Causes of ESN | ESN Bulgaria
ESN’s mission is to represent international students, but it can be done in many ways. Would you like to better understand ESN’s scope of work? Then this article is just for you!
ESN Bulgaria
Our Six Causes
From organising activities for exchange students to contributing to the employability of local youth, ESN's scope of work is very wide. ESN gathers young people from various cultural and educational backgrounds who contribute to the diversity of the organisation's work while creating opportunities for personal and professional development of their peers.
Culture
Culture — customs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people at a particular time. Experiencing the way of life in diverse and unknown cultures is a strong motivator for young people to move abroad. One of ESN's values is unity in diversity, diversity in unity and our members work hard to provide opportunities for cultural understanding to both international and local members of their community, as well as open an intercultural dialogue between them.
Our members organise city tours, visits to cultural institutions, trips to National Parks and other places of importance in order to showcase their cultural and natural heritage. They also organise international dinners, language and cooking tandems and speed friendings to introduce the international dimension of life to local community members. Together, they create an environment of acceptance and appreciation based on respect and tolerance.
Education & Youth
As a key volunteer student organisation in international higher education in Europe, our members provide information about mobility programmes and motivate students to study abroad. They organise mobility conferences to increase the accessibility of information and share their own mobility experience to showcase how such an experience can be an investment into one's future.
Our members advocate for better and more accessible mobility opportunities among decision makers, conduct research like the ESNsurvey and publish papers like the ErasmusUpgrade Manifesto. We take pride in Erasmus in Schools, where our members promote higher education to school students — ensuring the popularity of mobility programmes among upcoming generations.
Environmental Sustainability
ESN stands for active citizenship, which includes actively partaking in finding solutions for current problems. Environmental sustainability is one of the major struggles of today's society and our members try to raise awareness about the issue and lead by example.
They are always open to debate the connection between veganism and environment or share useful tips and facts when it comes to recycling, reusing and reducing. They also organise events like Erasmus Forest — an activity where local and exchange students plant seeds or saplings — or events aimed at cleaning contaminated areas like beaches or parks.
Health & Well-being
Mens sana in corpore sano. Moving abroad for an exchange is a big turnaround which includes changing our everyday habits. Exchange students often face challenges around diet, budget, and setting up a new life — all of which can be a source of physical and emotional distress.
Local sections organise sport related events such as hiking, football matches and dance classes, or make ESNcard discount deals with local gyms. They also organise healthy eating workshops and publish healthy recipes. ESN also implements Responsible Party and the International Erasmus Games, an annual sport competition for exchange students across Europe.
Skills & Employability
According to the Erasmus Impact Study, 85% of students study abroad to enhance their employability and more than 90% reported an improvement in their transversal skills. On average, 92% of employers are looking for transversal skills. ESN provides opportunities for self-development for volunteers through workshops and training events.
Members organise career fairs and soft skills events for local youth, and advocate at universities for members to receive ECTS points for volunteer efforts. ESN's internal training programme Eduk8 trains members in non-formal education. ESN has also developed ErasmusIntern, connecting future interns with internship providers, and offers professional placements at its Headquarters.
Social Inclusion
ESN implements the field of social inclusion by widening participation and social engagement. ESN believes in a more diverse Erasmus+ programme and works hard to raise awareness about mobility opportunities for students from underrepresented groups. Mapped! promotes accessible Higher Education for students with disabilities.
ESN implements volunteer experiences as a natural part of the mobility experience through the SocialErasmus project — organising animal shelter visits, workshops in preschools or retirement homes, meal preparation for the homeless, and blood donation drives. By enabling exchange students to contribute to the local community, ESN helps them feel integrated in its daily functioning. Fostering social engagement creates inclusive societies.