Margherita Trestini, Apodissi General Manager leading the Sustain-IT project dissemination and communication activities, and Eleonora Vitale, AREA Project Manager for the CircuWasteVETAfrica project, attended the Regional Erasmus+ Cluster Meeting and Contact-Making Seminar 2025 held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Erasmus+ programme aims to enhance transnational learning mobility and cooperation, improving quality and excellence in education while fostering inclusion, equity, and innovation across the fields of education, youth, and sport.
A Forum for Green Education and Collaboration
The event, organised by the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency, centred on the theme: “The Role of Education in the Green Transition.”
Opening the event, Dr. Roberto Schiliro, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ethiopia, quoted Antonio Gramsci: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters” He emphasised how Erasmus+ is building bridges between African and European youth through inclusive and forward-thinking educational initiatives that enable a green and just transition.
National Focal Points of Erasmus+ from across Africa — including countries such as Chad, Mauritius, Congo, and Togo — gathered to explore cross-continental collaboration. Apodissi’s team was inspired by several innovative projects creating impactful opportunities for African and European youth and researchers. These included:
- MESPOM: The Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management, led by Professor Aleh Cherp.
- SWARM: A project focusing on sustainable plastic waste and recycling management. Led by Prof. Maria Loizidou of the National Technical University of Athens, SWARM collaborates with Nigerian and South African universities to build higher education capacity.
- GREEN Gambia: Focused on advancing agri and eco-tourism education in The Gambia. Presented by Aboubacarr Jallow, Principal of the Gambia College, and led by CINOP, the project supports vocational education and training.
At the event, Laurent Bochereau, Minister Counsellor, Delegation of the European Union to the African Union presented the Africa Initiative III, a component of Horizon Europe’s international cooperation dimension, aiming to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge into action around shared global challenges in Africa and Europe. The calls are now open and fall under four thematic pillars: Public Health, Green Transition, Innovation and Technology, Capacities for Science.
The seminar provided a valuable platform to better understand the specific educational needs of African countries, broaden Apodissi’s international network, and identify opportunities for further engagement.
“The event sparked new ideas for future projects and initiatives,” said Margherita Trestini, “and deepened our understanding of the Erasmus+ programmes for youth mobility, virtual exchanges, and capacity building in higher education. We also see the opportunity to use our Smart Step eLearning Platform, which already supports over 1,900 learners across Africa, to extend the reach of Erasmus+ training materials beyond project lifetimes.”
She added: “Erasmus+ could also become a strategic channel for reinforcing and scaling up several Horizon Europe projects we are involved in, such as RURALITIES and PrAEctiCe, as we aim to foster dedicated EU-African mobility schemes and joint academic programmes that amplify the impact of collaborative research.”
