Strengthening digital skills in the water sector higher education 

Project summary

The DIGISKILLS project aims to share the best practices and lessons learned from European initiatives in the digital transformation of the water sector and higher education with neighbouring countries Moldova and Ukraine.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Supporting the competitiveness of the pan-European water sector and revitalizes educational focus toward the digital skills needed in the labour market.
Transfer knowledge from successful Erasmus+ projects and promote the region’s digital transformation of water education by implementing innovative teaching methods, digital workshops, and eLearning modules.

Train teaching staff on using digital solutions in their classes and provide modern equipment and software for digital transformation.

Improving the quality of water education in Moldova and Ukraine by developing digital skills and transferring innovative technologies and best practices from EU Member States.

The project will enhance the quality of teaching, modernize education systems, and support students in acquiring better competencies. 

digiskills Work plan

DIGISKILLS is divided into 6 Work Packages

WP 1 “Project management and coordination” led by NMBU

 

WP2 “Current status of digital water education” led by UGAL

 

WP3 “Capacity building for water education” led by TUM

 

WP5 “Implementation of developed courses and digital                           workshops” led by NUWEE

 

WP6 “Quality assurance and monitoring”  led by UNI

 

WP7 “Impact and Dissemination” led by USM.

Background and general objectives

The water sector and education, both are undergoing a rapid digitalisation process. The digitalisation of the water sector presents a plethora of possibilities to monitor water quality, optimise transport and treatment processes save energy and resources, and unique possibilities in early warning and emergency management. Digital tools in education have enormously expanded the potential for collaboration and resource sharing over geological boundaries, cutting down financial constraints and enabling possibilities that were even five years ago not imaginable. Despite the negative impacts on many areas, it has also positively impacted these two sectors (higher education and the water sector), creating new possibilities for interconnections. The universities in EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme started focusing on these aspects a few years ago, and the DIGISKILLS project aims to share the best practices and lessons learned from these European initiatives with the Region 2- Neighbourhood East countries (Moldova and Ukraine), who both have the need and potential to boost their development and economies.

The project supports strengthening the competitiveness of the EU water sector through talent and innovation in higher education according to the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). It also addresses revitalisation of educational focus towards the growing mismatch between the digital competences graduated students acquire and the demand on the labour market accounting for the water digitalisation trend and supporting development towards a Digital Single Market.

The project focuses on digital technology for teaching and learning, developing digital competences and skills, and improving education through better data analysis and foresight meeting the goals of the EU Digital Education Action Plan. Curricula analysis demonstrates a clear skills mismatch related to the employers’ expectations, while intelligent use of digital tools in education may reduce the gap.

Both targeted third countries not associated to the Programme involved in the DIGISKILLS project (Moldova and Ukraine) have accepted the development of education using ICT as one of the priority areas of higher education. During the theme-based training organized by EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme HEIs, teaching staff will be introduced to how to implement and use up-to-date digital solutions in the practical part of their teaching activities. The most advanced equipment and software will be purchased for digital transformation purposes. Therefore, modernisation of HEIs through enhancing the teaching and digital capacities is one of the DIGISKILLS objectives.

The wider objective of the DIGISKILLS project is to improve the quality of water education in Moldova and Ukraine through the development of digital skills and application of the digital transformation in line with the adopted digital higher education strategies.

The specific objectives of the DIGISKILLS project are:

  • SO1. To improve the level of competences and skills of teaching staff in Region 2 HEIs by acquiring best-practice examples and innovations.
  • SO2. To improve the water sector utility and services management with digital tools to become more efficient and green and circular economies.
  • SO3. To modernise university courses in the water education field in line with the Bologna requirements.
  • SO4. To harmonise the teaching environment by procuring up-to-date equipment and software.
  • SO5. To respond to the needs of graduates on the job creating life-long learning opportunities.

Project team and staff

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Name and function Organisation Role/tasks Professional profile and expertise
Zakhar Maletskyi, researcher NMBU Involved in project managing (WP1 leader and project coordinator) Associate Professor, research scientist focusing on development of research projects on contaminants of emerging concern, water in the circular economy and membrane technologies. Maletskyi is co-instructor in 4 water-related graduate courses and supervised and co-supervised 1 PhD and 12 MSc students, 9 visiting researchers and ERASMUS+ exchange students.
Harsha Ratnaweera, senior researcher NMBU Task 3.2 leader Professor in water and wastewater treatment since 2012. He was employed as the Director of International Projects and Innovation at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) 1991-2012. Ratnaweera has experience of complex international capacity building projects in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. His current projects cover 50 universities from 33 countries, including participation in the ERASMUS+ project in Western Balkans.
Agnieszka Katarzyna Cuprys, researcher NMBU Task 3.6 leader Researcher at Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences -NMBU. She has an MSc in Pharmaceutical biotechnology (2016, Poland) and a PhD in Water Science (2019, Canada). She was an EU-MSCA Post-doctoral fellow at the NMBU since 2021 before joining the research group as a Researcher and Project Management Specialist in 2023. Dr Cuprys is involved in several international projects funded by EU, Erasmus+ and the Norwegian Research Council.
Rasha Hassan NMBU Task 5.3 leader Project Coordinator at the Research Group at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences -NMBU. She is involved in the logistics of the group’s international projects. She has a coordinating role in the NMBU’s International Summer School on Water, and contributes with communication between the partners, communication and dissemination of project results, etc.
Milan Gocić, researcher UNI WP5 leader PhD, Associate Professor at the Faculty of civil engineering and architecture (FCEA). Expertise: hydroinformatics, data mining and hydrological hazards. Participation in seven international projects and coordination of two Erasmus+ CBHE projects (SWARM and NatRisk).
Milica Ćirić, researcher UNI Task 3.4 leader Teaching assistant at the Faculty of civil engineering and architecture (FCEA). Expertise: data mining, programming languages. Participation in three international projects (SMARTEN, WATERLINE, SmartWB).

Reach Us

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Phone: +47 6723 1619
E-mail: waternorway@nmbu.no

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Water Norway

Universitetstunet 3, 1433 Ås, Norway

 

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