Despite the Covid-19 pandemic affecting people’s everyday life around the world, Erasmus+ players all over  the world are coping with the uncertain sanitary situation and proposing challenging alternatives to citizens for them to keep studying and training abroad.  

More than 3 000 physical or digital events are organized worldwide on the 15th, 16th and 17th of October. The  events world map is available on the official #ErasmusDays website: www.erasmusdays.eu. These events  show locally what European Union brings to citizens.  

Educational and training institutions, companies, research centres, employment agencies, associations and NGOs… So many international players from school education, higher education, adult education, vocational training, youth and sport, have organised events to celebrate the #ErasmusDays. They have gathered citizens, journalists and policy makers to join and testimony of the impact of Erasmus+ projects. A huge network of 10 million Erasmus+ alumni benefitted from the programme since 1987 and is ready to share its experience on social networks with the  #ErasmusDays hashtag. 

67 countries are taking part in the 2020 edition so far:  

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland,  France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan,  Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands,  North Macedonia, Norway, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania,  Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United  Kingdom, Ukraine, Vietnam.  

The involvement of all these countries is a major sign of the Erasmus+ programme being the soft power of the  European Union. From Portugal to Russia, from Iceland to Palestine, from Latvia to Armenia, from Cyprus to  Azerbaijan, Belarus, Myanmar, Paraguay and Ukraine… the #ErasmusDays prove the European Union leading  role in the implementation of democratic issues and dialogue among countries despite political and  diplomatic tensions.  

The #ErasmusDays expand throughout the world thanks to the involvement of Erasmus + National Agencies  and Offices, the support of the European Commission (DGEAC) and of the European Parliament.  

The #ErasmusDays 2020 are organized under the high patronage of the European Commission and of David  Maria Sassoli, President of the European Parliament. 

Sabine Verheyen, Chair of the Culture and Education Committee at the European Parliament recorded a video  message to launch the #ErasmusDays 2020 and to ask for a more ambitious budget for the 2021-2027  programme.  

Kostis Giannidis, President of the Erasmus Student Network, also delivered a call to action video message to  boost the organization of events and the sharing of testimonies. 

A significant variety of events 

This fourth #ErasmusDays edition features both digital and physical events to adapt to the local and  international sanitary context. These blended events foresee the blended mobility embedded in the 2021- 2027 Erasmus+ programme.  

These concrete actions aim to highlight actively the opportunities provided by the European Union in the  fields of education, training and solidarity.  

Webinars, open doors, partner virtual meetings, photo exhibitions, online escape games, radio shows,  memes competitions, food tasting… Many events are organized. This diversity illustrates the wide variety of  citizens concerned by the Erasmus + programme: students, trainers and teachers, job seekers, companies,  organizations, municipality…etc. Parents, policy makers, journalists and professionals are invited to join the  events near them. 

Here are examples of events organized in France (944 events): 

- The kindergarten and elementary school in Aulnay de Saintonge holding the Erasmus+ project “Play  to grow” will organize virtual and physical Olympic Games. Children, teachers, foreign teachers from  partner countries and the local community will participate in the event; 

- The French Red Cross Institutes will create the Take care together virtual mosaic with photos and videos; 

- The Cap Ulysse association will invite citizens to join workshops on multiculturalism and solidarity. … and in other countries outside the European Union. 

Algeria (61 events)  

The Kasdi Merbah University of Ouargla will present three ongoing projects about universities governance,  development of institutional means for the integration of refugees in higher education and improvement of  language teaching techniques in Algerian universities.  

Armenia (1 event)  

The National Erasmus+ Office will invite Erasmus+ alumni to share their experiences.  Azerbaijan (1 event)  

The National Erasmus+ Office will present the Erasmus+ programme through a Facebook live.  Belarus (1 event)  

The National Erasmus+ Office will share the Erasmus+ projects’ results with local institutions and civil society. Honduras (1 event)  

The Honduran Erasmus+ Alumni will share their mobility experiences from different perspectives (studying  and living abroad; exploiting the acquired knowledge once back home). 

Jordan (4 events)  

The National Erasmus+ Office will stream a conference on career planning and new Europass platform. Kazakhstan (42 events)  

The students of the National Conservatory of Kurmangazy of Almaty will play an online concert and testimony  on Erasmus+ experiences.  

Palestine (1 event)  

TEFL team will conduct an open day to introduce the project outputs to the students at Al Quds Open  University.  

Russia (26 events)  

The Buryat State Academy of Agriculture of Ulan-Ude will propose an online meeting to higher education  institutions participating in mobility and agricultural universities of the Far Eastern Federal District Russian  Federation to share the experience of participation in international academic mobility.  

Vietnam (1 event)  

Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural resources and Environment will host the Seminar on "Building the  network among Vietnamese partners in implementation of Erasmus+ funded projects". 

A European photo exhibition  

During the #ErasmusDays, the Adult learning European exhibition will highlight Erasmus+ projects dealing  with inclusion issues. This photo exhibition is available online (https://epale.ec.europa.eu/). 12 posters  gathering projects from 28 countries are available for free downloading on the EPALE platform : each actor  involved in adult learning in Europe can organize an event for the #ErasmusDays.