Education & Youth is one of the six Causes of ESN. Education is the core activity of ESN and youth is the main target group. ESN has a big impact on the quality of mobility in Europe and makes sure the voice and needs of youth are heard by the decision-makers as the youth has the most relevant personal experience with the quality of mobility. ESN, as an organisation, undertakes various steps and organizes activities to support this goal.
Erasmus + programme
The Erasmus + programme is by far the most successful project of the EU. It gives students and staff a unique opportunity to experience other cultures from their very own perspective. You are exposed to a different culture of the country of your mobility as well as the culture of your international friends, who come from different parts of the world. Therefore, I think Erasmus + experience changes your life so much because you can discover more about yourself, about others, build strong friendships and you have a unique chance to adopt other cultures’ customs and habits into your life. The new Erasmus + programme lasts from 2021 to 2027. Main priorities of the programme are inclusion and diversity, digitalisation, active citizenship and sustainability. ESN actively promotes the benefits of mobility among local students. If you are considering applying for the Erasmus+ programme, follow ESN CZ social media and CZinchilla, our mascot, will show you how.
Student services and support
ESN Buddy System is the core project and active representation of one of our mottos: “Students helping students.” Buddy System was created with the idea to connect a local student with an international student, so when the international student comes to their new home city, they have somebody to reach out to, ask them about how things work at their university, show them around, and talk to.
Accessibility and Inclusion
ESN strives for an inclusive and diverse environment in education. In other words: Everybody deserves a chance for education. The Erasmus+ programme should be accessible and open to everybody regardless of disabilities of students, their religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic background. ESN has various projects and initiatives to reach this goal. They are more covered by the Social Inclusion Cause, but they are worth mentioning now as well. For example, SocialErasmus is an international programme focused on the integration of international students into the local community. They are given an opportunity to make a change in society through volunteering. The most popular activities are dog shelters visits, nursing homes visits or Erasmus in Schools events. Another project, ExchangeAbility, is a long-term project aimed to promote the exchange opportunities for students with disabilities. Lastly, MappED! provides students with information about the accessibility of university facilities and other services.
Quality Mobility
ESN believes in deeper integration of Europe, especially in the field of education and youth. International mobility is beneficial not only for the students, but also for the host institutions, communities and, in a bigger picture, society as well. The process of applying for an exchange programme along with all the related documents should be as simple as possible and should not be an obstacle from the experience. Higher education institutions (universities) should cooperate together to create a suitable environment for an exchange student with appropriate offers of courses. The biggest project of ESN in this field is the ESNsurvey. It is Europe-wide research focused on students' mobility and internationalization of education. This year's edition is now on! The key findings of ESNsurvey every year are presented to the public and stakeholders in the field of international education. Its key findings make a real impact on the image of mobility.
Volunteering
ESN members themselves are volunteers helping the international students to get the most out of their exchange. Experience with the exchange programme can be definitely enriched by a volunteering experience. Volunteering experience brings a lot of soft skills and may also develop some hard skills. ESN is working on better recognition of these acquired skills. Volunteering can be experienced while helping in various facilities of local communities, cleaning of the environment or Erasmus in Schools.
Capacity building
ESN provides its members with many opportunities for personal and professional development, by various training projects, events, and conferences. The International Committee for Education of ESN helps its members to advocate more effectively for high-quality education at their universities, but also on an international scale.
Education is essential, so that's why ESN stands for the high-quality standards/conditions and internationalization of higher education. ESN undertakes steps to achieve this goal and promote it. Mobility surely is a life-changing experience and we should support it in order to contribute to a positive change in the world.