Tackling the challenges of the European Education Area by building resilient, inclusive and forward-looking training to upskill HED students face the transformations in digital culture with new e-skills, intercultural and entrepreneurial competences

Pact4Skills investigated digital, entrepreneurial and other needs for skills in the heritage sphere to assist actors respond to demand/labor-market needs and identify a new generation of culture-d...

The GLOBAL OBJECTIVE was to reconcile educational curricula/non-formal training and market demands for a competitive cultural sector. Thus, 4 sub-objectives were set: Under SO1: to identify experienced-based products and services, and help connect new skills and new jobs better matching job seekers' and labor markets' needs in the cultural sector. Under SO2: to tackle the fossilization of professions in the heritage sector with multiple pedagogies and comprehensive training schemes and tools, providing evidence of interdisciplinary achievements, improving standards for cultural production, and exploiting technologies that facilitate the inclusion of higher-skilled workers in the heritage sector. Under SO3: to improve sector alignment and employability at scale - such as portfolios of demonstrable evidence of applied and social skills, micro-credentials, and methods of accreditation encouraging constructive, creative, and passionate self-expression within any community of practice. Under SO4: to train HED students towards the creation of new products that bring the work to follow the development and meet market demands (this was the main educational task).

Pact4Skills remodeled the skills supply-demand pattern at museums and collections operating in the new service economy towards the promotion of creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and a new digital, intercultural and entrepreneurial skills set as per the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Deal. To achieve its goals, Pact4Skills was structured in a multilayered way. PART I: PROJECT MANAGEMENT including 5 Activities: A1: Management/Administration A2: Coordination including 6 transnational project meetings and project management workshops A3: Monitoring and Implementation of the Physical and Financial Object of the Project A4: Reporting as per Guides of the Erasmus+ Program 2021-2027 A5: Quality Control including a Quality Assurance Plan and a Risk Management Plan. PART II: PROJECT COMMUNICATION in a paper-free and low-carbon implementation, including 3 Activities: 2.1: Development of Media Tools (The Pact4Skills Website & Training Platform and the Social Media Toolkit) 2.2. The Target Group Strategy (The Pact4Skills Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan; 7 Press Events; 4 Multiplier Events; International Conference; Launch Event of the DIGITAL STARTUP Ecosystem) 2.3 The Pact4Skills Extroversion Toolkit (The Visual Tools; Factsheets; Project Ad Spot) PART III: PHYSICAL OBJECT OF THE PROJECT of 5 planned results: A. BLUPRINT FOR TRANSVERSAL AND RESILIENT SKILLS IN DIGITAL CULTURE, including 6 Focus Groups, the Joint Survey on Skills Needs in the Museum Sector in the Project Area, and the resulting Research Report with policy recommendations. B.THE Pact4Skills PEDAGOGY TO SUPPORT THE GENERATION OF DIGITAL CULTURE IN MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS which becomes the Digital Co-Working Space for 90 HED students at Partnership level and is structured in 4 web-based transnational tutorials (Cultural Resources; Digital Products and Services; Quality Experiences; Service Design). The Activity concluded with the Pact4Skills Portfolio and the OPEN ACCESS Digital Co-Working Space for Museum Mentors C.CO-CREATING TRANSVERSAL KEY COMPETENCES TO MOTIVATE HED STUDENTS VENTURE IN DIGITAL CULTURE offered a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) with 4 Modules (M01-The Museum Competence Area, M02-Ideas and Opportunities, M03-Assets in Museums and Collections, M04-The Experience Design). The MOOC formulates the Experience Designer Skills Set culminated in the professional profile of the “Museum Mentor” recognized by an Open Digital Badge. Also, an Open Access Cultural Resource Kit, a diverse media-format eLib, and the Pact4Skills Mediathek compiling validated audiovisual materials across 36 training activities and 34 project events with trainees, stakeholders, the media and the game players/users of the web app. D. LEADING HED STUDENTS TO REWIND THE MUSEUM SUPPLY EXPLOITING THE POWERS OF DIGITAL CULTURE. Activities here have developed a cultural audience and led to designing and delivering a digital experience, and implementing the Digital Game Prototype. Part D concluded with the Digital Startup Ecosystem, the pool of 90+ HED students, co-creators, and stakeholders which have inherited the Project Legacy and the Training Infrastructure. E. THE JOINT RECOGNITION OF SKILLS TO ATTRACT EMPLOYERS AND NETWORKS. Activities included 5 Novel Digital Cultural Services and the Joint Web App, the Open Digital Badge devoted to the recognition of skills, and a Policy Booklet for the heritage and GLAM Sector. Pact3Skills co-designed with partners and 90+ HED students the Web App, which was the ultimate digital expression of the training, the values and the contents of the Project. The Web App taught students how to qualify for content and the design process to successfully address an international multigenerational audience via storytelling, and how trigger interaction with artworks and heritage objects.

Pact4Skills has remodeled the skills supply-demand pattern in the museum sector, which operates in the new service economy towards the promotion of creativity and entrepreneurial: the innovation of Pact4Skills lies in the design and delivery of a new SKILLS PORTFOLIO in the generation of digital culture that allows European museums to launch a culture-driven new service of cognitive and emotional nature, addressing multiple audiences and technologies to unlock the values of cultural heritage. In this way, the Pact4Skills helped establish a new paradigm for upskilled pathways in digital culture by addressing the changing nature of ICT, with multiple users interacting with multiple technologies. Training and certifying 90+ HED students, Pact4Skills solidified common standards in the generation of digital culture, a key to European culture and identity. To effectively address the skills-job mismatch in digital culture, Pact4Skills supported transversal key competences, integrating acquired skills (via seminars, onsite training, online workshops, and the MOOC accredited by the Open Digital Badge) and media formats (e.g. the Web App, the Mediathek, the Digital Startup Ecosystem) into the cultural domains through the creation of a new value-driven narrative with commercialization potential and the direct involvement of the audience. 24 quality policy standards for cultural heritage communication reshaped public procurements, benefiting authorities, the self-employed and cultural agencies throughout Europe. The Pact4Skills launched the network DIGITAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM, which upon project closure has inherited the PROJECT LEGACY and ensured the long-term viability of achieved results with 400+ HED students and stakeholders’ memberships.