Together with four other Liaison groups representatives – Erasmus Student Network (ESN), OCEANS Network, Erasmus Mundus Association (EMA) and GaragErasmus, Interim Board member Hanan Meckawy discussed ASAF collaboration and future possibilities. The meeting was moderated by Patricia Morales Sanchez, MOSAIC International Consulting (Service Provider). This invitation follows the initiative of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), where further collaboration and exchange of knowledge are foreseen between Alumni networks funded and supported by the European Commission.

In response to EACEA’s initiative, ESAA invited ASAF to be part of the Monthly Coordination Meetings aiming to bring together all European Union funded exchange students and alumni and offers a dynamic platform for networking, professional development, and intercultural learning while promoting European higher education and worldwide cooperation. ESAA is an umbrella alliance that includes four partner organisations: Erasmus Students Network (ESN); Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA); garagErasmus (gE); and the Organisation for Cooperation, Exchange and Networking: Student & Alumni network of international exchange programmes (OCEANS).

The four ESAA Liaison Groups met for the first time with ASAF’s Interim Board member – Hanan Meckawy – with the aim to participate in the ESAA coordination calls and to enhance further collaboration between the different Alumni Networks supported by the EU. The meeting started with a round of personal introductions and a seven-minute presentation of each ESAA Liaison group, indicating the activities and current work and development of the organisation. The focus is on strengthening the networking, professional development, and intercultural learning while promoting higher education in Europe and worldwide partnerships.

The meeting also discussed the ESAA monthly call, ranking of topics and how to cooperate to bring all the organisations to achieve their main goals. Some suggestions were raised to enhance organising our events and to propose including ASAF as a liaison group in ESAA.

The call ended around 4:00 PM and the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14th June 2022.

 

Hanan Meckawy

Cairo, Egypt, 18 May 2022