Erasmus Policy Statement
The ITS Tirreno is willing to participate in the Erasmus Programme considering it a highly enriching both for trainees and staff. The main aim is to foster international cooperation through the mobility of students and staff among similar European institutions. Participation in the Programme is expected to enhance the quality of the educational offer of the Institution, with a positive impact also on the territory in which it operates as far as the promotion of the European dimension of education and training is concerned. Beneficial effects are also expected in terms of cultural openness both for the school community and all the other subjects involved. Through incoming and outgoing mobility students and staff will certainly improve their competence in foreign languages, at the same time enriching their professional expertise in the specific technological sectors in which the educational and training activity of the ITS Tirreno is carried on.
Adequate information and publicity measures will be implemented to make all the subjects involved aware of the great opportunities offered by the Erasmus Programme in terms of cultural and professional growth. Given the poor economic conditions of their families, in order to facilitate students participation in the mobility activities as much as possible, ITS Tirreno will grant them additional financial aids. Annually, the Board of Trustees of the ITS Tirreno, together with the Commission for Foreign Relations, will draw a plan for the student mobility activities and publicizes it through the foundation web site (www.itstirreno.it) where you can find an area dedicated to the Erasmus Programme. Here all those who are interested can find general information about the programme, together with explanations on how to apply, the requirements for participation, language policy, availability of courses of study, international institutions , procedures for selection, forms to download and fill in, the system of credits, etc.. Specific measures and actions will also be planned to facilitate the integration of foreign students into the community.
More precisely, the objectives that the ITS intends to pursue through participation in the Erasmus Programme can be summarized as follows:
1) Helping young people to acquire additional skills through study and training abroad in order to improve their language skills and promote understanding of intercultural contexts;
2) Promoting participation of young people in social and economic dynamics, supporting and defending the process of European integration in a period in which, because of the political, economic and social consequences of the Covid – 19 pandemics, it is being questioned by many;
3) Allowing around 10 people among staff and trainees the opportunity to participate in post-graduate training characterized by technological innovation, which European economic planning considers of vital importance in order to respond to the lack of highly specialized technicians, necessary to revitalize production , strengthen Research, Technology and Enterprise;
The ITS Tirreno will fully adopt the principle of non discrimination covering gender, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, age, disability, etc. by ensuring that all participants be treated equally in a fair, transparent, coherent and documented way. Non-discrimination policies will be further developed through blended mobility and different kinds of supplementary support to both inbound and outbound students, particularly for those coming from low socio-economic segments.
The ITS Tirreno ensures its commitment to implement digital mobility management in line with the European Student Card Initiative if this will be applicable to the kind of mobility that it intends to set up, consisting in internship activities in specialized companies, coherent with the specific technical fields covered by the foundation’s educational offer.
The ITS Tirreno intends to involve incoming students in training and deepening meetings on environmental issues organized by the Foundation or by the local administrative subjects, having recourse to the knowledge and competence developed within its Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology Specializing Course. At the same time, it will encourage outgoing students to pay particular attention to environmental issues while staying abroad, trying to identify good environmental sustainability practices.
The Foundation aims at making its trainees able to be placed in the international job market and to become global citizens, helped in this by their direct experience of other cultures, nations and perspectives. Outgoing students will be encouraged to take part in various initiatives aimed at developing active citizenship that they might find in the local communities abroad. At the same time, The foundation will try to involve incoming foreign students in meetings, events and other initiatives allowing them to know more about and take on an active role in the ITS territory. Before leaving, outgoing students will be given wide information on the cultural, social and economic aspects of the country and the local area where they will live their Erasmus experience.
The ITS Tirreno Foundation adopts a policy of full recognition, without limitation, of traineeship or study periods abroad, through the adoption of a training credits recognition system (ECTS).
Furthermore, it considers the training activities carried out by trainees in companies abroad as fully satisfying the compulsory training activities provided for in the study plan of each specializing course. Coherence of the activities abroad with the specific objectives of each course will be ensured while organizing the mobility activities through the choice of the most suitable partners.
Up to now, the TS Tirreno has only carried out student mobility activities. In the next years, however, also staff will be encouraged to take part, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and training activities thanks to new knowledge and competences deriving from experiences abroad.
In order to promote the activities supported by the Programme, the specific Erasmus Commission will regularly meet staff, trainees, families and all the external subjects partecipating in the foundation in order to involve them in the diffusion of the ITS Erasmus mobility activies. Besides, all these subjects will be encouraged to exploit the Programme for other different kinds of activities.
The choice of partners will be one of the most delicate steps. The choice will fall on those institutions that have study curriculum and traineeship similar to those of ITS Tirreno. Bilateral or multilateral agreements will be signed by partner institutions and /or companies, choosing common objectives and methodologies. Activities which may involve training, joint organization of seminars, conferences, work experience in companies / contractors, always applying the European credit system . Partners will be chosen preferably in France and Germany, without neglecting other countries offering training and / or working activities of interest to the ITS Tirreno Foundation.
