Dare to travel thanks to the Erasmus+ Programme

Dare to travel thanks to the Erasmus+ programme

We are young, we are free and… without money! As young people, we want to travel, develop ourselves and explore the world but very often we just simply give up because we know we cannot afford it.

Let me tell you how to overcome the issue of limited financial resources and travel for a very small amount of money as the EU supports financially youth mobility. If you want to know more about it, you definitely should read this article.

This year Erasmus+ celebrates its 30th birthday. Hold on a second, the name sounds familiar but isn't it Erasmus when people go to study abroad for a semester? So I assume that if I am not a student, then I cannot. Wait, wait! Erasmus+ is the EU's programme that supports education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad. 1 The name of the programme is in honour of one of the most important representatives of European Renaissance humanism – Erasmus from Rotterdam.

The idea of a single programme started in 2011, when the Budget of European Union was set for years 2014-2020. It was easier to create one common budget for one programme that is why on 11 th December 2013 European Parliament and Council of European Union decided to merge together all previously existing programmes such as Lifelong learning, Youth in Action, Erasmus Mundus, Alfa III, Tempus, Edu link into one called Erasmus +.2

So what exactly can this programme offer? Where can we go? What are the requirements to take part?

Let me help you understand how can you benefit from taking part in this programme To start with, we need to distinguish two categories: opportunities for individuals and opportunities for organisations.

Check if you are one of individuals from following categories: •

Students, of all degrees Bachelor, Master or Doctoral level can spend from 3 months up to a full year abroad in higher education institution in programme countries and partner countries.

The opportunity is available three times, once on first level, once on second level of studies and once during doctorate. It is possible to combine it with a traineeship while being abroad.

Students who take full two-years length master in different country then the one they obtained bachelor degree can apply for Erasmus+ loan with a very small interest rates. For many people Erasmus exchange is a first type of experience when they spend a longer time abroad and help

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http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about_en Sambor A. „The attempt of analysis of students participation in Erasmus+ programme – comparison of CUE Poland and ESC Troyes” Bachelor thesis, Kraków 2017.

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them in gaining self-confidence, independence and learning new language and new culture.

On job labour students after exchange Erasmus have higher opportunities to be employed than their peers who decided to stay in their home country. 3 Every student abroad can benefit from online platform providing linguistic support as well as financial – Erasmus+ grant, depending on the country chosen.4 Students can also take advantage of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees, wide programme when one can study in three of fourth different Universities not only in Europe but also in partner countries in Africa or in other countries, thanks to cooperation.5 Additionally, special support regarding students' mental, physical or health-related conditions is provided.

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Staff (teaching) – are you a young teacher who seeks for new opportunities or an entrepreneur who would like to share knowledge? It is possible to spend time teaching at an education institution in other country. Not only the teacher and professors can participate in in but also the businessman and entrepreneurs, who can get the support from higher education institutions from abroad. People working in VET- Vocational Education and Training can spot the opportunity and go abroad for a period of 2 days to 2 months to teach in chosen institution of programme country. Schools teachers can go abroad to broaden their horizons and transfer good practices into school they are based in. Adult Education’s workers can also take part in the programme and teach for organisation based in different country to have a wider perspective and possibility to adopt new ideas back in their countries. 6

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Trainees – it is possible to gain experience abroad while doing and internship in the chosen company. This opportunity is dedicated for students of Higher Education Institutions or young graduates. Short time projects called trainings are also organised to raise one competences, soft skills and to provide people with the opportunities they can use in everyday life to develop themselves.

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Young people – one of the biggest programmes within the framework of Erasmus+ constitutes EVS – European Voluntary Service. Young people aged 17-30 regardless of occupation (lack of thereof) are given a chance of going abroad to work in full-time capacity for the chosen organisation. It is a great opportunity to discover different culture, country and learn the

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http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-1025_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-individuals/students/studying-abroad_en 5 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-individuals/students/erasmus-mundus-joint-masterdegrees_en 6 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/individuals#tab-1-2 4

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language while gaining experience. The project can last

from 2 weeks to 12 months.

It is possible to participate twice, taking into account that the first project must be short-term one (from 2 weeks to 6 months) and second one long-term (over six months), however the overall duration of EVS cannot be longer than 12 months. All the daily-basis costs of this projects are covered: food, accommodation, transportation as well as insurance and part of travel costs and additionally a volunteer gets small pocket money on monthly basis.7 Another option to discover other country and culture is participation in youth exchanges. It is the less formal form of education offer in Erasmus+ framework and its main purpose is to gather young people together and make them work on the specific topic. As the title suggests, youth exchange aims most the mix-cultural workshops and experience of living together in international company.

They can last from 5 to 21 days and gather youths from 13 to 30 years old. There are at least four countries participating and each of them delegate a group of minimum five people with one adult leader, without age limit. 8 The cost of travels are reimbursed up to the amount calculated based on the distance.

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Youth workers – people working in a field of youth can benefit from training and networking possibilities abroad in order to develop their competences and extend contact for possible cooperation and partnerships. The periods abroad can have different forms: training courses, study visits, job shadowing. Even an observation period is possible if someone will like to see how the other organisation is working. Projects can last from two days to two months and in order to participate in it one needs to find both, sending and hosting organisations who are parts of youth mobility project.9

Opportunities for Organisations: Entering a partnership with an organisation abroad it so no longer a problem when Erasmus+ provides opportunities of networking activities and capacity building. An organisation participating in the programme can be sure that it will develop fast and from a small local NGO10 can become huge international initiative. All these thanks to tools, know-how and people met during projects. While talking about possibilities for organisations one need to start with three Key Actions which will distinguish groups of projects:

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http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-individuals/young-people/european-voluntary-service_en http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-individuals/young-people/youth-exchanges_en 9 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-individuals/youth-workers/networking-training_en 10 non- governmental organisation 8

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Key Action 1 Higher Education students and staff,

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Key Action 2 Innovation and good practices

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Key Action 3 – Support for Policy Reform.

Apart from that there are Jean Monnet activities and sport opportunities worth mentioning. 11

Key Action 1 Higher Education students and staff Under this key action the following opportunities are provided: •

Higher education students and Staff,

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Vocational education and training learners and Staff,

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School education Staff,

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Adult Education Staff,

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Young People and youth workers,

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European Voluntary Service,

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Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees,

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Erasmus+ Masters loans.

All of them opportunities were explained above in opportunities for individuals. The role or organisation is to facilitate these opportunities and take care of administrative work. It is important to remember that each time youth worker participate in trainings, youth exchanges and other short programmes he or she brings to home-organisation new skills and new potential partnerships thanks to established relations.

The organisational portfolio is growing and more is happening thanks to that organisation is working better and developing.12

Key Action 2 Innovation and good practices Every company needs the newest equipment and updated programmes in order to be efficient, so do the organisations. In order to develop, one need to constantly searching new possibilities, new opportunities and new technologies. The activities proposed by this key action help to modernise and reinforce education, training, and youth systems thanks to new approaches and more professional

11 12

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/organisations_en#tab-1-0 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/organisations_en#tab-1-1

environment. These practices can help not only inside the organisation but also on higher, international level.13 Five main activities are as follow: •

Strategic Partnerships- transnational projects aiming the develop cooperation and peer learning in the field of youth. There are two main groups of strategic partnerships, namely promoting education and promoting exchange of good practices. Strategic partnership provides opportunities for public, private and non-governmental organisations to promote and support networking, development, cooperation between associations but also to include in societies excluded members, like newcomers of refugees or to promote entrepreneurship. 14

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Knowledge Alliances, brings together professionals and higher institutions, so they can work on the topic connected with education to modernise it. Thanks to that opportunity educational services are constantly being improved. It also works in the other direction – to make the entrepreneurial spirit live in the teaching staff and encourage them to learn new skills through exchange of knowledge and solutions. In order to establish knowledge alliance organisations, have to create consortium including: min. six independent organisations from three Programme Countries -two of them must be higher education institutions and least two must be enterprises.

Consortium needs an applicant, who will apply for a project. Maximal funding for two years’ projects is 700,000 euros and for three years 1 million euros.15

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Sector Skills Alliances, is an opportunity for organisations to manage a project which will improve skills and level of competences, promote modernisation of education and improve language and teaching. The project must be connected to the sector with visible imbalances like: manufacturing and engineering, commerce, information and communication technology, environmental technology, cultural and creative sectors, health care, and tourism. Similarly, to previous example in order to conduct a project, organisations must be a part of the consortium. It requires at least three countries to form programme countries and they must be public or private entities that provide VET, represents the given sector and have a regulatory function for education and training systems. Consortium must be led by an applicant, who represents it an apply for a projects together with full partners, participating actively in the project and associated partners, who are not contractually bound in consortium but have an active participation in it.16

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http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/organisations_en#tab-1-2 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/innovation-good-practices/strategic-partnerships_en 15 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/innovation-good-practices/knowledge-alliances_en 16 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/innovation-good-practices/sector-skills-alliances_en 14

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Capacity Building (higher education) – transnational projects for higher education institutions from programme countries. The project is aims to help the higher institution to become modern and international while increasing accessibility to higher educational possibilities, to identify the challenges the institutions are facing and help them increasing European cooperation.

It also enables international communication and understanding. There are two options: joint projects, aiming to support the organisations from partner countries and structural projects, aiming to promote reform and strengthen the systems of higher education. Projects can last from 2 to 3 years and the maximum amount of money organisations can possibly obtain is from 500 thousand euros to 1 million euros. Similarly to the project described above, the consortium must be established in order to apply, however there are more countries who can possibly participate in the projects then in the sector skills alliances. 17

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Capacity building (youth) – these are the possibilities for youth to participate in the projects as: EVS, youth exchanges as well as the trainings for youth workers. All these possibilities aim to encourage dialogue, spread information, develop tools and communication for and between youths. As in the previous forms of projects in order to apply organisations must be united in consortium.18

Key Action 3 – Support for Policy Reform Opportunities under this Key Action enables organisations to contribute to improvement of the quality of education and training in Europe. Through the project they can promote cooperation between entities, dialogue and transnational learning. Organisations can influence the policy making and youth involvement in democratic life.19

The following projects possibilities can be undertaken under Key Action 3: •

Structured Dialogue – aims to stimulate young people to take active part in democratic life through dialogue and debates about the current issues youth can face. This project in particular creates the possibilities to bring youths and policy makers together to impact and improve the policies made. This can be done through youth conferences, consultations, meetings, debates

17 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/innovation-good-practices/capacity-building-higher-

education_en 18 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/innovation-good-practices/capacity-building-youth_en 19 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/organisations_en#tab-1-3

and all kind of possible events bringing together youth and authorities. One of the most important requirements of the project is that youth should be taking lead in these activities. In order to apply organisations must create a consortium in which at least one partner is coming from programme countries. One leading organisation will be applying and the project through National Agency. One specific condition about the National Meetings project is that it must take place in the country of applicant. Transnational meetings can be implemented in any place located in programme country or in the seat of the European Union. There must be at least 30 young people in age between 13 to 30 years, participating in the project. For the decisionmakers there are no age limits. can last from 3 months to 24 months. 20 •

Civil society cooperation: youth it supports employability of young people, empowerment of young people in society, all levels of development of young people, young workers. All these can be done on local, national, regional or European levels. Civil Society cooperation contributes to policies development and promote intercultural learning. There are two categories of beneficiates: European Non Governmental Organisations and

informal networks, both in

field of youth. Possible grant to obtain is of maximum 35 000 euros 21 •

Civil society cooperation: education and training aims to provide support for organisation implementing projects which will enable stakeholders to understand better the European policies agendas connected to education (Bologna Process, EU2020, ET2020 and EU Youth strategy) what in consequence will lead to their involvement in European strategies. Civil society cooperation education and training supports projects in areas as: promotion on innovation and excellence through three possible learning process of non-formal, informal and formal education, support for new generation of educators by raising their competences and paying more attention to the process of recruitment, selection and retention as well as more effective initial education. What is more to provide also the opportunities and career support in early stages, long-lasting professional development, feedback and to stimulate data collection and analysis. Eligibility criteria are the same as in previous example however the amount of grant obtained is much higher – up to 125 000 euros for European Non-governmental Organisations and up to 200 000 euros for the second category22

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Initiatives for Policy Innovation aim to prepare the implementation of new policies as well as creation of them. There are two possible options of the projects: forward-looking cooperation projects, which help to develop innovative policies and its development or European policy

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http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/support-for-policy-reform/structured-dialogue_en https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-3-support-for-policy-reforms/civil-society-cooperation-youth_en 22 https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-3-support-for-policy-reforms/civil-society-cooperation-education-and_en 21

experimentations led by higher level public authorities to make the trial of certain policies newly created in certain countries.23 •

Comprehensive policy frameworks for continuing Vocational Education and Training supports the development of public policies which are seeking the assurance of provision of high quality in terms of Continuing Vocational Education and training. Grant is offer to authorities of the country who can assure participation of adults in the project about the topic given above.

They can take form of researches, forums, conferences etc. Possible contribution is 150 00 euros for one-year project and 300 000 euros for the project which length is two years. 24

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Support for small and medium sized enterprises engaging in apprenticeships – it is a possibility for intermediary institutions e.g. chamber of commerce to provide help and assist the SMEs at European level, especially to engage in apprenticeships. Possible help is from 300 000 to 800 000 euros.25

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Jean Monnet Actions of this programme are contributing to the promotion of excellence in teaching and research on EU studies around the globe. They are established to promote dialogue between academic environment and policy-makers. Main topics covered by Jean Monnet programme are active citizenship and dialogue between people and cultures. 26 Jean Monnet Activities are modules for higher universities designed to host a teaching programme or course of short-term length about EU’s studies 27 The second possibility are the chairs, thanks to which higher education institutions can host a teaching position connected to the EU’s studies 28. Another example are Centres of Excellence, which serve as focal point of knowledge on EU. They develop links between different activities EU is undertaking in different countries and they promote transnational dialogue. Under this program in Erasmus+ framework higher education institutions can take care of coordination as well as organisation of human resources and documentary resources on EU studies as well as in specific topics. They are able to develop content used for teaching and get new useful tools to update the courses already provided and extend the studies of new ones. All this while exchanging experiences about EU by publishing results of activities.29 Thanks to Support to Associations section organisations connected to topics in framework of European affairs can publish their articles to broaden public through

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https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-3-support-for-policy-reform/erasmus-plus-key-action-3-european-policyexperimentations_en 24 https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-3-support-for-policy-reform/comprehensive-policy-frameworks-for-continuingvet_en 25 https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/support-for-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises-engaging-in-apprenticeships_en 26 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/organisations_en#tab-1-4 27 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/jean-monnet/modules_en 28 29

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/jean-monnet/chairs_en http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/jean-monnet/centres-of-excellence_en

newsletters, can get the support for the website creation and organisation of meetings. 30 Next possibility are Networks, as the name suggest they are created to bring people together and enhance the change for further cooperation e.g. creation of consortiums while going deeper in the topic of European integration.31 You probably wonder where to look for opportunities.

Salto Website: https://www.salto-youth.net How to use it? Go to Tools – European Training Calendar – and then just find the country you are from (or where you live and are a resident) and search for opportunities. The list of the possibilities for you will be shown, with the dates and the eligibility criteria. Important to check is to check if there any costs you need to cover from your own pocket, so read carefully the description.

European Youth Portal: http://europa.eu/youth/Eu_en How to use it? Choose your language (among all the official EU’s languages) – now you are being redirected to the home page in the choosen language- in the main menu you have 9 topics: European Solidarity Corps, Volunteering, Working, learning, have your say, Culture & Creativity, Social Inclusion, think global, travelling. Choose the one of your interest and see which opportunities are waiting for you.

If you go to the last one – travelling there is a great article about a GAP year and how to find a cheap option to do it. Was that in your plans? Great – explore the topic more.

Facebook: as you might already see Facebook became a huge channel for exchanging information.

It has pros and cons of course but about that in a second. So where on Facebook can you look for opportunities? On various facebook groups like: Youth Opportunities, Youth for Erasmus+, Youth Exchanges for European, Erasmus+ for everybody, Erasmus plus projects, Erasmus+ projects & partner search etc. Some of the groups are open, for some you need to ask to be a member. NGOs very often look for participants for their projects. The problematic part is that it is very often last minute and the project might start even on the next day, so the tickets would be more expensive and you might be over budget. The second downside is that everyone can post there and you might not get much information about the organisers unless you do your own research – I strongly advise to do it in order to avoid poor projects or problems with reimbursements.

Join the student organisation/NGO which works in fields you are interesting it! How can an organisation help you? Firstly, by joining you will get to know a lot of great people! Secondly, you will develop your skills by working on what you like, you can join the specific working group, be responsible for tasks

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http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/jean-monnet/support-to-associations_en http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities-for-organisations/jean-monnet/networks_en

or coordinate the work of the organisation. Nothing is on your way in order to became a president one day and to manage the whole organisation. This will however not happen if you will not take the first step – come for open meeting or join straight away. What about travel opportunities you are asking yourself probably now, well let me show you this on the ngo I have a pleasure to be a president of the Association of Alumni “Radośni” what we are doing is that we are entering in various partnerships around Europe and outside it in order to provide more and more possibilities. We are also in charge of writing project proposals. How? Do you have a topic which you are interested in? Write about it! Choose which kind of project it should be (youth exchange, training course, EVS, job shadowing etc.), find a partner or partners and apply to National Agency of your country. Please mind that in order to apply you need to be represented by an organisation, individuals cannot apply for a project. So what you need is an organisation in your country which has a confirmed legal status. There are several deadlines to apply which depends on kind of project. Remember about 3 key actions? The one you would probably be mostly interested in is key Action 1 and the deadlines for 2018 are: 15th of February 2018, 26th April 2018 and 4th October 2018.

After the submission of the project the National Agency examines your proposal and accepts it or rejects it. If it is accepted – the NGO will get the funds and you will be able to bring your project into life, if it will be rejects – try your chance again. I strongly encourage you to read more about them and start your journey now!

In addition to that you can ask your friends who are travellers to share their experiences, take part in the events where people are showing pictures and videos from their travels and get to know how it was in that country without leaving your homeland! Of course watching a movie, reading travellers book are also great to discover but first-hand experience is always more exciting! Explore the world and inspire others! Good luck.

Overall, Erasmus+ is a programme which provides opportunities from people in different ages, occupations and positions. This article is just a small appetizer to read more and look for opportunities to develop skills, broadening the horizons. To read more take a look on the Erasmus plus guide: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/sites/erasmusplus2/files/2017-erasmus-plusprogramme-guide-v2_en.pdf

See you soon somewhere around Europe ☺

About the author:

Agata Maria Sambor is a 24-year-old student living in Kraków, Poland. She has recently obtained bachelor degree from Cracow University of Economics when she was studying International Economic Relations with International Business Specialisation. In the same time, she obtained the diploma from French business school ESC Troyes located in Champagne region, where she studied Business Administration. Now she is doing her master in International Business in Kraków again as well as studying Diplomacy in Warsaw. She is an activist in different fields always serving higher purposes. She is a president of Association of Alumni of the high school in Piekary near by Kraków called "Radośni” where she coordinates international programmes. She took part in various conferences on topics such as: youth unemployment, project management, corruption, gender equality, youth opportunities, culture and many more. She travelled around Europe, Middle-East and Asia in order to do so, very often as a member of the organising team. She recently came back from Pakistan where she was helping organising youth summit on Sustainable Development Goals topic in particular: peace and education. Currently she is a content manager of Spring Agora Kraków 2018 organized by AEGEE Kraków. Her biggest passions are self – development, travelling, foreign languages and meeting new people.

Editors: Anna Ankowska, Sandra Oborska