Abstract:

An online course – ILL (I Living Lab) - with professors and students from six European countries (Belgium, Latvia, Romania, Austria, Portugal, Hungary) aimed to find a solution to a common problem in the management of agro-industrial waste in their own region, according to the design thinking methodology. The online course was part of the European Universities project (“Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions” - E3UDRES2), on the topic of the circular economy, whose development aims to achieve a more sustainable way of life at all levels in the regions. Students were recruited from the project's partner higher education institutions, through a self-registration process, with the purpose to add skills to their curriculum beyond the traditional offer. In this course, it was intended that students develop skills that prepare them for the future, that is, to live in an increasingly complex and global world. The enrolled students had different nationalities and backgrounds - ranging from social sciences, through computer science to life sciences. The students were challenged by two professors (one from the IPS another from the UPT) to find a solution for better monitoring the microalgae cultivation in agro-industrial wastes. The goal was to develop a smart tool, but at the same time low cost and capable of sending data to remote devices.

The methodology applied was the Design Thinking, which consists of the sequence of the following five stages:
1) Empathy with the challenge and the work group,
2) Definition of the challenge,
3) Idealization of a possible solution,
4) Testing the solution, and
5) Prototype design. In the two semesters of the 2021/2022 academic year in which the course was repeated, the two groups of students designed different tools with potential application, according to the invited external stakeholder and specialist in the area.

The skills most developed by students during this course were: communication, cooperation, innovation, self-determination and ambiguity. Despite some of the students not coming from the area of the ILL’s topic, each member played a decisive role in achieving the results. This course model allows students to meet other students in Europe, and in addition, the pursued methodology provides multiple learnings that are not achievable with traditional teaching.

Keywords:

I Living Lab, future skills, European Higher Education Institutions, robotics, microalgae, circular economy.