“Challenge-Oriented Collaborative Online Communities in the Paradigm of Sustainable City (CityGo)” 2022-2023

Vilnius College of Technologies and Design Participates in Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project “Challenge-Oriented Collaborative Online Communities in the Paradigm of Sustainable City (CityGo)”, Nr. 2021-1-LT01-KA220-HED-000023277.

Implementation period:  2022-01-01 - 2023-08-31

Project summary:

The pandemic has forced various educational institutions to adopt an online teaching format quickly. From a technological point of view, this was not hard. A major challenge is the teaching methodology: learning online makes it more challenging to keep the student at the computer for a long time, as well as to involve the student in the lecture and help him/her avoid ‘distraction syndrome’. Months of lockdown, when teachers and students had to work in the format of distant learning, demonstrated that traditional methods are not optimal, it is necessary to change the approach and help lecturers to overcome the challenges posed by online teaching.

The CityGo project aims to develop methodology and materials that enable higher education institutions (HEIs) to perform quality and engaging problem-based learning in a digital environment. This will be achieved through applying at HEIs a model of collaborative online communities focused around a particular topic. During this project consortium will develop a methodology of efficient teaching/learning in collaborative online communities, where students will solve particular societal challenges on Sustainable City.

Project consortium:

• Vilnius College of Technologies and Design, Lithuania (coordinating institution)
• University of Maia – ISMAI, Portugal (ismai.pt)
• The Institute of Vocational Education, Work and Technology, Germany (uni-flensburg.de)
• The University of Pardubice, Czech Republic (uni-pardubice.eu)
• The University of Patras, Greece (upatras.gr)
• Bialystok University of Technology, Poland (pb.edu.pl)

The CityGo project aim - to develop methodology and materials that enable higher education institutions (HEIs) to perform quality and engaging problem-based learning in a digital environment.

Project outcomes:

1. Advanced HE lecturers’ competence for interdisciplinary engaging problem-based teaching in an online environment.
2. Improved student competence and engagement for collaborative online learning.
3. Created institutional know-how regarding quality challenge-oriented teaching/learning in the digital environment at 6 HEIs.
4. Laid a solid foundation for quality Erasmus+ blended mobility in the field of Sustainable City.
5. Created new partnerships and strengthened existing cooperation within 6 consortium members.
6. Developed a learning approach in a digital environment easy transferable and applicable in HEIs across Europe.

Project results:

1. Procedures and strategies for setting up effective challenge-oriented online communities.
2. An open-access digital content library on Sustainable City consisting of at least of 6 modules and laying a solid foundation for quality Erasmus+ blended mobility will be developed.
3. Guidelines for HEIs on setting up collaborative online communities will be prepared.
4. At least 30 lecturers will increase their competence in the facilitation of challenge oriented collaborative online communities at 6 HEIs.
5. At least 180 students (including both local and international) from 6 HEIs will increase their competence of working on interdisciplinary real-world challenges in the virtual environment of collaborative online communities.
6. At least 360 persons from outside the partner institutions will take part in the webinars/workshops where they will learn about created results and lessons learned.

A word from our partners

Project website: www.citygo-project.eu