IncluSTEM The need for (re)training of the workforce has never been greater. Increasing “half-life” of knowledge and skills, rapid digitalisation of the labour market, rising retirement age, and the rapid influx of migrants into Europe are all factors that pose radically new requirements on how we need to think about and organize education, in general, and lifelong learning in society, in particular. In addition, general-purpose technologies, like digitalization, change not only what knowledge and skills are competitive on the labour market but also how skills are acquired. Technology provides opportunities but also forces changes upon organisations and companies as new competencies become sought-after.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need for rethinking the whole system of education and lifelong learning so as to develop new approaches to, strategies for, and methods of validating or updating competencies.

IncluSTEM is about developing an innovative re-skilling pilot programme in software development for the main target group with an academic or professional background that can be used by European universities. The produced outputs and strategies will contribute to IncluSTEM’s “Handbook of Best Practices” which will entail all activities and results of IncluSTEM’s intellectual outputs and which will be published and disseminated as a final result inIncluSTEM’s activities.