Monday, 13th of May 2024, XENIA center-University of Crete

ERASMUS Staff Training Mobility (STT) welcome speech!

Prof. Nektarios A. Papadogiannis

Vice Mayor of Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning of the Municipality of Rethymnon

Dear Rector and Vice Rectors of the University of Crete

Dear Professors, Technical and Administration Staff of the 5 EU Universities participation in the Staff Training Mobility Erasmus action,

Ladies and Gentleman,

Representing the Mayor of Rethymnon Mr Giorgis Marinakis, I am expressing our strong support for the action of ERASMUS Staff Training Mobility (STT) organized by University of Crete between 13th-17th of May 2024, which adopts a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach and has been built on its very wide geographical footprint and strengthened by its shared actions in higher education administration and technical issues.

We warmly welcome in Rethymnon the administration and technical staff from Klaipeda University - Lithuania, University of L'Aquila- Italy, University North - Croatia and Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University – Poland.

As Vice Mayor of Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning of the Municipality of Rethymnon and as a University Professor, allow me to assure the importance of effective communication, creative interaction, extroversion and productive cooperation between our University Institutions within the framework of EU cooperation projects.

Especially, we acknowledge the potentiality of these Erasmus STT actions, which brings together administration and technical staff of five higher education institutions across five European countries among with them one of the strongest University of our country, the University of Crete.

In the globalised community in which we all belong, it is valuable for the upgrading, modernisation, diffusion of knowledge and progressive development of universities, the partnership in common actions, the exchange of know-how and innovative practices and the complementarity of each other.

However, to achieve this goal, infrastructure, and resources alone, are never enough. First and foremost, it is valuable that the people themselves, who are involved in the everyday operation of the University, to agree , in a respectful and goodwill manner, beyond dead-end rivalries.

I know personally that University administration and technical staff are playing a very important role in the development of universities actions since I was for several years Vice Rector of Administration Affairs of Hellenic Mediterranean University. In most of the cases, in the EU era University staff are characterized by the heterogeneity of European higher education systems, diverse in geography, cultural background, organisation and activities. Nevertheless, all partners share the same values of our common EU origin regarding the democratic organization of education, research, innovation and social engagement of each University. Diversity makes you complementary and offers a perfect platform for cooperation and a great opportunity to learn from each other in developing the administration and technical issues for helping both education and research.

We believe that the exchange of ideas across Europe can provide fundamental assets to enhance the quality of administration and thus serving the education and training, foster the attractivity of our territory for talents, and thicken our international network of collaborations, providing connections to a diverse set of its partners and stakeholders: industries, municipalities, regional governments, associations, and non-governmental organizations from civil society.

Thanks to the excellent organization and the very interesting program of activities prepared organizers from the International and Public Relations Department of the University of Crete, you, our dear friends from the Universities of Italy, Croatia, Lithuania and Poland, will have the opportunity to experience an authentic hospitality and cooperation.

Guided tours to the historical centres of Rethymno and Heraklion and the respective campuses of the University, to Museums and research institutes and laboratories, in-depth presentations on several issues of common interest from the scientific fields of digital technology, medicine, linguistics, psychology and education, are some of the activities included in the program, which you will share and support together.

I truly hope that you enjoy every minute of your collaboration, that you compose with imagination and generosity the framework for its continuation and that you live your myth in Crete as a lived reality that will accompany you and encourage you always to return.

I wish every luck and success to your training week and I’m sure we’ll meet again in the future!

Thank you very much.