The paper ‘From Georgia to Spain, the Iberian Connection in six Erasmus+ KA107 Project-Based Learning Experiences on Design for Social Innovation’ will be presented at the conference -1st edition "Erasmus Scientific Days 2022", Marrakesh, Morocco, on 17-18 October, 2022. The paper is based on 6 international workshops by the TSAA and Spanish professors, representing the TSAA Erasmus partner institution ‘Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de les Illes Balears’: Maria del Pilar Rovira, Jordi M. Sempere, Miquel Muntaner, Ketevan Matabeli, Nino Mgaloblishvili, Tamar Malazonia.
This paper is aimed at explaining how internationalisation at home is a key issue to foster international strategy in a global world at the Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de les Illes Balears (Spain) and the Tbilisi State Academy of Art (Georgia). Both higher education institutions developed an Erasmus+ KA107 project from 1st August 2020 to 31st July 2022. The project focused on Design for Social Innovation, which included Social Design, Sustainable Design, and Universal Design. Based on Erasmus+ staff mobility for teaching, six project-based learning experiences were proposed. From 25th October 2021 to 29th October 2021, professors from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts visited the Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de les Illes Balears and presented the «White Chronotope» project («I can see with the fingers», as an active integration of visually impaired and blind people), and developed three workshops addressed to Graphic, Fashion and Product Design students, respectively. From 14th March 2022 to 18th March 2022, professors from the Escola d’Art i Superior de Disseny de les Illes Balears visited the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and offered three workshops: «Collaborative Open-Source Animation», «Powerful letters. Calligraphy & Lettering for Activist Design», and «Inclusive Fashion Design», respectively. To sum up, internationalisation at home allows both higher education institutions to expand the benefits of the Erasmus+ program to a higher number of receiving higher education institution students, including people with fewer opportunities. It is hard and challenging, but it is worth it. The Erasmus+ project 2020-1-ES01-KA107-077891 has been funded with support from the European Commission. This paper reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.