We, the European Students
Photo / Contributed
By now, we have all heard that the University of Iceland is part of the Aurora European University Network and Alliance. In the summer of 2020, the Aurora Alliance was accepted by the European Commission to become one of 41 European university projects supported by Erasmus+, leading the way in creating a united higher education and research community in Europe. The news cycle around the Aurora Alliance has often focused on the big picture. We get to know the long-term goals and hear buzzwords like European University Degree and borderless learning, societal impact and relevance of research, sustainability and inclusivity.
But what does it mean, especially for our day-to-day life as students?
The Aurora Network and Alliance decided early on to take a participatory approach, actively involving students on all levels. Often, the best ideas come from innovative young minds. By making them active participants in otherwise professionally occupied panels, student representatives are encouraged to engage in the Aurora Alliance’s working processes.
Student representatives from all member universities form the Aurora Student Council. Usually, Aurora Student Council members are already elected representatives in their own institutions, but there are many other ways for local students to involve themselves in the international structures of the Aurora Network and Alliance.
In the 2020-21 academic year, the Aurora Student Council launched the “Aurora Student Champions Scheme”, a project that encourages local students to get involved in inter-institutional projects and working groups of their choosing. By being able to choose the specific thematic group, students can focus on their passions and work alongside professionals in a given field.
Applied interests
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The Aurora Alliance includes numerous working groups, which endeavor to bring together relevant experts on specific themes or projects from all Aurora universities. In so doing, they cooperate to identify specific areas and opportunities to improve individual universities and promote the Alliance’s values. Internationalisation, sustainability, diversity, research and innovation are among the core topics in these working groups, each of which branches off into smaller, specialised sub-groups. Aurora Student Champions can choose whatever groups they like, either because the topics relate to their fields of study or are close to their hearts. Not only do they contribute valuable input from a student perspective, but they also gain first-hand experience from international working processes that will come in handy in the future.
Student Champions also collaborate on projects with their fellow Aurora students from other institutions, such as academic papers, pen-pal activity, or participation in topical conferences or workshops. By involving themselves on multiple levels, Aurora students are later equipped with soft skills otherwise hard to quantify academically, such as interpersonal and cultural skills gained during studies abroad. Such skills will make Aurora students stand out in any professional setting in the future!
By the end of the academic year, Student Champions are awarded a diploma supplement for their involvement to recognise their great initiative and curiosity - something that can be quite hard to come by on the average academic transcript.
More to come
This is just the beginning of exciting Aurora projects to come. There will be more events for Aurora participants to get to know each other as fellow students. In addition to to the Student Champions, students can also apply for positions as Aurora Ambassadors to help promote events.
Though it might have initially seemed like a very high-level project for academic staff, it will become a platform for cross-cultural communication and innovation among students across Europe and the world. Through the scope of shared educational resources, Aurora students will be able to participate in courses at other Aurora institutions. And if there is one thing the remote life of this past year has taught us, it’s that physical distance is no longer a hurdle for learning!