ERASMUS IN-COMING PRAC-TICAL GUIDE

MANAGEMENT TEAM

>ErasmusEugenia Pérez de Mezquía

jefatura_relaciones@esda.eserasmus@esda.es

>DirectorLuisa Pellegero Usón

direccion@esda.es

>SecretaryRamón A. Fumanal

rafumanal@esda.es

>Head of StudiesVictoria Rubio Vigil

jefatura_estudios@esda.es

This is a quick practical guide where you can find all you need to do and know before coming as an Erasmus student to the ESDA (Aragon Graduate School of De-sign) which is located in the city of Zaragoza.We are looking forward it to being useful to you.

So….lets face the music!

First and most important point, you will have to check if there is an agreement

between your Design School and the ESDA.If it does not exist, you should ask the

person in charge of International Relations-hips at your center to get in touch with the

ESDA, in order to reach a new Erasmus agreement. On the contrary, if there is

already an agreement between both Schools, you just can go on with the

next step, which is a bit boring but an absolutely essential thing to do:

FIRST STEP: THE AGREE-MENT.

Belgium> B BRUXEL90 ECOLE SUPÉRIEURE DES ARTS SAINT-LUC BRUXELLESwww.stluc-bruxelles-esa.be

-Graphic Design-Interior Design

Czechoslovakia> CZ PRAHA37 ART & DESIGN INSTITUTwww.artdesigninstitut.cz/en

-Graphic Design-Interior Design

France> F PARIS 357 ESAM DESIGNwww.esamdesign.com

-Graphic Design-Interior Design

Italy> I FAENZA01 INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR INDUSTRIAL ART AND DESIGNwww.isiafaenza.it

-Product Design

> IED DESIGN TORINOTwww.ied.it

-Product Design

Lithuania> LT VILNIUS23 VILNIUS COLLEGE OF DESIGNwww.dizainokolegija.lt/en

-Graphic Design-Interior Design

> LT VILNIUS03 VILNIUS ACADEMY OF ARTSwww.vda.lt

-Product Design

Portugal> P MATOSIN01 ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE ARTES E DESIGNwww.esad.pt

-Graphic Design-Interior Design-Product Design

U.K.> UK PLYMOUT05 PLYMOUTH COLLEGE OF ARTwww.plymouthart.ac.uk

-Graphic Design

Romania> RO CLUJNAP06 UNIVERSITATEA DE ARTA SI DESIGN CLUJ-NAPOCAwww.uad.ro

-Graphic Design-Interior Design-Product Design

It consists of filling in forms and sending an

application.Here you have a list which

includes all the Design Schools with an Erasmus

agreement with us:

Next goal, as announced before, will be filling in a series of forms addressed to:

> OFICINA ERASMUSEscuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón, ESDA María Zambrano, 3.50018 ZaragozaEspaña

SECOND STEP: THE APPLICATION.

These documents, can be easily found on the ESDA´s website, in the section INCOMING (Route: Main menu--Interna-tional--Incoming--):

> Application Form, to be filled in with your personal data and that of your School.

> Learning agreement. The documents must be signed by both schools.

You will also need to send other documents in order to enhance your application value and so, make a good impression. Such as:

> A Motivation Letter, explaining the reasons why you want to come to the ESDA.

> A Portfolio with your best and more recent projects.Please, send them in a digital format. PAY ATTENTION: This is a very important part! Try to make it as beautiful and attractive as you can!

> Don´t forget: two passport-size photographs of yourself.> And last but not least, add a pho-tocopy of your passport or ID card.

THIRD STEP: HOW TO GET TO ZA-RAGOZA.

Once your application is accepted, the adventure begins. We guess it will be much more exciting and interesting than you ever would have expected it to be.Firstly, you will have to search for some mean of transport to get to Zaragoza. Secondly, you will have to find a place to stay. Now you will be able to start to discover and really enjoy our city. KEEP READING!

Because, we are going to give you some advice to make it much easier:

How to get to Zaragoza.We suggest all these possibilities:

1.You can come by plane. www.zaragoza-airport.com

2.You can find high speed trains (AVE), and travel from Madrid or Bar-celona to Zaragoza, in an hour and a half, more or less www. renfe.com

3.You could come by bus from several places. www.ALSA.es For instance, you can go by bus from both Madrid´s and Barcelona´s airports straight to Zaragoza. This journey takes about 4 hours, and the ticket is around 17 euros.

4.You can also take the underground from each airport to either Atocha Train Station in Madrid or Sants Train Station in Barcelona. Once you are there, as we said before, you can come by train to Delicias Train Station in Zaragoza. Get this tip: if you buy the tickets two or three months in advance, you can find special offers which can be quite a lot cheaper.

5.If you prefer to drive, you can always rent a car.

6.There is still another very affordable way to come in here. You can share a car from either city by browsing websites such as, www.blablacar.es. This can be cheaper, nearly the same price and trip-time by bus, and you can start practicing your Spanish from the very beginning!

* We recommend you a flight from your country to Madrid or Barcelona, as the first part of your trip.

FORTH STEP: ACCOMMODA-TION.

Once you get to Zaragoza, then you will have to look for accommodation.You can try to find a room in a student shared flat. You can find some information about this on notice boards located in the ESDA and in Zaragoza University´s Faculties. You will be able to get Spanish spea-king lessons, If ever you need some help to improve your Spanish.

Meanwhile, you can find a place to stay in a cheap hotel or in a youth-hostel. The whole hostel offer list appears on the visitors city website.www.zaragoza.es/ciudad/turismo/es/organiza-viaje/alojamientos.htm Booking a room in advance is a good idea. Students Residences are another good choice to make:www.zaragoza.es/ciudad/sectores/jovenes/cipaj/publicaciones/educa039.htm

A good tip: At this moment, asking the ESDA for a tutor-student, would be a good thing to do. Therefore, a mate from the ESDA in Zaragoza will be assigned to help you and guide you during your visit. Before this, you will be able to text him and ask him any questions. He will be happy to help you and to answer your questions.

When you get to this point, you can start enjoying the city.Once you have settle in and you are comfortable in Zaragoza, here you have got is some information about things to do:

> A good kick off could be visiting other Spanish cities. It is easier from Zaragoza as it is a “strategic point” located half way between Madrid and Barcelona.

> Besides, our city is less than one hour from Huesca, a northern city in which a series of festivals take place, such as: an International Film Festi-val, “Periferias Festival” and “Pirineo Sur Music Festival”, among others.

> In northern Huesca, there are the Pyrinees, the range of mountains extending along the border between France and Spain, there a huge amount of things to do:

FIFTH STEP: ENJOY ZA-RAGOZA!

> You can find several theaters, concert places and museums in the city. Not to mention Goya, the universal famous painter, who was born in Fuendetodos, very close to Zaragoza.

> Of course, you will find typical “tapas” in all the bars around the old city quarter, Sunday morning markets and all music styles played by DJs in “las Armas” querter.

> You can enjoy yourself in one of the charming outdoor Spanish bars on the River Ebro shore. In addition, if it suits you, you could sail along the Ebro river in a canoe, guided and taught by the “Ebro Nautas”.

> Not to mention, Zaragoza also offers a wide bicycle-lane web all around the city, which is on the whole around 380 kilome-ters long, turning Zaragoza into a perfect place to go cycling. In addition, there are no steep slopes, so you can move around quite comfortably.

> You can go climbing, trekking, horse riding, skiing, and all other mountain sports you can imagine.

> If you fancy, you can also go to an Spanish beach, which is around 250 kilometers from here. In the East, the Mediterranean Sea and straight towards the West The Cantabrian Sea and the Basque Country.

> Zaragoza also has a very active and busy cultural life, where lots of events take place. Most of them are interna-tional renowned, such as “Asalto” on graffiti and urban art, “Trayectos” on contemporary dance, “FIZ” on alternative music and, Zaragoza´s well kown patron saint´s one week celebra-tion “Las Fiestas del Pilar”.

SIXTH STEP: THE ESDA.

Recently, in 2009, the Graduate School of Design of Aragón moved to its current location, on the left bank of the Ebro River.The new building was designed by the architect Joaquín Sicilia and it is part of a collection of three separate volumes that host the School of Art, the Graduate School of Design and a separate building that contains several Multifunctional Rooms, such as: an auditorium venue, a coffee bar with an outdoor terrace and an exhibition hall.

Every classroom has state of the art special equipment: computers, projectors and everything you need for design projects developing and design related research. You will also find workshops with special devices such as the latest 3D model printer, a photographic studio and an experimental laboratory.

And, of course, there is a specialized library connected to all the university web of libraries with more than 3.000 design related books. All of them at your disposal.And, by the way, you can log inwhenever you want, because there is a free Wi-Fi web and an optic fiber installation throughout the School.

The ESDA has a flexible timetable for students, because of its long opening hours, from 8 A.M. to 21.30 P.M., and there are always opened well-equipped classrooms so you can develop your work in your study time.

Annually, the “Practical Design Symposiums” (Jornadas Prácticas del Diseño), take place in the ESDA. With international great reputation it consists of a cluster of best national designers, who are coming here to give lectures and teach workshops during the whole week.

Our center also hosts a national meeting on illustration and design called “Encuentrazos”. During these days, a vast amount of activities, ex-hibitions, workshops, lectures and so on, are taking place in the ESDA. And finally, specific design related courses are taught in summer in our School.

SEVENTH STEP: FAREWELL.

Well, the time to go back to your city is near. Maybe you are going to miss us a little,

but it is sure we are going to miss you too. Anyway, you have to ensure that you are taking with you a Visit Certificate and your marks, in order to get them

recognized at your home-School. And please, don´t forget to share your experience about your Erasmus stay on the ESDA´s website!

Ah, of course, tell it to your mates at your own School when you get back!

Thanks!