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This article provides qualitative information chronicling the study-abroad experiences of eight Erasmus+ students. Data were obtained from the analysis of focus-group discussions, e-journal narratives, plus background and language contact questionnaires. Combined, such data illustrate the participants' discursive positions on their socialisation patterns and the impact of Erasmus+ on their overall L2 selves, identity and transcultural competence, whilst also pointing to possible language gains. Results show that participants perceive they have widened their social circles, experienced personal growth, accrued new knowledge, and begun to perceive their own imagined communities differently. Finally, the article identifies several factors that seem to have had an impact on such results, and points to Erasmus as a life-changing experience.

The spread of Internet and the latest Web developments have promoted the relationships between teachers, learners and institutions, as well as the creation and sharing of new Open Educational Resources (OERs). Despite this fact, many projects and research efforts paid more attention to content distribution focusing on their format and description, omitting the relationship between these materials and online communities of teachers. In this article we emphasize the importance of sharing resources in open educational communities (OEC), analysing the role of OERs and OEC in teachers' lifelong learning. Investigating their current usage, we aim to discover whether their interweavings could be an effective approach to support sharing of resources among teachers and to promote new educational practices. Through two surveys which involved more than 300 teachers from across Europe it was possible to highlight that is not simple to stimulate the collaboration among teachers, both online and face to face; nevertheless, when this happens, it seems to be a good way to promote formal and informal learning for teachers, as well as innovation in their professional practices.

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The aim of this article is to build and measure an employment quality index that meets four conditions: it is simple and understandable; it enables measurement over a long time period; it can be updated on an annual basis; it is comparable between groups of workers. Our index is quantified for different workers depending on the type of contract they have. In particular, we distinguish between those who hold an open-ended contract, those with temporary contracts hired directly by companies and those working through a temporary help agency. Furthermore, the index is measured on a ‘gross’ and a ‘net’ basis, i.e. taking into account the potential “composition effect”. Data from the Spanish and Italian Labour Force Survey are used to carry out the measurement. Our findings show that job quality remained fairly stable during the period of analysis (2006-2014), with a slight increase at the beginning and a minor decrease later on, and workers holding an open-ended contract fared the best and those with temporary contracts hired directly by companies fared the worst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the transport field is increasingly being contested. Apart from technical issues (e.g., impacts measurements), the literature highlights process-related barriers as key obstacles to effective EIA implementation in transport projects (e.g., lack of collaborative work, transparency, etc.). Nevertheless, most academic efforts to date have focused on technical improvements, paying limited attention to the relevance of process-related barriers. To address this shortcoming, the paper aims to explore and compare how EIA is experienced and perceived by professionals in three South-European countries (Italy, Portugal, and Spain), providing additional insights into EIA process-related barriers in transport projects. The findings were obtained through an online survey of 294 professionals, representing two main stakeholder groups: environmental consultants and transport planners. The results reveal four main types of process problems shared in all three countries: (i) EIA timing, (ii) assessment of alternatives, (iii) monitoring system, and (iv) public participation. The highest divergences are seen in Spain, where 42% of identified process-related barriers are shared with the rest of countries, while Italian and Portuguese respondents agree in the perception of 68% of process-related barriers. The main differences between the barriers identified by transport planners and environmental consultants are related to their assessment of the need for more collaborative work between key actors. It is finally discussed the added value of this research to progress towards the homogenization of EIA processes across countries. • It compares EIA process barriers in transport projects in three South European countries. • Process barriers are identified though an on-line survey filled out by professionals. • The most genuine process barriers are found in the context of Spain. • Professional domains disagree on the need for more collaborative work between key actors. • General agreement on the low impact of EIA in transport decision-making [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]