Exchange of ideas and practices at the International Staff Training Week ****************************************************************************************** * Exchange of ideas and practices at the International Staff Training Week ****************************************************************************************** Throughout the first International Staff Training Week held at Charles University from Mar March 11, 2016, sharing ideas and practices was a key theme. On Thursday morning represent opportunity to share strategies which they use in their universities to improve the experi incoming and outgoing exchange students.  The presentations were highly useful as they all broader perspective on the Erasmus exchange. As an Erasmus student myself it was fascinati behind the scenes of how Erasmus is organised. Each presentation had useful ideas that cou forward and applied to different universities. Ester Aventin from the University of Sussex discussed ‘How to reach students and increase outgoing mobility’.  This presentation covered how the University of Sussex informs their study abroad opportunities. Ms Aventin had a lot of practical advice, for instance making were concise, clear and graphic. She also encouraged the use of competitions with photos o submitted by current exchange students which could be used as promotional material with th consent. Terry Amssoms from the University of Antwerp talked about how the Faculty of Law hosts its students. The events such as study trips to Brussels and The Hague run by the Faculty seem enrich the experience of students. The ‘graduation’ ceremony in which exchange students re Transcript of Records with a reception afterwards seems like a very sweet way to finish an program. Rachel Cuddihy for the University of Warwick presented how the incoming exchange and inter are welcomed. The University of Warwick is quite cosmopolitan with 35% of its student popu from abroad.  A five day orientation week allows participants to get to know the campus as in. Each student is allocated a personal tutor from their department who helps them with m and other academic queries. Day trips are run throughout the year to major cities in the U Oxford and Cambridge.  Fostering an international community is strongly encouraged at Warw World@Warrick society having over 2000 members and a Go Global week which showcases all th offer. The aim of the week is to enable students to explore the world without leaving the allows international students to showcase their country and aims to inspire home students world, possibly even to take part in an exchange program. Lisa Lechner of the Ludwig Maximillian University (LMU) in Munich talked about the winter offers a four week intensive program, in English, to medical students in the areas of neur oncology.  The program offers clinical training, lectures from leading experts and communi   Each incoming student is paired with a buddy who helps them settle in as well as on the interaction between both groups is very beneficial for their medical education and persona Nadine Stäcker from the University of Hamburg talked about intercultural competency. In a increasingly contected world cultural awareness is an important part of life as well as bu University of Hamburg have created a certificate in intercultural competencies which their obtain whilst studying. They are hoping to expand the program to incoming exchange student The certificate has four main components, a compulsory course of intercultural competencie three elective components, one of which can be study stay abroad. Apart from this program Hamburg has other important programs which support a multicultural campus. For example the responsible also for the intercultural competency certificate, runs a regular language caf point which was made during the presentation was the importance of supporting staff mobili important to focus on both incoming and outgoing students, by allowing staff mobility in s weeks and language courses the university helps them remain more motivated and allows for point was particularly valuable considering the context of the staff training week whose a together and share ideas and practices. Helena Hradilová from the Erasmus Club of the Faculty of Arts presented Europe Meets Schoo Europa macht Schule, a voluntary educational program coming from Germany and run at Charle since 2008. The program allows exchange students to go into schools and give a presentatio culture. The aim for the pupils of the participating schools is to learn more about the wi them and in this sense gain also from the student mobility in Europe. For example in one p of Europe Meets School a Greek student talked about Greek mythology and then asked the pup partner Basic Arts School to create their own mythical creatures. The program has been run in Germany and since 2008 in Prague, even winning the 2nd place of the Charlemagne Youth P enthusiasm with which Helena Hradilová talked about the program really showed how the shar is an enriching experience for all. Especially for the children who remember their first e after the first visit. Agnieszka Vojta from the University of Konstanz discussed a program run in Konstanz which migrants and their children settle in quickly. The program is more than just a language ex aims to help with culture shock and help migrants to navigate in their new homes. The prog the international community of the University by allowing students, if possible from the s to act as mentors. They help out not only with the language but practical matters where th as an interpreter than translator. For instance when enrolling newly arrived children into students can help interpret the language as well as the cultural space between the two. It student understands the home education system and therefore can explain the new local syst These presentations were enriching and really highlighted what Erasmus and student exchang It is about cooperation, sharing of skills and developing an enriching education for the y today. Margot Abbott studies Anthropology at Durham University and here at the Faculty of Educati language, make the most of her travel pass and meet new people from all over Europe and th International Staff Training Week [ URL "http://iforumeng.cuni.cz/IFORUMENG-580.html"]