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 spring 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 backgrounds with fewer opportunities, 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
- You have been accepted for Erasmus+ (study for a semester abroad or traineeship) for the spring 2025/2026
- You are enrolled at a Higher Education Institution participating in the Erasmus+ programme
- You are going on mobility for one semester (students in short mobility programmes are not eligible).
You plan to travel sustainably to your mobility destination, e.g. by train, bus, bike, carpool, or a combination of these 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.
Sustainable means of transport (green travel) is defined as travel that uses low-emission means of transport for the majority of the trip, such as a bike, bus, train, or carpooling.
Source: Erasmus+ Programme Guide, Glossary
The award
Winners will be selected from shortlisted applicants by an internal Evaluation Committee. In total, 10 students who are starting their Erasmus+ mobility in the spring semester of the academic year 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 contest will be open from November 10 to November 30, 2025.
- Applications will be reviewed in December 2025.
- Shortlisted applicants will be notified in late December 2025 or early January 2026.
How to apply
To participate in the contest, students must fill out the following form by November 30 2025, 23:59 CET. Please make sure that all text and communication is in English. 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.
- Proof that you were awarded a mobility grant by your home higher education institution.
What Happens If You’re Selected?
As a SET Journey Storyteller, you will commit to:
- Winter 2026: 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.
- Winter 2026: Fill out a short evaluation survey for the campaign.
- Early spring 2026: Submit testimonials at the erasmusgeneration.org portal
- Early spring 2026: Document your journey on social media via the erasmus.generation IG according to the SET Communication Guidelines (e.g. Instagram stories, reels, etc.)
- Late spring 2026: Write a short article for the erasmusgeneration.org blog
Second quarter of 2026: Take part in 1 webinar after the journey to share your story and inspire other students to choose to travel green.
The selected winners will sign a Volunteer Agreement outlining the tasks and conditions. Payments will be made after you submit your content and documentation. You can check out the sustainable travel journeys of the winter semester SET storytellers here.
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 representatives from 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 10 top-ranking applications will be selected to become Sustainable Erasmus+ Travel Storytellers and receive financial compensation upon completion of the contest commitments.
Disclaimer on Use of AI Tools
Please note that all applications will be screened for the use of AI-generated or AI-assisted content. We value and seek genuine, authentic student stories that reflect personal experiences and individual perspectives. Applications found to rely heavily on AI-generated text may be disqualified or receive lower evaluation scores.
Travel Plan Changes
Please note that applicants who change their travel plan after submitting their application, and whose updated plan includes travelling by plane, will no longer be considered eligible for the contest.
Award criteria | Description | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Sustainability |
| 10p. |
| Feasibility |
| 10p. |
| Motivation |
| 10p. |
| Storytelling and Content Potential |
| 10p. |
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.