SET Journey Contest for Storytellers

Ready to Travel Green and Tell Your Story? Join the Sustainable Erasmus+ Travel Journey Contest! 

The Sustainable Erasmus+ Travel (SET) Journey contest invites higher education students who are preparing to participate in Erasmus+ mobility during the winter semester of the 2025/2026 academic year and who plan to travel sustainably to their host destination to take part in our contest for storytellers.

The contest is open to future Erasmus+ participants who are passionate about sustainable travel and want to become Sustainable Erasmus+ Travel Storytellers. Selected students will receive financial support in exchange for creating and sharing testimonials, blog posts, and social media content that document their journeys. Their stories will inspire and encourage other students to choose environmentally friendly modes of transportation when going on mobility.

Special attention will be given to students from fewer opportunities backgrounds, acknowledging the additional challenges they may face in accessing and participating in international exchange.

Why Take Part?

• Raise awareness about greener travel options among students
• Share your unique green travel experience to your mobility destination
• Connect with other sustainable travel enthusiasts
• Build skills in digital storytelling and communication, while advancing your green skills and competencies
• Receive up to €625 in compensation for your storytelling

Who can apply? Check out the eligibility criteria

The contest is open to students who cover the following criteria:

• You have been accepted for Erasmus+ (study or traineeship) starting in winter 2025/2026
• You are enrolled at a Higher Education Institution participating in the Erasmus+ programme
• You plan to travel in sustainably to your mobility destination, e.g. by train, bus, bike, carpool, or other low-carbon modes

A quick note about Erasmus+ Green Travel Support

Students participating in Erasmus+ mobility, who choose to travel sustainably to their mobility destination are eligible for Green travel support from the Erasmus+ programme. Make sure to ask your sending university how to apply for this additional financial support. Please note that this is separate from our contest, and the SET organisers do not manage Erasmus+ grants.

The award

Winners will be selected from shortlisted applicants by an internal Evaluation Committee. In total 6 students who are starting their Erasmus+ mobility in the winter semester of 2025/2026 will be selected to receive up to 625 EUR in financial compensation for storytelling and creation of content about their sustainable travel experience.

Please note: Award payments will be made only after students submit their content and complete the required tasks. Compensation will not be provided upfront or before the travel journey.

Timeline of the contest

• The first round opens in the first week of June 2025 and will remain open for one month.
• Applications will be reviewed within three weeks of the deadline.
• Shortlisted applicants will be notified by late July or early August.

The second round, for students going on exchange in spring 2026, will follow a similar timeline, with the contest starting in autumn 2025.

How to apply

To participate in the contest, students must fill out the following form by the 27th of June, 23:59 CET. The form will ask you to submit the following:

• Motivation Letter (max. 500 words) explaining why you want to take part in the SET Journey Contest for storytellers and why embracing environmental sustainability during your Erasmus+ mobility matters to you.
• Personal Story (max. 300 words) telling us what motivated you to participate in Erasmus+ and, especially, what inspired your choice to travel sustainably to your mobility destination.
• Travel Plan: tell us how you plan to reach your mobility destination and which modes of transportation you are planning to use.
• Estimated Environmental Impact: Calculate the carbon footprint of your trip and explain how the selected travel options reduce it. You can check out the informational fact sheets or use the Erasmus Goes Green calculator.
• Proof showing that you were accepted by your receiving higher education institution for your mobility (attachment required).

Proof that you were awarded a mobility grant by your home higher education institution (attachment required).

What Happens If You’re Selected?

As a SET Journey Storyteller, you will commit to:

• Summer 2025: Take part in 1 preparatory webinar before mobility to coordinate the preparations for your sustainable journey and help build up a community of Sustainable Erasmus Travel Storytellers.
• Summer 2025: Fill out a short evaluation survey for the campaign.
• Early autumn 2025: Submit testimonials at the erasmusgeneration.org portal
• Early autumn 2025: Document your journey on social media via the erasmus.generation IG according to the SET Communication Guidelines (e.g. IG posts, a story set, reel, etc.)
• Late autumn 2025: Write a short article for the erasmusgeneration.org blog 
• First quarter of 2026: Take part in 1 webinar after the journey to share your story and inspire other students to choose to travel green.
• (Optional) Attend the SET Final Conference in May 2026 in-person in Brussels or online as a guest speaker.

The selected winners will sign a Volunteer Agreement outlining the tasks and conditions. Payments will be made after you submit your content and documentation.

How Your Application Will Be Evaluated

The submitted applications will be evaluated based on the criteria presented in the matrix below. The evaluation committee, composed of 1 representative of each SET project partner, will review the applications and assess them against the following criteria. During the evaluation the score for each criterion will be assigned up to a total of a maximum of 40 points as detailed in the matrix. The 6 top ranking applications will be selected to become Sustainable Erasmus+ Travel Storytellers and receive the financial compensation upon completion of the contest commitments.

Rights and Data Protection

By participating in the contest, applicants authorise the Erasmus Student Network AISBL (ESN) to use multimedia materials produced during the competition for communication purposes. They also commit to producing testimonials and written content throughout their mobility as part of the "Ready, SET, Green Travel" campaign. The participants’ data will be treated according to the EU's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). ESN reserves the right to modify the contest’s conduct.