All consortium members met for the kick-off meeting of the CLOUD HED project - Disaster Resilience in Higher Education Systems via a Cloud University Model met online for the kick-off meeting. Members of the consortium are: WPZ Research (Austria), Sumy State University (Ukraine), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel), Rezeknes Tehnologiju Akademija (Latvia), Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University (Poland), National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (Ukraine), Tel-Hai Academic college (Israel)

The first members of the sounding board, a group of experts to provide strategic guidance for the project, also participated: Mr. Futter from the Austrian Ministry for Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and Mr. Neavyn from the Higher Education Authority Ireland.

The project CLOUD HED aims to provide HEIs operating under crisis conditions, particularly armed conflicts, with an evidence-based, whole-university solution to continue their T&L-operations. Core objective is to enhance the understanding of HE system challenges in crises, as well as to provide a whole-university concept, enabling HEIs to provide their education mission via a Cloud University Model. The concept involves innovative disaster-appropriate T&L-practices including the design of micro credentials.

The activities of CLOUD HED include the preparation of case studies and a needs analysis handbook of HE systems pre-, during and post-crisis situations, the CLOUD HED concept for a whole-university shift to a Cloud University model and the development of training materials for teaching staff in order to prepare them for teaching in a Cloud University under crisis conditions. This involves conveying transversal and resilience skills relevant to cloud learning and teaching under crisis conditions.

The main and deliverable results of CLOUD HED will be (1) a handbook collecting selected case studies of HE-systems under crisis, their needs and innovative solutions, (2) adapted pilot-curricula for the shift to the cloud, including micro credentials, (3) guidelines for HEIs’ emergency-induced transition towards a Cloud University, and (4) training materials for HEI- teachers, accessible via the CLOUD HED-website. A major outcome will be increased crisis resilience of (EU-) HE-systems.