The project Bridge is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Servicio Espanol para la Internacionalizacion de la Educacion (SEPIE). Neither the European Union nor the National Agency SEPIE can be held responsible for them. -- Number: 2025-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000359236 --
The BRIDGE Digital Museum brings together good practices, educational proposals and images that inspire reflection and action
Social Challenges
Analyse social challenges to intercultural dialogue, social inclusion and democratic cohesion
Good Practices
Discover experiences that generate social impact
Educational Space
Access teaching guides, activities and materials for the classroom
Documentary Photography
Explore the social challenges in a visual, reflective and educational way
BRIDGE Main Challenge: A.1. Structural and intersectional inequalities that shape inclusion and social cohesion
Students with disabilities, a refugee background or first-generation status are largely absent from Erasmus+ and other physical mobility programmes. IDEM identifies 'invisible walls' of self-exclusion: fear of discrimination, financial insecurity, language barriers and missing role models lead students to see mobility as 'not for them', while university support services remain scarce, hard to find or underused.
IDEM, run by the Unite! European University Alliance, uses Design-Based Thinking bootcamps in which underserved students and mobility staff co-create inclusive services. The outputs are open, modular resources: the IDEM Guidelines and Toolkit for International Offices, the IDEM Squad peer network, student-led IDEM Clubs and the role of an Inclusion Officer, backed by longitudinal questionnaires.
IDEM (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity in Mobility) was an Erasmus+ project of the Unite! European University Alliance, coordinated by Technische Universität Darmstadt (2022–2025). It tackled the exclusion of students with disabilities, a refugee background or first-generation status from international mobility. In two co-creation bootcamps in Barcelona (2022) and Lisbon (2024), 87 students and staff prototyped five services and produced open Guidelines, a Toolkit, Wall Magazines and a peer-support platform.
Despite European frameworks that promote inclusion, students with disabilities, a refugee background or first-generation status rarely take part in physical mobility programmes such as Erasmus+. Interest is there, yet many students disqualify themselves in advance, fearing discrimination, financial insecurity, language problems and isolation, while existing support services are often hard to find, opaque or inaccessible.
Germany has established inclusion structures, yet socio-economic stratification and migrant background still shape access to and success in higher education, and the federal division of competences hinders uniform inclusive policies. Disadvantaged students thus face barriers long before mobility is even considered.
IDEM responds to Challenge A1 (structural and intersectional inequalities affecting social inclusion and cohesion) by treating disability, refugee background, first-generation status and precarity as overlapping barriers, and by assigning the responsibility for removing them to the institutions themselves.
An Inclusion Training for 30 staff and students (Grenoble, 2022) was followed by two intensive bootcamps (Barcelona 2022, Lisbon 2024) using Design-Based Thinking and User Journey Mapping. Underserved students and mobility coordinators co-designed services, which were piloted and evaluated through satisfaction surveys. Longitudinal questionnaires with 35 students and 'Retrospectives' fed into the Guidelines and Toolkit.