esn estonia for newbies - ESN
ESN ESTONIA
FOR NEWBIES
2
Erasmus Student Network Estonia
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Contents
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PREFACE
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is the biggest international student organization in
Europe. Our mission is to represent international students, thus provide opportunities for cultural understanding and self-development under the principle of students helping students.
Currently, ESN operates in 37 countries and is compiled of almost 500 sections.
“We – young people – we don’t want to play politics. We want to be united.” Stefan Jahnke, President of ESN, Annual General Milano
2014
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ESN ESTONIA
Founding of ESN Estonia: 2011
The board: ESN Estonia has four National Platforms (national get-togethers of ESN Estonia members) a year. Two of those National Platforms are two-day Annual General Meetings where things like budgets, statutes and board members are voted on. ESN Estonia’s
National Platform (Annual General Meeting) in August elects four board members for the period of one year. The fifth board member (National Representative) is elected during ESN
Estonia’s National Platform (Annual General Meeting) in January also for the period of one year.
National Board members, as of September 2015:
President: Andres Soop, president@esn.ee
National Representative: Janelle Korm, nr@esn.ee
Financial Manager: Yauhen Yakimenka, treasurer@esn.ee
Communication Manager: Irina Krestyaninova, communication@esn.ee
General contact address of the board: nb@esn.ee
ESN Estonia as a separate body was founded to bring the sections together, to build better cooperation and to accomplish more on the national level. Before the national board was established, ESN Estonia only had a National Representative who was in charge of representing ESN Estonia on the international level of ESN, organizing National Platforms and keeping Estonian ESN-ers aware of what was going on in ESN in general. Now that there are four other people working for the wellbeing of ESN in Estonia, the quality of fulfilment of international projects has increased, the cooperation between sections is better and stronger than ever and ESN Estonia now has a national event (Estonian Wedding, launched in May 2013, takes place once a year and brings together international students and ESN-ers from both Tartu and Tallinn) and a training event (ESN Skillbox, launched in January 2014, to
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offer our members the skills they need to succeed in both ESN-related things but also life in general) designed especially for ESN Estonia members.
ESN SECTIONS IN ESTONIA
ESN Tartu
Founding of ESN section: 2000
The board: The board consists of seven members: President, Vice President, Financial
Manager, Communication Manager, Information Manager, Event Manager and Project
Manager.
ESN Tartu board members, as of November 2015:
• President: Õie Ojala, ojala@esn.ee
• Vice President: Marjaana Raudmäe, marjaana@esn.ee
• Financial Manager: Kristen Jalakas, kristen@esn.ee
• Communication Manager: Olga Skaistkalne, olga@esn.ee
• Information Manager: Sigmar Muuga, sigmar@esn.ee
• Event Manager: Daria Arkhipova, daria@esn.ee
• Project Manager: Ruth Arukuusk, ruth@esn.ee
• General contact address of the board: info@esn.ee
Partner Universities (5): ESN Tartu is officially a non-governmental organization that works under University of Tartu and also receives main funding from there. ESN Tartu also cooperates with Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu Art College, Tartu Health Care
College, Estonian Aviation Academy and European College of University of Tartu.
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Number of members in Fall 2015: 80
Number of international students in Fall 2015: ~800
Events organized during the semester:
Throughout the semester, ESN Tartu members organize different cultural events, trips and parties. The semester starts with a Pub Crawl and Welcome Party after the Orientation
Week. During the semester, ESN Tartu comes up with a wide variety of events for all kinds of different people, for instance Jam Sessions for musicians, hiking trips for adventurers, football practice and dance classes for those who prefer sport etc. Just in order to have a nice time and meet a lot of new faces, we have an event called Speedfriending that has been a hit for 4 semesters in a row. In addition we also have trips to science institutions and once or twice a month National Evenings are organized and prepared by the exchange students with the aim of introducing some country or region of the world more profoundly.
There are also trips to various places, more popular ones are for instance Lapland, South
Estonia, Lake Peipus and sometimes also Tallinn or Riga.
The students can also take part in the SocialErasmus project, which gives the international students a chance to be involved in social and volunteering activities. This year we have two
SocialErasmus weeks, one each semester, filled with different events to raise social awareness. We also have SocialErasmus events throughout the semester. Since the Erasmus in Schools project, as a part of the SocialErasmus, has been a great success, we have
Erasmus in Schools visits on the same week, but also throughout the semester, which allows foreign students to visit local schools.
ESN Tartu tries to integrate exchange students into the everyday life of Tartu as much as possible. ESN Tartu participates in the Student Days’ program and goes to different local students' events among with the international students. Most ESN Tartu events are accessible to local students as well .
At the end of each semester, the ESN Tartu Diary is compiled so that all the exchange students can leave a mark and also remember their friends and nice experiences in Tartu.
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Section development: At the beginning, the board of ESN Tartu had only three members. In
2005, the number of board members was increased to six, in 2007 decreased to four. Since
2008, there have been five members in the board. At the end of 2014 spring semester we changed and improved the statute of ESN Tartu. One of the changes was that starting from the fall 2014 our board has 7 positions in total, two of them new: Project Manager and
Event Manager.
In the section development there was a huge step forward in 2008 when the University of
Tartu doubled the budget for ESN Tartu and supported the organizing of the Northern
European Platform in Tartu. In 2008, the section started to use the standard ESN website template and the ESNcard. Tele2 became a legal partner of ESN Tartu and later, that deal expanded to ESN Tallinn as well.
In 2009, ESN Tartu became more active on the international level: some members participated at the Swedish National Platform and also helped organize ESN Sea Battle (ESN
Sweden’s national event). From 2009 till 2010, Veeli Oeselg, a former president of ESN
Tartu, was the Vice President of ESN International.
At the moment, ESN Tartu has a record number of members, but this is very welcomed as there are more and more international students coming to Tartu.
ESN Tallinn
Founding of ESN section : 2003
The board : ESN Tallinn Annual Members’ Meeting elects four to eight board members for the mandate period of one year. Annual General Meeting will currently happen both in
January (Vice President and new positions) and in May (President, Event Manager).
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Board members as of November 2015:
• President: Matis Palm, matis@esn.ee
• Vice President: Jaana Albert, jaana@esn.ee
• Event Manager: Elina Goman, elina@esn.ee
• General contact address of the board: juhatus@esn.ee
Partner Universities (8) : Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, Estonian
Academy of Music and Theatre, University of Applied Sciences, Tallinn Health Care College,
Estonian Information Technology College, Estonian Academy of Security Sciences,
Euroacademy.
Number of members in Autumn 2015 : around 40 active members
Number of international students in Autumn 2015: ~1500
Events organized during the semester :
ESN Tallinn kicks the semester off with an Orientation Week at the beginning of the semester with
Meet and Mix games,
City Game,
Bus Tour,
Movie Night together with Travel Meeting about St. Petersburg and Lapland Trips,
Welcome Party.
ESN Tallinn provides a variety of social events for the international students throughout the semester. Several of them have become traditional monthly events , among them
ESN Movie Night dedicated to Estonian cinema,
Board Game nights
ESN Quiz Tournament meant for both local and international students
Parties with different themes. (UV parties, White T-shirt, Traffic light, Spa Party,
Karaoke nights)
During the semester they offer
Cultural events (Opera and Ballet Visits, Wine tasting nights etc.),
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Science events ( Visiting E-Showroom, local science events, together in cooperation with Estonian Research Council)
Sports events (Bicycle Trip, Salsa lessons, Football Tournament, orienteering, Ice
skating etc.),
Trips (Lapland and St. Petersburg, Tactical Action Weekend, Wild Bog, Scuba Diving)
Different competitions
SocialErasmus events
(Photo Competition, Travel Writers).
(Playdates, Free Hug Days)
Visits from Different ESN Sections
Participating in ESN Sea Battle
ESN Tallinn Diary project
(From Finland, and Baltic states)
and Pirates of the Baltic Sea
For their members , ESN Tallinn offers trainings (2 day motivational and training Weekend outside of Tallinn) and motivational events, and also the possibility to take part in international youth exchanges and ESN International events and promotes joining National
Platforms of other countries. We also try to motivate our members to join our local National
Platforms as often as possible.
Member meetings take place biweekly mostly on Tuesdays in our lovely Student House, where our office is located (Raekoja Plats - Townhall Square)
We try to provide our members with Guidelines for organizing events and giving them a look at our section activities as far ahead as possible with a Semester Action Plan and Event
Organizing Bible .
Section development: The first activities of ESN Tallinn started in 2002 and in January 2003
ESN Tallinn was officially founded. ESN Tallinn had its very first experience with Erasmus students at Tallinn Pedagogical University (currently Tallinn University). As the popularity of exchange programs and numbers of incoming international students increased, ESN Tallinn decided to take care of exchange students also in other higher education institutions. Today,
ESN Tallinn is a partner to eight higher education institutions in Tallinn. Due to the increasing amount of arriving exchange students throughout the years, ESN Tallinn has gathered more manpower on a voluntary basis in order to successfully cope with incoming students. This has also affected the range of organized activities in a very positive way. The
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offered activities range from quizzes to movie nights, from trips to sports events. ESN Tallinn and its active members’ contributions have definitely had a huge positive effect on the development of ESN in Estonia and in making the cooperation in Tallinn work better. ESN
TUT IC, ESN TU IC and ESN Tallinn have had a long lasting cooperation by members of each section being able to join both sections at the same time and by inviting each other to help and participate in each sections events.
ESN TUT International Club
Founding of ESN section: 2009
Founding of International Club: 21.10.2003
Board members as of November 2015:
President: Jekaterina Lõkašova, kate.lykas@gmail.com
Event Manager: Aleksandra Gavrilina, aleksandra.gavrilina@gmail.com
Communication and WEB Manager: Wael AbuSeada, painlessr@gmail.com
General contact address of the board: esn.tut.ic@tipikas.ee
Partner University: Tallinn University of Technology
Number of members in autumn 2015: 25 ESNers + 45 Buddyes
Number of international students in autumn 2015: erasmus tudents: 350 + degree students: 500
Events organized during the semester:
The semester for exchange students and their buddies begins with Orientation Days as ESN
TUT IC cooperates with TUT International Relations Office (IRO) to make the first days for new incoming students in the university as smooth and memorable as possible. During the
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first week students also meet their buddies for pizza and karaoke in the student bar
Pööning. The week is highlighted with the Estonian Evening and Pub Crawl as one of the first
(as well as favourite) events for students the whole semester!
ESN TUT IC organizes a variety of events and trips chosen by members’ preferences i.e.
Survival trip and the most legendary event for students as well as the buddies trip to South-
Estonia. In addition, there are presentations of national foods and culture in a series of parties - Estonian Evening, International Dinner. The IC takes the students to different organizations - Parliament, Saku Brewery, Kalev Chocolate factory, Maritime Museum etc.
Obviously, IC introduces local student life through Tallinn Student Days and shows the
Estonian student spirit through participation in the Independence Day Parade. The section also keeps TUT foreign students active with sports (Football tournament in cooperation with
ESN Tallinn, laser tag, carting, Nõmme Adventure Park etc.), and takes them to sauna. The IC organizes SocialErasmus events such as visits to dog shelters and orphanages.
Section development:
Tallinn University of Technology joined the Erasmus Program in 1998. Until autumn 2003,
International Relationship Office (IRO) and the Student Council International Relations (IR)
Committee were taking care of all international students. 21. October 2003 is known as the birthday of TUT International Club. In the autumn semester of 2004, around 30 international students arrived to TUT (exchange and degree students). Every student got a tutor from the
IC who helped them starting from their arrival.
In 2005, the first logo was created for the IC, the survival guide for international students was compiled and a number of events, which have become so-called standard events of the
International Club, were organized. In 2008, the first version of the IC webpage was launched. In 2009, students studying in TUT Kohtla-Järve branch also got tutors.
TUT IC became an ESN section in 2009 and thus got the new name it carries today: ESN TUT
IC. Due to the increased number of foreign students, 2 additional board members were elected to the IC board.
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In January 2010, the IC helped to re-found IAESTE Estonia and has been cooperating with it ever since. During spring 2010 semester, the new IC website was installed and new logo created. Since autumn 2011 ESN TUT IC has an office (U01-225) in the newly built Student
House of TUT.
The IC has developed rapidly in the past few years, and as the university is becoming more international and the number of incoming students is rising, the members’ list is much longer than 13 names that it was in 2004. Also, the event calendar is becoming more diverse to offer degree students entertainment during their degree studies in TUT.
Thanks to ESN TUT IC wonderful members they have a new logo (seen above), their own flag and a club mascot - Tutic. From fall semester 2013, ESN TUT IC also started supporting all incoming degree students. In light of that, the board positions were redistributed and IC is now governed by 4 board members. During summer 2014 the official T-shirt was launched.
ESN TU IC
Founding of ESN section : 2009
Founding of International Club : 2006
Board members as of November 2015:
President: Elis Koor, ic@esindus.ee
Event Manager: Karin Salu, icevent@esindus.ee
Communication Manager: Doris-Marii Kondrat, ickomm@esindus.ee
Language Café: Karin Salu, icevent@esindus.ee
EiS coordinator: Karolin Aariste, karolinaariste@gmail.com
SocialErasmus coordinator: Anna-Liisa Altmets, annaliisa.altmets@gmail.com
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Partner University : Tallinn University
Number of members in Autumn 2015 : 40
Number of international students in Autumn 2015 : 539
Events organized during the semester: Semester will start with Welcome party, which will take place in Kochi Aidad – it’s a great place with good Estonian beer and cuisine! The biggest events of the semester are Estonian Evening and International Express. The Estonian
Evening is an event where ESN TU IC introduces Estonian culture and food to foreign students. International Express is for foreign students to introduce their country and food.
Every semester there is one theme trip to Viljandi and Tartu (autumn semester) and
Otepää/Tartu (spring semester). Every trip introduces Estonia in different ways: nature, culture and sport activities.
ESN TU IC goes hiking as well. In autumn semester there is mushroom picking. It is a nice way to show real Estonian culture and spend time in nature. In spring semester, there is a one-day trip to an island, for example Prangli.
There is also Language Café, where local students and exchange students gather together.
Exchange students can introduce their culture and teach basic language trough games. Local students can practice languages and make foreign friends.
During the semester, a series of events called Museum Month is also organized which means that there are different excursions: Parliament, Skype, KUMU, Seaplane Harbour, etc.
Tutors are motivated through team building events like dinners together, bowling etc. In the end of each semester we organise thank you event for out tutors, to show them appreciation in their work.
ESN TU IC also organises SocialErasmus events and Erasmus in Schools visits.
Section development:
ESN TU IC was founded as TU International Club in the summer of 2006 as part of Tallinn
University Student Union. The first semester, there were 12 tutors and the board consisted of one member. During 2006/2007, there were 161 international students in Tallinn
University. In 2007, the board of IC became bigger, consisting of three members – President
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and Managers for Culture and Advising. In 2008/2009, there were 309 foreign students, who were tutored by 25 tutors. In spring 2009, TU International Club became an ESN section
(ESN TU IC), at the same time remaining also under the Student Union of the university.
In 2010, there were changes in the board which continued with two members – President and Culture Manager. The tasks of the Advising Manager were taken over by the President.
The same year, a new tutoring system (based on a tutors’ training in Helsinki) was introduced – ESN TU IC tutors started to work in pairs. In 2009/2010, there were 31 tutors and 196 foreign students. In autumn semester 2010, there were 137 incoming foreign students and the biggest number of members so far – 44. In 2010/2011, there were 348 international students. In 2011/2012, there were 406 international. In 2012/2013, there were 554 international students. In 2013/2014, there are 307 international students and 28 tutors. From January 2014 – December 2014 board continued to consist of 1 person. Since
2015 and new structural changes in TU Student Union, the ESN TU IC board have now 3 people: president (Elis Koor), Event Manager (Karin Salu) and Communication Manager
(Doris-Marii Kondrat). Plus great team consisting of SocialErasmus, Language Café and
Erasmus in School coordinators and amazing 40 tutors.
ESN EBS
Founding of ESN section : 2009
Founding of International Club : 2003
Partner University : Estonian Business School
Board members as of November 2015 : section is inactive
President:
Contact person:
General contact address of the board: ebs@esn.ee
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Events organized during the semester:
Throughout the semester, EBS International Club organizes different cultural events, trips and parties. For exchange students and their tutors, the semester begins with Meet & Mix,
Halloween Party and with an Orientation Day to make the first day memorable and melt the ice as quickly as possible. This is followed by a Pub Tour which is one of the students’ the most favourite events of the whole semester! The biggest event of the semester is
International Dinner. International Dinner is an event where foreign students introduce their country and food and ESN EBS introduces Estonian culture and food to foreign students. Furthermore, foreign students are integrated to local students’ life through Tallinn
Student Days and shown the Estonian student spirit through participation in the
Independence Day Parade. They are also taken to our unforgettable St. Petersburg and
Lapland trips, hosted by ESN Tallinn.
The section also keeps EBS foreign students active with sports. There's a possibility to play volleyball, football or basketball once a week and of course, they are taken to sauna, a SPA,
Paintball, etc. (for example each year ESN goes to ice skating, ESN football tournament, ESN bus tour, ESN city game, etc.). As soon as winter arrives, there is a Winter Week which includes winter sports like skiing, ice-skating and snowboarding. We also have chance to offer to our students a quiz tournament, where they can show their knowledge about the country.
Section development:
Today, more than 40% of the student body of EBS is made up of international students. EBS has expanded their activities and since 2011 has successfully opened a branch in Helsinki, where currently about 150 students are studying. EBS has more than 70 partner universities all over the world. With a wide number of exchange students and lecturers, the school has grown into one of the biggest private universities in the Baltic region. At EBS, international entrepreneurship and business administration are taught at bachelor, master and doctor levels. EBS is also the only private university in Estonia. EBS has ranked among Top 300 business schools in the world by Eduniversal for 6 years in a row, even reaching the top 3%.
Most of all, EBS is proud of its alumni for their exceptional work success. The official
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activities of alumni started in 1997 and continue with regular activities and annual agenda to this day. The success of EBS strongly lies in the hand of its alumni and their standing support thanks to better communication between the tutors and the international students, by which they can continue their cooperation already in other fields of life like work. Over time, the International Club has become more and more popular at EBS – many more active tutors have joined the IC. Compared to previous years many new events have been added to the program. Also, nowadays there is much more communication between the tutors and the international students. ESN EBS is still the smallest ESN section in Estonia, but as long as they have the motivation to carry on, they will survive and be very successful in the future, we are sure.
ESN INTERNATIONAL
FOUNDING OF ESN
In 1989, the Erasmus Bureau invited 32 former Erasmus Students for an evaluation meeting in Gent, Belgium. This meeting was a starting point for Erasmus Student Network. The problems that became obvious in the evaluation were the main tasks for the founders of
ESN to work on. Behind all this stood the idea "students helping students", which is still the most important motto of ESN volunteers.
On 16th of October 1989, the first section using the name Erasmus Student Network, was founded in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Following that, ESN sections were founded in various
European universities, and with financial support from the European Commission, in
October 1990 the meeting for the official founding of ESN International was organized in
Copenhagen, Denmark with 49 participants from almost all member states of the EC. ESN
International became a legal association. Desiree Majoor from Utrecht, Netherlands was the first president in ESN history.
STRUCTURE OF ESN
ESN operates on three structural levels: International, National and Local, which are naturally connected to each other. The communication and information-flow between the
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different levels is secured thanks to different channels, but mainly thanks to ESN meetings throughout the year on the National, Regional and International level.
The International level of ESN consists of
• Annual General Meeting (AGM) is the highest decision-making body of ESN International.
It is composed of all the official ESN section representatives of our member countries. The
AGM meets once a year.
• International Board (IB) , also known as the Board, is the executive Body of ESN. It consists of five members: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Communication Manager and Web
Projects Administrator (WPA) who are elected for a one year mandate at the AGM. The
Board members are working full-time on a voluntary basis at the ESN headquarters in
Brussels.
• Council of National Representatives (CNR) is composed of all National Representatives
(NRs) of the ESN countries and acts as the primary facilitator for communication between the Board and the sections. The CNR represents AGM during the ESN year and is one of the main strategic bodies of ESN International by collaborating with and advising the Board.
• Committees are the implementing bodies of ESN and composed of ESN-ers from all levels.
It is an opportunity for local ESN-ers to get involved on the international level and contribute directly to international projects. Joining a Committee can benefit you from a personal development perspective. For example, being chair of a committee can be a good practice for your future working life; or when you are studying statistics – why not to use the data or work on one of ESN research projects like ESNsurvey for your university projects or homework? In general, the Committees are an advisory and implementing body of ESN.
They are composed of a Chair, maximum number of two Vice Chairs and additional members working on different tasks.
The Committees and their working fields are (respective Board member):
• International Committee for Education (President): long-term strategy for educational policy, research related projects (e.g. ESNsurvey and PRIME), active participation in international education initiatives, etc.
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• Network Committee (Vice President): network cooperation, network development, knowledge management, coordinating the statutory and non-statutory meetings, etc.
• Finance Committee (Treasurer): advising management and auditing of the budget, partnership development, marketing and financial strategy.
• Communication Committee (Communication Manager): communication strategy, press & media, social networks, ESN Newsletter, PR material, Corporate Identity.
• IT Committee (Web Project Administrator): external IT tools as websites, internal IT tools as Info-Centre, Satellite, Galaxy, etc.
The National level of ESN
On the National level (e.g. ESN Estonia), ESN members are active in National Boards (NB).
They are the binding force between the sections, but are also acting as a link between the
Local and International level of ESN. The sections meet on a National level several times a year at the National Platforms (NP), where the issues relevant for the country are discussed.
The Estonian sections gather four times a year (usually in February, May, August and
November) and the NPs are organized in rotation between the sections.
The Local level of ESN
The Local level is the core of ESN because it consists of the local sections (e.g. ESN Tallinn).
They work directly for the well-being of international students, who are also the main target group of ESN. Through the sections ESN International has the opportunity to work on the development of student mobility. In Estonia, we have five sections: ESN Tartu, ESN Tallinn,
ESN TUT IC, ESN TU IC and ESN EBS.
ESN MEETINGS AND EVENTS
ESN International organizes many international events throughout the year which can be divided to statutory meetings and non-statutory meetings. The events are organized by the local sections with the coordination, help and support from the International Board.
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Statutory meetings
• Annual General Meeting (AGM) is our general assembly, where all official ESN sections of our member countries are invited to make decisions for the future and strategy of the network. As the AGM is a perfect opportunity to exchange information between all the sections, a lot of time is dedicated to different plenary sessions and workshops concerning
Local, National and International level of ESN.
• Council of National Representatives (CNR) takes place five times a year, when the NR-s of
ESN countries and the International Board come together to discuss all important issues and make decisions which concern the current situation and future of the network.
• Council of National Delegates (CND) is constituted of NR-s and two additional delegates
(ND) from each country. It is an annual meeting, which takes place in December. The main aim of the event is to integrate all the ESN levels better and to show to all the ND-s the work of the CNR and International Board.
• Board Meetings (BM) take place on a monthly basis. The IB members discuss during these two-day meetings all relevant issues and focus on the planning of further actions in the whole network.
Non-statutory meetings
• National Boards Meeting (NBM) is an informal meeting for the National Board members of countries belonging to ESN. The goal of the meeting is to create an opportunity for
National Boards to get to know each other, communicate and cooperate, share experiences and best practices and involve them in the activities of the international level of ESN.
• Cultural Medley (CM) is an annual event, taking place in the summer time in which a section, a city or a country presents itself culturally to the rest of ESN through many exciting activities and lectures about the local culture, history and traditions.
• CoMeet is the meeting of all the committees, giving the committee members the opportunity to exchange information between committees, work in the committees on the different projects and fields.
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• Regional Platforms (RP) give section members from a certain region the opportunity to come together to share knowledge, establish partnerships, learn about new developments within the network and talk about the matters which concern their sections on the Local and National level. The member countries of ESN are divided into 5 regions, where the RP-s take place:
• Northern European Platform (NEP): Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway,
Sweden, Russia
• Central European Platform (CEP): Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania,
Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
• South-Eastern European Platform (SEEP): Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Italy*, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
• South-Western European Platform (SWEP): France, Italy*, Malta, Portugal, Spain
• Western European Platform (WEP): Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, United Kingdom
*Italy belongs to both the South-Eastern European Platform and the South-Western
European Platform.
• Section Meetings (SM) were established thanks to the growing cooperation between sections from different ESN countries. It is an informal meeting with the goal to share ideas and knowledge, develop common projects and new activities and enhance their mutual understanding and cooperation.
National and Regional Events
ESN Ibiza: ESN Spain organizes an amazing ESN Ibiza event every year that will rock your socks off! In 2010, around 2000 exchange students and 100 ESNers from all over Europe enjoyed this annual event, where 12 Spanish ESN sections were involved. Four crazy nights and five amazing days. There are activities planned for every day (and every night), so there is always something interesting to do! This is a perfect opportunity to get to know the island of Ibiza, visit the Formentera Island, sunbathe on different beaches, and have a water party, a club party, a foam party and many more!
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ESN Sea Battle: ESN Sweden’s National event. International students from Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania participate. In a triangular cruise between Tallinn and Stockholm (or Riga and Stockholm as was the case in spring 2014), around 1800 exchange students and some international participants get the chance to party during the night and see beautiful Baltic Sea cities during the day.
Hel(l) Surfin’ : sport event taking place in Poland. The participants have an opportunity to learn the basics of windsurfing taught by professionals. It is an international event which aims to promote values such as unity, equality and mutual understanding. Besides windsurfing, there are some extra attractions like volleyball tournament, swimming on pontoon, sailing lessons, integration parties and debates about the cultural differences.
Estonian Wedding: With the creation of ESN Estonia as a separate body, the idea to start organizing our own national event started growing. The idea for a traditional Estonian wedding came up and never left our minds. It is a tradition in Estonia to make a mockwedding as a part of your senior year in high school where a bride and groom are elected in the class and everyone else also gets specific roles: mother and father of the bride, the couple’s best friends, etc. And we decided that the event needed to take place at one of the most beautiful places in Estonia: on our biggest island, Saaremaa. And so, our national event
Estonian Wedding in Saaremaa was born and held for the first time in May, 2013. There were about 100 participants: international students, local ESN’ers plus even two international guests and everyone enjoyed it. There was sightseeing, traditional evening activities and parties and a wedding ceremony near a castle. It takes place once a year in
May.
ESN INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Through the years, ESN International has launched different short- and long-term projects, which you should know and where you also have the opportunity to participate.
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PRIME – Problems of Recognition In Making Erasmus
Students in Europe enjoy great opportunities of mobility through exchange programs such as the Erasmus Programme. However, they still have to face various barriers and obstacles and among them, recognition is a continuous problem. For this reason, ESN is conducting an in-depth qualitative research to point out the true causes of the above mentioned obstacles and to provide suggestions for improvements. The first research was launched in 2009 and concluded in January 2010. Also, Estonian universities were participating in the research.
Additionally, ESN Tallinn organized a PRIME conference to introduce the results of the
European-wide study. The conference took place in December 2009 and Tallinn was one out of eleven cities to host a conference. The second edition of PRIME was carried out in 2011.
Info: www.esn.org
ESNSurvey
Every year, ESN launches a survey that explores the current issues connected to academic and non-academic mobility. This is one of the biggest and most successful projects of ESN.
The topic of the ESNSurvey 2014 was “International experience and language learning”.
Through the gathered opinions of students, ESN gets a better insight into the issues and is able to represent the students’ real needs. ESN passes the results on to the main stakeholders in higher education and mobility programmes, higher education institutions and all associations concerned with the topic. Info: www.esn.org
Mov’in Europe
Mov'in Europe is an ESN campaign promoting mobility as a lifestyle, through the engagement of ambassadors in local, national and international activities. It is the flagship project of ESN in 2014, i.e. it is the most important project we are expected to promote on the national and local level. For more information, see their Facebook page .
ExchangeAbility
The main aim of the project is to make ESN an association accessible for students with disabilities on all the levels of its activities. This means that ESN wants to provide students
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with disabilities the conditions and opportunities to actively participate in student life.
Through participation and involvement in the activities of an ESN section, students with disabilities will be given an opportunity to experience the international and intercultural atmosphere associated with the exchange programmes. The long term vision of the project aims to encourage the increase of the number of exchange students with disabilities and to create the best conditions for them during their stay abroad. ESN Tallinn has tried to adjust its activities in order to be more accessible for students with disabilities. For example, most
ESN Tallinn meetings take place in wheelchair accessible spaces. Also, accessibility is considered when choosing venues for events. Also, there is a database regarding the study conditions for students with disabilities in universities in Tallinn. For more info go here .
As a part of the MapAbility section of the ExchangeAbility project, ESNers all over Europe have started mapping these conditions and hopefully thus increasing awareness on this topic and improving the situation. Info : exchangeability.esn.org
SocialErasmus
SocialErasmus is a project created by ESN Poland aiming at involving Exchange students actively in local communities under three main fields: Environment, Education and Charity.
On the international level, another project was launched under the Education pillar of
SocialErasmus called Erasmus in Schools where international students are taken to local schools where they can teach children about their home country, language or simply tell them about their experience abroad. Erasmus in Schools really took off in Estonia in fall
2013 and both the schools and international have loved the experience. Under
SocialErasmus, ESN Estonia has also organized visits to homeless animal shelters, a Charity
Bachelor Auction, Flea Market, and Playdates for international students and children from difficult backgrounds. Every year, ESN Estonia also participates in the Let’s do it! Clean-up action. These events have received very positive feedback from every side. Info: socialerasmus.esn.org
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ESNcard
ESNcard was created with the principle idea to be used as a membership card, but depending on the section/country it may also be used to offer discounts. The validity of the
ESNcard is 12 months; it is invalid without a photo and correct personal data. In Estonia, we use the card mostly as a membership card - to give discounts and to give a priority in participating in ESN events - but we are really glad to offer also discounts all over Estonia.
Currently we offer more than 50 discounts in Estonia for the card holders. Both international students and ESN members can get their very own ESNcard. Info: www.esn.org
and http://esncard.org/
Erasmusintern.org
Provides a place where companies and organizations can publish their traineeship offers and search for trainees and where students who want to do a traineeship abroad can have their profiles, search and apply for traineeships vacancies. It’s a web platform that ESN
International has developed with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the
European Commission and is a part of the STORY project. This project aims at improving the accessibility and quality of international traineeships, as well as at increasing the awareness on the existence of such opportunities for youth. In order to achieve this, a research on the subject was committed, and this online platform is being developed in order to enhance students’ international opportunities on the European job market.
Are you looking for a traineeship? Sign up on erasmusintern.org.
ESN Satellite
Satellite is the free website template for ESN sections, developed and maintained by ESN IT
Committee. The latest version, Satellite 4, was launched in 2013. The aim of the ESN
Satellite is to provide sections a free and easy-to-use webpage solution. In Estonia, ESN
Estonia, ESN Tallinn and ESN Tartu are using the Satellite. Info: http://galaxy.esn.org
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ESN Galaxy
Galaxy is the intranet of ESN, where all the members can sign up. On Galaxy it is possible to find all the contacts of the ESN sections around Europe, see events organized by them and download ESN-related materials. ESN Galaxy is located at galaxy.esn.org
LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION?
Still do not know enough about ESN International? Great, we have some good hints for you through which communication channels of ESN you can find more information.
Esn.org
On the official homepage of ESN International you can find all the important information about ESN and its activities beginning with our vision, mission, values and statutes; activities, projects and upcoming events and additionally special information for students about exchange programmes and for sections about their benefits for being in the network.
ESN Newsletter
Our newsletter is released every 1st and 15th of the month and can be read on the ESN website www.esn.org/newsletter as well as it is distributed to the ESN members via mailing lists for subscribed readers. In the Newsletter you can find subjects as Reminder, Topic of the month, Get involved, ESNews, ESN Events and also EU connected issues.
ESN Estonia’s Newsletter for members: released at the end of every month, you can find it either in your inbox or the ESN Estonia Members Facebook group.
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ABBREVIATIONS IN ESN
RP
SEEP
SM
SWEP
WEP
CoMeet
IB
NB
NBM
ND
NEP
NP
NR
OC
The abbreviations you should know to understand the “ESN language”
AGM
BM
Annual General Meeting
Board Meeting
CEP
CM
CND
CNR
Central European Platform
Cultural Medley
Council of National Delegates
Council of National Representatives
International Board
National Board
National Boards’ Meeting
National Delegate
Northern European Platform
National Platform
National Representative
Organizing Committee
Regional Platform
South Eastern European Platform
Sections’ Meeting
South Western European Platform
Western European Platform
All Committees Meeting
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