The eduIDT project is implemented by the international consortium consisting of 7 higher education institutions, 1 non-governmental organization (NGO) and 1 small enterprise, from 7 EU countries (Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain).
UNIVERSITY OF ŽILINA, FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND INFORMATICS
The University of Žilina was established as the Railway College in 1953 by the separation from the Czech Technical University in Prague. It has gone through numerous changes during its history. Finally, in 1996, it was renamed from the University of Transport and Communications to the University of Žilina. The University provides education at all three levels of higher education (Bachelor’s degree, Engineer/Master’s degree and Doctoral degree) in both full-time and part-time forms. Approximately 8000 students currently study in all forms of study. There are more than 1000 employees and 650 of them are teachers.
The Faculty of Management Science and Informatics (hereinafter referred to as FRI UNIZA) of the University of Žilina in more than 30 years of its existence has developed into a top and respected scientific and research institution known for its quality at home and abroad. This is evidenced by independent assessments as well as by the interest of students, employers and partners.
The particularity of the faculty lies primarily in the combination of study programs that offer top-notch education in computer science, computer networks, computer engineering and management in one place. The combination of these areas of education and research, supported by enthusiastic and competent professionals, creates the preconditions that ensure the faculty’s sustainable success. Currently, it benefits from a symbiosis of informatics and management studies. It has near 100 employees and about 1,400 students. The community at the faculty created by members of student and employee part of the academia is able to use the advantages of modern management approaches with the support of information technology. This is reflected not only in the formation of study programmes but also in the management of the faculty. The faculty has traditionally cultivated a culture of demandingness and is well known among the professional public for the quality of its outputs, which are research project solutions, study programmes and especially its successful graduates. Study programmes of the faculty are interdisciplinary and in their design, the faculty builds on more than 30 years of successful tradition in the education of students in the field of study cybernetics in transport and communications at the former Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering of the University of Transport and Communications (SET VŠDS) and long-term traditions in the fields of study information and management systems and applied mathematics at the FRI UNIZA.
UNIZA Team
Emese Tokarčíková
Deputy manager
Everybody deserves to be seen, heard, perceived and respected. Let´s do it to make our hearts grow greater.
Dana Kušnírová
Team member
…no one likes to be excluded…
Veronika Šalgová
Team member
Everyone should have the right to receive a quality education. Making it more inclusive is more than necessary and that’s why I see a big sense in this project.
Linda Blahová
Team member
I joined this initiative because I believe education should be inclusive and adaptive to each student’s needs and talents, to utilize their full potential and prepare them for their future.
Jozef Kostolný
Team member
Inclusive design thinking brings us the opportunity to realize education about the digital world for everyone without differences. And that’s crucial in the modern society we live in.
UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB, FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING
UNIZG Team
Jurica Babić
UNIZG Team leader
Higher education institutions have always been the frontrunners of positive societal changes. Incorporating the novel way of „thinking“ within the existing curriculum, i.e., inclusive design thinking, is a small but important step towards the inclusive society. That said, we are also expecting the significant institution-level impact related to the innovative teaching methods and materials which will be available upon the project completion.
Ivana Slošić
UNIZG Team member
I believe that the topic of inclusive design thinking is very important in all areas of society. I am looking forward to the eduIDT project because with the acquired knowledge I will be able to implement inclusive design thinking in my research and professional work, especially when working with students.
Matea Žilak
UNIZG Team member
I decided to participate in the project since the topic of inclusive design thinking is something that is very necessary today to achieve an inclusive society, and the component of inclusivity should be incorporated into all areas of life, especially in the development of solutions intended for wide use. Since I work in the technical faculty, I believe that project activities will bring me many benefits so that I can bring this way of thinking through teaching activities of technical courses dealing with the topic of solution development.
Katarina Mandarić
UNIZG Team member
I applied to take part in the eduIDT project because I am interested in how to innovate and change the culture in which people work. I look forward to learning more about how to bring the design thinking methodology into ICT!
IMT ATLANTIQUE BRETAGNE-PAYS DE LA LOIRE
IMT Atlantique Team
Catherine Sablé
IMT Atlantique Team leader
Working on Interculturality, Inclusion is one of the goals of my research and trainings, exactly as eduIDT. It is very fruitful to join this project new approaches, and new methodologies, in a multicultural context, I love it 🙂
Maud Tournery
IMT Atlantique Team member
I teach Design thinking to students for academic and social projects. Study it and share it with internationals partners and collegues is a lovely opportunity.
Lotfi Lakehal-Ayat
IMT Atlantique Team member
I accepted Cathy’s invitation to join the project, because I understood that it will allow me to learn a lot about design thinking, especially in an international context.
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA
UPV Team
Carmen Bachiller Martín
UPV Team leader
Felipe Penaranda-Foix
UPV Team member
Germán Ramos Peinado
UPV Team member
UNIVERSITY OF DEBRECEN
active role in the development of the economy in the Northern Great Plain Region and acting as a service provider for innovation by companies of the region, primarily in the health industry, biotechnology, agriculture, and technology. As an institution of excellence of the higher education in Hungary, in the spirit of the Magna Charta of the European universities, the University of Debrecen contributes to the development of universal science and the Hungarian society by the highest level, multifaceted and multidisciplinary training, research and development. This mission is performed jointly by the lecturers, employees and students, by committed to quality and by cooperating with Hungarian and international partners.
UNIDEB Team
Marianna Zichar
UNIDEB Team leader
Ildikó Papp
UNIDEB Team member
Henrietta Tomán
UNIDEB Team member
WILHELM BÜCHNER UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
Wilhelm Büchner Hochschule (WBH) is a privately held, state-recognized university of applied science located in Darmstadt (Germany). It is specialized on distance education and learning for professionals in the whole German-speaking area. WBH was founded in 1996 and is with around 6.900 students the biggest mobile university for technology in Germany. It is part of the Klett Group, one of the leading players for education in Europe.
In 2021, WBH installed an associated research institute for applied research and design (Wilhelm Büchner Institut für Angewandte Forschung und Gestaltung gGmbH) which is the transacting institution for this project. Today, WBH offers a range of more than 50 technological bachelor and master courses and of about 20 academic certificate courses, mostly for professional students. It comprises the five faculties “Informatics”, “Engineering Sciences”, “Business Engineering and Technology Management”, “Energy, Environmental and Process Engineering” as well as “Design” (newly established in 2021).
Due to its specialization to distance adult-learning, WBH has great experience in developing innovative teaching methods, blended learning approaches and materials for high-level education of heterogenous target groups. With a permanent scientific staff of around 30 persons and more than 350 contract lectures from different academic and professional backgrounds WBH research and teaching is highly characterized by interdisciplinary and user-oriented approaches and provides a huge network of multipliers.
WBH Team
Martina Schwarz-Geschka
WBH Team leader
TALLINN UNIVERSITY
Tallinn University (TU) is the third largest public university in Estonia, resulted from a merger of several universities and research institutes in Tallinn, and now, consisting of 6 schools. TU has about 7,100 students (with 11% of them international), and over 800 employees, including 400 researchers and lecturers (with 9% of them international) and is the fastest growing university in Estonia. Studies and research are being conducted in five interdisciplinary focus fields:
educational innovation, digital and media culture, cultural competences, healthy and sustainable lifestyle, and society and open governance. The main objective of the university’s research and development activities is to support the sustainable development of Estonia through research and its application to academic partnership, including the preparation of intellectuals as well as the advancement of public dialogue in order to facilitate this partnership. Its main strengths lie in the fields of humanities and social sciences, and a strong and constantly growing component of natural and exact sciences, as well as a notable tradition of teacher training and educational research. TU has an extensive experience working with educational innovation and from 1994 it has been a centre of development and research in the field of technology-enhanced learning in Estonia. One of the main aims of the university is large-scale internationalisation – with its academic degree programmes and a number of shorter programmes and courses offered in the English language it is already the most international university in the Baltic area. The vision of the University is to play a leading role in promoting and developing intelligent lifestyle in Estonia, thus supporting both Estonian sustainability as well as self-actualization for individuals. The mission of the University is to support sustainable development of Estonia through high quality research and education, promotion of intellectual growth and development, public discussions and academic partnerships. In its activities, the university adheres to the following basic values – openness, quality, professionalism and unity.
TU Team
Sirje Virkus
TU Team leader
Aira Lepik
TU Team member
Sigrid Mandre
TU Team member
Kaadi Riismaa
TU Team leader
EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR LABOUR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The EIAB, which is certified as an institution of further education and training by a Professional Training Association, recently offered a professional education initiative that did qualify employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) as Corporate Sustainability Officers. The measure was co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). Through participation in this training, the participants learned that sustainable business management consists of different action fields and that sustainable management is an integral approach. This initiative has been certified by the Hanseatic Certification Agency (HZA). We consider these activities as an important contribution to the corporative and social conditions of the increasingly completed European common market.
EIAB Team
Lutz Michael Büchner
EIAB Team leader
eduIDT gives me as head of the European Institute for Labour and Industrial Relations (EIAB) the possibility of actively broadening my horizon in terms of IT supported inclusion possibilities.
Nils Andreas
EIAB Team member
I am happy that I can participate in eduIDT and thus make a contribution to this important social topic. It’s fun to work with such a professional team.
EGGZTRA INNOVATIONS
Eggztra Innovations Team
Veronika Krásnohorská
Eggztra Innovations Team leader
Tomáš Grűnwald
Eggztra Innovations Team member