5 Recent Lessons in Engaging Students in Democratic Processes

We believe it’s quite fair to say that universities play a pivotal role in nurturing democracy. From equipping students with critical thinking skills to shaping public discourse, universities are vital for informed citizenship.?

As the European elections 2024 approach, this year marked the ideal moment to leverage the collective capacity of our pan-European network, engaging our vast community across 53 universities, and make their voice heard among decision-makers, stakeholders, and partners in Brussels. So, in late February, we organised the UNICA Days, facilitating a convergence of diverse voices within the sector to delve into the intersection of Higher Education and democracy.

The student perspective was particularly inspiring. Thanks to the invaluable contributions of representatives from the Erasmus Student Network and the European Students' Union (ESU) , we gained invaluable insights into enhancing student engagement in democratic processes.

Based on theirs and our own experience, here are five key takeaways:

• ?? Local Engagement is essential for European Impact: it’s at the local level that European aspirations for greater youth participation are turned into reality. Young people care about what’s close to them. Youth participation and democratic engagement often start at the local level;?
• ?? Formalised partnerships = more effective cooperation: Realising that partnering with organisations that have the experience and the expertise on the student point of view is the best way to fulfil our own aspirations, we invited ESN and ESU to reinforce our partnership by formalise it with the signature of an MoU that lays concrete key objectives. This way, we are taking the first step to turn intentions into actions and be more active in the context of student engagement. Also, this allows us to engage more directly with a large group of students;?
• ??? The university and learning go beyond the university walls/ halls: informal learning, particularly through activities with social impact, is crucial in the development of civic engagement and must be recognised. Students are telling us their experiences outside the classroom are meaningful and impactful, universities need to listen.
• ?? Bottom-Up approaches are the way to go: we need to actively involve students in decision-making processes and provide platforms for them to contribute their ideas and perspectives. European institutions, university networks, and student organisations must focus on giving students the information and encouragement for them to harness their potential to generate impact from the bottom up;
• ?? Failing is a learning tool: on the way to success, we must acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings. Even good ideas on paper can be hard to realise in reality. Students change at a faster pace than their counterparts in the administrative and executive side; sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the events and trends that will resonate with them. It’s ok, we learn and try again!

All in all, these 5 lessons are another testament that positive change to build strong democracies comes from within the community. It’s not served by universities to society, but by actively engaging with and empowering individuals within that community. Our mission – both from the network perspective as well as from each individual institution of higher education - is to foster environments that encourage critical thinking, active citizenship, and democratic participation.

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