On 10th October 2023, a meeting took place at the Rectorate of the University of Zielona Góra regarding the possibilities of the Erasmus+ Program and the European Solidarity Corps in the new financial perspective: Education-Science-Market 4.0.
During the meeting, all information concerning projects supporting the internationalization of education in the financial perspective 2021-2027 was presented. As explained by Izabela Laskowska, Director of the Vocational Education Office at the Foundation for the Development of the Education System - "We organized this meeting in cooperation with the University of Zielona Góra. Our goal was to present the offers of the Erasmus+ Program and the European Solidarity Corps to all institutions in the Lubusz Voivodeship. We wanted to show the possibilities that Erasmus+ offers. Not only universities can benefit from the program, but also primary schools, vocational schools, associations, foundations, businesses, employers, that is, all institutions involved in education and training."
Participants received information about the rules for implementing European and non-European mobility, Partnership Cooperation projects, activities for organizations, sports unions and federations, as well as international TCA training and European Solidarity Corps volunteer projects.
The sports aspect is a novelty in the Erasmus+ Program. As explained by Łukasz Smogorowski from the Sports Department of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System: - "Sport is the newest child of Erasmus, this year we have the first edition of a decentralized sports action. This means that clubs, associations, and organizations that work for sports can apply to the National Agency for funding for sports staff mobility." He added: - "We had a record number of applications. There were as many as 50, which means that we ranked second in Europe in terms of the number of applications submitted. We funded 27 applications from various types of organizations, from large unions to very small clubs from all over Poland."
The meeting was attended by Prof. Marcin Mrugalski - Vice-Rector for Science and International Cooperation, who encouraged and explained the benefits of international academic exchanges: - "We need to work on the internationalization of universities. The ideological aspect is that we want our students to travel the world and for foreign students to come to us. But there is also a financial factor. A large part of the university's subsidy depends on the number of student exchanges. Therefore, we support all kinds of informational, training activities that contribute to this."
The meeting was attended by university employees, teaching and research staff from all disciplines, employees of the international cooperation departments, international project departments or university and faculty Erasmus+ program coordinators. Among them was Prof. Roman Sapeńko from the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Zielona Góra, who highly praised the actions within the Erasmus+ Program: - "The value of this project is invaluable. I can attest from my own experience that these trips are not only the realization of scientific plans, but also an opportunity to meet people, participate in the international community. I recently went on an exchange to Turkey. Getting to know the academic community there, but also the opportunity to participate and learn about other cultures is very important. These are aspects that we will not be able to gain elsewhere."
Photographs: K. Adamczewski
