A new chapter in the history of Erasmus +

It's a new Erasmus + program that will start at the beginning of 2021 and run for the next six years. Responsible, open and ambitious: these are the three key words of the next roadmap. As an added bonus, last October the European Commission awarded the "Best Practices" label, recognizing the quality of the work carried out by UM teams over the 2014-2020 period.

It's a small plaque that honors the hard work of the UM's international relations teams, both at headquarters and in the components. This recognition was awarded following an audit carried out by the Agence nationale Erasmus, which " validates the quality of the implementation of the Erasmus + program over the 2014-2020 period, and its compliance with the charter signed by Philippe Augé, UM's President ", explains Nadia Lagarde, Deputy Director of the International Relations Department (DRI).

Tracking outgoing and incoming mobility, language support, but also recognition of our training courses in partner countries, " this is one of the ways in which we can label our good practices ", Nadia Lagarde continues, "especially as students are not the only beneficiaries, as the European program also targets our university staff (teaching and administrative).

Exchanging for strength

The news comes at just the right time, as in the coming weeks the internal information and promotion campaign for the new Erasmus + program, which will cover the period 2021-2027, will begin. And for Camylle Pernelle, head of department, "the Erasmus + program remains little known outside the mobility section . There aremany opportunities for cooperation, with a strong focus on the exchange of best practices, innovation and capacity building for higher education institutions ".

The internationalization of doctoral studies in conjunction with universities in South Africa, the sharing of expertise in green transition and sustainable development with our European partners as part of the UNI-ECO project, work with Algerian universities on structuring the validation of acquired experience, the creation of a master's degree in water management in West Africa... These are just a few examples of the diversity and openness of our Erasmus + missions.

Responsibility, openness and ambition

These are missions that the DRI intends to expand thanks to this new program, which focuses on three key areas: responsibility, openness and ambition. " Responsible by being even more attentive to issues of ecological transition, for example, by giving greater prominence to soft modes of transport in mobility," explains Camylle Pernelle. We want to extend our mobility services to people with disabilities," adds Frédéric Achard, Head of the Mobility Department, " and take better account of the socially disadvantaged. To this end, hybrid mobility and greater digitalization will be offered.

Ambitious, finally, because " with this new program, Europe is promising to triple budgets and extend mobility", continues Frédéric Achard. So many more grants and mobility opportunities for students, who need to know that we're here to help them achieve their international mobility goals, with as much assistance as possible through Erasmus+ grants, AMI grants and regional grants.

"You have an idea, we turn it into a project".

But this information campaign isn't just aimed at prospective students.

As Camylle Pernelle points out, Erasmus + is also aimed at teaching and research staff who would like to set up projects under the program: " If you have an idea, we'll turn it into a project - that's the message we want to get across to them. Another of the new program's aims is to involve regional and local authorities to a greater extent. At national level, the UM was once again one of the top 3 most dynamic universities in the implementation of its Erasmus+ program. A position it is unlikely to relinquish any time soon.