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Erasmus Student Network

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Citizenship and Governance Culture Disabled Persons Education Humanitarian Affairs Migration Social Development Volunteerism Youth Population: International migration Public Administration: Governance and Public Administration Social Development: Cooperative Disabled persons Employment Information and Communications Technologies Poverty Social policy Youth Statistics: Disability Statistics Sustainable Development: Capacity-building Climate change Education Health Integrated decision-making Partnerships
Geographic scope:	Regional Europe
Country of activity:	Belarus Croatia Slovakia Belgium United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland France Austria Iceland Estonia Czechia Portugal Finland Poland Spain Germany Sweden Hungary Slovenia Latvia North Macedonia Liechtenstein Bulgaria Denmark Ireland Bosnia and Herzegovina Switzerland Türkiye Italy Georgia Netherlands Cyprus Lithuania Norway Azerbaijan Malta Greece Luxembourg Serbia Russian Federation Romania
Other geographic areas of activity:	Kosovo
Millennium Development Goals:	Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is a non-profit international student organisation. Our mission is to represent international students and to provide them with opportunities for cultural understanding and self-development under the principle of Students Helping Students. ESN believes that society can be richer if international students co-exist with the locals, regardless of their involvement in higher education. Having this in mind, ESN aims at working in the interest of students who are spending parts of or their entire formal education at a higher education institution in a country other than the one of their origin, by means of the improvement of the social and practical integration of exchange students at their host institutions. ESN also works on the representation of the needs and expectations of exchange students on the local, national, and international level. Additionally, ESN acts as an information provider by making available relevant information about academic exchange programmes to local students and authorities. ESN also works on the reintegration of homecoming students by making them active in its network and work to contribute to the evaluation of different exchange programmes, especially the Erasmus Programme in its Youth, Vocational Education and Training, and Higher Education dimensions. Moreover, ESN puts a lot of effort in social and practical preparation of students on the brink of their mobility period. All of this is done following a peer-to-peer approach, being it the main cause of ESN's success. All in all, since 1989 the Erasmus Student Network works for the creation of a more mobile and flexible education environment by supporting and developing student exchange at different levels, and by providing an intercultural experience also to those students who cannot access a period abroad ("internationalisation at home"). ESN also represents needs, rights, and expectations of international students in the fields of higher education and mobility towards policy- and decision-makers.
Year established:	1989
Year of registration:	2005
Organizational structure:	Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is the biggest inter-disciplinary European student organisation in the field of mobility. We are a non-political, non-profit and non-religious organisation with over 15.000 volunteer members from local student groups (so-called sections) in more than 1000 Higher Education Institutions in 40 countries. Our network provides its services annually to about 200.000 international students in Europe and beyond, at a local, national, and international level. The local sections support the educational, social, and cultural integration of exchange students, as well as provide practical information for incoming and outgoing students about the exchange programmes and about the possibilities of the reintegration. These are 530 local organisations that can take many forms, depending on the legislation of each country, but always respecting the principles and the internal governance of ESN. The local level is also responsible for the communication with local authorities in all the fields of action of ESN, promoting the dialogue and partnership between these entities. They represent the interests and needs of international students and ESN volunteers towards higher education institutions. The internal governance of local sections is democratic with yearly elections for a local coordination team which remains accountable towards their local general assembly. The local sections elect and gather around a national level that is responsible for the relationship with national and regional authorities, representing ESN volunteers and international students in the country at the national level. The national sections work for the progress of exchanges programmes in the country while also working for the recognition of the skills the many ESN volunteers acquire in the organisation through the many events and projects they manage. A national board is elected yearly and remains accountable towards the local level through a national general assembly which can take place several times during the year. The international level of ESN (especially the International Board based in Brussels) brings together all sections and countries, thus creating one common voice in the representation of mobile students especially, but not only, on the European continent. ESN International works very closely with the most relevant institutions at the European level, including the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe. ESN International actively advocates for the rights of international students and ESN volunteers, being a major contributor to the discussion on policies that affect them. ESN international is accountable throughout the year in several scrutinising assemblies and through internal and external audits. This screening is done mostly by the national level on behalf of the local level. Once a year, during one General Assembly organised in the Spring, ESN international reports and presents plans directly to the local membership which then votes on these documents and elects a new international Board for the next academic year. Besides all this, ESN has a very strong horizontal and vertical support structure that includes the implementation of programmes and services across the whole network. ESN alumni keep engaged after their active period by providing expertise and development opportunities for current active members.
Number and type of members:	ESN is mostly made of 15.000 young individuals enrolled in around 1000 higher education institutions mostly in Europe, for now. There is a balance in gender in ESN, reflecting the overall situation of higher education in Europe. Currently, the services are offered to 200.000 international higher education students. However, we are currently working with the European Commission to expand these services to the Vocational Education and Training. Hence, we expect to start recruiting individual members studying and training in this field as well.
Affiliation with NGO networks:	Member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), European Movement International (EMI), Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP), Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Alliance (ESAA), Informal Forum of International Student Organisations (IFISO)
Funding structure:	Membership fees or dues Fees for education and training services Donations and grants from domestic sources Foreign and international grants Grants from Governments

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