The Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership Diverse Courses consists of a consortium of in total six organisations from five European countries who work together in the project. In the following you will learn about the organisations, their history and objectives as institutions, their target groups and specific fields of expertise.
FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria
The coordinating lead partner of the consortium is the Department of Social Work at the FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria. FH JOANNEUM is the second largest university of applied sciences in Austria, its campuses are located in Graz, Kapfenberg and Gleichenberg, while all three are situated in the province of Styria. FH JOANNEUM has about 4700 students, around 300 full-time teaching and academic staff as well as around 1000 external lecturers. It offers 47 degree programs within six departments: Applied computer sciences; building, energy and society (including the department of social work); engineering; health studies; management; and media and design. FH JOANNEUM offers students a practice-oriented education on a full-time or part-time basis, and cooperative programs with interdisciplinary focus. It combines academic education with practical training.
At the Department of Social Work all of the research projects and application-oriented projects deal with the situation of marginalized social groups and their inclusion, e.g. refugee empowerment, digitalization and youth social work as well as barrier free municipalities. Moreover, the Department of Social Work offers a “Peer-counseling academic program” for people with disabilities with a focus on physical disabilities and mental health.
FH JOANNEUM commits itself to inclusion and diversity in its mission statement. For concrete measures, the Gender Equality Plan was adopted in 2022 by the managing directors. In addition to gender, it also addresses various diversity dimensions. The International Office of the FH JOANNEUM is promoting openness and tolerance amongst students and staff through its program “R.U.D.I. – respectful, united, diverse, intercultural.” At the University didactic training, which is compulsory for permanent staff who is giving lectures, one of the modules is dedicated to diversity.
Fundación Docete Omnes, Granada, Spain
Fundación Docete Omnes is a non-governmental and non-profit organization. It is an educational and public interest institution by virtue of a ministerial order. In the Diverse Courses project, Fundación Docete Omnes is responsible for dissemination activities such as developing the website and the interactive online platform.
The Foundation is a social complex working in different areas, the two main areas are education and care sectors. The Foundation is a large organization with more than 140 workers: among them teachers and experts with a high level of experience whose opinion and professional experience is relevant for the project Diverse Courses. Its branches extend in different directions. Among the activities that take place within the Foundation, we find:
- Blanca Paloma Vocational Training School: It is an official school funded by the government that provides formal education and has had thousands of students (around 360 per year) with various skills trained in its classrooms in both regulated training: occupational training and continuing education. As an educational and social centre, we provide regular vocational training courses and different courses for workers, the unemployed and for immigrants. Since 1968 we consider ourselves an active centre in the development of innovative policies, teacher training, development of research projects etc. With 40+ years of experience, teachers of all levels have been trained and formed in our classrooms. This experience is the support of the project.
- Complejo Social Padre Villoslada: At present it includes an occupational centre founded in 1982 to serve people with intellectual impairment, it also includes people with mental illness and people at the risk of social exclusion. The occupational centre offers various workshops for the development of daily life and employment skills, adapted to different learning needs. People from different nationalities have been hosted here.
Dafni Kentro Epaggelmatikis Katartisis, Patras, Greece
DAFNI KEK is an adult education and counselling organization from Greece, focusing on knowledge and innovation transfer in the broader fields of lifelong learning, vocational training, and social empowerment. It focuses on the transfer of knowledge and innovation across education, employment, entrepreneurship, and non-formal learning, with an emphasis on inclusive and participatory methodologies supported by modern technologies. In the Diverse Courses project, DAFNI KEK is responsible for the quality management, evaluation and impact assessment.
The organisation’s mission is to promote access to knowledge and learning opportunities as a means of contributing to the cultural, social, and economic development of the local community and wider society. To this end, DAFNI KEK supports and encourages innovative approaches across various fields, including adult education and training, social inclusion, intercultural dialogue, empowerment of persons with disabilities, and the cultivation of an entrepreneurial mindset through non-formal learning practices. Its core activities include the design of tailored training programmes, the development of new learning methodologies, and the creation of professional curricula, often piloted through integrated quality assurance and evaluation procedures.
The organizational objective is the development and implementation of a broader spectrum of international educational initiatives that will enhance the broader community. More particularly, the main goal of DAFNI KEK is the design of internationalization strategies for creating opportunities for partnerships and knowledge alliances ensuring the active engagement of participants in various forms of international initiatives (mobility, study courses, intercultural training, etc.).
DAFNI KEK aims to ensure that adult education is inclusive, diverse, and responsive—especially for individuals and groups who face systemic barriers to participation—thus contributing to more equitable and empowering learning environments.
Ensino e Investigacao e Administracao SA (EIA), Lisboa, Portugal
EIA SA is a private university school integrated into the Portuguese Higher Education System, with the designation of Atlantica Instituto Universitário. In the context of the Diverse Courses project, EIA is responsible for coordinating the Work Package 3, with a focus on didactical scenarios for supporting diversity in learning environments.
Created in 1996 as a public interest institution, Atlantica University focuses on the creation, transmission and diffusion of knowledge, sciences and technology through the articulation of studies, teaching, research and experimental development in the areas of Business Sciences, Health, Information Technology and Engineering. Atlantica University’s founding entity EIA represents the Atlantica University in the legal sphere and in its administrative, economic and financial management. A central objective of Atlantica University is to enable students to become professionals with a humanistic and scientific technical approach and committed to society. Atlantica University aims to position itself clearly in the European context, both at the level of quality training as well as through proposals and the participation of innovative projects in different areas adapting to the technological and social changes that occur in Europe. A goal of Atlantica University’s research is to be a valuable tool in search of excellence and good practices for progress and development from innovation and social commitment. Atlantica considers the internationalization policies of pedagogical level as well as scientific research and community services of great importance for the quality of teaching.
In this sense, Atlantica University is committed to international cooperation policies in several areas: Erasmus mobility program; applied and scientific research with participation in projects and consortiums of European programmes such as H2020 or Erasmus+; publications, dual programs, partnerships with other universities and presentations of international conferences; provision of services to the community.
Escola Profissional Amar Terra Verde (EPATV), Vila Verde, Portugal
Escola Profissional Amar Terra Verde (EPATV) is a Vocational Education and Training (VET) school, a training provider, and an adult education centre where social and educational activities take place in formal, non-formal, and informal contexts. Within the scope of the Diverse Course project, EPATV is responsible for the dissemination strategy and the related activities under Work Package 4.
Established in 1993 through a tripartite agreement between the municipalities of Amares, Terras de Bouro, and Vila Verde, EPATV is currently a private institution under the supervision of the Portuguese Ministry of Education. The school serves approximately 600 students and employs around 60 teachers. It is located in Vila Verde, a rural area in northern Portugal, characterised by a low-skilled population facing social and economic challenges, primarily related to unemployment, low levels of formal education, and limited living conditions.
EPATV’s primary mission is to prepare young people for life — not only for the labour market but also to help them thrive in broader social contexts — thereby contributing to the improvement of their living conditions and overall well-being. Although the specific courses offered may vary from year to year, the school specialises in areas such as gastronomy, healthcare assistance, metalwork, renewable energy, electricity and mechanics, air conditioning, and industrial maintenance — all of which demonstrate strong employability outcomes.
In addition to its vocational training programmes, EPATV includes a lifelong learning and adult education unit, with a particular focus on the recognition, validation, and certification of skills since 2006. The school has delivered over 40,000 hours of training for adults, including those with special needs. EPATV’s qualification centre is specialised in upskilling the adult population, either by recognising higher levels of formal qualifications or by certifying professional skills.
Cramars Societa Cooperativa Sociale, Tolmezzo, Italy
Cramars is a social cooperative born in 1997 with the mission of the development of human resources and marginal areas. In the Diverse Courses project, Cramars coordinates Work Package 2, in particular several good practice collections, a manual and the development of personas and a personas tutorial.
Cramars directs vocational and educational training courses addressed to employed, unemployed people and to apprentices. It manages European projects both as leader and as partner developing research, vocational training courses, evaluation, guideline services and good practices spreading. Equal opportunities, social dialogue, employment, information technologies, education, local development and business creation are Cramars’ main subjects, working in partnership with private and public institutions, universities and European associations.
Cramars is located in Tolmezzo, in our own modern building with four teaching rooms and computer labs. The company has established and applies a quality management system for the design, preparation and implementation of educational services in accordance with ISO 9001. Cramars employs 13 persons, all active members of the institution that is characterized by the stabilization of the financial and human resources. The institution collaborates with about 100 freelancers who are coming from different fields. Each year 500 to 800 participants take part in our programmes, trainings, projects and other activities. Vocational training courses are attended by mixed groups of unemployed people from different backgrounds who are often de-motivated because they are obliged by social services or employment centres, in order to maintain possible subsidies, to participate in such courses. Given these premises, it is easy to understand how Cramars’ staff and tutors often struggle with this diversity in the classroom, but being a social cooperative, the philosophy is to seek effective and shared solutions for its users that can facilitate training.
