This article focuses on the methodology applied for the review of European educational projects, within the framework of Erasmus+, labelled as good practices and that are related to electronic ...learning or the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education. In addition, some of the projects that have passed all the research phases and have proven to be sustainable over time are analyzed. The projects presented represent different educational sectors and propose learning systems through ICT with the involvement of students and/or teachers. As they are good practice projects, the article can contribute both to the use or transfer of the resources developed in these projects, and to be able to inspire new projects in those lines of work. The main factors that have contributed to the success of the projects are their usefulness for the educational community beyond the time of funding, the use of innovative methodologies applied with teachers and students, establishing them in the participating institutions. Another notable fact is the good collaboration and rapport between all the project partners who worked to get common objectives.
This article explores the profound impact of European Projects in Education on the Romanian educational system. It delves into how these projects foster international collaboration, modernize ...curricula, and enhance teaching methodologies. By facilitating knowledge exchange and cultural enrichment, European Projects elevate the quality of education, prepare students for global challenges, and influence policy reforms. This analysis underscores the pivotal role these projects play in transforming Romania's educational landscape, equipping it to meet the demands of a dynamic and interconnected world.
Aim and objective To assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative smoking cessation scenarios from the perspective of the Spanish National Health Service (NHS). Methods We used the EQUIPTMOD a ...Markov-based state transition economic model, for an Spanish adult smoking population (16+ years), to estimate the return on investment (ROI) of: (a) the current provision of smoking cessation services (brief physician advice and printed self-helped material + smoking ban and tobacco duty at current levels); and (b) four alternative scenarios: coverage of proactive phone calls; nicotine replacement therapy (mono and combo) (Rx NRT); varenicline (standard duration); or bupropion; to complement the current provision. A rate of 3% was used to discount lifetime costs and benefits. The measures used were healthcare costs associated with treatment of smoking attributable diseases (lung cancer, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary infection and stroke); intervention costs; quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Costs and outcomes were summarized using various ROI estimates. Results The cost of implementing the current provision of smoking cessation services is about €61million in the current year. This translates to 18 quitters per 1000 smokers and a lifetime benefit-cost ratio of 5, compared to no such provision. All alternative scenarios were dominant (cost-saving: less expensive to run and generated more QALYs) from the lifetime perspective, compared to the current provision. The lifetime benefit-cost ratios were: 1.87 (proactive phone calls); 1.49 (Rx NRT); 2.40 (varenicline-standard duration); and bupropion (2.18). The results remained robust in the sensitivity analysis. Conclusions Analysis based on the EQUIPTMOD has provided Spanish decision-makers with policy options for tobacco control. It would be cost-effective to expand the reach of GP brief interventions to all areas of Spain, provide proactive telephone support and reimburse smoking cessation medication to smokers trying to stop. Over a lifetime, these policies would be cost-saving. Funding This project was funded by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (The EQUIPT Project; grant agreement 602270). The funders had no influence in the conduction of this study or the drafting of this manuscript.
Aim and objective Ireland has a strong history of implementing control measures - being the first country to have smoking banned in the workplace (under the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts 2002-2015 in ...2004). Ireland’s implementation of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty in 2006 and the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (2014) has allowed us to cement our role as a prominent Member State. This project seeks to understand the how effective tobacco control measures such as anti-smoking images, with an emphasis on dual health warnings, are in reducing the number of people smoking in a small Irish cohort. Article 8 of the Directive (2014) outlines the requirement to carry health warnings in the official language (s) of each country - In Ireland this is both Irish (Gaelic) and English. Material and Methods Two quantitative surveys were completed with a sample of 650 third-level students in the Mid-West of Ireland, with an overall response rate of 82%. These studies were completed over two years as a pilot for the author’s PhD work. In the first survey students were asked to translate health warnings from Irish to English; in the second survey they were asked to rate the perceived persuasiveness of English only warnings versus combined health Irish warnings in stopping them from smoking. Results Results suggest that students surveyed were unable to translate and understand dual health warnings on Irish tobacco packaging resulting in students finding English language only health warnings more persuasive in 11 / 14 cases. Conclusions In order to fully determine the extent of such language illiteracy and its impacts, further work needs to be completed. Future work will focus on the impact of health warning messages, the use of colour and font on tobacco packaging, adopting a mixed method approach to understand the impact of such on smokers and non-smokers’ decision making processes. Funding No external funding was sought. Internal funding was provided as part of LIT’s Graduate & Research Studies Office bursary awards.
Introduction Aim and objective: Modelling return on investment (ROI) from smoking cessation interventions requires estimates of their costs and benefits. This paper describes a standardized method ...developed to source both economic costs of tobacco smoking and costs of implementing cessation interventions for a Europe-wide ROI model (EQUIPTMOD). Methods Focused search of administrative and published data on dult population (15+ years) in Hungary, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and England. For passive smoking related costs, child population (0-15 years) was also included. A standardized checklist was developed in order to ensure consistency in methods of data collection. Costs of treating smoking attributable diseases; productivity losses due to smoking attributable absenteeism; and costs of implementing smoking cessation interventions were measured. Results Annual costs (per case) of treating smoking attributable lung cancer were between €5,074 (Hungary) and €52,106 (Germany); coronary heart disease between €1,521 (Spain) and €3,955 (Netherlands); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease between €1,280 (England) and €4,199 (Spain); stroke between €1,829 (Hungary) and €14,880 (Netherlands). Costs (per recipient) of smoking cessation medications were estimated to be: for standard duration of varenicline between €225 (England) and €465 (Hungary); for bupropion between €25 (Hungary) and €220 (Germany). Costs (per recipient) of providing behavioral support were also wide-ranging: one-to-one behavioural support between €34 (Hungary) and €474 (Netherlands); and group-based behavioural support between €12 (Hungary) and €257 (Germany). The costs (per recipient) of delivering brief physician advice were: €24 (England); €9 (Germany); €4 (Hungary); €33 (Netherlands); €27 (Spain). Conclusions Costs of treating smoking-attributable diseases as well as the costs of implementing smoking cessation interventions vary substantially across the five study countries. Estimates for the costs of these diseases and interventions can contribute to return on investment estimates in support of national or regional policy decisions. Funding We have received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (The EQUIPT Project; grant agreement 602270). The funders had no influence in the conduction of this study or the drafting of this manuscript.
Nowadays the corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a fundamental role in our society: for the companies and the stakeholders is essential to implement the social responsibilities (SR) pillars ...to improve their reputation. However, the CSR implementation - as well as its evaluation - remains very difficult due to its sensitiveness and complexity. Indeed, its complexity cannot become an excuse: for the sake of the environment and of the whole society, the pillars of the SR must become common aspects to be considered and to be evaluated. Starting from this awareness, this paper aims to consider the CSR in literature and in a European project that does not have, as the main objective, the improvement of SR. Within this analysis it will be possible to understand if the SR pillars are already soaked in the pilots and the project activities or if a major commitment is still necessary.
This study aims to analyze the factors favoring the level of knowledge in writing European funds for sports structures. Factors such as gender, age, school, and the level of English are analyzed in ...correlation with the writing skills abilities: writing knowledge, needs assessment knowledge, purpose and objectives knowledge, Gantt chart knowledge, budget knowledge, finding partners knowledge, finding calls knowledge, dissemination Knowledge. A questionnaire survey was adopted, and the literature was reviewed before collecting data. One hundred nineteen representatives of public and private sports structures participated in this study. The study revealed that the level of English is the main factor favoring the level of knowledge in writing European funds for sports structures. The findings of this study provided valuable implications for curriculum developers and trainers in developing European funds training programs in the field of sport in Romania and beyond.
There is a critical gender gap in the STEM areas at all levels of education and the labour market. In this context, the European Union has included an increase in female participation in STEM as one ...of its priorities. It has funded a considerable amount of research projects, so a substantial number of institutions and organizations across Europe has worked on the same objective, but there are not an analysis of the proposals and achievements in all those research projects. This work aims to present an overview of the outputs from European research projects developed during the last five years related to the gender gap in STEM.
Social acceptance and aesthetic impact of renewable energy (RE) in cities are topics scarcely considered in the literature even though they have attracted growing interest. Innovative European-funded ...projects, therefore, should start to consider these concepts. This paper provides an innovative review of European projects with the aim of identifying those with actual implementation of RE and energy storage systems in urban environments and their concern for aesthetic impact. The search considered the five most relevant programs related to RE and climate change mitigation, including almost 14,000 projects. Furthermore, a survey and some interviews allowed to collect data about the selected projects. 0.1% of reviewed projects aimed at the actual installation of RE on an urban scale. However, there is a recent growing trend. The most used RE was solar, especially photovoltaic, while the most common system for energy storage was lithium batteries. We can affirm that these European projects do not currently show any particular concern for the aesthetic impact they cause in cities, nor for the social perception assessment. It would be advisable to consider technologies as products and basic components of work and daily life, and not only as a means of intervention to promote RE.
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