The European Universities Games 2024 is also a great occasion for students to meet, especially from the EUSA Student Commission. On July 12, for the first time, the Student Commission met in person, happy to collaborate and improve together the student engagement in Europe.

The meeting was attended by STC members Ms Klea Taipllari, Mr Atte Kolehmainen, Ms Francisca Coko, Mr Jan Sobczak, and Ms Reka Molnar. Mr Andrej Pisl, Projects and Policy Manager of EUSA, attended the meeting on behalf of the EUSA Office.

EUSA STC members discussed several topics during the meeting, emphasising existing projects and events they have participated in. For example, Francisca was present at the ENGSO Assembly in Austria, where she had the chance to see how ENGSO and especially ENGSO Youth work and to help them find solutions to their problems through different working groups. It was also a great opportunity for her to meet new people from different nationalities.

Klea attended the FISU Academy, where they introduced the management of volunteers during sports events and the selection process. She also shared information about the next workshop she will attend with FISU on training volunteers in Zagreb in August.

Reka and Jan went to Cyprus for a one-week project with ENGSO Youth about Youth in Action. They reflected on their experience there, and what they learned about the inclusion of young people in the decision-making process in sports organizations. They also met new people from all around Europe and discussed the challenges they faced during the week.

Atte Kolehmainen spoke about the role of young people in the Finnish University Federation and shared his experience. He noted that it takes time to understand the system of a federation, including its members and politics, which often results in people ageing out of the youth category by the time they come to the board.

After discussing the various challenges everyone faced during different activities, Mr Pisl addressed the future activities for the student commission for the coming months and how the commission can represent EUSA at different events.
The STC members are also participating in EUG2024, with Reka Molnar as an organizer and the others as volunteers. In this way, they also participate in the Youth Exchange programme. The meeting started with a physical activity to help everyone get to know each other better, joined by volunteers from Debrecen. 

Andrej Pisl presented the schedule and plan for the upcoming activities. After that, the participants proposed some topics and chose which ones they would like to lead for the workshops in the next few days. 

Finally, the volunteers shared their challenges and experiences during the first few days of the Games.

EUSA Youth Exchange Programme is co-funded by the European Union and supported by the Organising Committee of the European Universities Games Debrecen-Miskolc 2024.