Social Inclusion Through Participation and Democracy – promoting active citizenship in the European student movement

Description

The European Students’ Union (ESU) is currently working on a project entitled Social Inclusion Through Participation and Democracy – promoting active citizenship in the European student movement, supported by the European Youth Foundation (EYF) of the Council of Europe.

This project offers an opportunity to host a series of workshops in different European countries.

Objectives  

The main goal of this project is to enhance student participation in democratic life in European societies and develop skills on how to create inclusive and safe environments for participation.

Nowadays, more than ever we need to develop strategies to strengthen critical thinking and support young people when it comes to actively take part in society. ESU contributes in doing so by carrying out these series of Seminars.

Timeline of the Project:

• The Training the Trainers event took place between the 19th and the 22nd of August 2018, in Ghent, Belgium. The aim was to train the members who will now be forming the nucleus of our Pool of Trainers. The training was focused on providing new insights into different learning methods, explain the role of the trainer and start designing their future sessions.
• The Training on Democratisation and Youth Participation in Civic Life was organised together with ÖH -Österreichische Hochschülerinnenschaft between the 26th and the 29th of September, in Vienna. Twenty participants from more than ten different European countries attended the seminar. The main objective of this event was to enhance student participation in democratic life and develop skills on how to create inclusive and safe environments for participation.
• The Training on Migration took place between the 1st and the 4th of November in Banja Luka, in Bosnia Herzegovina. The session focused on providing students with knowledge, skills and tools for a better inclusion of students who are refugees or with a migration background in higher education.
• The Training on Mental Health was organised in Riga between the 6th and the 9th of December 2018. The objective of this training is to learn about the mental health characteristics among the student population in Europe, to highlight the key role that National Unions of Students play in the area of prevention programmes, sharing good practices and creating one united campaign in the area of mental health among students.