The University of Cadiz was part of the international project 3L4MOHS, Lifelong Learning for Mongolia; Occupational Health & Safety, which took place at the University of Patras in Greece from 23 January to 25 January 2024.

The meeting was attended by professors Ana Carbonell Baeza and Vanesa España Romero from the team led by David Jiménez Pavón, responsible for the project at the UCA, together with Javier Izquierdo Antón, project technician of the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalisation. 

This is a Capacity Building project of the Erasmus + programme. The consortium includes 4 higher education institutions in Mongolia, two universities and two colleges. The Mongolian universities are the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) and the National University of Mongolia (NUM), both based in the national capital of Ulaanbaatar. The other higher education institutions are the Polytechnical College of Khenti Province, Umnugovi Province Polytechnic College covering remote areas of the vast country. The European partner universities are the University of Patras in Greece, the project coordinator, the Univestà degli Studi di Palermo and the University of Cadiz.

The aim of this project is to establish Lifelong Learning Centres (LLC) in 4 higher education institutions in Mongolia and to digitise the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) curricula to be tested through the higher education institutions. Joint design of education and digitisation of educational resources through gamification and new pedagogical methods will be worked on with the aim of modernising education.

Adequate training in e-learning will greatly contribute to the modernisation of higher education in Mongolia with the overall objectives being the introduction of lifelong learning culture in higher education (SDG4), lifelong learning in Mongolian enterprises (SDG 4 and 9) by fostering digital transformation and inclusion in higher education, as well as promoting occupational health and safety in Mongolian enterprises (SDG 3 and 9).

While the most important specific targets and expected impact are:

• Establishment of lifelong learning centres in Mongolian higher education institutions and introduction of digital educational tools.
• Establish the quality culture paradigm and foster co-design among university and industry stakeholders.
• Training industry employees in basic occupational health and safety through online training courses offered by the learning centres.

The participation in the project of the UCA professors, belonging to the department of Didactics of Physical, Plastic and Musical Education of the Faculty of Education, will consist more prominently at the level of responsibility, in training staff of the universities of Mongolia and higher education on new educational technologies and how to subsequently teach Mongolian workers the new online course that will be created on health and safety at work using these digital resources. They will also participate in the different project tasks required to get to that point. The UCA faculty involved are experts in the field of healthy lifestyle, covering both physical and mental health, especially through physical activity and exercise, but also considering rest and nutrition. That is why his previous experience in numerous research projects at regional, national and European level carried out within the MOVE-IT group (Empowering Health by Physical Activity, Exercise and Nutrition), as well as in scientific and educational dissemination activities, will be transferred in the first instance to the academic field and training in health and safety at work and ultimately to the business field in Mongolia once the training that will be modernised through this project is carried out in that country.