The first Online Consortium Meeting (OCM-1) was held on 05 December 2024 through the Zoom platform. The meeting was attended by institutional project management teams such as project coordinators, project assistants and financial managers from the participating institutions. Meeting was chaired by the project coordinator Dr. Ivy Rose Mathew from Botho University. An overall presentation of the UPSCALE project and its budget was shared by Dr. Olesea Sirbu, from EPDRI who is the co-cordinator of the project. The main objective of the UPSCALE project. The team also agreed on the next steps (monthly tasks) for the implementation of the UPSCALE project, discussed the deliverables and results of the project, and the development of the operational plan, financial project management and partner Agreement.