Beyond Erasmus: Education, Exchanges and Employment opportunities for youth in the EU and Turkey (Phase II)
Meet the Beyond Erasmus ‘dream team’: Cem, Sinan, Cagla, Ecenur, Mathilde, Katharina, and Selen made it to Brussels. During the week of 7-11 February 2022, the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) office in Turkey hosted, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in 2020, the seven finalists from Turkey, Germany, and France. The networking fellowship trip in Brussels is part of the “Beyond Erasmus: Education, Exchanges and Employment opportunities for youth in the EU and Turkey”.
Against restrictions and fear of COVID-19 infection, our student-fellows had the opportunity to meet with diverse people, like the liberal VP of the Renew Europe party, MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MP from Brussels citizen’s assembly, Pepijn Kennis, senior European Commission officer Bernard Brunet (DG NEAR), to name but a few. The group also had the chance to exchange ideas and engage with cultural institutions (EUNIC), journalists, entrepreneurs and representatives from the Motion Picture Association.
Informal networking lunches and dinners provided an alternative venue for in-depth and genuine exchanges, including planning for the next phase of the project, bonding with their trainers, and more importantly with one another.
The third and final phase of the Beyond Erasmus program will conclude with the delivery of three lectures which will take place during March-April 2022 in Adana, Eskisehir, and Samsun in cooperation with local public academic institutions. Stay tuned with ENC to find out more about the upcoming activities of our Beyond Erasmus project.