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This example focuses on how the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, ensures equal opportunity and access to mobility placements for its students and staff through:

• An online tool to manage the application procedure and the the entire study period.
• A dedicated ‘Service for Students with Special Needs’, which participates in EU projects to exchange good practice.
• Implementing dedicated resources and services to remove obstacles for participation in international mobility among schools that have traditionally experienced barriers.

The University’s online tool simplifies and reduces the time for setting up and approving the Learning Agreement, and the recognition of credits upon return.

• It allows the needs of different target groups to be met from students with special needs to part time or distance-learning students, and to have a successful mobility experience.
• The tool ensures  transparent, consistent procedures for all the mobile students, and thus prevents unequal treatment.
• Finally, every student can check the state of the procedures and the steps to be taken.

The participation of disadvantaged students is supported through a number of measures:

• The University receives specific funding for disadvantaged mobile students through Erasmus+ KA103 from the Italian national agency.
• The University publishes a special call in collaboration with the regional authority to top up grants for disadvanted students, awarding 38 grants in 2015.
• A dedicated ‘Service for Students with Special Needs’ (Servizio Disabili di Ateneo)  participates in EU-funded projects to exchange good practice for inclusion and improve its services for international students.

The University has worked to convince “mobility- disinclined” students of the efficacy of international mobility. Since 2012, there has been a constant increase in the number of mobility placements among students from Science, Medicine and Agriculture, subjects that previously demonstrated barriers to mobility.

• The University has implemented dedicated services - a team of International Relations officers (IROs), exchange coordinators and International Relations Delegates in each school, who collaborate to develop inernationalisation policies, promote mobility opportunities and support mobile students in all the academic requirements (Learning Agreements and recognition of credits).
• This team helps to remove obstacles especially relating to to Learning Agreements-related issues. For example, the IRO of the School of Medicine in collaboration with universities in the ECTS Medicine Association has established best practice to ensure the acceptance  of Learning Agreements and subsequent recocognition of the achieved outcomes.