BLENDED INTENSIVE PROGRAMS FOR FOSTERING COLLABORATION AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE IN SECURITY AND DEFENCE EDUCATION

In today's globalized world, the demand for skilled professionals with cross-cultural competencies is on the rise. As a response, educational institutions have embraced innovative pedagogical approaches, such as Blended Intensive Programs (BIPs), to promote international collaboration and knowledge exchange among students from diverse backgrounds. In Higher Security and Defence Education it is much more important because the civil and military professional figures trained during the university courses will be supposed to cooperate together in complex national and international contexts. BIPs are an educational model that combines face-to-face and online learning. BIPs were introduced in 2022 within the new Erasmus Program to offer the possibility of carrying out short, intense and recognized mobility experiences through the European Credit Transfer System in the curricula.This new form of mobility makes possible to strength the internationalization process within Universities, especially in European Alliances and in educational areas such as Security and Defense where it is difficult to carry out long mobilities due to training commitments of military students. In an international context, therefore, BIPs offer students the opportunity to engage in culturally enriching experiences that go beyond the confines of traditional teaching settings. In this research we analyze the impact of BIPs on students in terms of add value, difficulties, opportunities using data collected through questionnaires administered to participants of four international experiences in the BIP format implemented by the University of Turin and Army Education and Training Command and School of Applied Military Studies which involved over 150 Italian and foreign civilian and military students coming from different countries. These BIPs addressed different topics useful in the field of Security and Defense such as logistics, biosecurity and bioterrorism, problem solving and critical thinking, law of armed conflicts. For all BIPs a digital learning environment was used both for the distance phase and for the face-to-face phase which facilitated the carrying out of the various activities and the collection of data. From the results obtained it emerges that the interactions that took place during the BIPs broadened cultural horizons and knowledge in various fields, promoted collaboration but also required a big effort from all participants to actively contribute to the various proposed new activities and to overcome linguistic barriers and gaps in the various topics addressed. A great need has also emerged to increase activities of this type that break traditional learning patterns and facilitate the co-creation of knowledge and the development of soft skills.