September 2012

IN THIS EDITION YOU WILL READ ABOUT:

Presentation of the ESN Sweden board

Zooming in at: ESN Luleå

Eduk8 training event

SocialErasmus Coordinators Meeting

International Committees

Sea Battle Fall 2012

NEP Tallinn

ESN and it’s benefits

ESN SwedenNewsletter

ESN SwedenBoard

Have you ever wondered about

who is writing all these mails,

have all these meetings and go to

all these events representing ESN

Sweden?

Here you can read more about the

ESN Sweden board!

Mr. President - Jonathan JelvesWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?The great team work we have. Everybody supports each other and that makes us achieve so much more. Also all the improvements and new things we’ve been doing for ESN Sweden. We can really feel how ESN Sweden is growing and it’s a privilege to be a part of it. And all the traveling and interesting meetings with ESN from all over the network, I had no idea before I joined the national board how much it gives you. I’m always looking forward to the Sea Battle, who isn’t? :P

ESN SwedenBoard

Mrs. Vice National Representative - Jennifer CarlssonWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?In general I am very happy to be on the board and enjoy the mere fact that we get along so well :). Of course I love all the travels I get to go to, and the work I get to do. I am looking forward to the AGM, as I haven’t been to one yet and the CND in Örebro!

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?11

What is your favourite ESN memory?Very hard one. I have been active for three years now, and so far almost every experience has been an incred-ible one. I love to remember last years introdcution in Kalmar when I was responsible for everything. It went

awesome and I was very proud to have pulled it off. Another cool moment was at the CNR in Reykjavik in may, when I realized that I’ve come a long way since that evening in december 2009 when I ran for the local board in ESN Kalmar and had no idea what I was getting myself into.

What country would you like to visit next and why?Next I will visit Croatia for the CNR, but apart from that I would love to go back to South America, visit the Faroe Islands, Ireland and go to Eastern Europe. Other future trips will definitely include Canada, Greece and New Zealand! I don’t want to miss out on anything the world has to offer!

Mr. National Representative - Stefan JahnkeWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?Probably the opportunity to learn so much about myself, about working in a group and of course the opportunity to be able to help international students on a much bigger scale than I was able to do when I was only active on the local level.

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?16

What is your favourite ESN memory?I think that the AGMs are always one of the most impressive and memorable events in ESN. And of course all the emotional good-byes that you have with your exchange friends at the end of each semester ...

But looking back the 3 years that I am working with ESN now I would say my favorite moment is the cottage weekend we had with the current National Board. It was just an amazing experience to get to know each other better, to work all day and come up with some crazy ideas for the year. I am so glad I am part of the National Board and I want to send some Hugs and Kisses to my amazing Board!

What country would you like to visit next and why?I am traveling to Italy, Brussels, Croatia and Macedonia in the next month. I guess that’s already really good :-). What I would really like though is to travel outside of the EU one day (I have never been *shame*) - Aus-tralia maybe or Mexico.

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?11

What is your favourite ESN memory?Kicking off the Sea Battle last spring. Honestly I had no idea I was supposed to do that before I got on the boat. I remember there was complete silence when I asked Lithuania to make some noice :P But Sweden and Denmark blew the roof of the place and the biggest event of the year was under way =)

What country would you like to visit next and why?France. I want to eat some cheese, smoke a cigar and just relax on a park bench somewhere in Paris. I have never been to France and I love that stereotype =)

Mrs. Vice President - Rosemarie RosénWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?The best thing would be the people! The national board, other ESNers, and so on. Apart from all the great things we are planning (e.g. Sea Battle) I am look-ing forward to our next physical board meeting since I missed the first one!

In how many languages can you say cheers at the top of your head?7

What is your favourite ESN memory?My favorite general ESN memory is when all the excited new international students arrive at the beginning of every semester!And all the friends I made!

What country would you like to visit next and why?I have to visit Japan! I was planning to go there in 2008 but went to the Philippines instead... So that is still on the top of my list. I want to see all the sights (and travel from the north to the south, following the blossoming of the cherry trees), shop a lot of stuff that you can’t find here, and visit my Japanese friends that I made through ESN. And go to concerts by my favorite artists and bands :D I was actually planning to move there after that planned visit in 2008 but I got stuck in Sweden and then I found ESN. >_<

ESN SwedenBoard

Mr. Project Coordinator - Stefano Natali

What has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?Well, first of all it was an adventure and a new challenge, totally different from my major of study and eve-rything I did in my life. I got in contact with the National Board and ESN Sweden last february for the NP in Linköping and I fell in love with our dear national ESN! From there I understood how important is to be involved and I wanted to improve myself also from this new side.I hope to help the exchanges students with communication and offering them more opportunities, and I am looking forward to that, trying to make everything satisfied.. seeing the exchange students happy is the best reward!

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?7

What is your favourite ESN memory?Well NP Linköping is a great memory, had a lot of fun there and started to know all the others ESNers around Sweden, my first NP so can never forget it! But since I was an exchange student before I will always remember my arrival days.. will never forget that moment when I started to know all the other students there with me.. everyone from a different coun-try, started talking for the very first time! Something that will always be in my mind, everything of those days (yeah also about that terrible rain the second day! :P )

What country would you like to visit next and why?I would love to visit all the nordic countries, I have never been to Norway and Den-mark for many reasons. Was planning there many times trips, but for a reason or another I have never been there. Travel to Finland again would be great as well. I love and always loved nordic countries, scenaries, culture, everything! Then also Germany would be great to visit since I have never been.

Mr. Treasurer - Magnus Åqvist

What has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?I have been travelling and met a lot of ESNers. I’m looking forward to the next Sea Battle - the event of the year. But also the celebration of the 25th year of the Erasmus programme.

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?4

What is your favourite ESN memory?Seabattle - so much fun going on there. But of course the NP in Örebro!

What country would you like to visit next and why? I would like to visit Ireland.

ESN SwedenBoard

Mr. Seabattle Coordinator - Oscar BoijeWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking forward to?Best thing is all the people I’ve met and worked with. I’ve been able to travel a lot and see places in Sweden and Europe I would never have visited during the last 3 years if I hadn’t been in the NB. ESN’ers are the best people - ever!What I’m mostly looking forward to right now is of course the next Sea Battle. A lot of work has been put into it, the sections and students are more excited than I’ve ever seen or felt it before - it just has to be perfect! I have a feeling it will be great. Are my expectations too high? We’ll see!

In how many languages can you say cheers off the top of your head?18 I think!

What is your favourite ESN memory?So many things... There is this certain trip between Brussels and Nancy in France with some great people that I’ll never forget. Also the dancing of the Sea Battle moveMENT at the AGM’s and the Singing in the Rain energiz-ers... But most probably, what I will still remember 30 years from now is the fact that I was the crazy “guy in the video” that the whole ESN network was talking about and dancing to for many months! =D

What country would you like to visit next and why?In Europe I would like to visit Ireland and Portugal. These two are the only major Western European countries that I haven’t visited so far. Outside of Europe there’s still so many places to see. Personal goal: All the countires in the UN (around 193 countries). So far: 54 countries. Still quite a way to go... =P

Mrs. Webmaster - Rotana Al-ShammariWhat has been the best thing about being on the national board so far, what are you looking for-ward to?The best thing is all the amazing people that I have met and the great friendships that I have created with this awesome National Board. We care a lot about each other and everyone has been so highly motivated about ESN. I’ve learned a lot more than my what I was expecting :). I’m looking forward to see a United ESN Satellite Nation in Sweden ;) In how many languages can you say cheers at the top of your head?3. Well, yeah, I’ve been too busy fixing the computer mess that people with 20 languages skills have been doing. #likeanerd

What is your favourite ESN memory?The Eduk8 training week was probably one of the best events that I attended in my whole life. Another good memory is the Torekov physical meeting with the National board. It was such a fun and fruitful weekend. I have so many other good memories from every single NP =)

What country would you like to visit next and why?South Africa. I have been to most of the countries in Europe and tasted the charm of each city I’ve been

Get to know ESN Sweden’s most northern section!

LURC (Luleå University Reception Committee) has at the moment 10 very active and enthusiastic members.

We offer the exchange students a pick-up service during an arrival week where we pick them up from the airport or train station, drive back to the university where we give them

information and then drive them to their accomodations.

Apart from picking up the students we also organize their orientation period, offering different activities like a BBQ, a City tour where they get to meet the mayor, an Archipelago trip and a Welcome dinner.

During the semesters we offer trips to Sant Claus Village in Rovaniemi, the Ice hotel and Jokkmokk winter market. Coming up in October is the Food festival, a potluck party where the students cook and share delicious dishes from their home countries.

Every Wednesday afternoon we have an activity called Fika, where students who wants to social-ize or just hang out meet up at the student union cafe. Since some of the students picked up what “fika” is, we’re never short of cakes and cookies at the Fika! ;)

Zooming in atESN Luleå (LURC)

In August 2012 the second Eduk8 training event took place in Vrutky,

Slovakia. Three representatives from Sweden were there to strengthen

their training skills.

Let’s getEduk8-ted!

The summer of 2012 has been a milestone in a development of the Erasmus Student Network, as this year, the second Eduk8 training was held in Slovakia.

Eduk8 is a project initiated in 2011 which aims at creating a pool of trainers within the network that can help to train the member to improve their personal and profes-sional skills. As a result the work of ESNers will improve and the international students as well as the ESNers will benefit.

In Vrutky, Slovakia, 3 professional trainers and 42 ESN-ers from all around Europe met to have one week of intensive training for trainers.During the first two days the participants learned a lot about each other, about Group dynamics, Leadership and themselves.After that the participants were divided into 3 differents tracks: Project Management, Section Empowerment and Intercultural Learning. Each of the tracks was aimed at fostering skills that we need in our daily ESN life.

The Organizational Committee of the event managed to give the participants an unforgettable experience. In the small town of Vrutky, which only has 7000 inhabitants, the ESNers had a lot of work but a lot of fun as well. The breaks were organized by the participants themselves in a so called “EuroCafé” where every country had the chance to bring their own specialities from their countries. The O.C. managed to create a relaxing environment day after day and arranged a program with numerous unforgettable memories. In the middle of the week the training facilities were transformed into an Arabic tea house with fresh tea, Shi-sha and authentic Arabic music.But of course the Slovakian traditions were introduced as well - a Slovakian folk group was giving an amazing per-formance with dances and songs and made all the participants join in. At the end of the week a gala dinner was prepared as a surprise in a stylish Italian restaurant. All in all an amazing week organized by ESN Slovakia.

ESN Sweden was represented by ● Stefan Jahnke, National Representative● Safi Sabuni, International Erasmus in Schools coordinator and● Rotana Al-Shammari, National Webmaster

Throughout this National Platform and in future events these three trainers will try to provide you with some amazing workshops to give you some of the knowledge they acquired through the week of Eduk8 and they will be more than happy to share their experience with you.

Between the 22nd and 24th of September 2012 two important ESN events took place in Brussels, Belgium.

During the weekend the SocialErasmus Coordinators Meeting was organized by the International SocialErasmus Coordinator Michel Erlandsen. Local and National Coordinators from all around Europe gathered to talk about the flagship project of 2012 - SocialErasmus.

SocialErasmus is a project created to offer opportunities for in-ternational students to get closer to the local community through volunteering activities. This will help them integrate in the local society and at the same time help them to integrate in their host

country.

The goal of the weekend was to share best-practices, share experi-ence and talk about the future of SocialErasmus. Throughout the last year SocialErasmus received a grant from the European Commis-sion, so ESN International decided to hire an international coordi-nator. Unfortunately the grant is finished at the end of September. That’s why it was important to decide about the future.

On Saturday Jonathan Jelves, President of ESN Sweden, chaired the meeting in which many presentations were held. Among others, one of the founders of the project, Justyna Paulina from Poland, held a speech on how the project was initiated and what the vision was back then.

Stefan Jahnke (National Representative of ESN Sweden) was, together with 3 other trainers, lead-ing workshops throughout the whole day on Sunday to make the coordinators aware of their per-sonal skills, benefits of Social-Erasmus and of course to come up with ideas how to continue the project.The participants appreciated the hard work of the trainers and concluded some future plans and Action Plans for their ESN countries.

Last weekend, the 22nd-24th of

september 2012 a SocialErasmus

Coordinators Meeting took place in

Brussels, Belgium.

Learn more about the project and the

outcomes of this meeting!

SocialErasmus Coordinators

WeekendOn Monday the Social Erasmus Final Conference took place.With the slogan: Reach higher! Go further! Go Social! the conference was chaired by Jonathan Jelves (President of ESN Sweden) and Stefan Jahnke (NR of ESN Sweden)Participants of different civil society organizations, the European Commission and the ESN Net-work met in the European Economic and Social Committee Building to present the project.Michel Erlandsen (International SocialErasmus Coordinator) and Emanuel Alfranseder (President of ESN AISBL) opened the conference with some powerful speeches about the added value that the Erasmus program created via the organization of social responsible projects within the Net-work.Besides many presentations about perspectives and results the participants were enlightened by a panel discussion led by Miroslav Hajnos (President of ESN Slovakia).

The experts of the Panel Discussion:● Mrs. Maria-Kristin Gylfadottirz, Policy Officer, DG Education and Culture, Unit C1 Higher Education; Erasmus. European Commission● Mr. Frank Wittmann, President of Europa Macht Schule● Mr. Emanuel Alfranseder, President of Erasmus Student Network AISBL● Mr. Rok Primožič, Vice Chair of European Students’ Union

The Experts first explained how their organization/ institution is involved in the social integration of international students; how they implemented practices of social integration and described their best practices. In addition, they commented on cultural differences and mentioned other attributes that influenced the integration. Experts discussed the social and cultural orientation of students of non-EU countries in consequence of the globalization of the European Union. The last 30 min-utes were devoted to an open discussion between the experts and other participants who could ask questions and give comments to different parts of the panel discussion.

At last but not least, Giuseppe Porcaro (Secretary General of European Youth Forum) presented his opinion and standpoint of Active Citizenship.

ESN Sweden was presented on both events by: ● Jonathan Jelves - Chair of the meetings● Stefan Jahnke - Co-Chair and Lead-Trainer● Naomi Takomoto - National SocialErasmus Coordinator of ESN Sweden● Safi Sabuni - International Erasmus in Schools Coordinator

ESN Sweden is very happy with the outcome of the meeting and hopes to give you some insight on the future plans throughout the National Platform in Växjö and Kalmar 2012.

SocialErasmusCoordinators

Weekend

Long live the ESN Sea Battle!

The ESN Sea Battle is by far ESN Sweden’s most successful project ever. The event has been organized twice a year since 2005 and so far tens of thousands of students studying in all the Nordic and Baltic countries have participated. This fall’s edition of the event seems to becoming a legendary event!

At the writing moment all there are still some days left to sell the tickets. By now though most of the 38 participating sections have sold out their tickets, in total adding up to over 1600 tickets! By the beginning of October the event will for certain sell out all the places – gathering 2200 partici-pants once again!

This fall’s edition has already seen some improve-ments compared to previous years, but more surprises are still to come! Among the improve-

ments introduced the most notable has to be the visibility of the event in social media, websites and marketing products. The event has gained international visibility and a record amount of international ESN guests will be attending the event. The event has also the participation of 4 new sections from Sweden and Norway. We of course hope this number will only continue increasing. For the improvements to come, many of these include the program of the event which is still a secret, but we can promise that it will be GOOD! ;)To end I would like to thank all sections and their Local Coordina-tors for all the work they have put into the event so far. The pro-motion of the event in the sections has been great and the expecta-tions among the students are higher than ever – it will indeed be a great event! =D

// OscarESN Sea Battle Coordinator

Sea Battle Fall 2012

We strongly incourage everybody to get involved on a more inter-national level. This is your time to shine, this is your time to make a change! You will get to know a lot of motivated ESNers and work with international projects.To learn more, ask your ESN Sweden board or visit: www.committee.esn.org

Join aCommittee!

Committees are very important for ESN.

Currently there are five different committees.

Learn more about what they work with - and join them!

FiCo - Finance Committee

If you are interested in finances this is your place to be! This committee works with financial auditing, fundraising and

marketing as it’s main fields. The perfect opportunity to improve your chances for

a job in a bank! ;-)

ComCom - Communication Committee

ComCom is responsible for internal and exter-manal communication. One of their most famous

projects is the Corporate Identity of ESN.

Additionally they have a graphic team that is re-sponsible for all the graphics on the international level and helping out the local and national level

as well.Of course there is many more projects like the

ESN history book and others.

NEC - Network and Event Committee

The Network committe is divided in two parts:Network which is mainly working on network

development and network care andEvents which creates supervises all international

events and creates guidelines and evaluation forms.

The most well-known project is for sure the Sec-tion Questionnaire

IT Committee

Are you a nerd? Or want to become one? The IT committee offers you to work on

different IT projects like:• Galaxy (member management)• Infocenter (data management)• Satellite (website Templates)

Develop your IT skills and help ESN at the same time!

ICE - International Committee of Education

The Ice committe is covering many fields like Position Papers, non-formal education, Liaison office, press-office and many many

more.

Some of the most famous projects are Eduk8 and the Section guide.

Everything related to educational matters and is mainly responsible for everyhing that

has to do with advocacy for international students

Get ready for NEP Tallinn!

The 8th to the 11th of november it’s time for the Northern European Platform (NEP) in Tallinn, Estonia!

The NEP is a so called Regional Platform, a meeting attended by ESN sections of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland and Latvia.

The programme after the plenaries will consist of everything in between a guided city tour, an aqua spa visit, a yoga workshop and of course a tradi-tional eurodinner.

This event is a really good way to get informed about what is going on in other ESN coun-tries and meet a lot of motivated ESNers!

The registration is up already, so don’t forget to sign up as soon as possible! For information about the registration and the event itself visit: http://nep2012.esn.ee/

Random facts about Tallinn

- Tallinn´s old town belongs to the UNESCO world heritage- Tallinn is the town where the world´s first Christmas tree stood in 1441- Tallinn is a green city, it has 40 km2 of parks and forests- There were 41,557 students studying in Tallinn´s universities in 2011/2012- Tallinn was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2011- Current population: 416,470

When I joined my local ESN section - Växjö International Students (VIS) 3 ½ years ago I had no clue what ESN had to offer.I started with simply helping out my local section in some smaller events and soon got friends with the board members. After a year I officially joined the Activity Committee and I still didn’t know much more than that the VIS was part of this organization called ESN.

Then January 2011 came around and I decided to run for the National Board since I’ve always been seeking to improve myself and learn new things.I learned soon after that it was the best decision in my ESN career so far. Just 2 month after my election I had the chance to participate in the Annual General Meeting in Budapest … and it was … AMAZING! It was just then when I realized how BIG this network is. There is by now over 400 student organizations around Europe working for international students, united under one big organisation, the Erasmus Student Network.

After 3 ½ years in ESN now I have hundreds of stories to tell, I have been on countless events all over Europe, I am Vice-Chair of a committee, I am in the coordinating team of one of the most important events in ESN - the Council of National Representatives and I am a trainer. I met many amazing people on this journey and I learned a lot about myself and others.

I am writing about my personal story but actually I just want to make you aware of that ESN is so much more than three letters. There is many chances to become active in ESN!First of all there is our National Level, where we are always looking for people to manage some

of the international projects like ‘Responsible Party’ or ‘Exchangeability’.

Then there is the committees of course. Whatever you study or whatever your personal interests are, ESN has something connected with it.So if you are active on the local level and you love ESN work: Don’t be afraid to think out of the box and keep your eyes open for all the different opportunity ESN offers and I can promise you one thing: You won’t regret it!!!

//Stefan Jahnke, National Representative ESN Sweden

Joining ESN, on whichever level, can have a huge im-pact on your life - mostly positive. Read the story of

your NR.

ESN and it’s benefits