€204,000 in Erasmus+ funds to train female individuals in electronic commerce and business

Following the success of the first edition of #ErasmusDays in 2017, where 655 events, 11 countries, 324 cities and 52 million people were reached through social media, this year’s edition took place on Friday and Saturday.

The #ErasmusDays events brings together participants of the EU-funded Erasmus+ programme, as well as stakeholders of international mobility and European citizenship – such as educational and training insitutions, companies, research centres, chambers of trades, employment agencies, organisations, and NGOs – to showcase the impact of their projects and highlight their value.

As part of the events, the Malta Communications Authority held a project closure activity for the Smart Women project at Haywharf, Floriana. This Erasmus+ project is a training programme which aims to increase the knowledge and competences of female individuals in electronic commerce and business.

Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue Aaron Farrugia explained that such a training programme would not only encourage entrepreneurship among women and allow them to better adapt to the digital era, but would also maximise the potential of the European Single Market.

“One of the advantages of European Union membership is precisely the single market. This creates an excellent opportunity for businesses to expand and grow through cross-border sales – and this is the aim of the Smart Women project,” he said.

The EU-funded Smart Women project, worth €204,969, aims to design and deliver a training programme specialising in entrepreneurship and e-commerce in order to equip entrepreneurs with the digital skills required to take their business online, and reach a wider range of consumers both locally and beyond. This is done specifically by improving the employment prospects or business opportunities of the participants.

On Friday, the Insitute for Tourism Studies also set up a stand on campus in order to promote previous Erasmus+ success stories. The University of Malta also held an information session to encourage higher education students to study abroad, and MCAST held a similar session targetting students of vocational education and training, as well as higher education students.

As part of their Erasmus+ project, Newark School held a teacher training event. EPALE organised a digital exhibition with 22 different projects, demonstrating a variety of practices across Europe. On Saturday, the Żejtun Local Council set up a stand to promote the Erasmus+ experiences of participants who took part in the EU-funded projects under the youth sector.

The European Union Programmes Agency joined other European National Agencies for Erasmus+ in order to celebrate this event. The objectives of the #ErasmusDays 2018 events are to showcase as many Erasmus+ projects as possible, particularly to facilitate the search for Erasmus+ partners abroad, to be an occasion for citizens to express their commitment to Europe, and to involve the decisionmakers – the European Commission, European Parliament, European countries – in drawing up the next 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme with more opportunities.

The seven-year Erasmus+ Programme (2014-2020), which has the aim of enhancing skills and employability, has a budget of €14.7 billion. It aims to provide opportunities for over four million Europeans to study and train abroad.