Projects with our participation
ESF+ ZČU
The main goal of the ESF+ project is to create a modern and inclusive environment at ZČU that will respond to the current needs of society and technological development. The project focuses on developing competences, reducing academic failure and supporting all learners, with special emphasis on those with special needs.
The Counselling Centre provides and methodologically coordinates activities aimed at improving the availability and quality of counselling and support services for learners with special needs. The aim is to ensure equal access to studies and to reduce academic failure among this target group. This includes learners with special needs, socio-economically disadvantaged learners and ethnic minority learners.
The project will support further training of guidance staff and implement motivation and adaptation activities for learners with special needs. Special courses will be developed and the activities of professional counselling centres will be supported. The activities of the project build on previous successful ESF projects of the University of West Bohemia.
Project registration number: CZ.02.02.XX/00/23_022/0008575
Contact person. Mgr. Nikola Janoušková
Project start date: 1. 7. 2024
Project end date: 31. 12. 2027
Duration of the project: 36 months
KOMPASS – Supporting Educational Pathways toward Academic Success in the Cross-Border Higher Education Area
Early identification of students at risk of dropout, follow-up expert counseling, and clear, welcoming communication. These are the key areas targeted by the new cross-border project titled KOMPASS. The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB) is working on it jointly with Germany’s Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden (OTH). The system aims to help those facing a potential crisis who need support but do not seek it out on their own.
“It often happens that students leave the university not due to a lack of ability, but because they find themselves alone in a difficult life situation and do not know who to turn to. For us, KOMPASS is not about data collection, but about proactive support at the moment it is needed most,” explained project manager Adéla Klimková from the UWB Counseling Centre.
Yet data plays a crucial role in the project. Its foundation relies on a predictor – an analytical tool that uses selected data from the study administration system to identify risk and highlight the need for support before a student falls out of the system entirely. Indicators for spotting a potential crisis can include exam results, credit counts, or study interruption records. UWB has lacked an early warning system of this kind until now.
OTH Amberg-Weiden has been using a similar digital early detection tool for roughly five years, but it needs to streamline its communication and counseling practices toward students. Thanks to its STUDENTS@RISK system, the Bavarian university can gather relevant data to identify who needs assistance. However, it is still searching for ways to reach at-risk students more clearly and engage them more effectively with the counseling services on offer.
This is precisely where the new three-year KOMPASS project comes in. It connects the expertise of both universities – combining data analytics and methodology on one side with refined counseling services on the other. The goal is to create a functional, long-term, sustainable model that can also be adopted by other higher education institutions along the Czech-Bavarian border. UWB will begin pilot testing the early warning system in 2027, while counseling and communication methodologies will simultaneously be developed at both partner institutions.
Project Registration Number: BYCZ12-341
Contact Person: Adéla Klimková, M.A.
Project Start Date: July 1, 2026
Project End Date: June 30, 2029
Project Duration: 36 months
Peer 2 Be
The aim of Peer 2 Be is to expand the peer-to-peer support system to improve the availability and effectiveness of mental health support in schools and communities. The project will train university students with experience of mental illness (peers) who will then actively participate in workshops in secondary schools. The work of student peers will help reduce the stigma associated with communicating mental health issues to adolescents and teens.
The project also involves representatives of selected secondary schools in Pilsen, who will provide feedback and help reflect the current mental health needs of the target group.
The main output of the project is the creation of a toolkit that will serve as methodological support for peer training. The toolkit will contain practical tips, tools and procedures for training and mentoring peers working in the field of child and adolescent mental health. The Toolkit will be freely available in an online version at https://bezbarier.zcu.cz/.
The project will also include two learning mobilities. The first mobility will take place in Iceland, where the peers and members of the project team will participate in an accredited IPS (Intentional Peer Support) course focused on the development of peer support skills. The second mobility will take place in the Czech Republic and will be attended by experts from Iceland. The programme will include active participation in an international conference, a presentation of the activities of the Counselling Centre of the University of ZČU and a round table with representatives of secondary schools and other experts in the field of mental health care.
The project is funded by the EEA and Norway Grants and builds on the previous successful project Supporting Mental Health in Adolescence (PODUZ).
Project registration number: MF-22773/2024/5804-3
Contact person: Mgr. Michaela Vaňková
Start date: 1. 9. 2024
End date: 31. 3. 2025
Duration of the project: 7 months
Previous projects
Peer 2 Be
The aim of Peer 2 Be is to expand the peer-to-peer support system to improve the availability and effectiveness of mental health support in schools and communities. The project will train university students with experience of mental illness (peers) who will then actively participate in workshops in secondary schools. The work of student peers will help reduce the stigma associated with communicating mental health issues to adolescents and teens.
The project also involves representatives of selected secondary schools in Pilsen, who will provide feedback and help reflect the current mental health needs of the target group.
The main output of the project is the creation of a toolkit that will serve as methodological support for peer training. The toolkit will contain practical tips, tools and procedures for training and mentoring peers working in the field of child and adolescent mental health. The Toolkit will be freely available in an online version at https://bezbarier.zcu.cz/.
The project will also include two learning mobilities. The first mobility will take place in Iceland, where the peers and members of the project team will participate in an accredited IPS (Intentional Peer Support) course focused on the development of peer support skills. The second mobility will take place in the Czech Republic and will be attended by experts from Iceland. The programme will include active participation in an international conference, a presentation of the activities of the Counselling Centre of the University of ZČU and a round table with representatives of secondary schools and other experts in the field of mental health care.
The project is funded by the EEA and Norway Grants and builds on the previous successful project Supporting Mental Health in Adolescence (PODUZ).
Project registration number: MF-22773/2024/5804-3
Contact person: Mgr. Michaela Vaňková
Start date: 1. 9. 2024
End date: 31. 3. 2025
Duration of the project: 7 months
Erasmus+ BezTíže
Cílem naší pomoci je co nejefektivněji zvládnout náročnou situaci spojenou s příchodem mladých Ukrajinců do českého vzdělávacího systému, s jejich začleňováním a s udržitelným vzděláváním smíšených kolektivů.
Akcent v rámci podpory bude kladen zejména na oblast práce s mládeží mateřským jazykem, na jejich adaptaci, psychosociální podporu, destigmatizace dětí a žáků a samozřejmě také učitelů nebo na individualizaci a diferenciaci migrantů, dále na vzdělávání jak směrem žákům a studentům, kteří jsou ve středních a vysokých školách zapojeni do společného vzděláváni.
Prostřednictvím aktivit na míru a prakticky zaměřeného přístupu chceme řešit výzvy a problémy, kterým čelíme v našich institutech a zemích, a poskytovat řešení a inovativní výsledky v terénu a zároveň brát v úvahu místní a kulturní kontexty. Prostřednictvím studentů a komunity chceme přispět k udržitelnému rozvoji dovedností a vytvoření bezpečného, inkluzivního prostředí na středních a vysokých školách. Chceme používat koncepty příběhů a vyprávění, starou, ale inovativní tradici v rámci inkluzivní práce.
Kontaktní osoba: Jana Hoffmannová
Registrační číslo projektu: 2022-2-CZ01-KA210-YOU-000091202
Aktivity projektu jsou spolufinancovány Evropskou unií.
Více informací o programu Erasmus+ lze nalézt na webu DZS.
Facebook: Erasmus+ BezTíže
Changing Our Story
Changing Our Story: The Pursuit of Inclusive Education
Using the method of storytelling, partner institutions from Czechia, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Ghana aspire to rewrite the narrative on inclusive education and offer an insight to the application of inclusive principles within learning environments in higher education.
We recognize inherent inequalities in the system that have a negative impact on student success outcomes and struggles of making inclusive learning environments a reality. By inviting students, staff and faculty within higher education to engage in various forms of storytelling, ‘Changing Our Story: The Pursuit of Inclusive Education’ strives to remove the illusion behind what it takes to build inclusive principles within class settings.
Through tailor-made activities and a practically-oriented approach we want to address the challenges and opportunities we face in our institutes and countries and bring solutions and innovative results in the field, while taking our local and cultural contexts into consideration.
We intend to organize seven events between 2022 and 2024 including two international conferences on inclusion and diversity, as well as summer schools and professional development visits.
The results of the project created by experts, school staff and students will be a comprehensive online course that will guide its attendees through the topic of inclusion, art exhibition and documentary.
Contact person: Kateřina Benýrová
Project reg. no: 2021-1-CZ01-KA220-HED-000031180
The project is co-funded by the European Union.
You can find more info about Erasmus+ Programme on the DZS- Czech National Agency website.
Project website: changingourstory.eu
Instagram: @changingourstory
YouTube: Changing Our Story
Systematic support of mental health of adolescents
The capacities of regional services supporting the mental health of children and adolescents, as well as the care of individuals with mental illness from this target group, are insufficient.
We will increase awareness of the topic of mental health and illness, destigmatize the topic, support spreading of good practice and generally expand the services offered in the Pilsen Region.
We will organize educational, preventive and destigmatizing activities for students in schools in order to increase mental health awareness and contribute to the destigmatization of people with experience of mental illness.
We will provide comprehensive education of pedagogical staff and people working with children and adolescents with an emphasis on primary prevention in the field of mental health and destigmatization of the topic of mental illness in cooperation with the project partner ”Regional Centre for Education and Language School with the right to a state language exam“.
We will increase the efficiency of the existing counselling and therapeutic services of the Psychological Counselling Centre at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen by expanding consultation hours and introducing new methods and approaches (e.g. crisis chat, email counselling, recovery approach). This will make the counselling centre low threshold in terms of availability and anonymity.
All activities of the project are interconnected in order to create an effective and functional system of preventive support for children and adolescents in the field of mental health and strengthen the services offered in the Pilsen region with an emphasis on the development of a healthy non-stigmatizing society.
Contact person: Mgr. Jana Krunclová
Project registration number: ZD-ZDOVA1-013
Project activities are financed from EEA: www.eeagrants.cz/en
Programme: Health
The EEA and Norway Grants are funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Grants have two goals – to contribute to a more equal Europe, both socially and economically – and to strengthen the relations between Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and the 15 beneficiary countries in Europe.
ESF II project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
The main goal of the project is to increase the readiness of UWB students to live in a society that is undergoing significant changes, especially in the context of the implementation of information technology, artificial intelligence or cyber systems. These trends are reflected not only in industry and technical fields, but in all fields and the whole society. So the project will be about modifications of professional subjects, changes in teaching methods or establishment of international cooperation.
The ICC provides and methodically coordinates key activity 6, which is aimed at improving the availability of counseling and assistance services for students with specific needs (SN). The aim is to ensure the availability of study for all students and reduce the failure of study in the target group. This group includes students with SN, students from ethnic minorities or students from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. The project will support the continued training of counselors, but in particular, motivational and adaptive activities for SN students will be implemented, special courses will be created and professional counseling centres will be supported. The project in activities follows on from the ESF project of the University of West Bohemia.
Short Name: ESFII
Project registration number: CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_056/0013239
Project start date: 1. 1. 2020
Project end date: 31. 12. 2022
Project duration: 36 months
Education without barriers to success
The VZBB project focuses on supporting primary and secondary school pupils who have special educational needs, children and pupils at risk of the syndrome of an abused, mistreated and neglected child. The project also targets parents of these children, school and school staff and other staff involved in the education process of these children.
Thanks to the main partner, InfoKariéra, as part of the project, Worksheets for career counselors for schools and the online Expedice kariéra application were created, which were awarded the National Career Counseling Award.
Short Name: VZDĚLÁNÍ BB (CZ)
Project registration number: CZ.02.3.62/0.0/0.0/16_037/0003942
Project start date: 1. 7. 2017
Project end date: 30. 12. 2020
Project duration: 42 months
ESF project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
ICC is the solver of several modules implemented under the ESF project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. It is mainly about improvinng counseling and assistance services and creating the System of support, motivation and adaptatio of applicats and stnudents with specific needs.
As part of the project, we not only educated ourselves and other consulting and academic staff. We’ve expanded the mentoring system. Currently, there are FEL Coordinators and FST Coordinators, who help freshmen to orientate themselves in the new environment and in the new system. We organize a unique Year One festival for all freshmen and other similar events.
During the project, we undertook several foreign mobilities with students with specific needs to motivate them for long-term study stays. We visited with students, for example, Brussels, Berlin and Krakow.
Project registration number: CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_015/0002287
Project start date: 1. 7. 2017
Project end date: 30. 6. 2020
Project duration: 36 months
Equal conditions for all
Thanks to this project, a university-wide support system for people with specific needs was created at the UWB. A counseling centre has been set up as part of the ICC to provide students with legal, psychological, social and study counseling.
Short Name: RoPoV (CZ)
Project registration number: CZ.1.07/2.2.00/29.0016
Project start date: 1. 6. 2012
Project end date: 31. 5. 2015
Project duration: 36 months
Career counselling system for university students of the Pilsen region
The SyKaPo project is aimed at students of the UWB and students of the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Pilsen, to whom it has provided practice and internships, carried out seminars, workshops and panel discussions. Cooperation with potential employers and job search were also provided.
Short Name: SyKaPo (CZ)
Project registration number: CZ.1.07/2.2.00/07.0214
Project start date: 1. 5. 2009
Project end date: 30. 4. 2012
Project duration: 36 months