A broader view on Erasmus+ ICM - Interview with Raghad

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As a University committed to internationality and multiculturalism, Ca’ Foscari strives to offer students and staff members a large number of mobility opportunities, such as the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility Programme (ICM). Entirely funded by the European Union, ICM aims to promote the international mobility of students and staff from and to non-EU countries.

Among the people who decided to take part in this programme, Ca’ Foscari had the pleasure of welcoming Raghad, a student from the University of Jordan in Amman. Raghad decided to come to Venice in 2021 to study English language and literature over a period of 5 months at the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies.

“As a Jordanian girl who has never been outside the Middle East and has never lived away from her family, this experience changed me in a positive way” stated Raghad “. I became more independent, responsible and aware.  Yet, in the Middle East, it is hard for a girl to convince her family to let her travel alone. We also have a hard time explaining what Erasmus is and the incredible opportunities that come from studying abroad”

With the help of the Ca’ Foscari International office, Raghad has decided to share her experience in a video, taking this opportunity to address those families that might still be hesitant to let their children travel to a different country.

THE PROJECT


At the end of July 2021, the 2018 ICM project ended, after being extended by one year to allow the completion of those mobilities which were put to a halt by the pandemic. 

The ICM project funded within the 2018 call was the fourth one carried out by Ca’ Foscari. It was also the one with the biggest turnout, when compared to the previous years, while also showing a greater focus on expanding its geographical and multidisciplinary aspects. 

The 2018 project involved 47 partner universities from 31 different countries all over the world, in line with the internationalization goals of Ca’ Foscari’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan.

In particular, the project was designed around the following objectives:

  • Consolidating existing agreements with strategic non-EU partners and creating new partnerships

  • Increasing opportunities abroad for Ca’ Foscari students, especially for those specializing in Armenian, Arabic, English, Russian or Serbian languages

  • Broadening the academic offer for students of both Ca’ Foscari and its partners

  • Increase the number of international degree-seekers

  • Providing non-EU students from developing countries with an opportunity to access high quality education 

  • Supporting non-EU Universities and countries joining the Bologna Process, to lay a sound basis for more complex cooperation projects in the future.

The seven-year period of Erasmus+ 2014-2020 has also confirmed Ca’ Foscari as the top university in Italy for the amount of Erasmus+ funding aimed at International Credit Mobility (ICM) projects.

Since 2015, Ca’ Foscari has received a total funding of € 6,069,733 to manage 97 country-projects all over the world (of which 1,646,808.00 were dedicated to the 2018 ICM project). These excellent results have proven Ca’ Foscari's desire to heavily invest in the internationalization of teaching.

The consistently positive evaluation of the planning and management of these projects, awarded by the Erasmus+ INDIRE National Agency, has led to the official recognition of the 2017 ICM as a good practice example

Are you interested in living your own incredible international experience? Then check out the 3rd Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility call for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2021 at 1 p.m.

Francesca Favaro