Widening the scope of Erasmus+ among Tanzanian youths and universities in collaboration with Tanzanian Youth Biodiversity Network and EMA - Tanzania
Antidius Raphael, EMA Program Presentative for the Master in Applied Ecohydrology (MAEH), led the Tanzania Green Erasmus Initiative (TaGEI) project from July to September 2022. The project was centred on the capacity-building of Tanzanian youth and university students with respect to Erasmus+ opportunities and environmental actions, as well as informing about partner institutions, contact agencies, and personnel, including EMA-Tanzania. It involved the top three Tanzanian universities: the University of Dar es Salaam, Sokoine University of Agriculture, and the University of Dodoma.
Participants were trained through Erasmus Mundus Scholarships — Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMDs) and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCAs) — and the application procedure, pre-requisites, application timeline, and all the required information were provided. The overall focus was thus to widen the scope and participation of Erasmus+ opportunities in Tanzania. In the end, more than 10 candidates immediately started to apply to the respective EMJMDs open for applications, while others began preparing their applications for future openings. Two candidates were interested in PhD applications under the MSCAs, while others were interested in the exchange programmes (summer and winter schools).
The project interventions helped to widen the scope of Erasmus+ opportunities by facilitating the application process and the drafting of successful motivation letters, CVs, and other supportive documents. The project beneficiaries were trained and guided through the process and linked to appropriate sources of information and relevant institutions. Youth capacity-building was also carried out with regard to environmental protection and conservation, with more emphasis on exploring and making use of opportunities available within environmental conservation practices.