HEADCET is a three-year project funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE-STRAND-2 Partnerships between organizations and institutions for transformations in higher education, Call 2021.
The project consortium is coordinated by the University of Florence, Italy (Università degli Studi di Firenze, UNIFI, Florence, Italy) and involves six higher education institutions from Latin America (Argentina: Universidad Nacional de Cuyo – Mendoza, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes – Bernal; Chile: Universidad Andres Bello – Santiago, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – Santiago; Paraguay: Universidad Nacional de Itapua – Encarnacion, Universidad de San Carlos – Asuncion), three European higher education institutions (University of Florence, Interuniversity Research Institute and Center for Postgraduate Studies, Barcelona and University of Economics – Varna) and University Center Florence, Italy with established expertise in the circular economy and social innovation. The consortium is complemented by Fundacion Eurosur, which has significant experience and knowledge of Latin American countries and network management.
Support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile in tackling the challenges of sustainable development by enhancing their relevance for the labor markets and the society at large. The project specifically focuses on Circular Economy (CE), Social Innovation (SI) and Sustainable Development which are strongly interrelated in Latin American (LA) Countries and are considered crucial to foster a more sustainable growth and to identify new jobs opportunities.
To do this, HEADCET will support LA HEIs through a wide set of interrelated actions:
Training Services for University Engagement
Updating curricula on CE, SI and sustainability to make universities’ offer more compatible with labor markets demands.
Development of pilot Offices for sustainable development and circular economy (Oficina Desarrollo sustentable y EC - ODEC), university centers specialized in offering services of support and counselling on projects of SI and CE. They will represent a concrete job opportunity for graduates and young researchers.
Implementation of COllaborative Local Labs (COLLs): with the main objective of involving local stakeholders (SMEs, NGOs, public agencies) on initiatives and skills needed in the regional ecosystem of each Latin-American university on CE and SI.
Organization of Career Development Centres (CADEC) for meetings and job-matching between students/graduates and companies around CE competencies and jobs
Creation and promotion of a regional network on CE and SI, enriched with EU partners, in order to take advantages of the opportunities under the Programme “Regional Coalition on Circular economy in Latin America”.
The HEADCET project is addressed to students, teachers and business representatives (employers and enterprises) connected and working in the field of circular economy, social innovation and sustainable development.
In connection with the start of work on the HEADCET project, in the period from 3 to 5 April 2023, the first working meeting of the partners was held, organized by the coordinator. The meeting was hosted by the partners from Argentina, namely the National University of Cuyo, Mendoza.
The main objectives of the kick-off meetings were the following: meetings within the partners from different countries, the representatives of the university centers and foundations; presentation of partners with short presentations; presentation of the work packages and the rules related to the management and administration of the project; demonstration of the work with the platform of the European Commission.
The main tasks set by the project coordinator of the team from University of Economics -Varna, headed by Assoc. Prof. Sabka Pashova, PhD, as a partner university, were the following: presentation of the structure, main directions and projects (national and international) on which UE-Varna works; presentation of the circular economy in the EU; presentation of the objectives, activities, main stages, deadlines for the implementation of each stage and the expected results of work package 3 - Update of the curricula related to the circular economy, social innovation and sustainable development.
Project: 101083025 — HEADCET — ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE
05 Jun 2023
