CONFERENCE OF STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES OF EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

From 7 December to 10 December, the first Conference of Student Representatives of European Universities took place in Coimbra, Portugal.

In the context of participation in the conference, the main objective was to obtain relevant information on the challenges of student representation at the European level. This meeting was an excellent opportunity to share experiences and proposals for solutions that have the potential to be used as part of the participation of JDU in the COLOURS consortium.

Organised by ESU (European Student's Union), the Conference provides a platform for the development of student representation at the European level. It acts as a consultative body, integrating the views of student representatives from different academic alliances.

During the ESU Conference, key topics related to the social dimension, student representation, mobility, funding and quality assurance of teaching from the perspective of students were discussed. Discussions were also held on maintaining continuity and involvement of student communities of individual universities in the context of the consortia to which they belong. Lack of continuity may lead to the loss of important knowledge and a decrease in engagement within partner universities. This poses a real threat to all Consortia.

The ESU Conference acts as a consultative body within the ESU structures. Its role includes consulting on policy documents related to the European Universities Initiative and other transnational initiatives in the field of higher education. It is planned to set up working groups within the Conference, focusing on areas such as quality assurance, funding and democratic representation of students.

In the future, subsequent conferences will be attended by people representing the entire student community, not only of Jan Dlugosz University, but of all members of the COLOURS consortium. This means that through the Student Forum, which will be created as part of the Alliance, students of member universities will have the opportunity to influence the legislature of higher education at the European level.

The representative of the COLOURS Alliance at the conference was a JDU student Aleksander Frymus.