Live Kick-off of the METIS Project in Ghent
- METIS Team
- Inside METIS
The METIS project officially kicked off with its first in-person partner meeting in November, hosted in the inspiring setting of the Old Abbey of Drongen in Ghent on November 20, 2025. For many partners, this marked the first opportunity to meet face to face and begin shaping the project together as a consortium.
Over two intensive days, partners from universities, professional associations, and technology organizations across Europe came together to review the project vision, align expectations, and translate the proposal into a concrete plan for the first year of work. The meeting combined strategic discussions with hands-on collaboration, setting a strong foundation for the three-year project ahead.
A key focus of the kick-off was aligning the different work packages around a shared goal of designing and testing ePortfolio-based interventions that support midwives in reflection, professional identity formation, well-being, and career transitions. Partners discussed how METIS can respond to real challenges faced by midwives across Europe, including difficult transitions from education to practice, workplace stress, and navigating increasingly complex career pathways.
The meeting also highlighted METIS’s practical and phased approach. Rather than immediately investing in large-scale digital solutions, partners agreed to first validate core concepts through low-cost pilots and prototypes. This allows the project to test ideas in real educational and clinical settings, learn quickly, and build evidence before scaling up.
Collaboration between educational institutions and technology partners was another central theme. Discussions focused on how different platforms and tools, ranging from digital portfolios to well-being monitoring and feedback methods, can work together to create a coherent learning experience for midwives while remaining feasible, ethical, and compliant with data protection requirements.
Beyond technical planning, the kick-off meeting reinforced the shared values underpinning METIS. These include supporting midwives without placing responsibility for systemic challenges solely on individuals, strengthening learning environments, and contributing to more sustainable midwifery careers across Europe.
By the end of the meeting, partners had reviewed all planned activities and agreed on a clear roadmap for the first project year. The Ghent kick-off marked an important starting point for METIS, transforming an ambitious proposal into a collaborative, action-oriented project grounded in the realities of midwifery education and practice.
