Successful Erasmus+ results in Lower Austria: around 18 million euros in funding secured
Since 2014 around 9,500 participants from Lower Austria have taken advantage of the Erasmus programme.
On Wednesday, 22 January 2020, the EU regional councillor Martin Eichtinger, the regional councillor for youth Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, the association of municipalities’ president Alfred Riedl and the OeAD’s managing director Jakob Calice took stock of the European mobility programme Erasmus+ in St. Pölten.
Since 2014 around 9,500 pupils, students, employees and apprentices in Lower Austria have taken advantage of the Erasmus programme. We were able to secure € 18 million from the EU for this purpose in Lower Austria. The next EU budget proposal provides for a doubling of funding and a tripling of places. We want to seize this opportunity for Lower Austria,‘ said the EU regional councillor Martin Eichtinger and the regional councillor for education and youth Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister.
’In view of this increase we want to make even greater use of this successful programme in Lower Austria," said the EU regional councillor Martin Eichtinger. The increase is a clear mandate for Lower Austria: ‘We want to be pioneers in international exchange,’ said the EU regional councillor Martin Eichtinger, emphasising the importance of the programme: ‘Erasmus+ is an important element in further reducing EU scepticism. Exchange within the EU should become a matter of course for future generations because it is at the heart of the European idea.’
Not only students and pupils but also apprentices and employees are to benefit from this. "The European Union's Erasmus+ programme provides a wide range of opportunities for mobility and international cooperation in my political areas of responsibility – education and youth. I am therefore delighted about the planned significant increase in budget funds for the coming programme period. At my request all of Austria's provincial youth representatives have decided in favour of making greater use of EU funding opportunities for our communities," said the regional councillor Teschl-Hofmeister.
Experiencing Europe with the OeAD
The OeAD is responsible for implementing the EU education programme in Austria as the national agency for Erasmus+ Education on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and the European Commission. Jakob Calice, managing director of the OeAD, emphasises: ‘Our goal is to anchor Erasmus in the minds of people in Austria. Erasmus contributes to a common European identity and thus counteracts EU scepticism. Moreover, Erasmus+ projects bring knowledge from all over Europe to Austria, which contributes to the further development of Austria as a centre of education and science.’
EU Radar highlights funding opportunities
The EU Radar is an important tool in this regard. Many projects, such as WIFI4EU and free Interrail tickets, provided 101 municipalities with free WiFi and enabled 123 young people from Lower Austria to travel through Europe free of charge last year.
Close networking with Europe is a particularly important driver for Lower Austrian municipalities: The young people of Lower Austria are the future of our municipalities. This is why we want to offer them the best conditions through these Lower Austrian projects so that they can develop their full potential and anchor the European Union in their hearts and minds. Cooperation between youth work and Lower Austrian municipalities is an essential cornerstone of a successful offer. Many of the Lower Austrian municipalities (233 are Lower Austrian youth partner municipalities in 2019-2021) offer open youth work in a variety of forms and have already jumped on the Erasmus bandwagon," says the association of municipalities’ president Alfred Riedl.
(Press release of the Government of the Province of Lower Austria, 22 January 2020)