On 13 May 2026, UkraineDigiTrans project co-organised a webinar together with two other Erasmus+ projects, bringing together nearly 100 teachers and education professionals from Ukraine, Georgia, Greece, and Finland. This event was a clustering event that unites actors from different EU-funded projects who share common interests and goals.

In the context of EU-funded projects, a cluster typically refers to a group or network of related projects that focus on a common research theme, topic, or area. Clustering events (also cluster events) are collaborative workshops or conferences typically organized by a cluster which shares a common interest. These events bring together a group of experts from related initiatives to explore a specific topic in depth, exchange knowledge, and identify common challenges and opportunities. 

Well-designed clustering events go beyond presenting the project results. They create an interactive space for dialogue and fresh ideas. By connecting complementary expertise, clustering events help avoid duplication of efforts and strengthen synergies across projects. They enable participants from research, industry, and policy to build new partnerships and develop joint solutions. 

For the project consortia, clustering events offer a valuable opportunity to extend the reach and impact of the work beyond individual project’s boundaries. These kinds of events amplify the project results by increasing their visibility and long-term sustainability. A shared event is a chance to turn the projects’ outcomes into practical applications and policy discussions across a wider stakeholder community. For the European Union, clustering events are a valuable tool to increase the impact of research funding. The purpose is to search for solutions to the complex challenges of today in a coordinated, collaborative manner. 

Joint effort by 3 Erasmus+ funded projects 

UkraineDigiTrans project was the initiator for organizing this clustering event. Two other Erasmus+ funded projects with similar interests and aims were suggested to collaborate: BURN and Digi-Change. Thanks to the smooth collaboration with these partners, the event turned out to be very successful. A brief presentation of BURN and Digi-Change projects:

BURN – Boosting University Psychological Resilience and Wellbeing in (Post-) War Ukrainian Nation (January 2024 – December 2026) is dedicated to strengthening psychological resilience and wellbeing in Ukrainian universities during and after the war. Its core goals are to professionalize crisis psychology through new university courses, improve institutional psychological services, and establish Centers for Psychological Resilience and Wellbeing. The project targets psychology students, university psychological service staff, and higher education institution members more broadly, and brings together partner universities from Ukraine, Estonia, Germany, and Latvia to deliver these objectives.  Link to the BURN webpage 

Digi-CHange (January 2026 – December 2028) aims at digitally transforming medical and nursing education in Ukraine and Georgia. The project develops AI-supported simulations, digital health competency tools, and Digi-CHange Labs to prepare healthcare students for technology-driven practice, while also reforming curricula through an interprofessional “knowledge chain” model that connects educators, clinicians, engineers, and industry. Two Ukrainian medical universities — I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University and National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsia — are among the partner institutions, making their staff and students key beneficiaries of the project’s outputs over its three-year lifespan. Link to the Digichangeproject webpage

 
Evolving role of digitalization in building future-ready mindsets 

Tuija Marstio, Coordinator of the UkraineDigiTrans project, delivered an inspiring speech in the event on the role of digitalization in education. She brought up the fact that digitalization is often discussed only in terms of digital tools. However, the impact of digitalization goes beyond the use of digital tools: it shapes how people think, adapt, and cope.  

In education, teachers play a key role in integrating technology into learning in pedagogically meaningful ways. They need to adapt their teaching in times of instability, such as war, global crisis and rapid technological changes. For all of us, uncertainty is no longer an exception, but it has become the norm. 

“Digitalization is not only about improving education systems but also supporting people’s ability to learn, to adapt and to remain resilient.” 
– Tuija Marstio, Coordinator of the UkraineDigiTrans project 

In her presentation, Dr. Marstio highlighted five key elements of a future-ready mindset for healthcare professionals: 

• Adaptability and continuous learning 
• Ability to work with uncertainty and complexity
• Critical and ethical thinking
• Digital confidence, meaning belief in ability to use and adapt and to trust digital tools and technologies 
• Psychological resilience and professional identity 

She also argued that education needs to move from content mastery to capability building, and from digital tools to digital thinking. Digitalization in medical education supports clinical reasoning, simulation, interprofessional learning, and decision-making under uncertainty.  

“The question is no longer “which tools we use?” but instead “what kinds of thinking and learning do we design?”” 
– Tuija Marstio, Coordinator of the UkraineDigiTrans project 

As a final remark, Marstio emphasized that digitalization must remain human-centered. Tools are just tools, and teachers are the ones who give meaning, direction, and humanity to learning. Especially in the medical field, ethics, empathy and professional judgement remain irreplaceable.  Digital tools and AI should therefore be seen as partners that can be used to support teaching and learning, not as replacements.