07/04/2024
Belgium
participants
Students and young professionals exchange existing knowledge and gain new skills by sharing best practices, participating in workshops and discussing different topics relevant to their countries and daily surroundings.
Due to the participants' different backgrounds in their field of study, countries of origin, socio-economic status, mobility experience and different levels of their career (bachelor, master students and young professionals), their different perspectives can inspire each other.
Therefore local students get insights from different countries without having to leave Belgium and non-locals get the opportunity to share their experience, learn and discover Brussels.
In sessions such as in fields of creativity processes in project management, knowledge management, events management and HR as well as how to create a safe space, knowledge is gained and exchanged. This can be used in the participants' study environment but especially in their future career.
This can also spark initial interest in local students and encourage them to further pursue international mobility, for example as students in the Erasmus+ program.
As for AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles, organising such an event will give exposure and train new members but also members of other youth organisations and engage them for continuous sustainable active work within the organisation.
The Network Meeting in Brussels 2024 lasted 4 days and consisted of 10 different workshops and best practice sharing sessions as well as guided reflection and evaluation time.
As workshops we offered topics such as: creativity process for projects, event management, how to create a safe and inclusive space, HR strategy, knowledge management and motivation.
We had 23 participants, 14 from outside of Belgium and 9 from Brussels. The target group were members and representatives of other youth organisations as well as regular students, Erasmus students and young professionals. This mix helped getting different perspectives on the topics as the participants had different backgrounds and were at different stages of their lives.
As an organisation facilitating non-formal education, our main methods were based around this. In interactive sessions participants learned, shared and discussed different topics with the help of facilitators and input from experts and other participants with different backgrounds. At the end of every day there was a guided reflection time and a longer reflection session on the last day. This ensured that the expectations from the beginning were met and the participants knew how to implement the learned skills in the future in their academic and professional career.
Our organisation has a big focus on sustainability. We therefore had different measures in place to ensure environmentally friendliness. This included a travel guide for sustainable travels, minimising food waste and packaging, using reusable plates and cutlery and; having accommodation and the venue within walking distance to each other.
Regarding the accessibility of the event we had to limit this to the available accommodations which were unfortunately not wheelchair friendly.
The fee was 40€ for Brussels participants and 60€ for external ones. We also offered the possibility of waiving the fee upon request. Food intolerances and religious food restrictions were respected and requested with incoming form to guarantee everyone could participate in the different meals provided.
For further inclusiveness we asked for pronouns of the participants. A safe person was on site giving an introduction at the beginning of the event to raise awareness to make the event a safe space for everyone.
This activity is part of the project:
Erasmus Careers