The European Commission has emphasized the importance of digital competences and green skills in its Digital Single Market strategy. According to the European Commission, "digital competences and skills are essential for the European Union's citizens and businesses to fully benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital transformation." The Commission has also emphasized the need for "sustainable and inclusive digital transformation" that considers ethical and inclusiveness issues. The importance of digital skills and competences for the socio-economic development of countries is also recognized by organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In its report on the "Future of Education and Skills 2030," the OECD highlights the need for "digital skills for all" and recognizes the crucial role of higher education in preparing students for the digital economy. Similarly, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also recognize the importance of digital skills and competences for sustainable development. In particular, SDG 4 on Education calls for "ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all." On top of it though, according to the European Commission, the cooperation between Ministries of Education and Higher Education Institutions is crucial for ensuring the quality and relevance of current digitally updated curricula with the labor market, while proposing solutions to eliminate connectivity issues of HEIs in remote areas, ensuring equal digital education for all. According to ETF’s Position Paper on Sustainable Development and Education and Training, “education policies can make a fundamental contribution toward a more sustainable future for Higher Education”. Considering the EC’s European Strategy for Universities,1 it is crucial to deepen the cooperation in research and innovation with the aim to “Empower universities as actors of change in the twin green and digital transitions” and “set more coherent and compatible policy priorities and create appropriate conditions in regards to connectivity” to achieve this.

All in all, the importance of digital skills, green competences, ethics and inclusivity issues in digital learning and teaching is widely recognized by leading international organizations and governments, and is seen as a crucial factor for the socio-economic development of countries, demanding national actors to facilitate the transition process, while ensuring consistency.
Both Georgia and Ukraine and higher education institutions and ministries are in search of the right tools and mechanisms to meet this demand. The post-pandemic era has influenced Georgian HEIs which are now confronting the high pace of technological change affecting teaching and learning, creating a skills gap among students and teachers who are not equipped with the latest digital skills and competences and lack of human resources equipped to meet the latest demands, as indicated in the 2022-2030 Unified National Strategy of Education and Science of Georgia. Georgian HEIs are now facing a lack of investment in the education sector, leading to insufficient resources and facilities for digital learning and teaching, a lack of adequate quality mechanisms to the country specific traits as most of them are in line with international contexts. Furthermore, a lack of awareness and understanding of the importance of green competences, ethics and inclusivity in digital learning and teaching is recognised, resulting in a lack of attention to these issues in higher education institutions. Moreover, there has been underlined a lack of collaboration between institutions as well as lack of cooperation with national actors and ministries, summarising the low level of recognitionof the value of interdisciplinary and intersectoral approaches to digital learning and teaching in solving critical issues such as connectivity issues of remote areas’ Universities. According to ILIASTATE University in Georgia3 “the pandemic has re-emphasized the ‘digital divide’, particularly for those in rural areas and from underprivileged backgrounds with less access to computers and other devices outside the schools”.
In Ukraine, the ongoing conflict has had a significant impact on higher education institutions in the country. The conflict has resulted in the displacement of thousands of people, including students and academic staff, and has disrupted the normal functioning of many higher education institutions. In some areas affected by the conflict, higher education institutions have been forced to close, leading to a disruption in the education of students. In addition, the displacement of students and academic staff has resulted in a shortage of personnel in higher education institutions, which has affected the quality of education provided. The conflict has also created a challenging and unpredictable security situation, which has limited the mobility of students and academic staff, making it difficult for them to attend classes and participate in research activities. This has also affected the ability of higher education institutions to carry out research, collaborate with other institutions, and participate in international academic networks. Furthermore, the conflict has resulted in a significant decrease in the funding available for higher education institutions, which has limited their ability to invest in new infrastructure, equipment, and educational materials. This has also led to a decrease in the quality of education provided, as higher education institutions are not able to keep pace with the latest technological and pedagogical developments.
In both Ukraine and Georgia the current low cooperation between HEIs and national actors such as Ministries results in limited sharing of responsibility of the above mentioned depicted gaps as well as mainstreaming a vague vision for strengthening a supportive ecosystem of a systemic collaborative reform of the present pedagogical approaches and current digital capacity to meet the Digital Market demands. Poor municipal budgets, limited effective mechanisms of accountability and supervision of general education institutions, limited external evaluation procedures of the quality of the higher education system, which in some cases does not imply the implementation of institutional quality management practices and using broad and participatory approaches (NCEQE, 2022), no clear vision for strengthening innovation-supporting ecosystems within each country, resulting to low innovation in relation to European standards, are some of the major common limitations of the role of the national actors and active public bodies within the Higher Education sector, aggravating the situation due to the present socio-political realities. The joint policy initiative of Eastern Partnership (EaP) aims to deepen the relation with EU and support tackling of common problems. By strengthening regional integration and by further reinforcing strong and strategic partnerships, the target countries can successfully address the multiple crises that are facing today.
The project is relevant to the current context in Georgia and Ukraine, as it addresses the growing demand for digital skills, green and inclusive competences and the need for higher education institutions and national actors to adapt to these changes offering new policy recommendations towards providing connectivity solutions to be embedded to the HE curricula. The concept idea of the project stems from the rapidly changing digital landscape, where digital skills, green and inclusive competences have become increasingly important for the socio-economic development of countries. This has created a growing demand for higher education institutions and national actors to adapt to these changes, redesign their curricula and ensure that they are preparing students for the digital economy, mainstreaming structural and substantive links between Higher Education, Ministries of Education and local market and resolving issues of vulnerable commuinities. It is also relevant to the broader global context, as digitalization and the green agenda are becoming increasingly important worldwide, requesting the joint efforts of all educational key-players and actors. The project's background and relevance are rooted in the need to mainstream a common inclusive and green structure in higher education in Georgia and Ukraine in response to the changing digital landscape and the growing demand for digital skills and competences.