Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and AEGEE are two abbreviations that are usually mentioned together in a rather negative context. The competition between their local branches in countries like Spain, Italy and surely more has been increasing for a while, but in Brussels, both the Comité Directeur of AEGEE and the board of ESN are asking for a change.
The Erasmus Student Network has currently 452 associations all around Europe, and their aim is to improve the experience of international and exchange students during their stay abroad. In the European level, they advocate for improved policies regarding Europe, young people and higher education, in particular in the fields of mobility. Stefan Janke, President of ESN, told The AEGEEan more in detail what they do: “We base ourselves upon the motto: Unity in Diversity, Diversity in Unity. That means that every ESN section is organising a range of very different activities. The majority of our sections organise a buddy or mentor system, support international students during the welcome days and organise a range of social activities. These can be cultural visits, trips and parties to bring the students together. During the last year we put a lot of emphasis on social projects such as SocialErasmus, where we encourage international students to volunteer in the local community e.g. by doing charity events for local children hospitals or teaching lessons in local high schools.”
The AEGEEan interview Stefan Janke and Kathrin Renner of the Comité Directeur on the chances of building a bridge between the two associations.
Part of the two boards together
The AEGEEan: How does both the boards of AEGEE and ESN collaborate in the European level?
Kathrin: We meet regularly in different events related to students, youth and mobility, as we work with similar target groups and are viewed as two of the big three student organisations that can be consulted in questions of mobility etc. We are also in the same “block” of organsations of the European Youth Forum, the Exchange Group, and advocate together for the needs and requests of our organisations. We are also both members and a bit of the driving force within IFISO, the Informal Forum of International Student Organisations. That is why, in general, we have good personal relations. We usually attend each other’s events and in the past, there were even a lot of social activities between the international boards, but in the last years, this was dropped a bit due to our busy schedules.
Last year, we started to work closer through the EVA project (Erasmus Voting Assessment), a research that we are implementing together to find out if Erasmus students are more likely to participate in European elections than their peers and support the European Union more in general.
In general, both organisations have similar concerns and aims in terms of advocacy, which is why we collaborate quite a lot.
Stefan: The collaboration between AEGEE and ESN in Brussels is manifold. First of all, we are sharing good practices on the Network management with each other. Secondly we are partners in many projects and actively support the promotion of each other’s activities. Thirdly, we are advocating together. As two of the biggest student organisations, we have the duty to work together to improve the situation for students and young people all around Europe. Last but not least, we are trying to attend each other’s social activities here in Brussels. The personal bond between the different boards is as important as the formal collaboration.
The AEGEEan: Why do you think that there is a competition between AEGEE and ESN?
Stefan: I believe that in the local level there is often the perception that AEGEE and ESN have to compete. Surely, a healthy amount of competition can make both organisations stronger. In the end we have a similar mission, vision and values and our aim should be to foster the collaboration between our organisations also in the local level. Together we can be much stronger than alone and the ones we should try to influence is higher education institutions, student councils and student unions.
Kathrin: Both organisations are very similar in many ways: two student organisations with a European scope that attract internationally-minded students and support mobility.
In the local level, we have a similar target group: internationally-minded students that are interested in Europe. That is why we often compete when it comes to recruitment of new members. And, of course, a point of dispute is the Erasmus programme: AEGEE has always been a supporter of the programme, being one of the reasons why it came into being, and organising activities for international students has always been part of our activities and it is a big focus for some of our locals. While this is not the core activity of AEGEE and we have many other things to offer as well, ESN has managed to establish a strong brand as being the organsation for Erasmus students.
Instead of collaborating, we often try to profile ourselves and make ourselves more visible than the other organisation, which is where the conflict comes from.
The AEGEEan: How do you think ESN and AEGEE could collaborate on a local level?
Kathrin: I think that on the local level, the boards of both organisations should sit together and develop a common strategy of how both organisations can benefit from the cooperation. There are a lot of possibilities how, instead of threatening each other, both organisations can coexist perfectly. The key lies in defining the profiles and scopes of activities of each organisation and sticking to it, organising some activities together, while for others its clearly defined who is responsible. Examples are: ESN takes care of the international students at university X, while AEGEE is more responsible at the university Y. Or: ESN organises parties for international students, while AEGEE is more responsible for the integration with local students, language courses etc. Trips could be organised commonly, common offers could be raised with bars and clubs in each of the cities etc.
Stefan: As mentioned before, I am certain that collaboration on the local level is necessary for successfully fulfilling our organisations’ aims. Organising events together, advocating for a better situation for students and learning from each other can help both organisations. We should work on making the students’ voice heard and doing it together can only benefit all of us!
The AEGEEan: Are there already examples of ESN and AEGEE collaborating on the local level?
Kathrin: Yes, I know that in Toulouse, they have been collaborating as they are located in different universities, in Heidelberg the two organisations are working together, and I am sure that there are lots of other examples.
Stefan: I have heard of some examples where ESN and AEGEE are organising parties and trips together. I think there is a lot of room for improvement though, and I hope that more and more organisations will understand the importance of working together on bigger issues than working against each other on small ones.
The AEGEEan: Do you think it is possible to make a change in this topic?
Stefan: I am more than convinced that we can change the situation. It is also up to the European level of our organisations to make AEGEE’s and ESN’s organisations on the local level aware of the great chances that exist when collaborating.
Many International Relation Offices told me that they would be very happy to see ESN and AEGEE work closely together on fulfilling their aims. Let’s make it a reality! Let’s think about a positive future together and foster our collaboration! Our headquarters here in Brussels are always open to hear your concerns and support you in collaborating. Don’t be afraid to contact us.
Kathrin: Yes, if we accept each other not as competitor, but work together to achieve a bigger impact. It’s not worth it to invest a lot of energy into “battling” each other instead of organising great high-level activities. It is definitely possible, it just depends on the willingness of each of the organisations to sit down and compromise. In the end, we want the same things, so let’s work towards them together!
Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza