The main outcome of ‘GeoICT4e’ was that the Tanzanian universities have improved management and teaching capacities in the impact-driven and socially innovative geospatial and ICT education, leading to graduates’ better employment.

Geospatial-ICT technologies are making an impact leap due to globally accessible solutions. We are witnessing a massive growth of innovations built on open digital geospatial data through affordable mobile technologies, and these are tackling major challenges, such as rapid urbanization, degradation of marine and land environments, and humanitarian crises. The number of experts needed is growing, but also the required skills, capabilities and attitudes are changing. New generation graduates need to be competent with novel technologies, but equally they need to master the interface between technologies’ potential and societies’ emerging needs, working in a multi-stakeholder environment creating innovative and impact-based solutions. GeoICT4e achieved to support this transformation by focusing on critical elements of the higher education institution’s (HEI) education capacities.

Firstly, the project improved the HEIs and their staff’s capacities and skills to plan and implement multi-competence learning (MCL) solutions in their teaching. Secondly, the project improved open access and wider usage of digital e-learning assets in Tanzania’s HEIs for the students. Thirdly, the project improved students’ digital skills and multi-competences in Tanzania. We advanced the HEIs institutional uptake and management capacities related to the aforementioned outputs, and especially HEIs ability to reach a wider audience with the Geospatial-ICT education.

The central vehicle for education transformation in the GeoICT4e was the students’ Multi-Competence Learning (MCL) program, which happens via co-creative challenge campaigns organized in close cooperation with the innovation ecosystem actors and problem owners. This methodology enabled the HEIs to catalyze a change, which we identified as ‘socially innovative geospatial and ICT education transformation’. Find out more about MCL approach (https://didaihub.utu.fi/solution-playbooks/mcl-playbook/).

GeoICT4e was grounded on the long-term and well-established cooperation between University of Turku (UTU) and the four Tanzanian HEIs (UDSM, ARU, SUA, SUZA). It focused on expanding the teaching and learning impacts from the previous institutional cooperation together with three added partners: TUAS and Novia UAS from Finland, and MoCU from Tanzania. The large eight-university consortium enabled development and institutional delivery of innovative and scalable geospatial and ICT e-learning services for Tanzanian HEI students, and beyond. Since our consortium goals were targeting substantially broader learning impacts than before, we worked in close cooperation with the local innovation and entrepreneur ecosystem and government sector actors, and the World Bank -funded by Tanzania Resilience Academy. We involved the local communities through citizen panels to our challenge campaigns and created public awareness for inclusive and informed decision-making in Tanzania.

Key results of the projects were:

• HEIs and their staff have improved capacities and skills to plan and implement multi-competence learning (MCL) solutions in their teaching
• Students have open access and wider usage of digital e-learning assets in the Tanzanian HEIs
• Tanzanian Geospatial and ICT students have improved digital skills and multi-competences at undergraduate (BA, BSc)