On 25–26 January, lecturers from the Faculty of Medicine of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) Gerda Bukauskaitė-Žiūkienė and Jolanta Ulozienė participated in the Erasmus+ Changemakers project partners’ meeting, which took place in Ghent, Belgium. The meeting began with an overview of the Erasmus+ programme guide, highlighting the alliances’ mission to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity. During the meeting, the main project objectives were refined, reflecting the development of higher education, the promotion of vocational training and cooperation in the social and economic environment.

Much attention was paid to addressing the skills shortages of healthcare professionals and the acquisition of new skills in the EU. The objectives reflecting the goals were discussed in detail: to promote innovative teaching methods, to support skills development in the field of technology and green skills, and to promote corporate social responsibility.

The working group presented the identified challenges of the healthcare sector related to innovation, intrapreneurship, digital competencies, integration of green skills and social innovation. It was discussed whether these challenges are similar and whether there is a need to take into account the cultural aspects of the countries.

The main objective of the meeting was to decide how Erasmus+ partnerships could effectively develop innovative, business and digital competencies of healthcare and welfare professionals, contributing to technological, ecological and social innovations in healthcare.