From 5 to 9 May 2025, as part of the ‘European upskilling of students for sustainable entrepreneurship’ programme, 10 students from the University of Caen Normandie travelled to Ohrid in Northern Macedonia. Kévin Li, 3rd year of a bachelor’s degree in Mechanics, recalls his experience as part of this interuniversity European mobility project.

EU2SE, a human and intellectual journey

It all began with a call for applications in November 2024: 10 students from the University of Caen Normandy had the opportunity to take part in an international mobility programme dedicated to sustainable entrepreneurship with a European perspective. For Kévin Li, former vice-president of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN Caen), joining EU2SE was a rewarding project, both humanly and intellectually. “With this kind of project, I’m really interested in the intercultural aspect – opening up your horizons, networking, meeting great people and ideas…”.

With this in mind, at the beginning of 2025, the students were divided into teams of two or three people from each participating university: Valladolid (Spain), Lapland (Finland), Skopje (Northern Macedonia) and Caen. To support the volunteers in this international journey, the EU2SE is divided into two steps. The first steps, online, took place over 5 weeks: ‘the supervisors shared resources with us to explain the different tools and stages involved in a sustainable entrepreneurship project; thanks to these basics, we were then able to think about how to create and organise our own project’.

During the second step, in person, the participants met in North Macedonia for a week to put their projects into practice.

Putting teamwork into practice in Ohrid

“This week was very intense! Thanks to the staff and students of the University of Skopje who welcomed us, we got to visit the city; and most importantly, we were there to meet our international partners and to work out the ideas for our project.”

At the end of the week, the different teams had to present a preview of their project to a jury made up of supervisors and professionals. This was an opportunity to gather advice and assess the feasibility and relevance of the project! Kévin and his team, for example, came up with an application to reduce food waste: ‘our idea was to make recovering of unsold food more fun’. The aim was simple: creating a ‘player experience’ that would keep users involved.

Thanks to EU2SE and the meeting in Ohrid, the volunteers were able to get in touch with international students of different ages, backgrounds and experience. “Since we came from different countries, we didn’t have the same perspectives: for example, depending on whether our country was part of the European Union, we didn’t have the same ideas about professional opportunities or the economic market.’ This exercise was as demanding as instructive!

International mobility: opening up both personally and professionally

For Kévin, this experience helps to broaden his comfort zone and improve his self-confidence. “Travel abroad can seem like a leap into the unknown, but having a common project means you’re in the same boat as all the other participants. Everyone has their own way of looking at issues and concepts, and being able to make them their own is extremely rewarding”. Companies are looking for such open-mindedness and “natural” skills!

The EU2SE was also an opportunity to hear from people who have achieved sustainable entrepreneurship projects. Volunteers were also put in touch with business accelerators and incubators. Thanks to these meetings, the volunteers will know how to seek funding for their potential projects. “For some of us, this kind of experience can serve as a springboard to a future career.”

Next year, the EU2SE will focus on health. This time the meeting will take not take place in Ohrid but at the University of Caen Normandy. Like other 2025 volunteers, Kévin, who has been accepted at an aeronautics engineering school in Toulouse, is already planning to return to Caen to speak to the next generation of the programme. “Like this year’s speakers, we could present our own experience in sustainable entrepreneurship and international mobility. Entrepreneurship isn’t about coming up with an idea that nobody else ever had, but about daring to take the initiative and knowing how to surround yourself with the good people.”

Would you like to embark on an international journey? The EU2SE, like ESN Caen, is one of the many international mobility programmes offered by the University of Caen!