UNeECC student workshop II, Vilnius, Lithuania, 23-25/10/09
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Saturday 31 October 2009, 18:39 - Education - Permalink
The General assembly of the University Network of european Capitals of Culture was held at the end of october in Vilnius (Lithuania). As an ex-member of the Student Committee Board, and a participant of the first UNeECC student workshop in Pécs (Hungary), I was kindly invited to participate to the second student work shop organised on the occasion of UNeECC General assembly.
Like in Pécs, some representatives of student associations came up to share ideas, good practices and make some brainstorming about possible UNeECC projects dedicated to european students. 10 different nationalities were represented ; there were students from Bologna (Italy), Antwerp (Belgium), Sibiu (Romania), Pécs (Hungary), San-sebastian (Spain), Warsaw (polonia), Graz (Austria), Essen (Germany), Vilnius and me who was considered as a representative of the Catholic University of Lille (France). The main topics we discussed during this workshop were creativity, culture and innovation. We had to consider these 3 subjects within their mutual interactions to find some innovative ideas which could be put into practice within the student UNeECC network.
So, we spent three very busy and interesting days together. We were welcomed like very important guests and we had the chance to attended some traditional shows with typical Lithuanian dance and songs. We went to eat traditional food (Cepelinai*, Šaltibarščiai*, etc.) in very folk places (Chili village). We visited some monuments like the Gediminas castle (the founder of Vilnius), Archcathedral, Pilies street, etc. We also went to party in a famous club called Gravity and located in a former bunker... People was quite curious about me, maybe because of my vanilla skin :-)
We had great receptions and we very appreciated the performance of the choral who sing for us some Lithuanian pop songs, the last day. By the way, that day was, very sad because almost everybody was leaving the day after and after spending so much time all together, sharing so pleasant moments, any stranger finally become your friend.
Even if I am not student anymore, I feel very involved in the UNeEEC activities. That’s why I took very seriously the brainstorming sessions during which Karl Fromberger from Essen and I, proposed a project which have been approved by everybody. I will tell you more about it soon, all the more so I already started working on it to find some EU subsides within the framework of the «Youth in action» program, launched by the european Commission.
To conclude, I have to say that I really liked Lithuania, probably because we were very well surrounded and welcomed. Probably because our Lithuanian hosts, and now friends were extremely gentle and friendly. To get there I spent 18 hours in transportation... (Brussels/Frankfort (bus) - Frankfort/Hann (bus) - Hann/Kaunas (plane) - Kaunas/Vilnius (bus)), but I did not regret this tiring journey because once in Vilnius I discover a new culture, new people, and I really have fun. So obviously, I think I go back there pretty soon... Stay tuned.
- Cepelinai (Zeppelines) - Grated stuffed potato dumplings;
- Šaltibarščiai - cold beetroot soup, and also a hot mushrooms soup served in a cup of bread.
