Mobility is most probably the topic close to our AEGEE heart, a heart formed by different ideas and interests, but with a common aim: to fight for creating a Europe without frontiers and to allow the creation of a European community among the youth of Europe. In times of change people have to start thinking
differently. And I am sure I will not surprise you by saying the time of change is happening now. Change in the the focus of AEGEE, in the way it realizes things, in its values. But it is also a time of change for education in Europe. By the controversial proposal “Erasmus for All” the reality we are used to will be re-ordered. That is why we, in the Education Working Group and the core team of the Flagship Proposal, think AEGEE has to be a part of this process. If we want to shape the education and mobility opportunities by our needs, we have to say what we want. I already received some opinions saying “This is not the right time to support Erasmus”, “By such a topic you support “Erasmus for All” and AEGEE is against it”. Actually – NO! We do not support anything but the fact that we want AEGEE to be an active part of the process of creating programs like “Erasmus for All”. Because if it is not this programme, there will be another one replacing the Lifelong Learning Programme after 2014. Because big things start with a single change: more quality-oriented Erasmus for people from every part of Europe that you can think of. This can start from a small local conference in your city. And that is what we strive for. To make people aware and think about better visibility, better access, and better recognition of the mobility programs. Because that is what we are – students.
AEGEE has done many big things in the past supporting the mobility of students in Europe. Students’ mobility has
Europe without frontiers
reached the level it has now on our continent partly due to the work our association has done in the past. The Erasmus Working Group (WG) was one of the first Working Groups of AEGEE and the Tempus WG would appear a bit later. AEGEE has organised many actions with this topic throughout its history: conferences, congresses, materials (such as Erasmus manuals and newsletters), Socrates Actions Days and Weeks, as well as projects like Socrates on the Move or Education for Democracy. However, during the last years, students’ mobility has not been a priority in the work of AEGEE.
Now, in 2012, we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Erasmus programme. 25 years after the Comité Directeur of that time had dinner with the French President François Mitterand and convinced him to make France support the Erasmus programme economically, making this new initiative possible.
What we actually propose:
The aim of this proposal is to make the possibility of the dream of Erasmus reach all the students in Europe, allowing as many youngsters as possible take part in mobility programmes. We have four main purposes:
- Lobbying for the inclusion of all countries of Europe, as well as the Mediterranean countries, in the successor of Lifelong Learning Programme.
- Improving the access to information about mobility programmes and encouraging students, teenagers and young people, especially minority groups with a more difficult access to mobility programmes, to participate in them.
- Increasing the global number of exchange students establishing contacts between universities which the AEGEE Network (and their partner organizations) provides.
- Increasing the quality of the current Erasmus program regarding its recognition, cultural exchange; reducing bureaucratic processes.
Let's shape Europe as we want and not just watch from aside
What are our objectives?
The proposal clearly contributes to the aims of AEGEE, being connected with both the Main Fields of Action as well as with the Strategic Plan and the Action Agenda.
The proposal contributes to the four Main Fields of Action of AEGEE:
Higher Education: Most of the European programmes of education aim at promoting the European dimension in education, mobility being a key factor in it. Mobility of students and professors allows the exchange of methods and best practices which produce the development of better higher education systems.
Cultural Exchange: if there is something mobility specially contributes to, it is cultural exchange. Increasing the possibilities of young people, especially the ones which have less possibilities at the moment, to participate in mobility programmes will allow them to live an experience abroad which will broaden their horizons, make them learn about new cultures and work, and have fun with other young people from many different nationalities and cultures.
Active Citizenship: as any thematic action of AEGEE, the participation in the actions derived from the proposal implies an active participation of the people involved in them, as they contribute to a better society this way.
Peace and Stability: By mobility and internationalization, people get to know about other cultures and countries and the people living there, feeling closer to them and not looking at them as strangers or enemies anymore. This obviously contributes to creation of a European community which is necessary to assure peace and stability in our continent.
Moreover, the proposal contributes to the AEGEE’s Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2014, the period during which the project would run. It specially contributes to the Focus Area of Bridging Europe.
How it will contribute to AEGEE and with whom we plan to cooperate:
We would be more than happy to involve ALL the AEGEE locals in the project which will be born out of this topic proposal. As it was already said, mobility is a topic very present in the AEGEE heart and therefore, interesting for most of our members and locals.
Also this Flagship Topic would give the possibility of cooperation with a big number of current AEGEE projects. It offers organizing workshops in high schools with YOUrope Needs YOU! project; the possibility to organize local events about education together with Higher Education Days project; organizing job fairs which will allow the collaboration with Youth UnEmployment project. And finally it shares with Eastern Partnerhip (EaP) project the aim of promoting the mobility of students in the Eastern Partnership countries, what will allow us to help and collaborate with EaP project (keeping always in mind that EaP project would have priority over these countries and our project would mostly support them).
Moreover, as mobility of students is a topic which many European youth organizations deal with, we plan to establish contact and cooperation with several of those organizations, as ESN, BEST, EFPSA.
Help us let the world around think about education and make AEGEE become a part of the process of re-building it.
This Flagship topic proposal is supported by Alberto Cuesta (AEGEE-Oviedo), Ana Koridze (AEGEE-Tbilisi), Ani Khachatryan (AEGEE-Yerevan), Hara Kogkou (AEGEE-Peiraias), Jorge Miguel (AEGEE-León), Liliya Buyukliyska (AEGEE-Sofia) and Szabina Hellinger (AEGEE-Budapest).
Written by Liliya Buyukliyska, AEGEE-Sofia
Photos by the author