JUST, short for “Joint University and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) Training” is an EU co-funded project born out of the realisation that the collaboration between universities and businesses, particularly SMEs, is lacking, hindering educational and employment prospects for students.

JUST steps in with a mission to bridge the education-to-work gap, uniting universities and SMEs to create coherent, relevant, and up-to-date study programs through the use of microcredentials.

This EU project is co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme and boasts a partnership of 9 entities from 5 different countries (BE, ES, IT, SI, SK).

At the current stage of the project, partners have developed an innovative training curriculum, currently available in multiple languages (EN, ES, IT, SI, SK) and offered in an open-access format on the project’s OER platform, completely free of charge. This curriculum encompasses a diverse range of courses, each designed to equip students with essential and innovative job skills. Here is a brief overview of the courses with titles and brief descriptions:

• Smart working characteristics, tools and good practices: This module defines smart working, explores its principles and practices, and helps participants set up an effective smart working environment
• Interacting safely in a digital setting: Covering the importance of cybersecurity practices and effective tools to protect personal information in a digital world
• Key competences for the 21st-century workplace: Introduction to soft skills crucial for success in the 21st-century workplace
• Time, tasks and teamwork management: Emphasizing personal organization, the urgent-important matrix, and techniques to overcome procrastination
• Being smart, effective and efficient in managing your workload: Strategies for better planning, task prioritization, and maintaining productivity under pressure
• Collaboration and Communication Skills: Building relationships, effective communication dynamics, and understanding people and situations in organizational contexts
• Business Etiquette: Exploring the concept’s role in fostering mutual respect, improving workplace communication, and presenting a united company image
• An unconventional guide to office life: Understanding organizational hierarchy, communication frameworks, and structuring effective business communication

The 8 training courses consist of 1 .pptx module and 1 .docx handout each, enriched with a glossary and a final self-assessment test. To access the course contents, please visit the direct link: www.just-training.eu/training.

Currently, these courses are undergoing testing and validation (T&V) by 300 university students who provide invaluable feedback on content and structure, ensuring they meet the needs of both academia and the job market.

The recent TPM in Malaga (Spain) played an important role in assessing and advancing the JUST project. The meeting focused on the following main points:

• Drawing valuable insights and lesson learned from PR2 and PR3
• Evaluating the successful implementation of the T&V process, yielding first results. Feedback received thus far highlights an enthusiastic response from learners, significative positive impact on their professional preparation and competitiveness.

As the project progresses, attention now turns to Project Result 4 (PR4), where efforts will focus on producing guidelines for utilising project outcomes (Implementation Suite) and recommendations for policy implementation to promote similar initiatives and collaboration between universities and SMEs (Green Paper).

For further information about the JUST project, please contact: just.training.eu@gmail.com

Project website: www.just-training.eu

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/JUSTchannel