DeSIRe Project Final Conference held in Yerevan
From 7 to 9 October 2026, Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) hosted the Final Conference of the Erasmus+ KA2 CBHE project “Development of Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions of Armenia and Georgia in Compliance with the 21st Century Labour Market Requirements” (DeSIRe). The hybrid event brought together the Armenian, Georgian and European consortium partners, national quality assurance agencies, and students and graduates.
The first day was devoted to “From Project Achievements to Impact.” Dr. Tigran Mikayelyan, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at ASPU, moderated the welcome speeches. The speakers were Dr. Naira Safaryan, Vice-Rector of ASPU; Dr. Mariana Sargsyan, Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia; Dr. Gerard Cullen, Project Manager at TU Dresden; Dr. Ruben Topchyan, Director of ANQA; Dr. Armen Tsaturyan, Rector of VSU; and Dr. Lusik Vardanyan, Coordinator of the DeSIRe Project.
Next, the work package leaders presented the project’s key achievements: Dr. Gohar Dokholyan, Ms. Raisa Avetyan, Dr. Irma Grdzelidze, Prof. Ignacio J. Blanco, Dr. Philip Penny, Ms. Meri Barseghyan, Dr. Gerard Cullen and Dr. Arpine Hakobyan. Their results included five ECTS-compliant soft skills modules, five MOOCs and the related assessment methodologies. The partner universities then shared their experiences and the impact achieved. The day ended with a panel discussion, “Are Armenian and Georgian HEIs Ready for the 21st-Century Workplace?”, moderated by Dr. Tigran Mikayelyan. The panelists were Dr. Dimitri Japaridze, Dr. Irma Grdzelidze, Ms. Mary Ghazaryan, Dr. Arpine Hakobyan, Dr. Sona Alaverdyan, Ms. Meri Barseghyan, and Ms Mane Khachatryan, a 2nd year ASPU bachelor student, field of study “English Language and Literature”.
On the second day, Ms. Valeriya Racheeva introduced the project website. Dr. Tigran Mikayelyan gave an overview of “A Practical Guide to Soft Skills Development, Teaching and Assessment,” and Prof. Ignacio J. Blanco presented the Manual on MOOC Creation Guidelines. Ms. Meri Barseghyan, specialist at the Policy Department and Implementation Division of ANQA, outlined the MOOC-based micro-credentials and certification process. The universities then showcased their Soft Skills Lab business plans and roadmaps. A key moment of the conference was the official signing of the Soft Skills Labs Cooperation Agreement between the Armenian and Georgian universities.
Dr. Lusik Vardanyan facilitated a World Café session on embedding soft skills in higher education over the long term, with tables moderated by Dr. Gerard Cullen, Dr. Irma Grdzelidze and Prof. Ignacio J. Blanco. After lively group discussions, the moderators summarised the main highlights.
On 9 October, after the conference closed, the consortium partners held a coordination meeting on the remaining project tasks.
Dr. Lusik Vardanyan, Coordinator of the DeSIRe project, thanked the entire ASPU team and all partners for their valuable contribution. In turn, the consortium members expressed their sincere gratitude to the Project Coordinator for her dedicated and efficient coordination of the DeSIRe Project.
#DeSIRe #ErasmusPlus #CBHE #SoftSkills #HigherEducation #Armenia #Georgia
