The European Network on Virtual Simulation Online, ENVISION for short, is a two-year strategic partnership that aims to build the digital educational readiness of European educators and students in the use and development of Virtual Gaming Simulation (VGS). Working closely together, education experts and a digital technology provider created a high-quality, inclusive digital education methodology that ensures best practice standards for simulation in online applications.

The partnership is the result of several contacts on the possibilities of Virtual Gaming Simulation (VGS) in nursing education. The process started in March 2018 with an invitation for Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AHS) to join the royal mission to Canada. Contact was then made between the AHS Nursing Department and the Toronto Metropolitan, Centennial, George Brown Collaborative Nursing Degree Program. We could never have imagined how this first meeting with Daria Romaniuk and Michelle Hughes, who intervened because the original program had to be modified at the last minute, would affect European nursing education.

In 2019, Artevelde University of Applied Sciences Ghent was proposed to participate in the development of the VGS ‘Meal Assistance’, which provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the development process of a virtual gaming simulation. We discovered the many  ways students can use these games, including clinical trial preparation, exam assessment, self-test course content, and bridging gaps in clinical experience.

AHS contacted European Higher Education Institutions (HEI)-partners, a first small step in building a solid consortium convinced of the possibilities of translating so many common learning outcomes in European curricula into virtual gaming simulations.

March 2020, all high-fidelity in-person simulations have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many European HEI’s have invested in simulation education. Students like this methodology where, following a certain scenario and a process of debriefing, they experience the real dimensions of their future professional roles.
It would be a pity that the pandemic throws us back years in pedagogical development. How can we embed simulation pedagogy in online applications?

August 2020, two extraordinary Erasmus+ calls for proposals were launched to support digital education readiness and creative skills. The call for digital education readiness aims to enhance online, distance and blended learning – including supporting teachers and trainers, as well as safeguarding the inclusive nature of digital learning opportunities.

September 2020, the consortium agrees that this call would provide us with excellent opportunities to ensure the simulation experience in our curricula during and after the challenges of the pandemic. The project proposal of Envision is written, submitted, and approved.

March 2021, ENVISION celebrates its kick-off. Follow the activities of this project in our Latest News.

February 2023, we are closing the project after two intense years and are proud to see the project results achieved.

After the duration of the project, ENVISION engaged in further dissemination and impact. All ENVISION HEI-partners have a large network of affiliated national and international health education centers and are well embedded in the local community. In addition, they play a pivotal role in multiple professional networks in the fields of education, technology, or health sciences.

The 7 project partners are:

• Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada) 
• OAMK Oulun Ammattikorkeakouly (Finland) 
• Joubel (Norway) 
• URV Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) 
• LUV Ljudska Univerza Velenje (Slovenia)
• Universiteit Gent (Belgium) 
• Arteveldehogeschool (Belgium– project lead)