The project is built around four interconnected themes:
DigiCollab brings together VET students to solve real-world challenges in digital literacy, sustainability, and inclusion through intensive, mentor-supported hackathons. In just two days, participants develop new skills, build innovative solutions, and connect with peers and professionals — all while making a real impact.
The heart of DigiCollab is a comprehensive, multilingual Hackathon Guide — a free, open-source resource with step-by-step instructions, flexible templates, and assessment tools, designed specifically for VET organisations across Europe. The guide supports both hybrid and in-person formats and is available in English, German, Italian, and Turkish.
To test and refine the guide in practice, we organise pilot hackathons in all three partner countries.
DigiCollab changes how VET students learn. Instead of absorbing knowledge passively, participants solve real problems — developing digital tools, apps, and community initiatives around sustainability, inclusion, and digital transformation. Under real time pressure, in diverse teams, guided by industry mentors. This isn't a simulation of work. It is work.
For educators, the project delivers something equally concrete: not another training module, but a tested, ready-to-use tool — the Hackathon Guide — that integrates directly into existing curricula.
The impact works on multiple levels at once. Individual participants build digital competence, problem-solving ability, and self-confidence — including students who struggle in conventional classroom settings. Partner institutions in Germany, Italy, and Turkey gain a scalable model they can embed as a permanent format, not a one-off event. And through open-source publication on Erasmus+ platforms, any VET organisation in Europe can adopt the same approach — no separate funding project required.
At its core, DigiCollab doesn't just modernise VET. It makes it matter.