“Why have I done this?” This is the question that comes to my mind every day at 7:34 AM, the time when I leave for my lectures after having about five hours of sleep. The reason is not that I do not like the subject of my studies. It is because I am an Erasmus student.

Pentes de la Croix Rousse

30 years ago, the Erasmus programme was created. Since then, each year thousands of students have had the experience of their lifetime. However, after 30 years of a very successful programme it is high time to consider the difficulties that many students face when going to an Erasmus exchange as a result of its distribution.

As students, we have this idyllic idea of how Erasmus is. Everyone that you know has an incredible experience, few people answer negatively to the question “would you do it again?”. I have now arrived to the conclusion that this is probably because 1) most working class people still do not make it to university and 2) those who do probably never think of doing an Erasmus. I was in this last group until just about my very last year of university.

My mother works as a cleaner, my father is a handicapped, undocumented immigrant and my brother is, like many others, a 30-year-old unemployed Spaniard. As the first person in my family to go to university, I never thought that I would end up doing my last year as an Erasmus, but I convinced myself that I would be able to make it work.

In previous years, I had always denied myself even the thought of doing an Erasmus year. Sometimes, my brother would come and ask me: “Why don’t you do an Erasmus?”. My answer was constantly the same: “What if the grant does not arrive on time? I cannot do that to this family”. At that point, he always conceded.

Hotel de Ville de Lyon

Our little family, whose only income is the ridiculously small salary of my mother and part of my grandmother’s pension, cannot afford to send me the necessary money for my living expenses every month. As an Erasmus student you have a grant (€300 for countries such as France plus €100 on top for people with lower incomes in the case of Spain). Even the most frugal student could never live on €400 per month in a country like France.

The idea behind the grant is that the European Union finances the difference between the cost of living your in home country and in your host country. However, this ignores the reality of many students like me, who struggle to finance our studies in our home countries even if we live in the parental home. Working and studying at the same time, we still have to live with our families until we finish our studies and, in some cases, even after we have graduated.

For me, doing an Erasmus means waking up ridiculously early for having the classes that allow me to go to work in the afternoon, arrive in the evenings to my home, make dinner, eat, do all the work required for university and the NGOs that I am involved with and then going to sleep very late to prepare myself for another quite unwelcome day.

I do not have time to socialise, to go partying, to make new friends, to create memories that I am never going to forget, and not even to learn the language properly. And even if I had the time, I would never have the money to do so.

Mur des Canuts, Lyon

This is tremendously unfair.

I wish that I could go for a beer with my mates every day, that I could arrive home before 7:00 PM, that I could have a reasonable sleep, that I could make friends that will last forever. I wish that, in the years to come, I would be able to say with love “Once Erasmus, Always Erasmus”. But I fear that this is never going to happen.

It is time to rethink Erasmus grants. It is not fair that the difference of money received between someone like me and a person with a wealthy family to support them is only €100. It is high time to ensure that every student can sincerely say “Once Erasmus, Always Erasmus”.

Written by Zahia Guidoum Castiblanque, AEGEE-València

A new project about the Erasmus programme is going to be developed in Rome: Erasmus Generation. Many European students will enjoy a TV series where the actors are not professionals, but normal students and young people like all of us.

The Erasmus programme is the world’s most successful student exchange programme. Over five million students, from across the European continent, have studied abroad in 4000 participating universities throughout 33 countries. Many students around Europe have enjoyed it during their university careers and now someone has put forward the idea: why not create a movie to tell about the life of European students in a foreign country?

The programme will thus be the subject of a new TV series and will be entirely based on the stories that are sent in by European students. Cinecittà 3 (Rome) has embarked on the ambitious task of portraying all the passions, emotions and adventures of Erasmus life in a fun comedy series, which will be about a bunch of students from all over Europe, as they go through hilarious and epic situations. The goal of the series is to present the exciting experience of Erasmus in an entertaining way, all while promoting a debate on European issues, and ultimately, to help as many students as possible to get that dream of living the Erasmus experience through dedicated grants.

The Erasmus phenomenon inspired the Italian film and TV producer, Fabrizio Carlo Muscia. Muscia and the production team researched the presence of Erasmus in film and TV, and were surprised to find almost no references to it, despite its huge popularity among young Europeans and its enormous effect on providing opportunities, building bridges and uniting Europe. Muscia has teamed up with French producer Cedríc Gamelin in order to  start the project.

“Erasmus Generation – The Series” tells about the parallel lives of a unique group of Erasmus students who will learn to appreciate their similarities and overcome their differences through questionable choices and epic situations. On a more intellectual level, the series “Erasmus Generation” wants to create a subtle and funny awareness of European culture, its fundamental values and important political and social differences. Cedric Gamelin, on behalf of the production team of “Erasmus Generation – The series”, remarks: “The writing team will select the most compelling anecdotes and the students, whose stories are chosen, will be invited to take part in the episode, whether that means to be on set for a day, to appear in an episode of the series, or have their name in the credits”.

Many people decided to fund and support this project. Among these are Andreea Anastasiu (Editor-in-Chief OneEurope), who has participated in many pan-European projects, such as Model European Union and Model United Nations, and Ivan Botoucharov (One Europe Magazine Co-Founder and Co-President), who created Europe’s largest citizens European media. He has been involved in many European projects and initiatives, and is leading a campaign to save the Erasmus programme from severe funding cuts in recent years.  Another supporter is Manuel Marin (Former Commissioner of the European Commission), who was the Commissioner responsible for the presentation of the proposal for the Erasmus Programme.

The European Union has been going through its greatest financial, political and social crisis – austerity and lack of growth perpetuate, far-right and far-left parties are on the rise, youth unemployment is rife, negative attitudes towards immigration (both from within and from without the EU) are growing, and disillusionment with the EU itself is at an all-time high. At the same time, the traditional purpose of the EU – Peace in Europe, is taken for granted by many within the Union. “Erasmus Generation – The Series” comes at the right time and with a promising concept – an ambitious project celebrating the greatest single European initiative, which demonstrates the power of freedom of movement and of Europe’s great cultures.

The ultimate goal of the “Erasmus Generation” production team is to establish grants and scholarships for worthy students who want to go on Erasmus. The funds will mostly come from the net profits of the series and will be managed and allocated with the greatest care in collaboration with the European Union institutions and the partners of the project. In addition to One Europe Magazine, the series already has the backing of several non-governmental organisations and over twenty of the most prestigious universities in Europe. Moreover, the founders of the Erasmus programme have personally endorsed the series.

Every student can send his/her story to their website .

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

To participate in an Erasmus project is amazing, but the team spirit and the atmosphere is what truly make it an Erasmus + project. Back in April 2016, Elinne Mertens and Ioana Duca attended “Captivating Europe”, and Erasmus + Programme by the EU in Berlin, and this is their amazing story:

The project

From the 16th until the 24th of April, me and Ioana Duca took part in the training “Captivating Europe” in Berlin, funded by the Erasmus + programme of the European Union. Captivating Europe was a week-long training course hosted by the organisation OneEurope. Six partner organisations from Italy, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania and (of course, AEGEE-Europe was partner) Belgium took part in it. The aim of the training was to develop innovative communication strategies for the dissemination of pro-European ideas to larger audiences. Moreover, we explored European citizenship and reflected on European identity. Additionally, the project provided guidance for the programs that promote the development of European identity, for example Erasmus+. As Communications Team member of Your Vision for EUrope, I represented this project, while Ioana presented some general AEGEE materials.

Professional benefits

Since all the previous trainings I took part in were organised by AEGEE-locals (and it were never Erasmus+ projects, this was my first), it was very refreshing to participate in a training like this one. It was interesting to observe the organisation and to learn from it and to take new experiences with me on how to – and how not to – organise a project. Since we had participants from six different organisations/countries, the project was great to network and to get contacts outside of AEGEE. Afterwards I contacted some of these new contacts for the Erasmus+ application that we, the Your Vision for Europe project, submitted. I encourage AEGEE-Europe, but also AEGEE locals to (continue to) be partner organisation of other Erasmus+ projects. You will gather a lot of inspiration andcontacts and you will learn a lot. Even plans to cooperate in the future and to organise an Erasmus+ project together can originate from it. This is the great benefit of these kinds of projects: they offer a platform to share, discuss and network on the spot, but moreover, they bring ideas, experiences and contacts that you can benefit from later on. Besides, another reason to participate in Erasmus+ projects: travel costs and costs for the project are fully reimbursed by the EU! What do you want more?

Personal benefits

However, I have to admit that the team spirit and the atmosphere created are maybe even more important than these professional benefits. I gained a lot of new friends – outside of AEGEE. I experienced some kind of outsider perspective at AEGEE by meeting people who don’t do our typical AEGEE things, like dancing Tunak Tunak or doing our typical energisers. But, as we also have this great AEGEE network, me and Ioana met friends from AEGEE-Berlin and people from other AEGEE-locals who visited Berlin during the same period.

So in short: if you have the chance to participate in an Erasmus+ project or to cooperate as partner organisation, don’t hesitate, just do it. It is a great opportunity!

Written by Elinne Mertens, AEGEE-Leuven and Your Vision for Europe

Plenty of AEGEE members have heard about Erasmus+ at some point. However, not many of us have actually gone through the time-consuming application process. The long application form and the large amount of questions and items you need to think about sound like an unreachable objective for many locals and European bodies of AEGEE. And yes – it is hard, it takes a lot of time, but by no means it is impossible! In this article, we will decode Erasmus+ and make it easy. After all, having quite some financial support for your projects is always an optimal thing, isn’t it?

What does the Erasmus+ fund?

• Key Action 1 deals with mobility for young people and youth workers;
• Key Action 2 deals with cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices – meaning cooperation among youth organisations to run joint projects;
• Key Action 3 is about policy development and support for reforms on youth policy (for instance, the Structured Dialogue).

This article will focus especially on Key Action 1 initiatives, because it is the one that gives more space for opportunities for AEGEE locals, and it is the one that receives the biggest percentage of Erasmus+ funds (long story short, ‘easier’ to get).

The Key Action 1 of Erasmus+ focuses on the development of the individual, meaning YOU as a student/young person. In other words, you attend a training course where you gain a certain set of skills and competences. In this way, it contributes to your personal development and, no less important, to understand other cultures and countries participating in the training course better.

There are three main activities that you can organise under Key Action 1:

• Youth exchanges: an opportunity for students aged 13 to 30 to meet up and address a chosen topic (arts, education, audiovisuals, sports, you name it!), where different methods are used, such as workshops, simulation games and other exercises – all of them prepared beforehand.
• European Voluntary Service (EVS): namely, the opportunity to volunteer for up to one year at an organisation abroad, in order to contribute to its daily work and bring a benefit to the local community. There are many types of organisations and topics which you can participate in for your EVS, ranging from environment, to culture, people with disabilities, media, development, and many more!
• Training and networking for youth workers: these include anything related to your professional development – training courses, seminars, debates, case study trips. If you are interested in boosting your skills, this is the place to be!

You might be thinking: “I want to participate in one of these activities!”…

Picture from l’Auberge Espagnole, the film that depicted the Erasmus lifestyle for the first time.

Great news: it is easier and more accessible than you might think! The most important thing that you need is to get your AEGEE antenna registered in the Erasmus+ database and get the Partner Identification Code (PIC), you can find more information about it in the Members Portal.

Then, you just need to find a training course of your interest! There are a handful of Facebook groups where youth organisations from all over Europe look for partners or participants for their youth exchanges. However, *the* source for training activities is SALTO-YOUTH’s European Training Calendar. Browse all the options that you will find in there, send your mandate (which will confirm that you agree to be a partner of the project), and you are just one click away from starting a journey of a lifetime!

…or you might be thinking: “how about applying with my own project?”

You have an idea in mind for a great project? You need resources? What better idea than to get funding from Erasmus+? The first thing you would need is a theme for your project. In this sense, Erasmus+ funds a wide range of topics, ranging from active citizenship, intercultural learning and preventing discrimination, employability and entrepreneurship, promotion of diversity, trainings, non-formal education, all topics that we, AEGEEans, work with on a daily basis!

Moreover, one of the highlights and priorities of the year 2016 for the European Commission concerns the current refugee crisis. Because of it, projects that promote intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, respect for human rights, and that involve refugees and asylum seekers in some way will be given a “plus”.

Once you have an idea, it is the time to design your master plan and make it happen! First of all, you have to know that your Erasmus+ will not only be “an event” as such, but a project as a whole. Erasmus+ works in a way that you submit a project, and that this project can have one or more activities (what we understand as events/exchanges/training courses as such). Therefore, each project needs to follow different basic stages: planning (including previous preparation in terms of logistics and content, how you will communicate with participants etc.), execution, and closure (which includes the impact, evaluation and PR/communication of the project). And you need to carefully plan all of the stages.

Therefore, when planning it, you need to ask yourself: what are the aim and the objectives that I want to achieve with this exchange/training/conference? Which impact is it going to have? What are all the steps that I need to take in order to make my project happen? How will I plan the PR campaign for my project? How will I select the participants? Some of the questions in the long Erasmus+ application form are quite basic for someone who has a lot of experience organising events, but it is important for you to follow the different quality assurance steps, and use the questions as a ‘check-list’ of things you need to think about when putting your project into practice.

Something that you should really put an emphasis on, and that the National Agencies value, is how you plan to follow-up and disseminate (namely, the PR and communication of the event in social media, in booklets, etc) your project so it has a big impact. Another big “plus” for your application has to do with inclusion: how will you ensure gender balance? Are you planning to include young people with fewer opportunities? Last but not least, you should also consider which tools you plan to use in order to recognise the skills that the participants will gain from your project. There are many certifications available, and you should strongly consider using the YouthPass, a commonly-used European tool to certify these skills.

Partner up!

In a project funded by Erasmus+, you will not be alone! As we explained before, your AEGEE antenna can become a partner in an Erasmus+ project, get involved in it and send participants, right? It also happens the other way around: you need partners to make your own project happen!

The first thing to consider is that you need to partner up with organisations that are similar to yours, and that are somehow related to the topic of your project. For instance, for a project related to social inclusion, you would not really ask an organisation of aerospace engineering students, would you? Therefore, you need to clearly define the aim of your project, and which types of organisations you can partner with. Of course, you can involve and be partners with other AEGEE locals – however, I would strongly encourage you to also find partners that are not AEGEE locals! This will definitely give you a “plus” in the eyes of the National Agency.

There are several ways to find partners for Erasmus+. Search for “Erasmus+ partner” on Facebook, and you will find a handful of Facebook groups where you can promote your project and find others who also need partners. Most importantly, you need to think how to involve these partners: will they be taking care and supporting you with the content? Will they take part in the participants’ selection? How (and how often) will you communicate with them?

That must have been a lot of information for you! Explaining Erasmus+ shortly is not an easy task. Because of this, the Comité Directeur is always available to help and answer all your questions. So, if you have any other questions, do not hesitate to approach me at communications@aegee.org! Another great source of information is the UK National Agency of Erasmus+, or check the information of your National Agency in your own language.

Written by Anna Gumbau, Communications Director of AEGEE-Europe 2015-2016