The 49th European Student Convention

From February 25th to 27th, the National Union of Students gathered in Galway, Ireland, for the 49th European Student Convention, co-organized with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). With updates to the ESGs and the ECTS Users’ Guide, the event naturally focused on quality in higher education. The convention aimed to inform members about these updates while also deepening their understanding of the topic. To achieve this, participants created their own microcredentials on a subject of their choice, drafting learning outcomes, assessment methods, and more. To equip them with the necessary knowledge, ESU and USI organized sessions on topics directly related to various concepts of quality of education. We had the pleasure of welcoming experts such as Emma Francis from the Irish University Association, Roisín Morris-Drennan from Quality and Qualifications Ireland and Ciara Staunton, director of the Irish National RPL project. Besides the sessions directly linked to the microcredential designing activity, participants got to know several Irish higher education initiatives, such as student empowerment with the use of AI, the National Student Engagement Programme, USI’s work in the field of equality and learnt about the Atlantic Technological University merger and the AI chatbot of the University of Galway that’s being used as a virtual assistant for students.