Covilhã received about 100 young volunteers from the Erasmus Student Network

About 100 young volunteers met in Covilhã on the 25th and 26th of March at the 43rd General Assembly of the Portuguese network of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN).

During the first Council of Local Representatives (CLR) of this organization in 2017, different topics related to international mobility, strategic decisions as well as the beginning of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Erasmus+ program were discussed.

The commemoration of the success of this European Commission mobility program was held at this event with funded training by the Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Association (ESAA). This moment of learning was developed in the context of non-formal education and marked the first of the actions defined by the volunteers of ESN Portugal in its project "Erasmus+: YES - Youth Employability and Skills". This is a project that aims to raise awareness among young people about the importance of developing skills through volunteering, more specifically through participation in social activities.

Still in the social scope, there was a session of Portuguese Sign Language, realized by a teacher of the “Despertar do Silêncio”, a Deaf Association of Guarda that was accompanied by some deaf young people. This initiative aimed to raise awareness of the barriers that deaf students may face, especially when they decide to go study abroad, as well as the sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity, while preserving the cultural identity of a person.

This event had the support of Covilhã City Hall, University of Beira Interior, Covidoce, Santa Hora, Companhia Club and Francisco Sanches Fotografia