The focus and structure of the three-year Creative Industries Global Network, (CIGN) project is as follows: 1. To develop a lasting and sustainable International network between key Higher Education Institutions, employer organisations and Sector Skills Alliance Partners, (SSA’s) to identify future skills gaps in the area of ‘Cross Media Design and Production’. Following this and in consultation with key stakeholders develop innovative modular content, training activities and workshops and provide opportunities for dissemination of this research through existing and developing media technology platforms. 2. The lead partner in the project will be Linköpings Universitet, (LiU) Sweden. The other partners are, Hochschule der Medien, (HdM,) Stuttgart, Arteveldehogeschool (AhS), Gent, Belgium, and The University of the West of Scotland, (UWS). A fourth, silent partner, Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, will also be involved in the partnership on a consultancy basis. Project Activities will include the following: In the first year of the project there will be an identification and consolidation of common areas of practice between partner institutions, and the development of staff training workshops. Meetings will take place with steering group partners and key industrial and sector skills alliance partners, (SSAP’s) and in order to provide training opportunities in line with individual requirements which may include: • Identifying opportunities for sharing and using new pedagogical methodologies for international cooperation. • Reviewing opportunities for participatory approaches to learning and teaching, including the implementation of distance and blended learning techniques. • Integration of new technologies where appropriate. In the end of the first year and into the second year of the project, we will identify and develop modules across the partner institutions. Proposed titles could include: • International Professional and Entrepreneurial Practice • International Creative Practice • International Opportunities for Engagement in Placement and Work Related Learning • International Collaborative Projects • International Language modules • Modules with the topic of Cultural Diversity Modules In the second year, the partners will also investigate opportunities for both local and inter-institutional dissemination of findings. (This includes engagement with international SSAP’s and awarding bodies.) A second staff training workshop exploring best practice in assessment will also be held. Also in the second year of the project, opportunities will be created to disseminate (developed) modules to the international student body via a series of short-courses in partner institutions. Modular titles (ECTS Credit bearing) will be offered to students and involve periods of staff exchange and on-line student engagement. This is aimed at encouraging inter-institutional mobility, new modes of international deliveries and the exchange of best and innovative practices in the areas of language, culture, collaboration, creative/professional practice and employability. In Year three of the project, activities will center around the revision/dissemination of project findings and allow for the preparation of conclusive reports, initially to all parties who have been involved in the project, but as importantly, through web and social media platforms to future global collaborative partners. The intended results of the practice-based research project and resultant activities would encourage the following for both staff and students: • Increased awareness of intercultural and international opportunities within their own subject area • Increased awareness of entrepreneurial and employability opportunities in both local and global communities • An understanding of cultural differences when approaching practice-based solutions • Opportunities to investigate collaborative practice in an international context and • A greater understanding of international credit bearing systems, validatory bodies and quality assurance systems.