An experience of an Erasmus+ program:how include the intercultural skills in a student mobility and boosting their employability

歐陽慕弈?李亞萌

In accordance with the latest ranking of the global most international universities published in The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2017 （150 universities included）， only seven universities are in China including Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan， and the U.S.occupies the absolute superiority in terms of numbers while European countries come out in front. It is obvious that there is still distance between China and other countries at the aspect of internationalization. EU “Erasmus” program particularly had set window plan referring to non-European countries since 2003 and China is the important partner in Asia. Apart from， “Erasmus” program had been broaden to be “Erasmus+” program that covers more ranges and opens to all the students and in-service employees， and brings more international opportunities to Chinas universities. China greatly supports the program at the aspects of policies and measures to seize the opportunities and rise to the challenge. In the conference Sino-EU National Education Ministers held in Beijing in Oct. 2016， China also proposed to continue to promote the mutual recognition of university credit points， strengthen youth innovation and entrepreneurship education， explore school sports exchanges， carry out regional and country studies， and promote the training of personnel with specialized disciplines.

Beijing City university was founded in 1984 that is a comprehensive ordinary university approved by Chinas Ministry of Education. And it has the qualification to award master and bachelor degrees admitted by official sections， as well as holding the secondary vocational education and senior vocational education. Since its establishment， the university has been adhering to the strategy of open development and has actively expanded its partnership in the field of international cooperation. It has cooperated with more than 20 other countries including the United States， Britain， France， Germany， Spain， Belgium， Denmark， Portugal， Australia， Japan， South Korea and Canada national colleges and universities have established academic exchanges and various types of cooperative relations.

Beijing City University and three European universities jointly applied and established “Erasmus+ Sino-European Multicultural Communication Program” in 2017. In February 2018， our university sent four students to attend the half-month period program of the academic and cultural communication activity in three European universities in three places with twelve European students. For one thing， this program is of great significance to the development of Erasmus in China. At present， there are a few universities in China that participate in the program. As a private higher education institution， our university can join in it. It will be the important symbol of Chinas private higher education emerging on the world stage. Secondly， the program played an important role in the internationalization of our university. It is the first time that our university has obtained the EU-funded talent exchange program， which will create a more diverse and stable platform for exchanges between Chinese and European universities. In the end， this project will open a window to the CEIBS students in Central Europe so that our students can understand the Sino-European cultures and broaden their international horizons. While participating in the activities， they will learn and develop their ability to solve international problems.

The activity in February is merely the beginning of the program and our university will open the gate this year to welcome the students from our partner European universities for studies， cultural communication and intern work. The Erasmus+ Program Sino-European Multicultural Communication Program will also include our university and other three universities in China and Europe to further explore the approaches to promote Sino-European higher education joint development.

【作者簡介】歐陽慕弈，李亞萌，北京城市學院國際語言文化學部。