Section Presidents meeting Bratislava 2011

A statutory section presidents´ meeting took place on December 20, 2011. The meeting was organized by the newly created joint venture of ESN section in Bratislava. The meeting was held in the lecture hall of Pan European University. Event was presided by Mirko Hajnoš, current president of ESN Slovakia in cooperation with Prokop Teper (Slovak NR) and Andrej Macák beloved rescuer of national website (National WPA). Participants were not only presidents, but also regular board members and national coordinators of different projects. The chief organizer, Maroš Korman, also hosted few important guests from Student Council for Higher Education Slovak Republic.

The O.C. firstly provided us with the report of their activity throughout the last semester. Everyone had opportunity to hear about whimsical conferences National president, NR and national WPA visited and which organization are inclined to cooperate with ESN Slovakia in upcoming years. Especially partnership with National Agency looks more than promising for future projects like Educational Route of Erasmus. Next panel was dedicated to presentations of all sections except ESN EUBA (Economic University Bratislava) which decided not to attend this meeting at all. The love to organize trips and events is certainly kindled in the hearts of all the members. Evidence supporting this claim we can find in mentioned updates. Beyond any doubt both trips2 Venice and Krakow were the most professionally done journeys I remember in my long history with ESN Slovakia. Thanks for all this goes to Mirko Hajnoš and ESN UMB. The follow-up questionnaire and debriefing offered an interesting insight into the planned trips shedding some light on destination wishes of our dearest Erasmus students. Certainly this survey could use much more data, but for now it’s sufficient. 

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As always the later parts of meeting consisted mostly of discussions about new initiatives and unfulfilled events. Janka Gasperová as president of ESN VSEMVS introduced the vision of next National Platform which would take place in Bratislava. Particularly the sponsorship of Tatran tea seems to gather the biggest cheering. Another interesting discussion was about Winter student games organized in cooperation with Student Council for Higher Education Slovak Republic on January the 15th. 

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Importance was placed also on the presentations of teams taking care of ESN cards and Statues & Orders. On the grounds of grant from National Agency each section will receive certain number of cards so the knowledge of where it is accepted is crucial for next steps. Also the Standing orders are starting to take shape so the ESN Slovakia will work as well oiled machine in years to come. 

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The rest of the day was devoted to the voting of few proposals. As the program was squeezed from two to one day, some frustration started to be visible on participants, but despite all this fatigue the quorum granted Adam Kaiser the right to start the work on ESN Slovakia Alumni club, which will consist of former ESN members who don´t want to lose contact with their friends. Presidents and National board agreed on creating a calendar of all events organized by ESN in Slovak republic, and this step should be also perceived as a beginning of closer cooperation with our neighboring ESNs in Czech Republic. 

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This sharing of experience with young people from different sections of ESN Slovakia reignited so needed enthusiasm for Erasmus programme, ESN, and education in Europe. To put it into a nutshell SP Bratislava 2011 was rated as extremely productive in opinion of every participant. Our wish is that everyone gained experience, knowledge, and practical skills for the future development. Let´s see us on the president sabat in Prešov.

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by Adam Kaiser, President of ESN Comenius University Bratislava