The National Platform of ESN UK is an event which happens twice a year - once per semester - and brings together representatives of all of the UK sections of Erasmus Student Network. This semester’s National Platform was held in London from the 20th to the 22nd of October. It is a chance for all of the sections in the UK to come together and share our ideas and practices in order to go back and make our home sections even better!

Here is a little summary of how the weekend went:

 

Friday

After arriving in London, we started the National Platform by getting to know all of our fellow ESNers who had come from all over the UK, from Aberdeen to Leeds to Southampton. We then spent some time learning about ESN itself, as it is a huge organisation with many different bodies. It was amazing to find out that we are a member of such an amazing network, being one of over 500 sections all over Europe! After a long day of workshops, we ended the evening in the hostel bar socialising and discussing ideas over a drink!

 

Saturday

Another early morning start in Central London! This day was focused on workshops about partnerships, communications and international projects. It was great to learn from the members of the ESN UK National Board and National Board Support who all have many years of ESN experience. We were also very privileged to have international guests from ESN Malta, Lithuania and Belgium, who each gave a presentation on how ESN works in their country. It was really fascinating to find out the different ways that we all work implementing the ESN values in different cultures. After dinner, we put on our best clothes and went to party in Soho! It was a great way to celebrate a successful day of idea-sharing and collaborating, and we also got to celebrate the success of the network and all of the hard work that we put in for our members!

 

Sunday

There were a few tired faces in the plenary room after a great night on Saturday, but we pulled together and gave it our all on the final day of plenaries. Sunday was mostly dedicated to voting on different subjects such as the new governing statutes for ESN UK, an important document that sets out our rights and obligations as sections. We also approved the budget for ESN UK for this year, and the most exciting part of the voting was approving a new candidate section of ESN! The ESN Network is growing every day, and now there is a new candidate section at the University of Birmingham. From everyone at ESN UofG we wish them success in the future and many congratulations on joining our incredible Network!

After a feedback session with the National Board, we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, travelling back to our home sections to report back on all of the exciting ideas that we discussed all weekend. Everything that we do is focused on making YOU, our members, have the best Erasmus experience that you could possibly have, and the National Platform has given us some great ideas! Keep your eyes on our social media for exciting things to come!