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The Interdisciplinary Research Structure (ERI) for Reading of the University of Valencia is leading the AAN-DI project (Digital Transformation for Neurodiversity Inclusion in Africa and Asia). Funded by the European Union, the project aims to promote the digital transformation of several universities in Africa and Asia to enhance the skills, employability and autonomy of neurodivergent individuals — a term that includes conditions such as autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and ADHD.
To achieve this, the project focuses on expanding the knowledge of university staff and students in Kenya and India across three main areas: digital well-being and inclusion, transversal digital skills for neurodiversity and sustainable digital transformation for neurodiversity. Training materials and activities, such as webinars, face-to-face and hybrid workshops and online courses, will be developed for this purpose.
The AAN-DI project, funded by the European Union's ERASMUS+ programme under Action 2 “CBHE-Capacity Building in Higher Education”, began on Monday, 2 December. The ERI for Reading of the University of Valencia is the main partner and will manage a budget of €131,699 out of the €799,925 allocated to the project.
The University of Valencia team consists of teaching and research staff with diverse profiles and from various departments. The principal investigator is Lalo Salmerón, professor of Educational Psychology and researcher at the ERI for Reading. The team also includes Inmaculada Fajardo, Marian Serrano-Mendizábal, Lidia Altamura, Mario Romero and Nadina Gómez (ERI for Reading and Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology); Maja Wrzesien (Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatments); and Carlos Segura (Department of Mathematics Education).
The project includes mobility actions and supervised internships for students and staff from participating universities, with the aim of improving their employability and fostering collaborative programmes in neurodiversity. To ensure the inclusion of neurodivergent individuals, an open-access resource called the NeuroWiz Hub will be developed. This accessible digital ecosystem will support the professional development, well-being and mental health, autonomy and digital inclusion of neurodivergent people.
The project also involves capacity-building efforts in four higher education institutions in Kenya and India, working alongside international partners. Key project partners include the University of Jyväskylä (JYU) in Finland, the Great Lakes University of Kisumu (GLUK) and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in Kenya, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and the University of Kashmir (KU) in India, along with the University of Valencia.
