The European Centre for Economic and Policy Analysis and Affairs (ECEPAA), as coordinator of the Erasmus+ project HEQUITY (Building Higher Education Quality InclUsIon PaThwaYs, funded by AEF-Europe), is pleased to share an update from the latest consortium meeting.

Between 10 and 12 June 2026, the project partners gathered in Padua, Italy, hosted by Associazione Popoli Insieme ODV, for a transnational study visit combining fieldwork, collaborative toolkit development, and project coordination.

The programme opened on the evening of 10 June with a social dinner, offering partners the opportunity to reconnect and strengthen collaboration ahead of the main working sessions. On 11 June, the consortium convened at Job Campus in Padua for a full day of hands-on work: participants tested and evaluated the five HEQUITY toolkit activities — Policy Detective, The Opportunity Line, Inclusion Hackathon, Invisible Power Mapping, and Micro-Exclusion Lab — assessing their applicability and discussing possible improvements. Brainstorming sessions also helped advance sections of the toolkit still under development.

On 12 June, partners completed work on one of the final toolkit activities before joining an online coordination and evaluation meeting attended by all consortium members. During this session, project progress was reviewed, upcoming responsibilities were finalised, and the programme for the international training to be hosted by Sakarya University was presented, discussed, and approved for official announcement.

The Padua visit reinforced the consortium’s shared commitment to building concrete, evidence-based resources that empower higher education staff to better support students from migrant backgrounds.