What are 12 different students from 7 different universities in 6 different European countries doing all together in Vienna? It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it is actually the beginning of an adventure. Students from the universities of Strasbourg and Mulhouse in France, Poznan in Poland, Vienna in Austria, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Thessaloniki in Greece and Karlsruhe in Germany gathered in the beautiful Austrian capital for the first physical meeting of the Student Board of the European Alliance EPICUR.
The purpose of the meeting was to plan new projects for the rest of the pilot phase, to define the role of the Student Board for the next years, but also to meet everyone in person for the first time.
The members of the Student Board of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna (BOKU) organized the meeting in great detail in their beautiful city from May 6 to 8, 2022, also thanks to the help of the 4 staff members of EPICUR Unistra who also joined the EPICUR students.
After an initial meeting to get to know each other and to define the objectives of the meeting, on Saturday the staff members from Unistra led several workshops on topics such as student mobility, the role of the Student Board in the roll-out phase and student involvement at the local level, which resulted in fruitful exchanges and many ideas and proposals.
To end the session, the president of the Student Board concluded the meeting with a formal meeting in which various topics related to the next steps of the Student Board were discussed. But the concept of “business before pleasure” is international. Various activities were organized to allow the students to get to know each other and explore different cultures after so many meetings that have always and only been done online.
The students lived a joyful journey through Austrian culture and gastronomy, starting with a visit to the beautiful ecological university of BOKU, followed by a dinner in a traditional restaurant, an international evening with tasting of typical products from each country of the Alliance, and finally a visit to the centre of Vienna on Sunday morning, ending with farewells and promises.
But let our students, the very heart of the alliance, tell us their opinions, hopes and impressions of the event through their own words.
Why did you choose to be a member of the Student Board of EPICUR?
« Because of the multiculturalism and multilingualism that comes with it » – Luiza, secretary of the Student Board, student at the University of Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse, France
« I’m really interested in internationalisation. Being part of this huge Alliance of European universities has a huge impact on me as a person but then I can also teach everyone in my surroundings on how to be better in terms of inclusivity and help them discover new university fields » – Radoslaw, student of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Was the meeting like you expected?
« It was better than expected. It was amazing to have all the representatives from each university here to discuss the work of EPICUR and how the students should be involved. We had a lot of fun » – Johannes, student of the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria and currently President of the Student Board.
« The outcome was incredible and I want to do it again and again and again because the people I met are so good and lovely and we had so many ideas together. That was I cherish the most » – Radoslaw
Would you recommend this experience to other students?
« Of course, it’s an honour to represent EPICUR students from other universities. You learn so many things, you exchange with other people and get new friends » – Johannes
« Definitely, I really recommend it from the bottom of my heart to whomever can do it» – Radoslaw
Article an pictures by Martina Vecchio.
