The COVID-19 has shaken up the current Erasmus+ partner climate, that´s for sure. Lately, we have been inundated with organisations, Erasmus+ funding recipients and NGOs worldwide wanting us to help and take over from their previous Erasmus+ partners.
At first, we were quite shocked to learn that many (and some of them exceptionally large) providers of Erasmus+ placements have ceased operation. Interestingly, it seems that organisations in the UK have been hit twice as hard, the pandemic and all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has had enormous impact with UK partners wondering how everything will fit for the future of Erasmus+. Productivity has dropped and morale has reached a new low this year for many partner organisations, some of them have closed their doors, for the time being.
For some, the pandemic has been the final nail in the coffin, and they have taken the decision to stop putting in hours of effort preparing for Erasmus+ projects, mainly because they are unsure whether these projects will go ahead in the future. They have had to pivot into other fields and lots of organisations have laid off large numbers of staff.
History proves that it´s about the survival of the fittest. Many Erasmus+ and Turing project partners are still experiencing a “very long winter”, (figuratively speaking) so we know that only the most resilient will survive.
It’s nice to know that people do care. We have received lots of thoughtful letters from our current project partners, enquiring as to whether we’re ok and how we’re dealing with the ripple-effects of the pandemic. As well as that, we’ve been asked to stand in for other project partners that can no longer keep their businesses afloat.
Luckily … in the words of Barack Obama: “Yes, we can!”
We are doing well, thank you for caring 😊 and we hope that … at this point, you and your family are OK as well!
Despite the pandemic, we are one of the few remaining large organisations to be fully functional. We are luckily that we’re not struggling with cashflow and can offer the same “pre-pandemic” attractive and generous payment conditions, needed for organising most mobilities across Europe. That means that we can afford to offer great, very flexible payment conditions for our current and future project partners.
Financially, the Austrian government has been very generous, and their help has been invaluable. Our headquarters is based in beautiful Austria and while we have team members from around the globe – that’s where the magic happens! In fact, due to those high taxes that we’ve paid over the past 15 years – we can safely say that’s paying off! We’re coming through this pandemic stronger than ever. Austria is proud to be the world no. 1 when it comes to government aid for tourism organisations (such as ours). This puts us in a very unique position to not only keep our entire staff employed, but also focus on running many future Erasmus+ and Turing Scheme projects around the world. Additionally, it allows us to continue to offer excellent conditions for partners.
With lots of new clients, we’ve also noticed an influx of job applications from workers and experts in the Erasmus+ field from around Europe and the UK. Due to Brexit, a lot of mobilities have been shifted and need to be re-arranged, and many project writers and project managers are looking at TravelEdventures as a new, strong partner.
Therefore, we are currently hiring and actively looking for new team members with fantastic experience in the Erasmus+ field. We are excited to see a new influx of workers and partners from around Europe in the coming months, to add to our global expertise when it comes to arranging Erasmus+ & Turing projects around Europe (and the world). So, if you are an Erasmus+ or Turing project manager or an Erasmus+ project writer. Please get in touch with us if you’d like to work with us.
As many of our readers already know we are the largest provider (by number of destinations) of Erasmus+ mobilities. We are also confident that we’ll be the largest provider of Erasmus+ mobilities (by total numbers) within the next 2-3 years. We would love to be your partner for any mobilities you are planning, and we are excited to help you fulfil them!
We’re looking forward to hearing from you and we are all excited to work together in the future!
Best regards and stay safe!
Markus Bichler
CEO TRAVELEDVENTURES
PS: Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a massive number of projects reaching out to us, with requests to stand in as a strong partner when it comes to organising Erasmus+ & Turing vocational learner mobilities across Europe and worldwide. So, if you too would like to discuss a partnership, create an application or expand your current project. Please talk to us.