Between the 6th and 8th of November, EProjectConsult and “A Rocca” Associazione Artistica culturale have held a highly successful Preparatory Meeting in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Sicily. Participants have arrived from all across Europe to learn about Erasmus+ projects as well as to talk about possible partnerships and common projects to be implemented in Sicily. They also had the chance to build lasting partnerships with through personal contact with both our organisation and with the companies which potentially host students on vocational trainings.
The participants have arrived late in the afternoon to the airport of Catania, from which EProjectConsult have provided them with a private transfer to Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto. After their arrival, they were invited to a welcome event with foods and drinks (“aperitivo”), where they had the chance to become acquainted with each other and with the EProjectConsult staff.
The next day, after breakfast, participants listened to insightful presentations about Erasmus+ and projects applications in general. Our director, Antonino Pietrini, introduced in detail the services “A Rocca” and EProjectConsult can offer to the attendees and the organisations they represent, including project assistance in both Vocational Training and Staff Mobility projects. He then showed the many areas in which we provide trainings and demonstrated them with successful examples of already finished projects.
After his presentation, Errol Bailly, a member of our staff responsible for analysing the latest modifications in the application process of Erasmus+ KA1, has provided an explanation on the subject of “internationalisation”, a concept which will be much more emphasised in the applications of 2016 and therefore requires to be under stronger scrutiny.
A brief break followed with coffee and typical Sicilian pastries, after which Federica Sottile, the chief EU Projects Manager have held a thorough workshop in each of the aspects of developing proposals for projects, detailing the mistakes and pitfalls to avoid, as well as giving tips and tricks the organization have gained through the numerous successful applications it have managed.
Lunch and individual consultancy followed on the agenda. During the latter, each participant had the chance to have a brief 10-15 minutes consultation with the projects managers of EProjectConsult in order to assist them in the parts of the application they were unsure about, or even to help them planning to build a project from scratch. The ideas developed during these talks will hopefully slowly become successful applications in the next few weeks via continued correspondence between “A Rocca” and the participants.
In the afternoon participants have had the chance to rest a bit, and then to take part in a cultural programme resembling the ones the arriving trainees can experience as part of their traineeships in Barcellona.
A brief excursion to Milazzo was followed by a trip to the wonderful Jalari Park Museum, where participants had the chance to meet with the representatives of the host companies, while enjoying eating local specialities and tasting the famous Sicilian wines in occasion of the European Companies Award.
The whole meeting was held in very high spirits, so hopefully all participants have left with both wonderful memories and a rejuvenated enthusiasm concerning their Erasmus+ application. The meeting will hopefully serve as a platform on which a highly fruitful and long-term cooperation can be built to benefit all parties.
The staff of “A Rocca” and “EProjectConsult” was very glad to meet the partners in person, and is looking forward to many successful projects through our cooperation!