From April 10 to 12, 2024, 250 participants from 170 different universities in the European Union came together to submit policy proposals developed by the panels as recommendations of the European Student Assembly to the European Union, national decision-makers and other stakeholders. Eva Katharina Bauer, student of the University of Graz, traveled to Strasbourg for Arqus and represented the Alliance for the University of Graz.
Eva Katharina Bauer, on her experiences and highlights of ESA24:
"In addition to interesting meetings, discussions and talks with students at all levels and from different universities, the academic highlights were in particular the presentations by Eva Martha Eckkrammer, President of Franco-German University, and by Yann-Mael Nideau, Policy Officer at DG EAC (European Commission). The presentation at the end of all the recommendations developed, which were assessed using an electronic voting system, was also a highlight that introduced us to the reality of the European Parliament. A guided tour of Strasbourg and a wine reception on the last evening rounded off the event and made it something very special.
As part of the "Greener is Better" panel, we discussed how the EU can establish a responsible approach to climate change. Together, we developed eight concrete proposals on the topic of sustainability, which were adopted by a majority in the final vote.
In the hope that the EU will discuss our proposals and possibly draw inspiration from the future generation of Europe, we hope that many of our proposals will find their way into reality. As a student, I highly recommend attending the next edition of the European Student Assembly (ESA25), as it will not only be an academic highlight for every student, but above all a social one."