Erasmus Policy Statement

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (hereafter VU Amsterdam) believes to have an important role to play in today’s society. It is our mission to educate our students not only to become something, but to become someone, as free thinkers. Our students and staff have a deep connection with one another while being fully engaged with society as a whole. This mission has been implemented in a Strategic Plan.

The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education is catalyst to the realisation of our Strategic Plan and its priority areas.  The coming years VU Amsterdam focuses on sustainability, social entrepreneurship and diversity as its core themes. We try to achieve our goals through innovation in education and research. In order to fulfil these priority areas, we work together with like-minded partners, such as the institutions within the Aurora Alliance. The Aurora Alliance is a consortium of research-intensive universities deeply committed to the societal impact of our activities, and with a history of engagement with our communities.

The Erasmus+ programme, which runs from 2021 to 2027, has three main pillars: social inclusion, the green and digital transitions and promoting democratic participation among young people. Read more about the programme on the Erasmus+ National Agency website.

Our common purpose is to define, test and train the competences needed to bring about innovation for social change. We share new skills and mind-sets not only with our member universities, but also with other (Erasmus) partners and regions through an ambitious capacity development programme. The Aurora Alliance will change preconceptions about the nature of university education, developing a fundamentally European approach. Our innovative Aurora Network will facilitate experimentation, mobility and shared expertise, and our ambitious Capacity Development Support Programme will support cohesion and social impact. Through this step-change in collaboration, we will move significantly closer to our long-term Aurora Alliance vision of an inclusive and diverse inter-university campus.

Read more in our Erasmus Policy Statement