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The Campus Europae Student Council is hard at work on its most ambitious project to date: a symbolic protest for more and better student mobility which will see students pedaling 4000km from Novi Sad to St. Petersburg. This 10 week long event will start on the 3rd of July in Serbia and cross Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Russia aiming to remind politicians that student mobility is not quite as easy as it should - but also to demonstrate to fellow students that spending a year abroad is a far less demanding way to learn about other countries and cultures!

The Ride for your Rights is being organized in close partnership with the Erasmus Student Network and both student bodies have undersigned a manifesto addressed to “the European Parliament, the EU Commission, National governments and all European Universities”. The Manifesto calls out for a rethinking of how student mobility is financed, the development of more flexible curricula and a great deal more of protection for students who are faced with recognition problems. You can read and sign the Manifesto here.

All active European Citizens and organizations that identify themselves with the spirit of the initiative are welcome to pedal along – participation is free and the organizers hope to be joined by many hundreds of fellow cyclists! It does not matter whether one joins for 2 months, 2 week, 2 days or even 2 hours – however those who would like to spend several days with the Ride are encouraged to use the online pre-registration formulary, which will enable the organizers to sort out logistics in the best possible manner. Check the website for more details about the itinerary and other practical information.

The Ride pivotal idea is to physically and metaphorically bridge Europe’s variety of landscapes, cultures and languages under the notion that only through the advancement of student mobility these will become fully cherished and appreciated. But there is a lot more to it than going from city to city in a eco-sustainable fashion: in each of the main stops the Ride, which will include 10 Campus Europae universities, participants will seek to meet with academic and politic authorities in order to ask them to throw their weight behind the notion that student mobility needs to be well funded and remain high in the agenda of the European Higher Education Area. In addition to lobbying there will also be seminars on citizenship, workshops on about peaceful intervention and visits to memorial sites. Past, present and future will be interweaved with a view to facilitate a deeper understanding of the European project and how younger generations can best be brought in contact with its ideals.

The sheer originality of the Ride for your Rights is attracting a lot of attention, and there is an ever-growing list of personalities endorsing it! Athletes from across the continent immediately understood the beauty of marrying a meaningful and peaceful demonstration with a healthy physical activity, and Maris Strombergs (BMX Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion, Latvia), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (professional basketball player at BC Zalgiris, Lithuania) and Iya Traore (professional football freestyler and Guiness World Record holder) have all expressed their support. Hildgard Goss-Mayr, who is the honorary president of IFOR and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has also voiced her backing; the Ride for your Rights is even nominated for the 2011 European Charlemagne Youth Prize – so we hope we can also count with your support, and perhaps pedal together for a few hours or days for better student mobility!

Ride for your Rights website