Newsletter Summary 1. Welcome ESN invites you to read the november issue learn more 2. ESNLive: ESN on MySpace MySpace is a community of friends, each day expanding, and reaching 130 million members. It is an amazing tool where you can find people with the same interests, share experiences, listen to music and make ESN famous throughout all the world! learn more 3. Topic of the month: 20 Years of Erasmus Programme - register for the Opening Conference on January 18! In the year 2007, ESN will celebrate the 20 Years of Erasmus Programme. By these celebrations we want to show the importance of Erasmus and demonstrate how by the meeting of other cultures we can create a stronger Europe. learn more 4. Our partners introduce: SkyEurope: fares below zero all over Europe! learn more 5. Get involved: Youthpass Finally: A tool for the recognition of your skills acquired during the Erasmus exchange and voluntary work within ESN. learn more 6. Erasmus Programme: Help me, I want to go on erasmus! Many students are eager to go on exchange, but don’t know where to start, where and to whom to ask the right questions. This edition will give some general information on how students can inform and eventually enrol themselves onto the Erasmus exchange programme. learn more 7. What's going on in Europe besides ESN? In cooperation with the Coimbra Group: European Cooperation in Education through Virtual Mobility Forum; November 29 - December 1, 2006 Educa Berlin is organising a conference on “virtual mobility”. Many students rely on ICT to support their studies, and also use the internet as a means of communication with teachers, family and friends. What is their experience of transferring to another university? Do they find technology making it easier or is it providing barriers? learn more

1. Welcome

Dear ESNCard holders & Dear ESNFriends,

ESN is happy to inform you on many developments that have been going on in the last month:

We’re counting down to January 18, which is a big day for ESN . This is the day that the festivities start for the 20 Years of Erasmus Programme. Already a hord of erasmus students is expected to invade Brussels, a huge cake has been ordered and the party space has been booked. Now, registrations for this event are coming in. So don’t hesitate and take part in the festivities. Please check out below how to register for this event.

Enjoy reading the new and improved newsletter!

Yours,
Davide, Ewa, Tomaso, Corinne and Jakob

Contact: secretariat@esn.org
ESN c\o CRUI - CNR
Rue du Trone, 98
B-1050 Brussels
BELGIUM
Tel.: +32 (0) 2 2902 271
Fax.: +32 (0) 2 2902 280
Mob.: +32 (0) 485 924 512

For any questions regarding your subscription or to unsubscribe please contact the network administrator at na@esn.org.

2. ESNLive: ESN on MySpace

As ESN is spreading throughout Europe, by means of cultural exchange, people flying here an there and establishing physical contacts, ESN is also getting noticed on MySpace.com. This virtual friends network provides a perfect tool of overcoming the boundary that exists – ESN being a mainly European organisation.

As MySpace knows no boundaries, people with common interests gather and share information digitally. This is a perfect opportunity for ESN to be noticed overseas and far beyond Europe.

http://www.myspace.com/ixesn

http://groups.myspace.com/ixesn

There where Europe ends, MySpace begins!

3. Topic of the month: 20 Years of Erasmus Programme - register for the Opening Conference on January 18!

To start the celebrations, on the 18th of January the Opening Conference will take in Brussels, hosted by Committee of Regions. This event will be a great gathering of current and former Erasmus students and ESN members. All of you will have a chance to pass your opinions and comments on Erasmus to European Stakeholders. These will be represented by the Vice President of European Commission, Margot Wallström and by Jan Figel', Member of the European Commission in charge of Education, President of the Committee of the Regions as well as Members of the European Parliament.

The tentative programme for this conference is already available and can be downloaded here

Of course, these are going to be real celebrations! So expect also:

1. Birthday cake with 20 candles
2. Huge birthday party in the evening
3. Presents (nice welcome packs for all participants)
4. ESN Board and the Council of National Representatives to meet in person
5. Erasmus Van ready to start a tour around Europe (possibly:)
6. And much, much pallomeri spirit!

On the 19th January, 10-13, there will be a workshop for members of those ESN sections that want to organise Erasmus Days during the Spring. You will also have a possibility to visit the European Parliament, Erasmus House, Exhibition in the Madou Tower for 20 Years of Erasmus Programme (also with ESN posters and gadgets), and, more, to visit the ESN House, where the International Board members live.

Conference is for free, but registration is necessary due to limited number of places. Registration starts from 20th of November 2006. Please specify your section and the fact that you have been an Erasmus student. ESN members as well as current and former Erasmus students will be given priority for application.

Important! Participants have to take care of their accommodation and travel. In order to get your travel supported, please contact Members of European Parliament (MEP) from your country, as they have a special fund in order to invite people to visit European Institutions in Brussels (see here). Of course, invite your MEP to the conference! If your University supports your travel, please tell us. To thank those institution which supported students travel, we will put a name list on the website and in the conference folder.

For all additional information please write to secretariat@esn.org.

4. Our partners introduce:

SkyEurope: Fares below zero all over Europe!

SkyEurope offers you a chance to fly all over Europe for -1 EUR.*

This offer lasts only until Sunday 26/11!
Do not hesitate and book one of 60.000 seats for -1 EUR now! Booking period: until 26 November 2006. Travel period: 8 December 2006 - 31 March 2007. Book your flight now at http://www.skyeurope.com or through our call centre: +421 2 4850 4850

* One-way. Subject to availability. Taxes and charges excluded. Tickets for EUR 0 and EUR 1 deduction on taxes. Fares valid for internet bookings only.

ESNCard holders enjoy a 15% discount on all SkyEurope flights.
For enjoying the discount you must at first subscribe in the new
ESNCommunity at http://www.esn.org/community/

After you submit your ESNCard number and code, you can click on the link for the discount and book your flights online!

The discount is valid all year long and involves the flight fare only (and not taxes and surcharges). ESNCards from the last year edition are valid as well.

5. Get Involved: Youthpass

Together with the new “Life-Long Learning”-programme, the new Youth in Action-programme of the European Commission will start in 2007 and will cover the period until 2013. It builds on the experiences of the previous programme "Youth for Europe" (1989 - 1999), the European Voluntary Service and the YOUTH programme (2000 - 2006). The Youth in Action programme contributes to the acquisition of competences and is therefore a key instrument in providing young people with opportunities for non-formal and informal learning with a European dimension. The Programme contributes to the fulfilment of the aims set out in the revised Lisbon Strategy, the European Youth Pact, the framework of European Cooperation in the youth field and the Commission's Plan D for democracy, dialogue and debate. The new Programme has not yet been fully adopted and information currently available might still be subject to change. But we are only two months away from the expected start of Youth in Action, so we want to give you an indication of what to expect, in particular with regard to the co-operation with partner countries.

In this aspect, at tool has been developed by the European Commission, coordinated by SALTO Training and Co-operation, aiming at recognising the learning outcomes of activities organised in the framework of the YOUTH Programme and the future Youth in Action programme (2007-2013). This is called the “Youthpass”.

This is a two fold tool, on one hand focusing on certificates developed to certify learning in youth exchanges, European Voluntary Service, youth initiatives, and training courses and on the other hand focusing on assessment instruments to reflect and follow a non formal learning process in a deeper way. One specific document will be developed for each action in order to respect their specificities.

Aims and objectives of the Youthpass
The Youthpass aims at developing and implementing a special European level validation instrument for YOUTH as a package of different instruments for fostering the recognition of non-formal learning within the YOUTH Programme in order to support:

• the employment opportunities for young people and youth workers;
• a self- reflection about the non-formal learning process;
• the social recognition of youth work.

This means that people who through their Erasmus exchange or voluntary work within ESN, developed or are developing special skills - like multilingualism, management, being independent in a non-familiar environment - would be able to officially recognize those skills with the employer.

The objectives of the Youthpass are:

• To develop qualified certificates that should include data of different actors and projects, aims and objectives of the YOUTH.
• The instruments should be developed from the user’s perspective, should document the learning process, and should raise awareness that competencies and skills were strengthened during the project. Eventually, the Youthpass would possess self-assessment instruments to evaluate your learning process in short-term projects.

Let me give you some examples: organising an activity where different actions of the Youth Programme are mentioned (e.g. an infomarket with stands about Erasmus, EVS, AFS,…) or a conference to improve the skills of many ESN-members (Fundraising, ICT,…).

For more information on the Youthpass, and organized training seminars about this issue, please visit: http://www.salto-youth.net/youthpass

6. The Erasmus Programme

Nick Andries, from the International Office of the University of Gent (Belgium) and former treasurer of ESN International is providing us with the most important information.

Hello Nick. As a student, I would like to inform myself on different programmes. Where do I start?

How can I choose a destination?

I found out that my faculty has no contract with an Italian university, can I change that?

When can I register to go on exchange?

How can I get my scholarship?

7. What's going on in Europe besides ESN?

In cooperation with the Coimbra Group: European Cooperation in Education through Virtual Mobility Forum; November 29 - December 1, 2006

This one day Forum brings together experts and practitioners in the area of Virtual and Physical Mobility in an attempt to answer many of these questions. It is a mix of presentation and discussion formats, combining case examples and practical experience with discussions and brain-storming exercises in an effort to come up with clear advice and good practice that others can use in their own Virtual Mobility schemes. It is aimed at those managers, teachers and administrators who wish to set up Virtual Mobility schemes themselves and who are looking for both potential partners as well as practical information about setting up Virtual Mobility opportunities for students and supporting students in their present use of ICT.

The conference attracts over 1900 participants from more than 73 countries representing all continents, and thus is the world's largest international e-learning conference.

The delegates include high-level decision makers from education, business and government - the three key areas driving e-learning adoption and innovation - making it the most important networking venue for experts, practitioners and newcomers from all over the world.

The conference is a must for anyone who is involved in technology supported learning and training and also to those who want to find out more about this ever-evolving field.

This Forum is organised by the Being Mobile Project and VICTORIOUS Project teams, supported under the European Commission's Socrates Project, for more information visit:
http://www.being-mobile.net and http://www.victorious-project.org