The aim of this project is to strengthen the cooperation of higher education institutions (universities and universities of applied sciences) in the field of wood engineering and management and jointly develop and implement distance learning modules. The develpment process in three steps guarantees a high standard of the collaboratively designed teaching units. After each step a thorough evaluation process takes place in order to incorporate students' and teachers' feedback into the new tranche of online teaching material to be created. At the end of the project 40 ECTS are available online, out of which students can choose 30 ECTS and do a virtual Erasmus+ mobility semester with full ECTS recognition at the home university. This means that for the first time ever, a European student of wood engineering or wood management can study a full exchange semester online, without having to leave the home university. Nevertheless, benefits and learning outcomes should be as close as possible to the ones from a real exchange semester that involves mobility. The virtual exchange semester will contribute to opening the possibility of studying in an international context, with courses in a foreign language (English) and lecturers as well as students from other cultural and institutional backgrounds to a higher percentage of students than the number of students who can afford to do an Erasmus+ exchange programme with physical mobility. Regardless of financial, social or physical barriers, students can do an exchange semester at the Virtual Wood University. The modules offered will show a high degree of collaboration and cooperation and put special emphasis on aspects that help to develop a European mindset, both with regard to the wood business and European citizenship. The exchange semester offered on the Virtual Wood University Platform shall provide students with a high degree of experience in cross-country cooperation and intercultural awareness building. The joint development of teaching modules adds a European dimension to the study material. Four representative institutions in the field of wood technology studies put efforts and expertise together in order to collaboratively create up-to-date online teaching units: Salzburg University of Applied Scienc-es. Austria (Lead), LAB University of Applied Sciences in Lahti Finland, Tallinn University of Technolo-gy (TalTech), Estonia and DHBW Baden Württemberg Mosbach, Germany. The long-term vision is to use the results of this project to strategically extend the number of partners and develop a Virtual European Wood University in which several institutions that offer post-secondary education in the areas of forestry, forest products technology, timber trade & management work strongly together and offer joint programmes.
The aim of the strategic partnership "Virtual Wood University Project" was to offer transnational joint modules in the field of wood studies, which are not only available to students from one university, but also to a wider number of students. For each module, experts from two different European institutions have worked together to develop the content. In this way, all modules are designed from a multicultural perspective. Through these international modules, students can broaden their personal expertise and are exposed to different perspectives from different countries. The Virtual Wood University programme offers students two options: - Students can acquire credits for their own study programme at their home university and are confronted with a different approach (multicultural perspective, digital learning). - The programme offers a "virtual Erasmus semester" for forest-related studies. This enhances the international experience of students, even if they are unable to participate in physical Erasmus+ activities.
Wood is one of the key resources to address the challenges of climate change, circular economy and sustainable economic development. Higher education in Wood Science in Europe is faced with two fields of action: - A globally operating wood industry with local manifestations in material use/production/customer behaviour, which needs leaders who think and act comprehensively, internationally and complexly. - This places particular demands on curriculum development. Curricula need to open dynamic windows for the acquisition of content and the training of different skills. Up to now, however, leaders in the wood sector have been trained in the respective national universities of wood business and wood technology. The respective curricula offer no or very limited possibilities for an intensive personal or professional exchange at the national and international level. In addition, the wood industry is becoming increasingly unattractive to young people, who perceive it as conservative and backward-looking. Universities of Wood Technology across Europe need new approaches and offerings to meet the challenges of the sector - so the idea of a collaborative, European digital course offering was born - the Virtual Wood University project.