MISSION to SLOVAKIA…. a success !

« To kill two birds with one stone ! », this is how to sum up the Erasmus+ mission carried out by Francis Gachen, the coordinator of the European project called « TWAS » which involves from now on, the French Jean Monnet school and its Czech partners of Trutnov and Slovak ones of Liptovsky Hradok.

This five-day long mobility made it possible for the Vic-Bigorre school director and the TWAS project coordinator, to attend the celebrations organised for the 220th aniversary of the Slovak partner forestry school.

With more than 250 guests and some foreign partners, the programme unfolded 220 years of activities dedicated to forestry teaching and the eduction of a multitude of students with the latest ones very eager to join and animate the various planned ceremonies. The attached photos bring testimony to the quality and originality of them all.

Our director delivered on stage a short speech in English in order to thank our hosts and he got a special commemoration medal for our partnership . We were invited to take part in the traditional activities linked to hunting, old hunting practices such as hunting with eagles and the beautiful St Hubert mass enriched with hunting horn music .

These meetings have reinforced the links which unite both people and institutions, a promise for a rich future of projects such as the TWAS venture which the last days of this mission have allowed to develop. Indeed, as shown in the attached photo album, we analysed the local thermal resorts with our partners and with well-focussed visits, we planned some of our students’ future investigations . In March 2017, the Vic-Bigorre European Section participants will go to Slovakia for one eight-day mobility and some work on local thermal waters and spas .

On their agenda, there will be scientific analysis of thermal waters samples and the study of the forestry landscape designing in these traditional but also contemporary resorts. All of it with a backround of communication in English and cultural sharing.

To be followed !

Francis GACHEN

Erasmus+ TWAS coordinator