Introducing the Una Europa Student Congress
The Una Europa Student Congress is an annual, in-person event bringing students from across our partner universities together to connect, learn new skills, and bring their visions to Una Europa.
The goal of the Student Congress is to give students a space to engage directly with our alliance’s mission and bring the student perspective to the forefront, allowing students to develop their ideas, work together, and explore Una Europa.
Every year a different Una Europa university hosts the Congress. The theme also changes every year – previous editions have explored storytelling as community building, reimagining universities, and staying human in a digital world.
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Why participate in the Una Europa Student Congress?
The Student Congress provides a platform for connecting with, learning from, and participating in the Una Europa student community.
While each Congress has a theme and aims to give all participants the opportunity to learn and develop, we also want you to feel part of a bigger community of students, meet people from other backgrounds and cultures, and really learn from each other.
" The Student Congress, a melting pot of different university cultures, is the perfect opportunity for students to learn from and about each other. The relationships formed will last far beyond the duration of the Congress – participants are given the opportunity network and form friendships that could last for the rest of their lives. "
Sara Korjus, student at Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, reflecting on the 2023 Student Congress in Helsinki.
What can I expect from the Una Europa Student Congress?
The Student Congress puts students at its centre. In collaboration with students, we deliver a dynamic programme to enable you to develop your own skills and help shape Una Europa student opportunities. This is done through a range of ever-developing formats such as student-led and external-led workshops, micro-challenges, panel discussions, expert groups, social & cultural activities, and different types of engagement with the local community.
By the end of the Congress, we want all students to leave with new knowledge, connections, ideas, and plans for activities and initiatives to be developed within their own universities or together with students from other Una Europa universities.
Practical details
For each edition of the Una Europa Student Congress, six students per partner university are selected to participate and will have their travel and accommodation costs covered. Additional costs may be covered by the host university or your own university; however, these details differ from year to year so keep an eye on the annual call for each Congress.
All participants are expected to actively participate and engage in the programme by bringing ideas and new suggestions from their home university and their own student networks. There will often also be a pre- and post-meeting organised by local Una Europa staff members to support participation.
" Through both the workshops and social activities, students were enabled to gain an insight into not only their diverse experiences as students, but also their aspirations for the future of higher education. I feel that the Student Congress enabled me and my fellow students to not only engage in dialogue, but also both self and communal reflection on the theme of the Congress. "
Aoife Joy Keogh, student at University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, reflecting on the 2024 Student Congress at Freie Universität Berlin.
Want to learn more?
Read, watch and listen to previous participants' Student Congress experience:
- About the Una Europa Student Congress 2024 at Freie Universität Berlin.
- About the Una Europa Student Congress 2023 at Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet.
- Reflections on the Una Europa Student Congress 2022 at Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.
- Una Europa Podcast | Episode 8 on the Student Congress.
Countdown to the Una Europa Student Congress 2025
The next Una Europa Student Congress will take place from 25–28 November, hosted by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Applications will open in September 2025 – watch this space!
To stay up to the date with the latest updates on the next Una Europa Student Congress, we recommend subscribing to our monthly newsletter and following us on Instagram.
The Una Europa Student Congress is part of our work to empower students across our alliance, initiated under the 1Europe project and developed under the Una.Futura project.
