The ESSENSE Project was presented during the 14th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference, INTED2020, that was held in Valencia (Spain) on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of March, 2020. INTED is one of the largest international education conferences for lecturers, researchers, technologists and professionals from the educational sector. After 14 years, it has become a reference event where more than 700 experts from 80 countries will get together to present their projects and share their knowledge on teaching and learning methodologies and innovations on educational technology. During these days, Mr. Carlos González from CETEM performed a poster presentation where all the interested assistants could share their feedback and ask relevant questions about the topic. There was sound interest from different Universities from the United Kingdom, Spain, Qatar, Germany, Mexico and the United States. These universities will be contacted during our next activities related to the Blueprint definition and Workplan for the period 2021-2024.

The third transnational project meeting for the EU-project “ESSENSE” took place in the facilities of Ageing Lab near the Andalusian city Jaén in Spain. The aim of the project is to develop a complete educational offer for universities and continuing education providers, combining the topics of Building Information Modeling with “Active Assisted Living” (also: “Ambient Assisted Living” – in short: AAL) by the end of the project in 2021.

The project meeting in Jaén focused on the presentation of a “Educational Philosophy” and the “Joint Curriculum”, in which the structure and rough contents of the higher education programme are defined. The validation of this Joint Curriculum by relevant stakeholders is scheduled for early December 2019.

In terms of content, the partners from Spain, Germany, North Macedonia and Slovenia discussed the requirements of the collaborative learning platform on which ESSENSE offers the training programme with didactic materials such as learning videos. The didactic content of the curriculum was another focus of the meeting. A total of five modules will be developed on topics such as “Basic Concepts of BIM”, “Needs of the senior citizens and their caretakers” or “Smart Housing and Ambient Assisted Living principles”.

We thank Ageing Lab and all project partners for the great organisation and the successful meeting! Further information about the project and the possibility to subscribe to the ESSENSE-newsletter can be found on the website of the ESSENSE-project.

8th European Forum for Science, Technology and Innovation (TRANSFIERE), held at the Malaga Conference Center. 

Meeting point between company and research groups for the transfer of knowledge, the application of innovative projects and opportunities to generate business and professional contacts.  the objective was to reach innovative ideas with the purpose of creating new technology  products and services. 

 
More information:  www.forotransfiere.com 

Ageing Social Lab participated in this fair with a stand as you can see in the photos below. Essense project was presented in this fair, where was outlined the use of BIM in the design, construction and management of multifunctional indoor environments will greatly contribute to meet the requirements of Europe’s ageing population while promoting healthy and safe ageing. 

The building and construction industry are an important part of the EU economy and society. It contributes to about 9% of the EU´s GDP and provides around 18 million direct jobs. It also creates high-skill jobs and investment in other industries that leads to further social and economic benefits. 

There are two important challenges to address in the sector. One is related to the increasing implementation of ICT tools, while the other is associated with a greater requirement of managerial and collective skills brought by the changing profile of the sector. 

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is disrupting the sector. This tool provides all stakeholders with a digital representation of a building’s characteristics throughout its entire life-cycle and thereby holds out the promise of large efficiency gains. BIM is being rapidly adopted, so it is critical for public bodies and industries that the sector maximises its value to deliver improved efficiencies and increased innovation in the management, design, construct and operation phases of a built asset. Training the current and incoming workforce is necessary to ensure effective adoption of BIM. 

The demand of public and private environments adapted to the needs of older adults is expected to grow in the coming years. By 2050, the number of people in the EU aged 65 and above is expected to grow by 70% and the number of people over 80 by 170%. Despite living longer, EU citizens will spend too many years in old age in environments conceived for younger and healthier people, creating dependency, isolation and mental health problems. Being physical and social environments key determinants for people to remain healthy and autonomous into their old age. Ambient and assisted living (AAL), is a framework that aims to improve quality of life for older adults and to strengthen industry opportunities in the field of healthy ageing technology and innovation: “Ageing well in a digital world”. 

The Output 1 results are set out into two phases: 

The first section of this Output aims to analyse the current use of BIM in the design and construction of buildings for older adults and an overview on how Smart Housing and AAL technologies are being implemented in such environments. 

 The second section aims to identify the current practices in the field and what new knowledge, skills, and competences are needed to improve them.  

Both sections attempt to promote a training curriculum to future students paying special attention to the feedback that is provided by different stakeholders: enterprises and workers, students, public bodies, caretakers, relatives, etc. It provides the information needed to prepare more attractive learning content by identifying the challenges that current initiatives in the field have faced in terms of knowledge, skills, and competences at different levels: industry, pedagogy, legislation, etc. 

If you want to know more click in the following link 

ESSENSE is an EU Erasmus+ project for the Education Supporting Smart Environments for SEniors, bringing together partners in Germany, Slovenia, Spain and Republic of North Macedonia.

ESSENSE project aims to create an innovative didactic content to promote the integration of Building Information Modelling and Ambient Assisted Living concepts in the Architecture, Engineer and Construction sector.

It will consist of a Joint Curriculum, didactic materials and a collaborative platform in line with the needs of the different target users identified. After the project officially ends a Blueprint ensures the follow-up of the results. ESSENSE recently launched the Preliminary Joint Curriculum, which was validated through a series of surveys which reached over 600 stakeholders in more than 20 countries from all over the world. The online course platform will be available soon.