This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.

"The University of Gävle continues to work with internationalisation with the Erasmus+ programme as the main activity. To be able to offer students, teacher and straff the possibility to make an exchange through Erasmus+ is considered as fundamental and something we really value. The long-term goal is that as many as possible within our organisation will have a possibility to make an exchange. By working with Erasmus+ we also create contacts giving possibilities to other kinds of cooperation.The numbers of outbound students have not reached the hights we wished for during this Project period, but the interest among teacher and staff has been big. We have seen a growing interest among techer and staff that have not made any echange Before. This, we think, is the effect of us encouraging them to make exchanges in company with eachother, so that the unexperienced will feel safer to make an exchange. To get numbers of outgoing students to rise, several marketing activities have been made, with a geat increase in numbers of applicants as effect. We are counting on seeing the results during coming year, particulary an increased number of mobilities within the SMP. To make a trainee exchange we see as suitable for those of our students in programmes where there are not yet any mobility windows.We aim to imake an obvious growth of outgoing mobilities.During this project the University of Gävle has strengthened the co-operation with the International Office at the Gävle municipality. Besides that the University has taken part in the municipality European week, we have also been involved in meetings with the municipality's European network Project Compete In and during visits from the municipality's sister cities. In this way we have spread information about how we work with Erasmus+ in the surrounding society, in the minicipality, in the region and in throughout the municipality's international networks. This meant great opportunities to create co-operation contacts with new partners.The University of Gävle has during the Project had an continued stable number of incoming students, a number that is much higher than outgoing students. We are working to get the numbers more in balance. We still see it as positive that we are hosting a big number of international students at the University as this helps to create an international envireonment. The University has a so called Buddy Programme in co-operation with the Student Union.The programme is meant to give the incoming students a posibility to join social activities and meeting national students and get help to settle down in the new environment. During the semester there are for example café nights, a possibility to blend socially outside of the studies. Incoming students are mixed with the national students as much as possible within the courses. This has given both international and international students the posibility to get new perspectives in their education.For the national students that for some reason do not decide to make an exchange this type of internationalisation at home is very important. As well, it works as information and marketing for doing an exchange. Another way of marketing the exchange possibilities has been lunch seminars where students that already made an exchange share their experiences.Incoming teachers and staff are always a meeting with the Erasmus co-ordinator during ther exchange in Gävle. The aim is to let them share the experience of their exchange so far, and to see if the co-operation with their home University should or could develop in some way. Outgoing teacher ans staff will get support from the Erasmus co-ordinator during the whole process before, during and after their exchange.We are really proud over our co-operation development with Erasmus+ partners in Belgium. We have regular exchange agreements with Karel de Grote in Antwerp and Artevelde Hocheschool in Gent, both within the teachertraining programme. A teacher exchange earlier was the start for the co-operation where we with digital help put together students in Gävle and Antwerp, that got to discuss topict within their courses. The University of Gävle has apoximately 50% of the students as distance learning students, and also we have identified some problems for teacher training students to find mobility windows within theri education. t reach out goal that as many as possible will get an international perspective on their education, we see that this that we call ""digital internationalisation"" is a brilliant opportunity. We can easily include distance Learning students, many students at the same time get an international perspective, and it works as marketing the exchange possibilties there is, where we see the trainee exchange as the best option for teacher training students at the moment. That is why we decided to develop this digital internationalisation and include Gent. Thanks to our strong relationship within Erasmus+ this is possible."

One of the participating teachers from the University of Gävle had since before contact with the professors at the Institute Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan in Agadir. It was considered that the expertise at respective university was of great benefit to both sides, and discussions on co-operation and a future joint international master programme kicked off. To co-operate in an Erasmus+ project was a first step to collaborate and to let the shared knowledge become beneficial to both teachers and students. Additionally, this is the first cooperation with a university in Morocco ever for the University of Gävle, which means an academic contact in a new area.At the start of the project there occurred a minor problem when the programme structure at the University of Gävle was changed, and there was a need to re-plan a few things and the activities were somewhat delayed. In spite of these circumstances, we have been able to fulfil all planned mobilities with both teachers and students in both directions, for which we are very happy. The main goal has been to give lectures and seminars within the specified subject areas in Sustainable Horticulture and Conservation Biology, a goal we have reached. We have started to create a knowledge base within Sustainable Horticulture, also including aspects of Conservation Biology, another objective for this project. Through the lectures from the Moroccan professors and oral presentations from the students, the Swedish students have learned about cultivation of Mediterranean crops, particularly in in dry areas, and methods for sustainable water usage. In Morocco the students have through the exchange teachers’ lectures and the exchange student’ presentations learned about the possibilities and limitations for cultivation in the barren Swedish climate. At both partner Institutions lectures and seminars have been dealing with plant diseases, and their sustainable management and the importance for doing an early diagnosis, since there is a lot of expertise within these areas at both universities. Finally, we have begun the building of a network of experts that are involved in the research and education within the areas of Sustainable Horticulture and Conservation Biology.Except for some practical problems, as the administration of visas, difficulties to get accommodation and the changes in the programme structure in Gävle, we believe that this has been a very successful and developing project. We are incredible satisfied with having established this cooperation as it gives so much to both partner Institutions. The plans for a joint international master programme are progressing. We firmly believe that the sustainability issues are of great importance to the future, and this project has, in a very hands-on way been about questions that will give the replies to some of the common challenges we have, and they suit well into the 17 Goals for Sustainable Development from UN. Sustainable Horticulture and Sustainable Water Usage are two of several examples of areas that have been included in the project.Four teachers and two students have been participating in the project. The teachers have been giving lectures, seminars, and lab sessions and taking part of excursions. They were given the opportunities to meet with colleagues and discuss further development of the cooperation and to share their expert knowledge. The students have taken part in lectures, lab sessions and gathered information for thesis work. They have had oral presentations where their experiences have spread to both teachers and fellow students at both universities.The cooperation within this project led to good ideas and developed the plans for the joint international master programme, and we look very positively on the possibilities to reach this goal. As the issues so obviously handles several of the common challenges we have in society today, we see at it as a great opportunity to make a positive change in the world by gathering this expertise in a network for future education and research.