Looking forward to see you all in Brussels! I am happy that so many of you comes to the opening conference of 20 Years of the Erasmus Programme. So - waiting for you - you will be about 200, old and new ESN people, older Erasmus. Toast, cake, and discussion what Erasmus’ future should be. Lets celebrate Erasmus, friendships and cultures!
And you can see that we are already quite visible. See us at these spots:

http://europa.eu/50/

http://cor.europa.eu/

http://www.cafebabel.com/en/evts/event.asp?T=A&Id=393

http://www.european-agenda.com/preview/index.php?previewid=35

If you see us or publish us anywhere else, you can just write it in the comments:) Thanks.

See you all soon!

As you all know on the 18th of January, Erasmus Student Network will open the celebrations of the 20 Years of Erasmus Programme. The opening conference will aim to formulate recommendations for stakeholders in order to enhance Erasmus Programme in the future. You can see the programme of the conference here: http://www.20erasmus.org/page/erasmusdays

In the evening, the Erasmus Birthday Party will take place. All the conference participants will gather at the You Night Club (18 rue Duquesnoy, 1000 Brussels, www.youniversity.be).

The official part will be from 9pm-11pm. The Commissioner in charge of education and Erasmus Programme, Jan Figel’ will come to make a toast for Erasmus and meet students from ESN. If you have been an Erasmus student, but you are not participating in the conference and want to come to the party contact secretariat@20erasmus.eu.

All the students are invited to come to the party from 11pm. Entrance is free.

Happy Birthday Erasmus!

On Thursday , 14 of December, I had a great pleasure to celebrate 5 years of ESN UJ in Krakow. I was double happy as I was a first President - a “mom” of this sections and I could see how this section develop from nothing (5 years ago, in the cold December, when I was trying to convince University that we should take care of our Erasmus students) to greatest - when it is a lively group of enthusiastic volunteers - 40 members, 60 helpers, full of new ideas for the future, new projects, new energy!

I want to thank all of those who contributed to the growth of this section. So I thank all the Presidents (Ewa G., Aga Sk.- double thanks for double and great work, Aga S. and Krzysiek) with their Boards, the University with the Former Vice Rector Mrs. Nowakowska and the Head of International Students Office Mr. Klimkiewicz, and very warmly to all those volunteers who gave their time and heart to ESN UJ.
Thanks for the nice 5 years, thanks for the nice Gala Dinner and I am looking forward to meet you again in our cosy office in Collegium Novum, to sit and chat a bit about ESN, Erasmus, life…

About ESN UJ you can read at www.esn.student.uj.edu.pl

New page for 20 Years of Erasmus Programme celebrations has been opened:)

On 20erasmus.eu, you can upload your personal living story about Erasmus, and also read other Erasmus students’ testimonies. Every month the nicest, most original experiences will receive prizes.

I would like to thank all those who worked for this page: Antonio, Francesco for the system, Koeweiden Postma for design, Ivan Galetti, Davide, Zahira, Diana, Jakob for help in the content.

Let’s celebrate Erasmus!

During this weekend I had a pleasure to be a guest of National Platform of Spain. Thanks to Junta (National Board) for the invitation and to ESN Barcelona and Jordi for all organisation. It was really nice to hear how the work is going in Spain. The plenaries were really effective, with many points, comments and discussions. There was a discussion about the role of National Board in ESN and how important is that it is strong. We discussed about Long Term Vision and how ESN should develop in the future. Then, in the evenings we got so much gooood food! So again thanks! Visit Barcelona - such a nice place!

To know a bit how it is to be an Erasmus in Poland and to see ESN SGH Warsaw, click on this link! Very nice! But in French only;) but to resume the last words on the video: “many people find their erasmus year the best year out of their students life; these students are certain it already started well!”

Erasmus will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Since its debute, the programme sent around 1,5 million European students abroad, counting 217.000 French students. The most wanted destinations: England and Spain. But since the expansion of the EU, formerly less attractive countries started to wake up the curiosity of young Europeans. As in Poland, although not a popular destination yet, more and more students are ready to travel to and taste the adventure.

watch the video!

Tonight we are going to participate in a very interesting debate organised by DeBuren and ESN Belgium with collaboration of ESN Netherlands…There are also few members of the European Parliament coming.
See here the topics of discussion:

We will let you know the results!

sooooooo…… on the 18th of January we are starting to celebrate 20 years of Erasmus! Do not miss these great celebrations!

We are hosted kindly by the Committee of the Regions and the President of the CoR, Michel Delebarre will give us a welcoming speech. We are honoured to have also as our guests and speakers the Vice President of the European Commission Margot Wallström as well as Jan Figel’, Commissioner in Charge of Education.

During the conference, we will also make a small competition for a motto of ESN Celebrations of 20 Years of Erasmus Programme. So, start to brainstroming already beforehand.

You can get all the info and already register at www.esn.org/20erasmus
There is going to be also a birthday cake and a lot of fun

So see you!

Hello active young Europeans.

Me and some Italian ESNers attended the Mind the GAP (Generating Active People) training course in Viterbo, Italy.

Many international young active European citizens gathered there to be involved ion European communication and non-formal learning. We were also experimented upon as users of the “youthpass”. A tool soon to be part of your European Portfolio (together with e.g. Europass).

This seminar gave the impression of being on a super fast metro line of communication. It featured highly skilled trainers, who knew how to motivate an international group and how to emotionally involve them into their activities. This goes for the “generating” part. As for the “active” part, we were asked to give input on many occasions. One morning we went to a high school, to simulate a court case on ,”youth participation” with lawyers, judges, witnesses and a jury. The great thing about this event was that we, “professionals” mixed with high school students in order to “defend” or “attack” youth participation in front of “judges” and a “jury”. Amazingly, it went very smoothly!

Besides this week full of busy activities there was plenty of time to have a fun time … or what one can call fun; every time I’ll drink wine I’ll have to live with the voices in my head: “e chi si chiamo Jakob, si alzi, si alzi…”

For more information on the youthpass and training courses please visit: http://www.salto-youth.net/youthpass/