“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself” Desiderius Erasmus The University of Salerno, located in an area with a rich historical background and endowed with natural beauty, was established in 1944. Nowadays it is one of the largest Universities in Southern Italy. It has two Campuses (Fisciano and Baronissi), 38,000 students, 32 bachelor’s degrees, 35 master's degrees, 7 single cycle master's degrees, 3 postgraduate schools, 16 departments and 14 PhD schools. The high quality of research and teaching, combined with modern facilities, university halls of residence, cafeterias, sports facilities, large green areas make the University of Salerno the ideal place to live and study. In an increasingly globalized world, the international dimension is of utmost importance. To this end the University of Salerno supports and fosters mobility actions, participates in international research projects, stimulates international cooperation activities with higher education Institutions, foreign enterprises and leading research groups in different scientific areas, thus contributing to the development of the so called "Knowledge Triangles" - research, education and innovation - key drivers of a knowledge-based society. The University of Salerno is involved in the Erasmus programme since 1987 and is fully aware of the fact that its graduates have to acquire adequate skills to be competitive in a constantly evolving labour market. Every year, to support mobility activities it allocates funds that are equal or higher than those assigned by the EU for the Erasmus Programme. Helping young people to get to know and understand the world we live in, bringing them closer to other cultures, providing them with new insights, opening their minds and promoting a better social and cultural integration, will definitely facilitate, by 2020, the attainment of a “smart” growth of society according to the European Union’s Modernisation and Internationalisation Agenda in higher education: - stimulate growth and employment to provide graduates and researchers Europe needs; - improve the quality and the relevance of higher education; - linking high education, research and business for excellence and regional development; - Strengthen quality through mobility and cross-border collaboration; - promote and support student and staff mobility, including those from under-represented groups, and further develop non-discrimination policies; - improve governance and funding. In the academic year 2014-2015 the total number of participants in mobility activities have been 876 (496 outgoing and 380 incoming). Staff members included a former student of the University of Salerno who participated in the Erasmus programme many years ago. Erasmus changed his life and now he is responsible of a software company in the UK. His participation in the project, as a staff member coming from the world business was the best way to promote Erasmus among our students. For incoming administrative staff an Erasmus Staff Training Week has been organized. Meeting colleagues from so different countries, being all together in the same place,for one week, sharing good practices, ideas and feelings about our daily routine will improve mutual understanding and enhance future cooperation. The participation in the Erasmus Programme has shown its positive effects over the years. The slogan created by the European Commission to celebrate the 25 years of Erasmus is a smart way to summarize the benefits of the project, benefits reported by all participants and experimented also by the University in terms of networks. All students participating in the Programme think that Erasmus is a very valuable experience for a personal and a social growth. Among the extra curricula skills students improve the most, we would like to underline: cultural awareness, communicating in foreign languages, learning to be independent, adapting and integrating in a new context . Some of them, thanks to their period of mobility, have already found a job in the same enterprise where they were hosted to carry out a traineeship project. Others will follow a PhD programme in the host Institution. The participation of staff members in the programme has been a way to establish or strengthen international networks, to promote the development of integrated transnational teaching activities (joint courses/ double degrees), to allow the comparison with methods and procedures established by the different institutions and to develop new international policies. All these activities carried out over the years and all the benefits reported by participants highlight the fact that the follow up of cooperation and mobility could lead to advantages in terms of future collaborations and networks, thus creating a virtuous circle in a sort of "never-ending" story.