Green and digital competences development for european engineering PhD candidates

TECSKILL aims to meet Europe's current need for training in digitalisation and sustainability. The strategies and action plans developed by the European Union to promote the digital transformation of society and combat climate change have created a working environment where green and digital skills are essential. In this regard, existing literature has identified the need to develop this type of initiative at the doctoral level, which is even more pressing in engineering and research profiles due to the technological and innovative nature of their work. The development of digital skills facilitates society's transition to a sustainable model, while green skills are necessary to achieve sustainable use of digital tools. This relationship requires a competency framework and a training programme that develops both skills. TECSKILL therefore developed a competency framework based on the digitisation framework (DigComp2.2) and the sustainability framework (GreenComp) created by the European Commission, and implemented a transnational training plan for the development of these skills.

The overall objective of the TECSKILL project was to develop green and digital skills in PhD students in engineering in Europe, acquiring international training experience and developing innovative learning methodologies for these skills through partnerships between higher education institutions. The specific objectives (SO) addressed in TECSKILL are: - SO1: To improve cooperation, exchange and knowledge flow between higher education institutions at a transnational level. - SO2: Promote innovation and entrepreneurship by implementing sustainable and digital project-based models within the European educational framework. - SO3: Improve the quality of PhD students' research skills and activities in higher education institutions. - SO4: Produce common, innovative and high-quality results and disseminate them on a European scale. - SO5: Promote equitable and inclusive doctoral training in all sectors and social spheres. The consortium of universities will enable the standardisation of training obtained by European engineering doctoral students by sharing best practices.

The project has successfully implemented all the activities planned in the application. In summary, these activities are: A2.1 - Design and development of the teaching and learning methodology. A2.2 - Design of the method for assessing the green and digital skills of doctoral students. A2.3 - Design of the method for assessing the teaching methodology. A2.4 - Necessary resources and tools. A2.5 - Guide to the learning methodology and assessment method. A3.1 - Establishment of the architecture and design of the digital platform. A3.2 - Development of the platform. A3.3 - Testing and launch of the digital platform. A3.4 - Planning of massive open online courses (MOOCs). A3.5 - Development of MOOCs. A4.1 - Teaching and learning experiences. A4.2, A4.3, A4.4, and A4.5 - Implementation of the teaching and learning methodology in TECSKILL partner universities. A4.6 – Good practices in green and digital skills training. A5.1 – Evaluation of training activities. A5.2 – Development of teaching publications. A5.3 – Organisation and development of webinars. A5.4 – Organisation and development of seminars. A5.5 – Dissemination and updating of results.

The implementation of TECSKILL mainly yielded the following results: - A guide to the learning and teaching methodology and method for assessing digital and sustainable skills. - A digital learning platform for managing training and the knowledge generated. - MOOCs for acquiring green and digital skills. - A report detailing the green and digital skills acquired by participants. - Teaching and learning activities where the methodology is implemented and the green and digital skills of doctoral students are developed. - A guide to good practices that compiles the teaching, learning, and training experiences carried out in TECSKILL. - Teaching publications that compile the innovative results of TECSKILL for international dissemination. - Green and digital skills framework adapted to European engineering PhD students. This skills framework has been fundamental in understanding and assessing the needs of PhD students in terms of digitalisation and sustainability. - Indirect creation of a network of PhD students that promotes international collaboration, improving the quality of PhD students' research.