Faculties, Universities or the University system as a whole) that can help the teacher to improve the quality of his teaching. Most teachers have started teaching without receiving adequate training in teaching and do not receive any help during their work regarding the quality of teaching. The latter seems to be a problem of the teacher who has to take care of his training alone. In this context, it seems important to develop system actions that can help teachers work together to improve the quality of their work. In particular, the project aims to (i) try to find tools to improve the quality, excellence and effectiveness of training; (ii) to experiment with new practices to be extended to wider forums.

Activities:

• preparation & sharing of Educational materials

• Development and testing of the toolkit - pilot study 

• Organization of Workshops and/or Summer School for Teachers and Staff about the idea of ethical excellence in EU education.

• Dissemination of the results