News

Campus Europae and the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, in the person of Prof. Leonidas Donskis, will organize a seminar about “Student Mobility and European Citizenship” at the European Parliament, on the 18th November 2010.

The purpose of the event is to allow Campus Europae, European Parliamentarians, the European University Association, the Erasmus Student Network and the European Council of Student Affairs to discuss together how the design of student exchange programmes can be improved vis-à-vis instilling a sound understanding of the origins and values of the European project.

In attendance will also be 10 CE Alumni, whose contributions are expected to light up the discussion and keep it within touching distance of the matters that matter. The selection of the CE Alumni was done through an essay competition in which they elaborated on the interrelation between academic exchange and European citizenship, thus outlining the debate that will take place in Brussels. The good adhesion to the initiative has provided an excellent poll of remarks, as well as thought provoking suggestions on how to improve mobility programmes and render European citizenship a more tangible and widespread reality.

We would like to thank all Alumni who participated in this project, and as a token of our appreciation we publish bellow some short passages of essays that, in spite of not have been selected, strengthened our believe that Campus Europae students really do tend to develop strong and informed views about Europe’s raison d’être.

On the need for outreach: “There is still a lack of information: not everyone, at least here in Baltic, really knows what is Erasmus or Campus Europae. In order to motivate the next generation for a deeper zealous studying approach and make them fully conscious of being European citizens, there should be a strong “propaganda” for academic exchange programmes.” (Veronika Sopova)

On virtual mobility: “It is impossible to raise intercultural competence by watching documentatiries on TV and having no direct contact to other cultures.” (Liene Pucite)

On bettering financing: “Even if an increment on the amount of money invested in those programmes would be well received, the key resides on how the money is distributed among students: the rationale for economical aids should definitively be based on the students’ financial possibilities, their country of origin and the final destination. For student mobility programmes, if money distribution were taken into consideration the EU would maximize the utility of its resources.“ (Juan Cantero)

On language learning:
"to make people actually learn a new language well is a challenge because there are many students who use mainly English even they are studying in Spain. In my opinion speaking Spanish in Spain would give them so much more from the exchange period“ (Juho Juvonen)

“Mobility encourages students to learn foreign languages. The language we speak helps define who we are. Knowing other languages promotes mutual understanding, breaks cultural stereotypes and creates direct communication between individual citizens in an expanding and more diverse Europe” (Sylwia Luszcek)

On borders:
“It is very important that mobility-programs try to include EU border-regions into their concept. This could help the EU – outside its borders - not to be seen as a gigantic fortress, who does not let anybody in, who comes from outside” (Camilo Breitling)

"Visa and fellowships remain big problems for Russian students while participation should be improved beyond students with excellent academic records . We should work towards a situation when students from all countries will have approximately equal opportunities for mobility, even beyond the frames of the European Union”. (Anna Pilicheva)

On studying abroad and its (un)intended consequences:
“I come from Latvia, and before going abroad I considered myself as a Latvian. Of course I knew about European Union and European citizenship, but in my mind it was something far and unreachable. My peers don’t watch Europe in the news, many don’t know which countries are members or witch rights they can claim. The vast majority of Europe’s citizens are immobile, settled within their national borders which they only leave for short trips. For me this all changed after one year abroad, because student mobility is a new way of thinking about space. Getting to know other European countries, other citizens, getting involved in European daily life – it made me feel like we all have common goals, that Europeans are similar and it’s great that we can join in one union, because together we are stronger. Now I definitely consider myself as European.” (Agnet Avota)

 “Students get to discover new ways of thinking, various models of education, different political and economical issues and exciting cultures” (Liene Kukaine)

“As an architect it is very useful to see the world, meet new people, because by connecting many great things together I can come up with new, useful and innovative ideas” (Norbert Harmati)

“When we declare to be aware of being European it is because we saw, we felt, we touched this reality and we personally experienced what this means. What I would like to say is that we should spread it out by our voices, in order to make the world realize that we are the direct ambassadors of a “passport”, and this passport is the proportional result of our efforts to become one nation, and student mobility is a basic step to understand it.”  (Silvia Crocita)

“There should be no doubts that the experience of cultural and academic diversity promotes tolerance and reduces discrimination; that the international integration can lead to personal enrichment and a less xenophobic world.” (Sylwia Luszcek)

“I have realized that the famous motto of the European Union In varietate concordiai is not just an allegation. I have met students from different European countries. Although we spoke different languages and had different ethnic origin we were surely united in diversity.” (Alfia Adgamova)