In-country missions prepare the 2026 MOBILISE mobility cohort for departure

In May and June 2026, Stefano Locatelli, Project Manager of MOBILISE, travelled to Tunisia and Egypt to support the final preparations for the programme’s third mobility cohort. The missions included brief coordination with the partner universities and, more importantly, face-to-face sessions with the selected trainees shortly before their departure to the Netherlands.

In Tunisia, the session brought together the nine selected participants from the Institut Supérieur Agronomique de Chott-Mériem. In Egypt, similar meetings were held with participants from Heliopolis University and Kafrelsheikh University.

Across the three universities, the sessions followed broadly the same format. Participants were introduced to the objectives of the traineeship, practical arrangements, workplace expectations and everyday life in the Netherlands. The meetings also gave students space to raise questions and discuss concerns directly with the project team before departure.

These in-person sessions were complemented by three online webinars for the full cohort, which covered daily life and workplace expectations, participants’ legal status and possible future mobility pathways, as well as travel, banking, communication and other practical arrangements.

Taken together, the in-person meetings and online sessions helped ensure that participants were better prepared for the start of the mobility phase in early July.