EUTOPIA Week in Dresden
on November 23, 2022
Published on November 28, 2022– Updated on December 9, 2022
The EUTOPIA Week Diary in Ljubljana, DAY 3 - A student centred alliance
"Today was the day of students in my EUTOPIA Week!
Starting at 9:00 am, the EUTOPIA Student Think Tank continued to show how an independent bottom-up student organization can actually produce incredible results and quality sessions when it is allowed the time and the means to do so. The four-hours long session started with presentations by students Miša Glišič from UL and Bernardo Patarra from NOVA University of Lisbon, focusing on sustainability and energy consumption and efficiency.
This was then followed by a “Wall of Ideas” where all attending students were invited to identify sustainability problems within their own countries, and to explain them to the attendance. Many issues were identified, from the lack of biking culture in Italy, to the overuse of government private jets in France. After a short networking break, the students came back to now find solutions to what had become known as “the wall of problems”. A half hour later, an expansive “wall of solutions” had been built, hosting solutions from the very practical (abolish the tax-break on company cars) to the more abstract (create a culture of accountability in certain countries through protests and the abolishment of political immunity, or “making sustainability cool” through marketing campaigns).
The final activity was a quiz on sustainability in Europe with ten questions, which was won by Carlota Garcia Ropero – otherwise a career ambassador for the UPF - for which she was given a plush of the famous Ljubljana Dragon, the green beast that guards the city in legend.
Overall this session organized by the EUSTT was a resounding success, allowing for a lot of learning on subjects of interest to the youth, all the while allowing a level of audience interaction that is rarely seen in EUTOPIA Weeks. Let us thank Giulia Quadraccia and Silvia Teixeira who organized the session, but also Miša Glišič and Bernardo Patarra for their presentations, and Mattias Roqueta, the EUSTT Head of Events, who coordinated the event from his semester aborad in Singapor.
You can watch the EUSTT session here.
Starting at 9:00 am, the EUTOPIA Student Think Tank continued to show how an independent bottom-up student organization can actually produce incredible results and quality sessions when it is allowed the time and the means to do so. The four-hours long session started with presentations by students Miša Glišič from UL and Bernardo Patarra from NOVA University of Lisbon, focusing on sustainability and energy consumption and efficiency.
This was then followed by a “Wall of Ideas” where all attending students were invited to identify sustainability problems within their own countries, and to explain them to the attendance. Many issues were identified, from the lack of biking culture in Italy, to the overuse of government private jets in France. After a short networking break, the students came back to now find solutions to what had become known as “the wall of problems”. A half hour later, an expansive “wall of solutions” had been built, hosting solutions from the very practical (abolish the tax-break on company cars) to the more abstract (create a culture of accountability in certain countries through protests and the abolishment of political immunity, or “making sustainability cool” through marketing campaigns).
The final activity was a quiz on sustainability in Europe with ten questions, which was won by Carlota Garcia Ropero – otherwise a career ambassador for the UPF - for which she was given a plush of the famous Ljubljana Dragon, the green beast that guards the city in legend.
Overall this session organized by the EUSTT was a resounding success, allowing for a lot of learning on subjects of interest to the youth, all the while allowing a level of audience interaction that is rarely seen in EUTOPIA Weeks. Let us thank Giulia Quadraccia and Silvia Teixeira who organized the session, but also Miša Glišič and Bernardo Patarra for their presentations, and Mattias Roqueta, the EUSTT Head of Events, who coordinated the event from his semester aborad in Singapor.
You can watch the EUSTT session here.
**
The second half of my day was spent with the other student body of EUTOPIA, the Student Council (SC). For the first time (but not the last) the Student Council of EUTOPIA decided to open its meeting to non-member students, so that they could listen to, and participate in debates, even though they had no power to vote on any decisions.
Indeed, this meeting of the SC was critical as it took place in the middle of this transition period of EUTOPIA between the 2050 and MORE projects. In this context, the Council had to more or less start its operational organization from scratch, appointing responsibilities, electing its President and Vice-President for a one-year term, and deciding on a range of operational topics. Everybody’s voice was heard in the room, and the atmosphere was warm between the students of the SC, who now feel like they will be able to make a difference in the future governance of the alliance.
You can check out the makeup of the EUTOPIA Student Council here."
By Thomas T'Joen
