ESN's communication after the ESNtrain cancellation

 On this page you can find the key events/information on what ESN and its Care Team have been working on since the cancellation of the ESNtrain unfortunately had to be announced by the organisers.

10. February 2010: ESNtrain participants: Call for participation at the Annual General Meeting of Erasmus Student Network

Erasmus Student Network invites up to two former ESNtrain participants to present their personal testimony about the ESNtrain cancellation at the Annual General Meeting of the network, taking place from the 8th to the 11th April 2010 in Istanbul. The two participants will have a certain time to present their own testimony together with the ESN Care Team and possibly a representative of platform GmbH. 

The former ESNtrain participants can declare their willingness to participate by writing a motivation letter to the ESNCare Team (care_team@esn.org) and the International Board of Erasmus Student Network (board@esn.org) until the 25th of February. The Board together with the ESNCare Team will then select two participants. 

The day of the presentation and its exact format will be finalized at a later stage, in the beginning of March at the latest. 

The former ESNtrain participants attending the Annual General Meeting will neither be reimbursed for their travel costs nor their stay in Istanbul (one day). 

7. January 2010: Letter to ESNtrain participants

On 7 January 2010, the Care Team on behalf of the whole Erasmus Student Network sent out a message to every ESNtrain participant. ESN believes that it is now time to share our thoughts regarding the ESNtrain and our vision of the current situation as many of the participants registered thanks to the promotion that ESN sections did.

However, the email addresses of all the participants are solely in the possession of the organizer of the ESNtrain – platform GmbH – who must keep them confidential in order to protect the privacy of the people who registered. Therefore, ESN needs to disseminate this message through its own channels. In order to reach as many participants as possible, you are warmly welcome to share this letter with as many ESNtrain participants as possible, as long as its integrity is kept.

27. November: Call for the new Care Team member

Currently, the Care Team is looking for one or two additional members from ESN whose main responsibilities would be the investigations and recommendations for ESN how manage big partnerships and projects in the future. The results will be presented in the form of a final report to the AGM 2010.

The main tasks are:

• Investigate how the ESNtrain train project came to such an unexpected halt
• Gather public data, interview main actors
• Formulate realistic recommendations how ESN can better manage big partnerships and projects in the future
• Create a professional report to be presented both to ESN insiders and outsiders

Why to become a member of the Care Team?

• Challenging job of big importance for ESN
• May be the experience of your life
• Present your output to all ESN sections at AGM 2010
• Put together pieces of a big puzzle - one which has impacted the whole ESN community
• International team with various backgrounds and ESN track
• Deal with various stakeholders (Board, CNR, Care team, sections...)

The deadline for applications is the 20 December 2009. For more information, contact Care Team at care_team@esn.org.

12. November: New task division of the Care Team members

Due to time constraints, Eva Ntovolou had to resign from the Care Team. The tasks of the members had to be re-divided accordingly:

• Christophe Andrey: contact to platform GmbH, mediation, FAQs, background research
• Joachim Wyssling: communication with CNR and ESN sections
• Fabrizio Costantino: external communication, media coverage

9. November: Reply to the Open letter from platform GmbH

On 7 November, Erasmus Student Network received an official reply from Platform GmbH to the letter addressed to the CEO of the platform GmbH and sent by Marketa Tokova on 6 November. The reply is negative to the request of the disclosure of contracts and accounting related to the ESNtrain project. It could be found here. 

6. November: Open letter to platform GmbH

On 6 November, Erasmus Student Network sent an open letter to the CEO of platform GmbH, requesting a full view of the contracts and accounting related to the ESNtrain project. The full letter could be found here. The letter was sent in copy to all ESN sections, as well as to the Council of National Representatives.

2. November: Official statement regarding the outcome of the ESNtrain mediation

The mediation on the ESNtrain case took place in Vienna on 10 October 2009. The following persons were present:

• ESNtrain participants: Christian Doni, Francesco Martino, Dmitry Nikolaenko, Alexander R.
• Platform GmbH: Bernhard Jäggle
• ESN: Christophe Andrey, Troels Christensen, Marketa Tokova

The mediation lasted for about 7 hours, from 10.00 to 12.30 and from 15.00 to 19.30. During lunchtime, between 12.45 and 14.30 a facultative meeting with Mr. Narrenhofer from ÖBB took place in his office, the content of which is entirely of public domain.

The parties have commonly agreed on this present statement.

Discussions turned around the following main points:

• Trying to understand what has actually happened regarding the ESNtrain cancellation
• Mutual understanding of the situation / point of view of others
• Possible compensation of the ESNTrain participants

Despite the development of some options, no solution could be found in the end that would sufficiently satisfy all parties to resolve the issue or that would point out directions to continue the mediation process. Thus, the mediation will not continue. The parties agreed preliminarily on keeping confidentiality over the discussion, in order to facilitate a fruitful process which could have produced a quick and satisfactory solution for every party, without resorting to legal actions. However, since the mediation failed to achieve such purpose, the participants felt the need to discuss with ESN and with the mediators whether to keep or to reconsider the preliminary confidentiality, but eventually the parties did not agree on waiving it.

10. October: Mediation round in Vienna

The mediation round took place in Vienna. The final communique will be published as soon as all the participants of the mediation round approve its final wording.

18. September: mediation round to be held on 10 October

The mediation talks between the ESNtrain participants, representatives of ESN and Platform GmbH (the organizer of the ESNtrain project) will take place on 10 October 2009 in Vienna. The mediation will be led by a professional mediator, Pascal Gemperli, former president of ESN. For more information, contact the Care Team atcare_team@esn.org or in the FAQ.

18. July: update of the current situation of the mediation

The mediator proposed by ESN – Pascal Gemperli – has conducted pre-talks with all those who expressed their interest in the mediation round (ESNtrain participants, platform GmbH, ÖBB and ESN) in order to see if the mediation is the right way to go and to agree on the dates for the mediation. In order not to overload the process from the start and due to the fact that Mr. Gemperli sees two distinct conflicts, he has decided to create two mediation groups: one with platform and ÖBB, another one with participants, platform GmbH and ESN.

For organizational reasons, a physical meeting could not be planned before the end of August. At this moment (18. July 2009), a physical meeting is being planned for September or October 2009 with participants, platform GmbH and ESN. 

09. July: ESNtrain FAQ published

On 09. July, the Care Team published the ESNtrain FAQ to answer the most common questions regarding the ESNtrain, its cancellation, the relation between ESN and ESNtrain and future steps of ESN. The FAQ could be found here.

Clarification of the news published at the website of the European Commission

The news on the Commission's website was published at the beginning of March 2009 on the request of the Erasmus Student Network as a part of our promotion activities and support for the ESNtrain - following the opening of the registration to the general public. The final content, however, was not written by the ESN International - the Commission was provided with a press release of the opening of the registration for general public and the communication booklet.

Current steps after 10. June

At the moment, the mediator proposed by ESN - Pascal Gemperli - is contacting all those who have shown interest in the mediation. As soon as the individual pre-talks have been concluded, the date and place of the mediation round will be fixed. 

Offer of mediation

Erasmus Student Network is offering to facilitate the mediation as a possible solution in the follow-up of the cancellation of the ESNtrain.

Mediation is a method of alternative dispute resolution through dialogue and negotiation, assisted by an impartial mediator. The aim is to find solutions that satisfy all parties. During the whole process, mediation remains impartial, confidential and voluntary.

The mediation would include few representatives of the passengers of the ESNtrain, of the Platform GmbH, of ESN or of any other party concerned, In order to express interest in the mediation, please contact the Care Team by 10 June 2009.

After 10. June when the possible participants of the mediation are known, confidential and individual pre-talks between the mediator and the participants will be held.

ESN would like to propose Pascal Gemperli as a mediator. Pascal Gemperli is a former member of ESN, active at the local and national level in Switzerland and eventually holding the position of the president of ESN in 2004/2005. Pascal has been working in the field of conflict transformation and as a mediator for several years now. You can find more information at www.iicp.ch. Parties involved in the mediation can upon mutual agreement choose another mediator.

The practical details of the mediation are yet to be settled but the mediation should be of minimal costs to the participants.

In order to ask for more information or express interest to participate, please contact the Care Team at care_team@esn.org by 10 June 2009.

27. May: Open letter from Marketa Tokova

To whom it may concern.

Dear ESNtrain participants,

Thank you for the open letter and let me reply and explain the ESN position regarding the ESNtrain issue and our future steps.

It is very unfortunate that the ESNtrain was cancelled at the very last minute and that until now, the information and communication towards you was insufficient. The cancellation came as a surprise to ESN as well. Nevertheless, the local sections of ESN did their best to help the participants of the ESNtrain whenever possible and organised several events despite the cancellation.

ESN is very well aware of your disappointment and we take the situation very seriously. I would like to point out that at this moment, our knowledge of the real situation and background of the cancellation remains limited.
 
ESN was asked to initiate legal procedures against Bernhard Jäggle. However, we believe that there is a better option – mediation – which is far less costly than trials and would not thus lower the amount of money that belongs to participants.
 
Mediation is a method of alternative dispute resolution through dialogue and negotiation, assisted by an impartial mediator. The aim is to find solutions that satisfy all parties. During the whole process, mediation remains impartial, confidential and voluntary.

ESN is offering to facilitate the mediation and is inviting all parties to ask further question about this option, to make comments or to express their interest in participation. The mediation would include few representatives of the passengers of the ESNtrain, of the Platform GmbH, of ESN or of any other party concerned. The details of the mediation are yet to be settled but the mediation should be of minimal costs to the participants.

In order to ask more about mediation or express your interest in participating, please contact the Care Team at care_team@esn.org by 10 June 2009.

Should you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
With kind regards,

Marketa Tokova

Middle of May 2009

The ESN Care Team is working on investigating the cancellation of the ESNtrain. We have requested from Platform GmbH to get access to their written contracts and documents. Unfortunately, Platform GmbH did not provide us with these documents, so we are stuck on our own investigations.

We are now setting up an external committee composed by one expert of each communication, organizational matters, law and finance whose job will be to further investigate the cancellation.

We are in contact with Platform GmbH. They state that they are working on recollecting the money they have already paid to their partners and suppliers, in order to reimburse the participants as soon as possible. Hence we believe it to be the best strategy to let them work on this matter and not interfere with their contact to their partners. In our eyes, too much interference would not help participants regain their money any faster, but would probably slow down this process instead.

ESN decided so far not to undertake legal steps towards Platform, since it would cost time and money not in proportion with the expected information to gain. Moreover, it would probably further complicate Platform's efforts of recollecting the participants' money.

ESN Care Team

09. May 2009

At the CNR meeting in Porto, it was decided that the ESN International would financially help sections affected by the cancellation of the ESNtrain which - despite the cancellation - organised activities for the ESNtrain participants. Until now, ESN Hamburg-Harburg has received such a support from ESN International.

Middle of April 2009

ESN has set up a care team for all ESN sections taking part in the ESNtrain project.
Every ESN section is cordially invited to contact the team at care_team@esn.org, in order to:
- get support in re-organizing, cancelling events that were planned for the ESNtrain
- get formal support from ESN in relation with sponsors, institutions, etc.
- get advice on how to communicate with sponsors, institutions, travelers, volunteers and section members about the project cancellation.
- share any thoughts, inputs, question with fellow ESNers.
The care team is made up of the following people:
- Patrick Jörg : ESN WU Vienna, former Austrian National Representative in ESN
- Jorik van der Veen : ISN Amsterdam, section president
- Christophe Andrey : ESN Zurich alumnus
- Mathias Kissig : ESN TU Dresden, president of ESN Germany
Starting on Sunday April 5th and until Easter Sunday, the team is working full-time at the ESN house in Brussels. After Easter and for at least six months, the care team will continue being at your service and monitoring your needs regarding the ESNtrain.
Please note:
The Care Team is neither a part of the ESNtrain board nor does it interfere with the work of the ESNtrain board.
If you are a participant of the ESNtrain and you have questions, please contact the ESNtrain board via team@esntrain.org.
*Disclaimer*

ESN AISBL and its sections were in no way responsible for the organisational or financial matters of the ESNtrain, nor did the ESN AISBL or its sections have any say in the organisation of the aforementioned project. All these matters were the sole responsibility of Platform GmbH.

The only contribution of ESN AISBL or its sections to the ESNtrain project was arranging activities for its participants, as well as allowing the ESNtrain board to use the network for social and promotional purposes.

Furthermore, at the time ESN had no policy concerning the use of its logo by external partners. Therefore the name and logo of ESN AISBL in relation to the ESNtrain in no way convey responsibility for, or influence in the ESNtrain board and/or Platform GmbH.

Because of the above mentioned matters ESN AISBL and its sections are not legally liable for the damages caused by the cancellation of the project.

Published at the www.esn.org

10. April 2009

The ESN sections and the Council of National Representatives were sent a first email from the Care Team, with updates about the ESNtrain situation.

02. April 2009

An information email was sent to all the ESN sections as an official communication about the ESNtrain cancellation and steps to be taken.

01. April 2009

Resignation of Matthias Fenner as President of ESN AISBL (Press release).
This e-mail was sent to all sections of ESN.

30. April 2009

Start of moderation of an online forum where organisers of events along the route post if the events still will take place. It is also an opportunity for passengers to connect with others and make further travel plans.

28. March 2009

The Platform GmbH had to announce the cancellation of the ESNtrain. Please see the attached press release of ESN regarding this topic. Further information is additionally available on the website of the organisers.

ESN section members in many cities along the route take care of stranded passengers, helping to find accommodation and ways of traveling back.