The annual meeting of garagErasmus took place in Florence from the 8th to the 10th of May 2022, during the occasion we also celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus+  programme and the 10 years of the Foundation!

Almost 100 people representing institutions, universities, partner associations, local chapters and Erasmus students and Alumni gathered to celebrate the 10 years of the garagErasmus Foundation.

The festival of Europe offered the perfect scenario to grow and showcase garagErasmus network activities, to present its annual work to institutional interest groups and to create new opportunities for the future of the Erasmus Generation.

In fact, the aim of the event was to create stronger ties among our partners and share ideas and information about ongoing projects.  garagErasmus’ annual report highlighted both the flagship projects, such as the plus of Erasmus and the EU funded projects garagErasmus is currently working on, such as Handshake, SustainEu, Brights and EDU2030: Youth in Transition. Moreover, garagErasmus team was also glad to share with its members the developments of its new flagship project gEcity currently under construction in Milan and its ambitious plan to scale up the project by opening 5 new gEcity in the next decade.

Special attention was drawn to the final conference of the Euthpages for Europe project funded by the European Parliament where gE hosted EU representatives and young ambassadors to present the results of 25 local events held all around Europe and to discuss how to give continuity to the impact of the Cofoe and to keep shaping the future of Europe together.

During the open discussion, participants stressed the importance of strengthening synergies among our network to actively involve universities and existing local chapters and to reach out to new potential members.

We therefore decided to open a space for cooperation and collaboration organised in three working groups that will work together in the following months on three core European issues such as Youth civic Engagement, the future of EU Job Market and the Digital Transformation of EU Education. The working groups will allow our members to meet regularly and exchange expertise and knowledge to eventually create future projects together.

Furthermore, some of the most motivated youngsters of the Erasmus students and Alumni Incubator volunteered to open new g4s in Europe and beyond. gE4 Budapest, gE4 Tiblisi, gE4 Wroclaw and gE4Tirana will soon enter garagErasmus members network!

The attendees could also share some ideas on garagErasmus’ role within the Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Alliance (ESAA)  in order to work together on grants and EU projects and. Friends of gE and partner organisations such as Centro Studi Internazionali (CSI), Europiamo, Scambi Europei, Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and Organisation for Cooperation and Exchange And Networking among Students (OCEANS) also shared their work and plans for future cooperation.

The annual meeting was also the occasion to celebrate, together with the Italian national agency INDIRE, the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus+ programme. Throughout Sunday we welcomed several students and children to our stand in Piazza della Repubblica promoting the Erasmus Programme and its exchange opportunities. On Monday morning we attended INDIRE’s Conference on the success stories of the Erasmus programme.

The conference has been a success for garagErasmus as well, as the Major of Firenze Dario Nardella directly engaged in a long and inspiring conversation with our Erasmus students and alumni.

Annual Meeting Gallery

We are happy to announce that from the 8th to the 10th of May, a group of successful Erasmus students will have the chance meet highly qualified Erasmus Alumni and young professionals within a 3-day training incubator.

The project is supported by the European Commission through The Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Alliance.