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Last week, Armelle Prigent, member of EU-CONEXUS Academic Council and Vice-President Education and Academic life at La Rochelle Université, Amandine Courtadon, Educational Orientation and Professional Integration Department Manager at La Rochelle Université and Pascal Génot, Education and Academic Life Department Manager at La Rochelle Université went to Brussels to talk about the “Student Civic Engagement European Project” with representatives of the European Parliament and European Commission.

This European project gathers 7 universities of which six are EU-CONEXUS partners: La Rochelle Université, Zadar University, the Agricultural University of Athens, the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, the Catholic University of Valencia, Klaipeda University and Bordeaux Montaigne University.

The “Student Civic Engagement European Project”: for a better recognition of the students’ engagement at European scale

Initiated in 2021, this Erasmus+ funded project aims for a better recognition of the students’ engagement at European scale. Raising awareness amongst the student community about the different opportunities and possibilities of engagement, the project supports the students in their approach towards it and help them acknowledge the skills they gain through their engagement activities in order to better value them in view to further studies or recruitment.

The first phase of the project invited the students to take part into “Debathons” (collaborative debates about what it meant to be an engaged student whether it is for society matters, environment, human rights…) that were co-hosted by commitment professionals and engaged students in the public space. For the students who took part into these activities, it was a first step towards engagement as they got to discuss and learn from both their peers and professionals from the field.

In the future, the universities involved in this “Student Civic Engagement European Project” hope to develop “The student commitment platform”, an online platform that would enable students to acknowledge the skills acquired through their involvement, in order to value them and blend them in their career plans.

The “Student Civic Engagement European Project” seeking support from representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission to gain European recognition.

Armelle Prigent, member of EU-CONEXUS Academic Council and Vice-President Education and Academic life at La Rochelle Université, Amandine Courtadon, Educational Orientation and Professional Integration Department Manager at La Rochelle Université and Pascal Génot, Education and Academic Life Department Manager at La Rochelle Université went to Brussels to present the “Student Civic Engagement European Project” to representatives of the European Parliament and European Commission.

Seeking the support of European institutions to further develop the “Student Civic Engagement European Project”, they held fruitful discussions with:

• Laurence Farreng, Member of the European Parliament, member of the culture and education committee, and regional councillor for Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
• Anne-Cécile Gault, Parliament Assistant
• Thérèse Zhang Pulkowski, Deputy Head of the Higher Education Policy Unit at the European University Association (EUA)
• Vito Borrelli, head of the Erasmus Mundus sector,
• Sacha Beck, project manager in the Unit B1 “Higher Education” of the Education, Sport and Culture of the European Commission.
• Guillaume Arduin, Sport Advisor at the French Permanent Representation to the EU
• Eric Foucher, European Affairs Officer representing France Universités in Brussels

The member of this project also hoped that these very first discussions will initiate reflection on European recognition of the status of committed student.

At EU-CONEXUS, we not only train the next generation of experts on Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability topics, we also bring up together the next generation of euro-citizen, committed to act for a better world.