Abstract:

The carrying out of study periods at universities in agreement in the European area and of internships at public or private affiliated structures represents a fundamental moment of growth in university education in the fields of architecture and design, as it puts students in an international dimension that today is an increasingly common condition in the workplace.

The opportunity offered by the Erasmus + Program to create, through the didactic activities carried out at foreign universities, periods of comparison between European students from different academic, cultural and social realities allows not only the improvement of their knowledge but also an increased ability to teamwork and interpersonal communication, which represent cornerstones in the work activities of architects and designers.

The authors, starting from learning experiences conducted by students and professors of the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the Università degli Studi della Campania ”Luigi Vanvitelli” in international mobility under the Erasmus + Program, will highlight the strategic role of this program not only from the point of view of university training but also as an opportunity to build specific professional skills.

At the Authors' Department, the Erasmus+ Program, but also the previous exchanging students program in the Europe, has always been an opportunity that interest each year many students. Every year the participation in the exchange Program allows almost one hundred students to be able to carry out a training experience abroad choosing from about fifty Universities affiliated in twelve European countries. Similarly, the Department welcomes each year an average of thirty European students under this program. These students participate in the educational activities of the Study Programs with a prevalent interest in Master Course in Architecture – Interior Design and for Autonomy, whose activities are held exclusively in English and, therefore, the contents are more accessible to international students. Exchange students participate in all the educational activities planned (lectures, workshops, exercises) always favoring the process of integration between Italian and foreign students through, for example, the creation of mixed work teams.

As part of the processes aimed at supporting the internationalisation of teaching programmes, the participation of foreign lecturers in mobility within the Department is also encouraged, again as part of the Erasmus+ Programme. This type of exchange allows a wider range of students to participate in teaching activities with lecturers from different academic backgrounds. On these occasions, the time limit of the experience favours the organisation of seminars or short workshops.

Finally, in order to provide an overall picture of the focus and to underline the strategic role of international exchanges for university education, the authors will share reflections closely linked to the Covid-19 pandemic emergency, a period in which, despite the difficulty or impossibility of carrying out physical mobility at European university sites, efforts have always been made to facilitate internationalisation processes through "virtual" international mobility and through the involvement of foreign lecturers in the context of distance teaching activities.

Keywords:

International mobility, incoming and outgoing, shared learning.