In 2022 the Venice International University Erasmus+ Mobility Consortium was awarded funding for a three-year mobility project with Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Background and Objectives

Venice International University (VIU) is a global consortium of more than twenty universities and research institutions, based on the Island of San Servolo in Venice, Italy. Founded in 1995, VIU is dedicated to advancing international, interdisciplinary, and intercultural education and research.

In 2017, VIU and its 5 Italian member universities formed an Erasmus+ Mobility Consortium aiming to:

• Support internationalization strategies of member HEIs
• Strengthen cooperation among Italian HEIs, VIU members, and partners abroad
• Enhance attractiveness of Italian HEIs to top students and faculty, promoting Italy and the European Research Area
• Increase diversity in VIU joint programs via Erasmus+ mobility grants

Project Aim

Strengthen multilateral cooperation through exchange with partner universities in Russia & South Africa through:

• Incoming student mobility long term/blended
• Short doctoral mobility exchange
• Staff Training Exchange
• Staff Teaching Exchange

Outcomes and Impact in Brief

Erasmus+ funding has been used to:

• support the participation of students from South Africa in joint academic programs of consortium members
• strengthen the cooperation at doctoral and research level
• create channels for bilateral mobility from Italian partners to partner country.

Mobility has transformed students and staff across VIU universities, enhancing academic, professional, and personal development and advancing institutional internationalisation. Students gained problem-solving, teamwork, critical thinking, and intercultural skills, boosting employability, career clarity, and readiness for international and entrepreneurial opportunities. Staff expanded networks, improved teaching, curriculum design, leadership, and intercultural competences, and shared knowledge widely.

Across universities, mobility fostered globally minded, socially responsible graduates, more innovative and connected educators, and stronger, more internationally engaged institutions, with “internationalisation at home” extending these benefits to many more participants beyond the direct beneficiaries, and particularly those with fewer opportunities to travel abroad.

Summary of Activities Implemented

The mobility participants attended the following activities:

• Globalization Program Summer Session, August 2024
  6 students from SU completed a blended mobility for studies.

• Globalization Program Semester, September- December 2024
  3 students from SU completed mobility for studies

• Intensive Graduate Activities:
  16 student mobilities
  7 staff teaching mobilities
  1 staff training mobility

who attended the following programs:

PhD Academies:

• • Improving Research Practice and Transversal Skills for Young Scholars, September 2023
  • Water and Climate Resilience, July 2024
  • Energy and Society: The Case of Fusion, June 2024
  • Rethinking Rural Futures in an Age of Climate Change, May 2025
  • Wandering Across Sustainable Terrains and Environments, July 2025

Graduate Seminar:

• • Translation: Why Is It a Political Question? Perspectives in Philosophy and Translation Theory, February 2024

Summer Schools:

• • Science Communication, March 2024 & March 2025
  • Global Mental Health and Human Rights, July 2024 & July 2025
  • Advanced Transportation, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management, July 2024

Doctoral and Staff Mobility;

• • SU PhD student to UNIPD for research in Chemical Engineering, September 2024
  • IUAV PhD student to SU for research in Science Communication, February 2025
  • UNIPD PhD student and professor to SU for research and teaching in microbiology (PhD in co-tutelage) February & July 2025
  • IUAV professor to SU for teaching in Visual Arts, and institutional engagement, April 2025
  • UNIPD and IUAV admin staff to SU for staff training week, March 2025
  • SU admin staff to VIU for training (Senior Director and Mobility Officer). Visits also arranged to other universities in the mobility consortium. April & September 2024.

Impact on Students

SU has a core strategic focus on delivering a transformative student experience. Erasmus+ mobility supported this by enhancing global learning, preparing students to act as ambassadors for SU and South Africa, and equipping them to navigate the complexities of studying abroad.

Participant report survey results show that the impact on students has been profound. They reported significant improvements in problem-solving, independent learning, teamwork, and critical thinking, along with greater creativity, organisation, and planning skills. Just as importantly, they developed intercultural awareness, adaptability, and open-mindedness, becoming more tolerant and globally engaged. Many strengthened field-specific competences, gained clarity on career aspirations, and felt better prepared for professional responsibility. Students expressed higher employability, confidence in pursuing international opportunities, and readiness for entrepreneurial paths. A large share can now imagine working abroad, including in their host country.
Weighted average for skills and personal development: 88%.

Impact on Teaching and Administrative Staff

Teaching staff benefitted from sharing research and expertise, teaching in international and interdisciplinary settings, and expanding their professional networks, which opened opportunities for future joint activities at VIU or within their home institutions.

Participant reports confirm strong professional growth. Staff reported building new networks, strengthening partnerships, and learning from good practices abroad. They enhanced curriculum design, ICT use, and innovative teaching methods, while sharing this knowledge with colleagues and students, raising the overall quality of teaching and mobility. Personal benefits included higher job satisfaction, stronger intercultural confidence, and improved language and leadership skills. These gains translated into broader institutional outcomes such as joint curriculum development, new cooperation projects, and contributions to internationalisation.
Weighted average for professional skills and growth: 92%.

Institutional Impacts

At Università Iuav di Venezia, mobility advanced its goal of embedding internationalisation in teaching and learning. Staff reported curriculum enhancement, new networks, and uptake of good practices, while students highlighted adaptability, tolerance, critical thinking, and clearer career goals—directly supporting Iuav’s vision of socially responsible graduates for the European Higher Education Area.

At the University of Padua (UNIPD), where internationalisation is central, Erasmus+ translated ambitions into measurable outcomes. Student gains in employability, teamwork in intercultural settings, openness, and tolerance support UNIPD’s preparation of graduates for the global workplace. Staff reported stronger intercultural competences, leadership skills, and reinforced partnerships, confirming UNIPD’s role as a leading international actor in higher education.

At the University of Milano-Bicocca, joining VIU and Erasmus+ mobility has served as a strategic tool for interdisciplinarity and global cooperation. Further details on graduate outcomes are presented in the following section.

Internationalisation at Home

Students and professors from VIU_MC member universities who study or teach at VIU benefit from “internationalisation at home,” gaining many of the advantages of physical mobility. This is especially impactful for participants with fewer opportunities to travel abroad. Reported benefits include:

• Achieving higher academic goals through quality teaching, diverse methods, and new knowledge.

• Developing transversal skills, global awareness, intercultural communication, and linguistic competences.

• Approaching complex challenges through interdisciplinary perspectives and critical thinking.

• Building adaptability, teamwork in intercultural contexts, and employability.

Internationalisation at home participants in VIU joint academic programs 2022–2025:

• UNIVE: 362 students, 78 lectureships
• UNIPD: 162 students, 67 lectureships
• IUAV: 50 students, 56 lectureships
• UNIMIB: 17 students, 13 lectureships
• UNITV: 30 students, 13 lectureships

Impact of the project as a bridge between higher education and research/innovation: focus on doctoral and staff mobility

The Intensive Graduate Activities at VIU reflect the members’ forward-looking vision, positioning mobility as a catalyst between higher education, research, and innovation. By bringing together PhDs and staff from diverse disciplines and institutions, these activities nurture interdisciplinary approaches to complex global challenges and create vibrant scholarly networks that endure beyond the mobility period.

A defining feature is their collaborative, interdisciplinary design, with teaching staff from at least three member institutions involved in each initiative. This transnational cooperation reinforces VIU’s academic community and expands opportunities for joint doctoral training, co-supervision, and curriculum innovation.

Mobility has been a driver of concrete research collaboration. The Global Mental Health Summer School (2024, 2025, with 2026 planned) was co-led by the University of Milano-Bicocca and Stellenbosch University, attracting 25 doctoral students in its first edition. It combines teaching, research training, and co-publication, and is expanding into co-supervision and staff exchanges.

The Summer School on Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (4 editions) led by IUAV and SU – with UNIPD. Students acquired an integrated vision of transport and logistics systems where private and public stakeholders and dimensions interact, and of how to design, implement and deploy effective business models and policy-making. At VIU in 2022, 2023, 2024, and hosted by Stellenbosch in 2025.

Bilateral exchange on Biotechnological Research between UNIPD and SU has reinforced cooperation for co-tutelage of PhDs.

The Spring School on Science Communication exemplifies how Erasmus+ and other funding streams complement each other. Supported in part through Erasmus+ (2024) and consortium funds, it facilitated staff and student engagement between Stellenbosch, Padua, and IUAV and others.
SU prof received E+ grant in 2024, returned in 2025 on VIU funds, with 3 SU students who received E+ grants; 1 IUAV PhD on outgoing mobility to SU for research to same professor.

This school directly links to the Horizon project Coalesce (2023–2027), where VIU researchers and SU staff co-lead the creation of a Science Communication Academy. Their collaboration builds on the earlier Horizon project QUEST, ensuring continuity from research into teaching, mobility, and doctoral training. VIU researchers provided training seminars to PhD candidates in UNIPD.

In 2025, the VIU_Assoc launched the Research Network “Thinking Global Resilience”, engaging 100 researchers from across members, including Padua, Milan-Bicocca, Ca’ Foscari, and IUAV. Themes include climate adaptation, cultural heritage, migration, and governance. This network grew out of earlier mobility-driven collaborations and now seeks co-funding opportunities, positioning Erasmus+ mobility as a crucial mechanism to sustain and expand interdisciplinary research cooperation.

Wider Impact – Society and Community Beyond the Universities

Erasmus+ mobility within the VIU_assoc generates benefits beyond the participating universities, reaching local communities, regional economies, and society in both Italy and South Africa. By fostering international exposure, interdisciplinary collaboration, and global perspectives among students, doctoral researchers, faculty, and staff, mobility creates ripple effects that extend well beyond campuses.

In Italy, the HEIs act as hubs of knowledge, innovation, and global engagement. Graduates return with critical thinking, problem-solving, intercultural awareness, and entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to contribute to local businesses, cultural institutions, public services, and civil society. Staff and faculty mobility brings innovative teaching and research practices and strengthens professional networks, which diffuse into local communities, enhancing social cohesion. These activities also enhance the reputation of Italy and the European Research Area as leaders in international collaboration and higher education excellence.

In South Africa, where most Erasmus+ funding recipients are based, mobility builds human and institutional capacity. Doctoral students, faculty, and staff develop expertise, leadership, and research networks that benefit local universities, research centres, and regional initiatives. Alumni bring global perspectives and innovative approaches to local challenges in education, health, sustainable development, and social innovation, strengthening institutions and communities alike.

At a regional and global level, mobility fosters transnational networks, intercultural understanding, and socially responsible approaches to global challenges. By integrating insights gained abroad into local contexts, participants contribute to dynamic, innovative, and globally connected societies. Erasmus+ mobility thus acts as a bridge between higher education, research, and societal development, producing professionals, researchers, and leaders capable of strengthening economies, enhancing civic engagement, and promoting sustainable and inclusive growth through reciprocal learning and shared innovation.