Erasmus+: Making Diversity Europe’s Advantage
Erasmus+ fosters not only mobility, but relevant skills, perspectives, and values that Europe needs to thrive — in business and society.
Marking 40 years of Erasmus, DAAD EuroLetter is dedicating its 77th issue (09/2024) to the iconic EU programme. 76 pages of analyses, interviews and perspectives, for Erasmus is being celebrated as much as it is being questioned, mainly due to its budget. Consequently, the DAAD headlines: Erasmus+… Moves people. Generates progress.
Erasmus+ brings diversity to life and strengthens Europe’s future.
Not as a programme participant, but as a co-creator and actor in the Erasmus ecosystem, I give an interview on the growing need for developing personal values and competence, as it happens in Erasmus. For the benefit of the economy and society, and the future of us all.
More Than Mobility
For millions of Europeans, Erasmus has opened doors to study, live, and work abroad. Beyond academic credits, the programme fosters resilience, intercultural agility, and an openness that today’s globalised realities require.
Individual Growth, Collective Benefit
Erasmus alumni often describe the programme as transformative: it changes perspectives, builds broad mind-sets, and reduces stereotypes. These personal shifts ripple outward. Networks built across borders create long-term ties across regions, sectors, and professions.
Diversity as a Competence
Employers increasingly look for graduates who can navigate diverse teams and international contexts. Erasmus participants embody these skills: adapting to new cultures, managing complexity, and communicating across difference. The program is thus a silent engine of employability and competitiveness.
Untapped Potential
Still, Erasmus could be leveraged even more: to foster civic responsibility, strengthen European identity, and explicitly frame diversity as a value. By embedding inclusion into its mission, Erasmus would not only prepare individuals for jobs but also for leadership in diverse societies. Erasmus+ is clearly more than an education programme. It is a diversity programme — developing the mind-set and skills that Europe needs for innovation, cohesion, and future resilience.
All interviews, including mine (and a video statement) are found online at https://www.daadeuroletter.de/en/diversity-as-an-opportunity/
Let’s challenge paradigms and co-create new narratives and solutions. Through key-notes, articles, and dialogues, my input sparks reflection, provides clarity, and inspire constructive change.
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