Ongoing projects

Duration of the project: November 2020 – August 2021.

Summary of the project

The last ten years have seen a rapid growth in the number of international students in Estonia. These developments have created challenges for student democracy in universities and furthered controversy related to broader anxieties over immigration. Lack of Estonian language skills and social capital has inhibited participation of students in discussions which directly affect them. To address these issues, the project offers a platform for dialogue, networking opportunities and advocacy training for international students. We seek to foster a transnational democratic space for the governance of higher education internationalization, which would help ease concerns over migration and strengthen transnational networks to bring added benefits both in Estonia and abroad.

The overall project objectives:

1. To create understanding and support towards international students among the general public;
2. To empower international students to take part in student advocacy in Estonia and to speak up publicly;
3. To elevate the capability to include and represent international students within student unions.

Main activities of the project:

1. Advocacy training seminar for international students;
2. Public seminar discussion on transnational higher education;
3. Event on internship and work opportunities for international students in Estonia;
4. Summer University on the topics of higher education internationalization and transnationality;
5. Opinion pieces of international students in public media.

EÜL’s project “Growing Ties: Student Democracy in a Transnational Era” is supported by “I Am European: Migration Stories & Facts for the 21st Century” project which is coordinated by NGO Mondo and funded by the European Commission, the National Foundation of Civil Society, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the funds of development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

Project summary:

The aim of this project is to help develop necessary skills within Estonian student unions in order to successfully represent the interests of their students and actively participate in the decision making processes at their given university while adhering to rules of democracy and transparency.

In order to achieve this goal, EÜL will arrange a training program with the intent of advancing necessary skills and knowledge to better execute advocacy. The intended participants of the program are Estonian student unions. The program focuses on developing skills such as communication, leadership, advocacy in higher education, inclusion of all types of students, strategic planning, on-boarding new leaders, media communication.

The overall project objectives:

1. to create sufficient knowledge of advocacy in student unions;
2. to help student unions mobilise students and achieve a higher rate of involvement;
3. to help smaller student unions successfully enter the field of advocacy.

The key aspects of the training program will be assembled into a reference manual. The aim of the manual is to offer longlasting guidelines to student unions amidst the constant flow of changing members as well as help maintain fundamental knowledge needed in the area of advocacy higher education.

Verifiable indicators of the project:

Creating sufficient knowledge of advocacy in student unions and helping smaller student unions enter the field of advocacy:

• The overall number of EÜL member student unions participating in the training program
• The number of student unions picking up advocacy

Supporting student unions with mobilising students and achieving a higher rate of involvement:

• The number of mobilisational or student inclusion themed events, projects etc. held by student unions
• Increased amount of students applying to student unions

Duration of the project: March 2020 – July 2021.

The Project is supported by the Active Citizens Fund of EEA Grants being operated by the Open Estonia Foundation in consortium with the Network of Estonian Non-profit Organisations.

Project summary:

EÜL is responsible for organising the second meeting in 2020 of Nordic national student unions called Nordic Organisational Meeting (NOM), which has now been postponed to spring 2021 due to COVID-19. EÜL wants to bring together the national representatives of Nordic and Baltic students to further advance cooperation between the organisations and to learn and discuss how to advance the environmental impact awareness and responsibility-taking on environmental issues of universities, its students and workers.

The meeting was originally supposed to take place from 14th to 18th of October in Tallinn, Estonia, but will now be held in spring 2021. The intended participants will be mainly student union federation representatives of Scandinavian and Baltic countries and student councils in Estonia (members of EÜL).

The overall project objectives:

Overall objective

1. 1. To organise Nordic Organisational Meeting between the network’s partners
   2. To hold discussions on environmental topics to get input for the Federation of Estonian Student Union’s policy paper on environmental issues

Envisaged results

1. 1. EÜL has a better understanding of environmental policies in Scandinavian and Baltic Student Unions
   2. EÜL has a better understanding of environmental problems that student unions in Scandinavia and the Baltics are facing

Verifiable indicators

1. 1. EÜL has adopted a policy statement on environmental topics
   2. 30 participants have participated in the meeting from 10 different countries
   3. The project enlists the help of three experts on environmental matters

Duration of the project: June 1st 2020 – summer 2021

This project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia.