Faces of Our CommUNAty: "As a student, you have the space in Una Europa to create something."

I’m studying the BAES [Una Europa Joint Bachelor in European Studies], so I first became involved in Una Europa through the BAES programme. From there I explored further – as we say in Spanish, ‘a tope’ (give it your all).

When I came to Madrid [Universidad Complutense de Madrid] to start my studies there, I also became part of the Una Europa Local Student Task Force (LTF) because I wanted to connect with Spanish students and go a bit further than the ‘BAES bubble’. So I joined the LTF, and that was my beginning.

In the LTF in Madrid, we wanted to find a way to reach students and to give them something physical of Una Europa, something you can actually interact with and see what’s happening there.

Then, in September 2024, there was the Student Congress in Berlin. That was when the pieces started to fit together – for example, we heard that a student from the LTF in Zurich had also had a similar idea – and so we began the working group with students from different universities involved. The Student Congress really worked to catalyse all these ideas. We were also able to do some promotion at the Congress, to see if students would be interested in getting involved.

It was really motivating to secure the commitment of the students to make this project a reality. There was this real commitment to do something together, to take the time, to actually talk, and to create something together. At this point here was an embryo of an idea, but we had no idea what it would end up becoming. All we knew was that we wanted cooperation, we wanted to work together.

Stinne Vognæs [Una Europa Senior Project Lead for Student Empowerment] contacted me via the inter-LTF channel and me and the other students had a call with her to explore whether to merge our student project with the Student Award, which is an initiative of the Una.Futura project. Some students in the project team feared that if we merged, we would lose the student-led element of the project. On the other hand, merging would give us resources and also incentives, such as the winners attending the next Student Congress. So there was a lot of discussion on this.

What helped make the decision for me was meeting with Stinne. I was able to express our concerns and ask the question of how we could stay as an independent, student-led project. The way Stinne answered, the way she interacted with us and also the space that she gave us, that was very reassuring to me. I actually advocated within the group that we would merge with the Student Award, as I thought we could still deliver the project as we wanted to. And that’s what actually happened in the end.

We had to extend the submissions period because some universities had not received any entries, even though they had worked so much to promote it, so we were a bit worried. But then at the last moment, on the last day of the extended submissions period, we received over 20 submissions in about an hour! Everyone from the organising team was on their computers because there were so many submissions arriving. That was a very exciting moment – very tiring, but very exciting as well.

In that moment, I felt a lot of relief. I thought, ‘yes, finally there is something, people are actually entering’ from some of the universities that didn’t have submissions. And there were a lot of good ones! It was a lot of relief.

But I think the big moment is still to come, when we see the exhibitions in person. That will be very exciting too.

Una Europa is very diverse, with lots of different opportunities. That means that not all things will fit everyone – you need to find what you want, and what fits you.

I feel that the Visual Art Contest helps to show that in a way – to show that as a student, you can have the space in Una Europa to create something. I believe that is very important, the idea that if you want to get involved, you can have the space to create something that is truly inter-university, and truly European. That’s what’s so attractive in Una Europa.

It’s also great to be able to connect with people who have different perspectives – that was what was so great about joining the LTF in Madrid. From there I have friends who don’t come from the same field of study that I do, but from geology and biochemistry, for example. It’s not necessarily only about international connections but just connections, like the university itself. I feel that is something that is very attractive for a student, to be able to have a space like this, a space from which you can build something. And you’re not completely out on your own, in outer space, but you’re grounded in the alliance.

The winning submissions of the Una Europa ‘Alliance’ Student Visual Art Contest will be exhibited throughout the alliance’s partner universities in 2025 and 2026, beginning with Universidad Complutense de Madrid from 21–31 October 2025.