New ERASMUS+ project INFRO@D is launched – University of Klagenfurt

International project application entitled “European Digital Education in Road Infrastructure Management INFRO@D”, submitted under the Strategic Partnerships of ERASMUS + program, was positively assessed and directed for funding. The leader of the international consortium is the Department of Road and Transport Engineering of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Gdańsk University of Technology. The project will be implemented together with European universities: Universita Degli Studi di Catania (Italy), Universitaet Klagenfurt (Austria), Zilinska Univerzita in Ziline (Slovakia), Szechenyi Istvan University (Hungary), Cracow University of Technology (Poland).

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a departure from the current ways of functioning of societies in many aspects related to the economy, travel, work and education. This also applies to higher education. The necessity of distance learning is one of the ways to maintain social distance and protect our life and health. The preliminary assessment of the situation at universities in Poland and other European countries shows that the academic staff is not sufficiently prepared to conduct attractive and effective classes conducted in a remote format. The necessity to conduct remote classes by universities, both during studies and training courses, requires the development of a dedicated didactic and training process, taking into account the specific requirements of interdisciplinary engineering knowledge. Transferring this knowledge in remote education, due to its large scope, requires the use of many didactic tools: lectures, fieldwork, design, exercise, laboratory, independent work of students along with the assessment of the progress and knowledge of students. As part of the INFRO@D Project, a model product dedicated to distance learning at technical universities in the field of civil engineering and transport will be developed. This product will include comprehensive and innovative solutions, enabling the implementation of distance learning at the highest level. The developed methodology and teaching materials will be based on the road infrastructure management course, with particular emphasis on the elements of road infrastructure safety management. The method of preparing the methodology and teaching and training materials will enable their implementation for any thematic scope in the area of civil engineering and transport. The project provides for the construction of a digital education methodology in the field of teaching at universities and training for engineering staff. Preparation of a remote education course in road infrastructure safety management will enable the use and verification of the best solutions of teaching methodology in this mode from Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Italy. The INFRO@D project will raise the level of teaching and training, using innovative digital teaching materials for distance learning, which can be used by other universities dealing with this subject. The main goal of the INFRO@D project is to increase the competences and skills of distance learning in a model solution in the field of road infrastructure safety management. To achieve this goal, actions should be taken to promote the best solutions in the field of digital education (remote – carried out ad hoc during a pandemic and e-learning courses, which may become a permanent element of the didactic process in the future).