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The project titled "Erasmus Alumni Leading the Future of Change" took place in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 15th to 18th, 2023. The project kicked off with an internal meeting involving representatives from the four partner organisations: garagErasmus, Erasmus Mundus Association (EMA), OCEANS, and Erasmus Student Network (ESN). The primary aim of this session was to conceive a common strategy for the future of the ESAA umbrella alliance and activities, gathering feedback from the project managers over the past four years of projecting and brainstorming on common solutions to the faced challenges.

The collaborative effort aimed at conceiving a plan making the best out of the resources while aligning with the priorities of the European Commission (EC) and with the education and youth policies, particularly within the ESAA context.

The second activity of the project was an outreach event that took place at Brusov State University Yerevan on the 17th of October in collaboration with the International Relations and Employability offices. This event was supported and implemented thanks to the collaboration of the local partners: gE4Yerevan, Edu Hub, and ESN Armenia. The event was opened by the University representative and was divided into three parts: the presentation of ESAA and the partner organisations, a workshop on skills and the final part where students could learn more about the Erasmus+ opportunities to study and work abroad. The event sparked high interest among the students, as two sessions of approx. 60 and 40 participants have been organised exceptionally to involve all registered youths.

The four representatives Serena Țenea (gE and project manager), Uswa Alhamid (Oceans), Manasseh Anand Makhesh (EMA), and Georgios Papaioannou (ESN) presented their organisations and how the students could benefit from their activities. The project manager kick-started the second part of the event, the workshop, providing insights about the European Year of Skills 2023 and the green and digital transition priorities of the European Commission.

Afterwards, the students were divided in teams for a group brainstorming on the skills they can acquire during different type of mobilities abroad. They engaged in discussions on how mobility can enhance their employability as they had the chance to pitch their ideas and outcomes after the discussions. This phase aimed at fostering a shared understanding among participants about the new needed skills within the job market related to sustainability and digitalisation. To conclude the session, the facilitators presented the audience the programmes they can undertake under the Erasmus+ programme and finalised by a thematic quiz during which goodies were distributed.

A second session was replicated immediately after for a second group due to high demand. Moreover, Cluster 2 and 4 were successfully covered as the projected helped increase international cooperation between ESAA networks and local entities in Yerevan, spread the word about the Erasmus+ opportunities while delivering a training within an extra EU university, and provided a collaboration platform between alumni organisations.

In conclusion, the project was a successful and fruitful one as it is the first time all four organisation collaborate over a project that had an internal impact on their networks, as well as an outreach strategy. Therefore, the initiative celebrated the cooperation between sister and cousin alumni organizations and represented the perfect opportunity to share key values and achieve common goals such as engaging with youths within the Erasmus+ framework.

 

Serena Țenea

Romania, Bucharest, 10 December 2023