Erasmus Mundus revisited

This morning I was interviewed by an academic, Roger Dale, a Professor of Education at Bristol University, about the genesis of Erasmus Mundus, the EU’s version of the Fulbright Programme. As the former responsible Head of Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture when the programme was developed, I was happy to share my recollections and some papers with the professor and my thoughts were briefly once again suffused with the thrill of the chase – for, once the initial concepts had coalesced into a viable overall vision, that was what the experience had been about, a chase; for support (political and administrative) and for resources (budgetary and human). And then came the biggest thrill of all – success. At the time, it all seemed horribly stressful – not to mention the stamina-draining grind of small project programme management. But, encouraged by the good professor to look back, I see now that it was a huge privilege – to have been ‘in at the creation’ of a programme that is going from strength to strength and that, just like the Fulbright programme, will lead an open-ended life because it just makes sense from every point of view. Indeed, both programmes, Fulbright and Erasmus Mundus, are excellent examples of enlightened self interest.