About ESN

History of ESN
The Erasmus Exchange Program was initiated by the European Community in 1987. The purpose of this program was to offer students in higher educational institutes the opportunity to spend part of their studies abroad. In 1989 a meeting was organized in Gent, Belgium, to evaluate the Erasmus Program. At this meeting the idea arose to build an international network with interrelations between all participating institutes, offering guidance and help with practical problems to exchange students staying at a host institute. This became a reality when in 1990 the Erasmus Student Network was founded in Copenhagen.
Since then the foundation ESN has continually been growing, up to the over 216 local sections in 28 European countries that exist today.
More information about the ESN sections is provided at www.esn.org.

Goals of ESN
At the time of foundation, the general goals set were:

• Improving the guidance and social integration of foreign students.
• Gathering information about exchange programs for students and universities.
• Using and exchanging the knowledge and experiences of Erasmus Students gained abroad.

Structure of ESN
On a local level, each of the 28 countries participating in ESN has its own sections connected to universities, polytechnics and university colleges. In the Netherlands there are now 15 local sections. National meetings that are held four times a year, and are attended by representatives of each section, attain co-ordination between these local sections. Because of the large number of different sections, a national board has also been established in the Netherlands.Each of the countries has a voice in the international organization of ESN, by means of a seat in the Council of National Representatives. On top of that, international co-operation is achieved by the yearly Annual General Meeting, which is attended by representatives of all sections. At the AGM important decisions on the international scale are made and the policy for the following year is outlined.