What is Green Erasmus?
The Green Erasmus project strives to improve the environmental sustainability of the Erasmus+ Programme and raise awareness across the European Higher Education sector about the importance of sustainable internationalisation. Green Erasmus will carry out a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of Erasmus+ mobilities and develop an educational tool on sustainable internationalisation.
The Green Erasmus Project is coordinated by a consortium consisting of Erasmus Student Network (ESN), European University Foundation (EUF), European Students' Union (ESU), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Technische Hochschule Köln (TH Köln), and Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS UK).
Who can benefit from the Green Erasmus Project?
The Green Erasmus Project is beneficial for Higher Education Institutions, local students and incoming Erasmus+ students, as well as any person taking part in a mobility project or exchange program. The project will have an impact on raising awareness towards sustainability both before/while travelling and when being in contact with the local communities. The European Higher Education sector and future generation of students will benefit from the awareness of sustainable internationalisation which this project aims at highlighting. Finally, the project’s goal is to create a greener future for everyone.
Goals
The objectives of this project are:
To decrease the negative impact of the Erasmus+ Programme on environmental sustainability;
To raise awareness across the European higher education sector about the importance of sustainable internationalisation;
To empower student organisations to be the agents of change, pushing for improvements on the topic of environmental sustainability.
News
United for Green(er) Erasmus
10 July, 2023
Over 5000 students and education sector staff support changes to make Erasmus+ mobility more sustainable
6 July, 2023
Going Green with Erasmus: The Final Conference You Can't Miss
15 May, 2023
Launch of the Green Erasmus petition and portal
29 June, 2022
The challenge of sustainable mobility: the launch of the Green Erasmus survey report
21 January, 2022
Sustainable travel, a priority in the new Erasmus+ programme
15 July, 2021
Habits during the exchange - Launch of the Green Erasmus survey
8 March, 2021
The background of the Green Erasmus project
10 October, 2020
Results
See the latest research outputs of the Green Erasmus project!
Green Erasmus in action
The Green Erasmus guidelines for environmental activities encourage sustainable behaviours and lifestyles through activities that connect international students and locals by a learning-by-doing approach. This report gathers all the local Green Erasmus initiatives.
Green Erasmus Educational Framework
The Green Erasmus Educational Framework is a guidebook that serves as a guideline intended for teaching staff, staff responsible for curricula design, and other relevant personnel in Higher Education Institutions who have the responsibility to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in their Institutions.
Green Erasmus Petition
Find out our proposal to revamp the green travel top-up and encourage sustainable mobility.
Research Report
A research that compares over 10.000 students’ consumer behaviour, travel behaviour, and daily life habits while at home and during their mobility.
Green Erasmus Portal
The Green Erasmus Portal provides students with tips and tricks to act sustainably before, during and after their Erasmus experience.
Handbook for sustainable internationalisation
This Handbook provides International Relations Offices with information and resources to include sustainability principles in their internationalisation practices.
Instructions for the workshop
These are the instructions to conduct the workshop “Mobility and sustainability: How sustainable will your Erasmus experience be?” included in the Green Erasmus Handbook for sustainable internationalisation. From this document you can also download the slides ready to use.
Green Erasmus Guidelines for Environmental Activities
The Green Erasmus guidelines for environmental activities are targeted at any local student associations wishing to engage international and local students and work together with local environmental associations to understand environmental issues by using a learning-by-doing approach.
Policy Recommendations
The role of Higher Education Institutions can be capitalised further as a means to achieve the sustainability goals of the European Union. These policy recommendations propose measures to reach this goal.
Project Timeline
Take a look and learn more about the timeline of the Green Erasmus project. This project started in September 2020 and will be finalized in December 2022.
Sept. 2020 - Feb. 2022
The Green Erasmus research with Erasmus+ students
The travel habits of up to 10.000 students were analysed during their period abroad, including both their travels to their Erasmus+ destination and their travel behaviour during their mobility. The research will help publishing recommendations towards higher education institutions.
Jan. 2021 - July 2022
Sustainable internationalization for universities
EUF leads this IO which will focus on providing higher education staff with the necessary tools to support internationalisation within their universities in a sustainable way. A handbook based on desk research and surveys for sustainable internationalisation will be available.
Apr. 2021 - Dec. 2022
Student oriented approach to sustainable internationalisation
How can current students make their mobility experience more sustainable? The output will focus on creating interactive content on a portal that will allow students to learn specific content based on the challenges identified through the research output in IO1.
June 2021- Oct. 2022
Educational framework for environmental sustainability in the classroom
ESU will do desk research on the existing literature related to environmental sustainability and curricula design, which will be followed by several case studies that will be collected through interviewing university staff members responsible for including sustainability in their curricula.
May 2021 - June 2023
Toolkit for environmental sustainable activities
ESN will develop a toolkit and activity guidelines to implement local outreach activities to encourage intercultural dialogue between international students and locals on sustainability. Outreach events will focus on climate action, biodiversity, circular economy and zero waste actions.
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Project Consortium
The Green Erasmus Project consortium consists of Erasmus Student Network (ESN), European University Foundation (EUF), European Students' Union (ESU), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Technische Hochschule Köln (TH Köln), and Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS UK).
