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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: Institut de Formation, Recherche, Animation, Sanitaire et Social

2022-1-FR01-KA131-HED-0000593952022Mobility of higher education students and stafffinalized
Countries: FR|BE|CA|IT|NO|PT|SE · Grant: €31,449

Objectives

IFRASS has been developing its internationalization strategy for the past decade through students and staff mobility and through several international seminars and activities. We are very grateful for this 2022-2024 budget as it allowed us to reboost our international mobilities after Covid19. Through this 2022-2024 Erasmus Project, IFRASS seeks to provide students and staff with international exposure, enhance professional skills, and foster collaboration across borders. By engaging in international study or internships, students gain firsthand experience with diverse social welfare systems, which improves their cultural competence and adaptability—essential qualities in the field of social work. The project also facilitates networking, building long-term partnerships with international universities and organizations, which leads to collaborative research and academic exchange. (For example with Norway, Canada, These networks broaden students' career opportunities in global or multicultural settings, while also contributing to their lifelong learning. For the institution, such a project encourages innovation and strengthens research capabilities through the exchange of knowledge and joint projects. Additionally, the Erasmus mobility experience helps promote European integration and social inclusion by exposing students to social issues like discrimination and inequality from a broader, international perspective. Overall, the Erasmus project supports the development of well-rounded, globally competent social work professionals and contributes to both institutional growth and the social work field's evolution on a global scale. Moreover, during this project, we also decided to open 20% of our budget for beyond Europe, specifically for Canada. This was not initially planned in our strategy but we aligned with the Region Occitanie decision to sign an agreement and to facilitate student’s mobility to Quebec. We have also been in link with UQAM University and we have codesigned 2 courses for our students about Canadian policies and social welfare. One of the course is done at the beginning of their mobility and the second one is at the end. It allows us to securize and consolidate the mobility process while allowing the students to reflect on their mobility with core Canadian social work concepts. It is also important to note that this project and the activities that were planned has been asked by the previous Erasmus developer. Since February 2023, there is a new Erasmus Developer at IFRASS and due to organizational constraints, the handing over of the job was unfortunately not done. This also could explain for example the difficulty to implement the BIP which led us to finally write to the agency last November to ask for an authorization to transform the BIP BUDGET in Mobility Budget. This was approved by the project officer and we hence proceeded to utilize the BIP budget to open up the 20% for international mobility as mentioned in the previous paragraph. This being said, we have been able to exceed the number of mobilities planned because we also cofinanced part of the mobilities. Our new Erasmus Developer has been working towards building more and more partnerships and networking for the good realization of the projects. The implementation and partners of an Erasmus project is critical to its overall success, as it reflects how effectively the project’s objectives are being met within the allocated time and resources. A well-executed project requires strong coordination among the participating institutions, timely dissemination of information, and active engagement from all stakeholders. To sum up, project’s aim was to promote international mobility, helping students and staff develop a global mindset, improve language skills, and gain valuable experiences that contribute to both personal and professional growth. Ultimately, the project aspires to strengthen partnerships between institutions, enhance the quality of education, and support the development of innovative solutions to common challenges faced in higher education and beyond. We are happy to say that we have been able through this project to work with longstanding partners such as Norway, Belgium and Italy and new partners such as Canada, Sweden and Portugal, showing our commitment to long-term international collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Project partners (1)