From weekly social drinks, international and Dutch dinners, parties, film nights and city trips, exchange students and internationals have an inclusive, vibrant platform to make the most of their time in the Netherlands.
The one-year-old Erasmus Student Network Delft provides information and organises a wide range of events via their online portal and Facebook.
They provide as many diverse activities as possible to cater for all tastes and cultures, including introductions and immersions into local Dutch culture. “When we started we were doing about a quarter of the present activities we now organise,” said treasurer Laura van Utenhove, bachelor’s student at Industrial Design Engineering. “Our main goal is integration, socially and culturally,” said culture coordinator Cor Bollemeijer, bachelor’s student at Technology, Policy and Management. “We also want to motivate students to go abroad,” said Van Utenhove.
In February 2015 six local student volunteers started the Delft section of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), the biggest student association in Europe for supporting and developing student exchange. Inspired by their own ESN exchange experiences in Ankara, Istanbul, Budapest and Barcelona, they brought the formula back to fill in the gap in Delft. It has not stopped growing since.
The board is made up of six members, with 11 other members handling the three committees for activities, culture and PR and fund raising. Some committee members are on the buddy programme mentoring groups of 4 or 5 exchange students which are given competitive challenges to foster group feeling. Three times a year the board goes to a national meeting to exchange ideas with the network, but many of the ideas rest on their own creativity. Most of the online interaction happens on the Facebook page they set up each semester. During the last semester they had around 600 participants, of which around 300 were exchange students. Through ESN Delft members can get an ESN card with local and international discounts.
The social Erasmus activity aims to give back to the local community by volunteering in a retirement home or school to promote cross-cultural understanding. International exchange students can give presentations in local schools about their country, culture and traditions.
For more information on events or how to get involved with ESN Delft visit their website.
This is part of our ongoing series Meet The Society which highlights different student groups and societies at TU Delft. If you’d like to suggest an organisation for us to cover, please email us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl.
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