Integration of Educational Clusters with Open Badges and Blended Intensive Program (ECOBI): a comprehensive approach to future university education

This paper introduces an integrated educational model for higher education, ECOBI, which combines Educational Clusters (teaching programs), the Blended Intensive approach, and the issuance of Open Badges within university curricula. Adopted by EDUNEXT, a network of 35 Italian universities aimed at digital educational innovation and university network development, ECOBI proposes a competency-based design that makes degree courses and Educational Clusters planned to develop specific skills relevant to the 21st-century landscape. The Intensive Blended approach integrates online teaching activities with intensive in-person training weeks, combining the strengths of both experiences. This model offers modularity and flexibility, promotes interdisciplinary learning and interchangeability of content, and meets the needs of current higher education. The article describes the ECOBI approach, its characteristics, strengths and advantages, and highlights its implementation within the EDUNEXT network.