We are pleased to announce the launch of the recruitment of students wishing to participate in the Transform4Europe Week 2025, hosted by Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The event, titled ‘TransformEd: Renaissance of Liberal Arts’, will take place as a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) under the Erasmus+ KA131 HED framework.
What to Expect at the “TransformEd” Week – description of the events’ scope and rationale by the organisers:
Imagine a university not just as a place to find answers, but as a space where we ask deeper questions. A place that shapes us not only through the knowledge we gain but also through the people we become. VMU fosters the idea of Liberal Arts – a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and values-based educational model – inviting you on just such a journey.
In a world that encourages specialisation and rushing, Liberal Arts offers a chance to pause. It challenges us to look inward and to the past, not to romanticise it, but to discover the tools needed for wise living and righteous action. Today, in an era of rapid technological change, uncertainty, and cultural fragmentation, the idea of a “renaissance” – a rebirth – becomes especially relevant. We return to the foundations of Liberal Arts: critical thinking, civic responsibility, philosophical reflection, artistic expression, and the ability to connect disciplines, contexts, and communities.
Over five days, participants will explore subjects at the intersection of knowledge and perspective, tradition and innovation. There will be no final exams; the true outcome of this week will be measured in the depth of the questions you carry home. This week encourages deep reading, critical thinking, and intelligent disagreement.
Course Offerings
Students are invited to choose and participate in one of the nine intensive courses conducted in English that are in line with their study programmes and based on their interests.
Field: Communication and Media
Target group: Social Sciences and Humanities students; open to Technical students
Description:
This course defines conceptual approaches and practical interventions for communicating on complex issues and handling disagreements. It draws on theories from communication science, political science, psychology, sociology, and education, encouraging students to align their knowledge with their values through discussions of digitally mediated conflicts and dysfunctional communication.
Field: Philosophy, Political Science
Target group: All students interested in European thought and identity
Description:
Explore how the concept of Europe has evolved through philosophy, literature, politics, and cultural identity from antiquity to the present. This course examines foundational texts and thinkers, tracing how Europe has been imagined as both a geographical space and a shared civilizational project.
Field: Heritage Studies
Target group: Especially for Humanities and Social Sciences students
Description:
An introduction to critical heritage studies, with a particular emphasis on addressing the complex and contested legacies of modernity. Through lectures, workshops, and site visits, students will engage with key concepts and best practices in the field.
Field: Public Communication
Target group: Open to all students
Description:
This course is designed to address the recent rise of transnational communication cultures in their global and local contexts, highlighting the significance of local political, economic, and cultural conditions.
Field: Anthropology, Sociology, Ethnology, Cultural Studies
Target group: Social Sciences and Humanities students
Description:
This intensive course explores the field of applied and engaged anthropology, focusing on practical methodologies, ethical considerations, and representation issues when working with diverse cultural and social groups.
Field: Performing Arts
Target group: Open to all students
Description:
This intensive workshop guides international students through the collaborative process of creating and performing an original musical production. Participants will explore all aspects of musical theatre creation, culminating in a public performance of their original work.
Field: Environmental Science
Target group: Especially for Environmental and Natural Science students
Description:
Through an interdisciplinary lens, students will learn to harness spatial technologies to address issues like climate justice, urban inequality, public health disparities, and environmental conservation.
Field: Environmental Science
Target group: Especially for Environmental and Natural Science students
Description:
The aim of this course is to provide knowledge about biodiversity and its protection, focusing on basic concepts, spatial distribution, value, causes of extinction, protection methods, and the importance of monitoring and species restoration.
Field: Environmental Science
Target group: Especially for Environmental and Natural Science students
Description:
This course provides the fundamentals of climate change science, policy frameworks, consequences, and sector- and region-specific strategies for mitigation and adaptation.
Who Can Apply
The programme is open to BA, MA and PhD students from all disciplines.
In order to participate the applicant’s faculty (Sending faculty or Doctoral School/International Environmental Doctoral School) must fully recognise the BIP course and award 3–4 ECTS credits upon completion in case of BA/MA students.
The participant must have a valid student status. It means that persons who have completed their studies and defended their diplomas, cannot take part in the event – even if formally, they did not collect the diploma. The student status must be valid on the date of the event.
Place: Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Dates: October 20–24, 2025
Programme Format and ECTS
This is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), combining:
- an online component before the physical mobility, and
- in-person activities during the T4EU Week in Kaunas.
Upon successful completion, students will receive 3–4 ECTS credits.
Funding and documents:
The action is being carried out as part of the Erasmus+ program as a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP). Participation requires meeting the requirements of the Erasmus+ program.
Each Erasmus+ KA131 HED BIP must include an online component and an in-person part lasting at least 5 days (excluding travel days).
Only individuals with active student or doctoral status at the University of Silesia (UŚ) can participate in the BIP.
BIP program and participation must be approved by the participant’s educational unit, that is, their home faculty or Doctoral School/International Environmental Doctoral School – which is conducted through the acceptance and signing of a Learning Agreement for Studies.
Before departure, an individual Erasmus+ KA131 HED BIP grant agreement is signed; the settlement of the trip is based on a confirmation issued by the organizing university of the BIP, stating the completion of the entire BIP course, including the online part and the on-site part – physical presence during the entire on-site part, obtaining a minimum of 3 ECTS credits, and completing an individual participant report along with the submission of additional documents, if required, including i.a. declarations, statements, tickets, and invoices or receipts in the case of traveling by an ecological means of transport and obtaining increased flat-rate funding for travel costs (Green Travel).
Participants, after the approval by the sending educational institution and the receiving university, meeting all requirements as well as submitting the required documents, and after signing an individual Erasmus+ grant agreement, receive:
- Individual funding: 79 EUR for each day of mobility (5 days + 2 days of travel)
- Flat-rate travel costs – depending on the selected means of transport and distance:
– 417 EUR – eco-friendly travel (e.g., train, bus, carpooling)
– 309 EUR – non-eco-friendly travel (e.g., plane)
For the settlement of the flat-rate funding for travel costs, in case of eco-friendly travel (Green Travel), it will be required to present the documents mentioned above (declaration, statements about traveling using an eco-friendly means of transport, tickets, invoices/receipts (in the case of traveling by bus or train).
Individuals with fewer chances of participation (persons with disabilities or receiving a social scholarship) may receive additional funding of 100 EUR for the entire trip.
Each participant independently covers the costs of travel, accommodation and meals from the funds received as part of individual funding.
Required Erasmus+ docuemnt (Erasmus+ BIP)
- Outgoing Mobility Application Form (WS form)
- Learning Agreement for Studies (Erasmus+ BIP)
- Signatures of the student, faculty coordinator, and dean
Concluding the grant agreement will be possible based on the documents submitted in the International Exchange Office.
Final Requirements and Recognition
Mobility is formally recognised based on:
- a certificate of completion issued by VMU,
- a student survey in the Beneficiary Module, and
- (if applicable) submission of Green Travel documentation.
The participant must attend both the online and on-site components and obtain at least 3 ECTS.
How to Apply
Application form: [https://formularze.us.edu.pl/form/index/6285]
Deadline: 10 July 2025
For questions, please contact: transform4europe@us.edu.pl
