Erasmus+ Inclusive Mobility Study highlights that inclusion and diversity are a cross-cutting priority of Erasmus+ 2021-2027. It aims to ensure that the benefits offered by the programme are accessible to all. This includes individuals with fewer opportunities.
An Erasmus+ mobility organisation must respect the principle of inclusion and diversity in all its activities. Wherever possible, the beneficiary organisation must actively involve participants with fewer opportunities in the mobility process. They should make maximum use of the financial and other resources available under the programme.
The aim of this study was to identify and raise awareness among staff involved in implementing mobility projects. This awareness focused on the inclusion of participants with fewer opportunities. Secondly, the study aimed to highlight the importance of related measures in mobility projects.
The central method of the study was a survey of professionals, which collected data from 69 staff in three education sectors: general, vocational and higher education. The initial sample of the survey included all mobility project promoters (139 in total). The results of the survey, therefore, do not reflect the views of all implementers.
The data collection was based on a questionnaire developed by programme specialists, and data were collected in the Alchemer survey centre. We divided the survey topics into five main content blocks:
The survey found two key findings. Firstly, the promoters of mobility projects consider their own awareness of the target group to be great. However, they also identified the need for additional support to implement the different measures offered to the target group more effectively. This could include guidance materials for the implementation of the actions, various information events and/or the collection and sharing of good practices.
For many institutions, organising learning mobility for learners with fewer opportunities was a new experience. The lack of practice was particularly prominent among respondents from vocational and general education schools. Although the majority of responders to the survey had experience in organising mobility for the target group, some of the Erasmus+ assistance measures were implemented relatively infrequently. Future surveys would also need to assess the impact (including relevance) of the implementation of the measures on the target group as perceived by them. The first step could be to analyse the feedback on mobility in all institutions.
The results of the Erasmus+ Inclusive Mobility Study also revealed that many institutions did not currently have clearly formulated objectives for the inclusion of participants with fewer opportunities, which could be an obstacle to evaluating the effectiveness of future implementation. We should encourage the setting of such targets in all institutions in the future. In some institutions, it seemed that despite having a good level of awareness, they did not include participants with fewer opportunities for mobility.