Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:
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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
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Geographic scope: |
Regional
Europe
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Country of activity: |
Belarus
Belgium
Netherlands
Türkiye
Georgia
Malta
Austria
Croatia
Czechia
Spain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Liechtenstein
Romania
Slovenia
Luxembourg
Iceland
Poland
France
Sweden
Norway
Bulgaria
Finland
Greece
Italy
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Denmark
Portugal
Switzerland
Russian Federation
Lithuania
Latvia
Serbia
Germany
Cyprus
Estonia
Azerbaijan
Ireland
North Macedonia
Hungary
Slovakia
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Other geographic areas of activity: |
Kosovo
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Millennium Development Goals: |
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop global partnership for development
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Mission statement: |
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Year established: |
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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
Grants from Governments
Fees for education and training services
Donations and grants from domestic sources
Foreign and international grants
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