On March 24-28, 2025, representatives of the Drseden University of Technology hosted Georgian, Armenian, Spanish, Finnish and Irish colleagues from the consortium of the Erasmus+ co-funded project “Development of Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions of Armenia and Georgia in Compliance with the 21st Century Labour Market Requirements [DeSIRe]”.

Among the participants were representatives of Tbilisi State University: Deputy Rector Kakhaber Cheishvili, Head of Administration Lasha Saghinadze, and Project Assistant Sopio Idadze.

During the 5-day working week, the participants heard presentations on topics such as: “Essential Entrepreneurial Skills: Initiative and Proactivity”; “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion”; “Effective Business Communication and Negotiation Skills”; “Developing Organizational Culture”.

The German hosts presented the participants with the approaches of the Dresden University of Technology to the integration of people with special educational needs into the educational process.

During the visit, the participants got acquainted with the university infrastructure, including the university library and the museum.

The project “Development of Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions of Armenia and Georgia in Compliance with the 21st Century Labour Market Requirements [DeSIRe]” aims to promote the development of soft skills in higher education institutions (HEIs) of Armenia (ARM) and Georgia (GE) in line with the requirements of the 21st century labor market, which will help students in career development and employment.

The project is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), which in turn means ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and access to lifelong learning opportunities for all. It also supports European priorities in strengthening digital education and skills.

DeSiRe is composed of 15 academic, professional and non-governmental partners, including four European, five Georgian and six Armenian organizations.

The local coordinator of the project is the Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tbilisi State University.

For more information, see the link.

October 21-25, 2024 DeSIRe project partner members from Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Ireland, Finland and Germany visited the University of Granada.

Among the members were the academic staff of Tbilisi State University: Associate professors Irma Grdzelidze and Rusudan Sanadze; Professor Ketevan Chkuaseli.

Within the framework of the visit, thematic sessions were held on the following topics:
 

• ”Equity, Diversity and Inclusion”
• ”Media & Digital Literacy”
• ”Essential Entrepreneurship Skills”
• ”Reflective Thinking and Evaluating Skills”

The above 3 modules and 1 MOOC will be developed based on the training materials and resources.

Project partner members were actively involved in the sessions.

On September 25, 2024, an information meeting was held at Sukhumi State University on the ERASMUS+ project - "Development of Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions of Armenia and Georgia in Compliance with the 21st Century Labour Market Requirements [DeSIRe]".

The meeting was opened by the head of the Department of International Relations and Intercultural Relations of Sukhumi State University, the project coordinator at SSU, Professor Indira Dzagania.

The present audience was greeted by: SSU Rector, Professor Zurab Khonelidze; The head of the administration, Professor Davit Jalaghonia and the Speaker of the Representative Council, Professor Nino Topuridze.

Associate Professor of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Tbilisi State University, project coordinator at TSU, Irma Grdzelidze, gave a presentation on the topic -  ,, "Promoting the development of soft skills in higher education in Armenia and Georgia through the DeSIRe project - empowering students for the future".

The presentation on the topic - "Development of soft skills in higher educational programs to meet the requirements of the employment market" was presented by the director of the Institute of Economics and Business of Ilia State University, project coordinator in Iliauni, Professor Dimitri Japaridze.

The information provided about the project aroused great interest of the attending public.