NO: 7/2011 | DATE: 2nd May 2011


REMINDER

The ESN Newsletter is back!
After the Annual General Meeting of ESN, the ESN newsletter is back... discover what happened during the AGM, the future Board, the Visual Identity, all the open calls!

Special: Annual General Meeting

Annual General Meeting 2011, Budapest

From the 31st of March to the 4th of April 2011, ESN, the leading European student organisation promoting international mobility gathered its delegates in order to enhance the development of ESN's international projects, promote student exchange programmes and elect the next International Board.
Welcomed by Hungarian President, Pal Schmitt, 500 delegates of 360 sections of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) gathered at the National Parliament in Budapest for the opening ceremony of the Annual General Meeting of the organization.
The AGM approved the new statutes, the new Visual Identity policy, a Long Term Communication Strategy and the current Strategy of the organization was as well revised.

During the AGM, the next International Board which will take office in Brussels from the 15th July 2011 was elected:

  • Tania Berman (from ESN France), President
  • Katja Krohn (from ESN Germany), Vice President
  • Damien Lamy-Preto (from ESN France), Treasurer
  • Josefin Svensson (from ESN Sweden), Communication Manager
  • Fabian Bircher (from ESN Switzerland), Web Project Administrator

    • Congratulations and a big thanks to the Organizing Committee of the AGM for the amazing event the sections had the chance to take part at!

    Topic of the month

    Youth on the Move Consultation

    Have you been on Erasmus? Do you have an ESN Card? Time to show it! The European Commission has launched a consultation about Youth on the Move Card! We are young, on the move and our Card is mentioned in the European Survey (Erasmus Student Card) ! ;-) The survey is in English and it takes 3 minutes to fill in. Tick the box Erasmus Student Card, fill in your preferences and submit! That's all you need to do :-) The Youth on the Move Card will facilitate both the mobility and participation of all young people! The deadline is the 4th of June so be quick!
    You can find more information on esn.org/yom.

    Get involved in ESN

    Open Call: ESN International Events

    ESN is looking for sections willing to host an international event:

  • CoMeet (all Committees meeting)
  • CND (Council of National Delegates)
  • NBM (National Board Meeting)

    • The deadline for applications is the 15th May 2011, 23.59 CET. You can find the complete call on the website of ESN.

    Open Call: International Training Event (Eduk8)

    The ESN EduK8 team is looking for a motivated crew to organize the 1st International Training Event ESN EduK8. The International Training is a 7 day event (with 5 working days). ESN EduK8 is a coaching system for present and future ESNers. The aim is to create an official training system within the organization with a vertical structure, going from the international, to the national and to the local level.
    More information can be found on ESN.org

    "For Erasmus": A video about Erasmus and ESN

    "For Erasmus" is a documentary about Erasmus and ESN. What is Erasmus? What is ESN? Take a deeper look in these aspects with a wonderful documentary realized within ESN! Created by the ESN Members Ruben Alonso (ESN Barcelona, Spain) and Marge Taivere (ESN Tartu, Estonia).
    Watch the documentary directly onthe website of ESN.

    Ride for your rights: It's time to (ex)change your life!

    A special Pan-European and very exciting cycling tour “Ride for your Rights!” is inviting participants from all over Europe! Join us on the tour or sign a Manifesto to support student mobility and “Ride for your Rights!” project. More info about registration and the project on our webpage.
    Ride for your Rights! It’s time to (ex)change your life!

    Position Paper: Future Programmes

    27 major stakeholders in education and training, among which the Erasmus Student Network, adopt a common position paper on their vision for the future of education, training and youth programmes. Untitled "Investing in People through Sustainable and Inclusive EU Programmes" the position paper proposes 4 key principles on the vision for the future programmes as well as 4 steps towards more effective programmes including an annex with recommendations for the next financial regulation. You can find the Position Paper on the webpage of ESN.

    YOUth for You

    INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CAMP "DIALOGUE 2011"

    The event will gather 300 young people with the aim of exchanging ideas, experiences, good practices and innovation in the field of intercultural dialogue and interreligious cooperation. The call for participants from the Council of Europe's members states (other than the Russian Federation) is now open! Further information is available on the CoE website.

    Interns revealed! - Participate in the European Youth Forum Survey on the situation of interns in Europe

    The European Youth Forum is taking up an initiative with other partners to improve the situation of internships in Europe. Internships should provide a learning experience for young people to facilitate successful integration into the labour market; however, there has been an increased prevalence of internships serving as precarious employment for young people -a cheap way to substitute workforce. In addition, young interns are performing tasks that do not contribute to professional development. To combat this trend, there is an urgent need to properly identify the scope of the problem. To begin with, the European Youth Forum has created a short survey on internship experience in Europe.
    So help us spread this survey, by sending the link to your friends, contacts and fellow interns!

    Culture Programme Infoday

    Register now to attend the Culture Programme Infoday 30 May in Brussels! Don't miss the opportunity to speak to key players from the Culture Programme and with participants implementing projects; you will get advice on how to prepare an application for your culture project.
    The Culture Programme Infoday will also provide you with information on the coming calls for proposals, as well as tips and practical advice on how to prepare proposals.
    Main features of the 2011 Infoday:

    • Coordinators of projects share their experiences and give practical advice on the preparation and submission of proposals
    • Interactivity: remote participation via advanced live web transmission and chat, and online partner search tool
    You can find more information onthe website of the European Commission

    Opportunities: Job, Internships, Trainings

    1st Sarajevo Students Symposium

    The 1st Sarajevo*Students*Symposium (S3) will be organized this summer from July 19-25, 2011. It is the only international students summer event in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia Herzegovina and around 100 students from all over Europe will be hosted.

    The central theme is "Power of Mobility" and it will be explored through joint discussions, useful presentations and practical creative workshops. S3 is also venue for intercultural exchanges, parties, meeting interesting people and it is happening at the same time as Sarajevo Film Festival, the largest festival in South East Europe of this kind: the city becomes an amazing place to visit.
    The deadline for applying is May 12th. You can find more information on the website of S3.

    EU Careers

    The European Union institutions are seeking ambitious and capable graduates who can make a difference to the lives of 500 million people in 27 member states.
    Joining EU Careers, you can expect a stimulating long-term future in a fast-moving international environment. Based in the heart of Europe, you will enjoy real responsibility from your first day, a comprehensive package of benefits and a good standard of living. You can choose to focus on:

    • Policy development and implementation
    • Law
    • Economics
    • Audit
    • Finance
    • Statistics
    On EU Careers there are positions for both recent graduates (or those completing their studies this year) and people with some work experience.
    Visit the website of EU Careers!

    TOTEM (Training of Trainers)

    TOTEM has been designed to support the learning of those youth workers and youth leaders - already experienced within EuroMed (European-Mediterraneum) Youth Cooperation - who want/need to develop their competences as trainers in this field.

    The candidates for TOTEM:
    • are youth workers / youth leaders who have experiences in the field of intrenational work and/ or in EuroMed
    • want to become trainers in EuroMed context
    • are able to work well and to express themselves in English
    • are motivated to contribute to the learning process of the training course
    • are committed to attend for the full duration and in all phases/elements of the course (Youthpass will be given at the end of the whole training course).
    The deadline to apply is 11 July 2011. For more information and to access the application form, visit the Salto-Youth website.

    Europe besides ESN

    EU education report: good progress, but more effort needed to achieve targets

    EU countries have improved their education systems in key areas over the past decade but they have achieved only one out of five benchmarks set for 2010, the European Commission's new progress report on education and training reveals today.
    The EU has succeeded in its target to increase the number of maths, science and technology graduates, with a 37% rise since 2000 - easily outstripping the target of 15%. Significant, but insufficient, progress was made in reducing the school drop-out rate, increasing the number of pupils completing upper secondary education, improving reading literacy skills and increasing the share of adults participating in education or training. A detailed breakdown of the figures for each country is available (see link below). The Europe 2020 jobs and growth strategy retains the target of reducing the school drop-out rate to under 10%, as well as increasing the share of graduates to at least 40%.
    The Commissioner is strongly urging Member States not to make cuts in education budgets despite the constraints they face due to the economic crisis. "Spending on education is a good investment for jobs and economic growth and in the long term pays for itself. But in times of budgetary pressures we also have to ensure that resources are used as efficiently as possible" she added.
    Find out more on the website of the European Commission

    • European Youth Capital 2014
      ESN AISBL decided to fully support the Municipality of Thessaloniki and Deputy Mayoraly Youth, Sports & Volunteers for claiming the title of European Youth Capital 2014.
      The multicultural character, the variety of activities, the friendly attitude of its citizens and the helping society make this city a warm and welcoming place for the youth.
    • Forum on Human Rights in Higher Education, Luxembourg
      From the 10th to 11th March 2011 in Luxembourg, Joachim Wyssling attended the Forum on Human Rights in Higher Education organised by Campus Europae. The aim of this forum was to focus on the impact of Higher Education on Human Rights and Human rights as part of Education in a time were the general focus of Higher Education lies more on financial and organisational matters.
    • ExchangeAbility Site Visit: Nicosia
      From the 7th to 8th April 2011 in Nicosia, Marco La Rosa attended the fourth ExchangeAbility Site Visit. The event gathered participants in the atmosphere full of lively discussions and interesting presentations. The site visit was an opportunity to consider and discuss all the issues related to the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, supporting students with disabilities at the University of Cyprus and other important topics. The group visited the campus and discussed the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. ESN presented the dissemination strategy of the project and the related website exchangeability.eu
    • Kick Off Meeting on the II Youth Convention on Volunteering
      On the 13th April 2011 Marco La Rosa and Justyna Pisera attended the kick off meeting of the II Youth Convention on Volunteering. During the kick off meeting European Youth Forum and NGOs from all over Europe discussed the upcoming event. The II Youth Convention on Volunteering will be from 7th to 11th September 2011, the European Parliament will host this big public event organised by the European Youth Forum in the frame of the European Year of Volunteering
    • EMQT Seminar
      From the 13th to 15th April 2011 in Bologna, Eva Ntovolou, Joachim Wyssling and Marketa Tokova attended the Erasmus Mobility Quality Tool seminar. ESN gave the student perspective on recognition issues. The recognition of courses studied and competencies gained abroad are among the main obstacles which discourage students from participation. The EMQT project consists in setting up an "Erasmus structural network", whose general aim is to identify organizational models, good practices, benchmarking procedures and related indicators, which should characterize the quality of the students' exchange mobility.
    • Meeting on Youth Indicators
      On the 15th April 2011 Marco La Rosa and Justyna Pisera attended the Meeting on Youth Indicators at the European Commission. Youth indicators at EU-level and within the Member States will help identifying issues in need of a policy response, give a solid basis for decision-making process and contributing to a more effective policy-making process. ESN gave an important input about the importance of having clear mobility related indexes.
    • ERACON
      From the 27th April to the 1st May 2011 Eva Ntovolou and Tania Berman attended the Erasmus Coordinators Conference 2011 in Athens. ESN presented PRIME2010 and SocialErasmus. In the framework of the project ExchangeAbility, a workshop was organized.
    • Public Hearing on European Statutes
      On the 28th April 2011 Marco La Rosa attended the Public Hearing on European Statutes at the Committee of Regions in Brussels. ESN, as part of EASEA-European Alliance for the Statute of the European Association, has been promoting the initiative. European Parliament pledges support to the European Statutes for Mutuals, Associations and Foundations through the Written Declaration 84/2010
    ERASMUS STUDENT NETWORK AISBL
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