Poster

“All different, all equal”
This is the slogan written in the banner of Albanian Students’ biplane to emphasize the idea of equality expanded in every side of life especially in European higher education. What makes us different is our nationality, language, and culture; what we have to be equal is the opportunity. The poster in front of you shows the Europe through Albanian students’ eyes, which is expressed inside the picture frame through symbols. Each part of the picture contributes to each-other to imply the general idea. The sky in natural scenery contains a European shaped cloud; which is united, borderless, not separated in individual countries. The background of the picture gives us the impact of peace and freedom in transport, communication, which lets young students to cooperate, create new experience and friendship, study abroad etc. Similarly UNICA Conference joins us together and provides opportunities for a best foreseeable future in European higher education.

Erasmus of Rotterdam is not only the eponym for the student exchange programme, which initiatively brings most of us together at this UNICA-conference, but as a philosopher he also offers a very interesting „platform“ that can be very vital for the discussions at this conference. Erasmus was an opponent of dogmatism. He lived and worked in many European places to expand his knowledge and gain new insights. At the same time he’s never lost track of the importance of enjoyment and pleasure in the process of studying. This is an aspect that should urgently be promoted in the design of today’s universities and educational reforms – Erasmus’ quotation recalls this exigency. Assembled inline with this emblem of Erasmus we’ve arranged headwords to the conference’s topics. These represent an extract of multifaceted perspectives of Viennese students. Particularly at the student protests in the past year we’ve come to cherish this diversity in debate and of people involved in it. But there are also common demands that many of us request, especially a well-appointed educational system that puts the subject in its centre and not some objective market criteria.

The ULB-VUB poster is inspired by the Tower of Babel, which was meant to unite people through a common purpose. However, the construction of the tower was never completed because people no longer understood each other. The underlying message of this poster is that we, as Europeans, share a lot of goals and interests. Our futures are connected and interdependent, and we must see our different cultural backgrounds and identities, not as a challenge to meet our common goals, but as the building blocks for Europe’s future. The best way to achieve these common objectives is through education and integration of our different educational systems. The tower of Babel is a symbol of that process, i.e. different nationalities and cultures working towards common goals, and this time around: succeeding! And what better way to show our Belgian contribution than by using a well-known painting of the famous Belgian painter ‘Brueghel’?

Borderless Europe, increased student mobility, exchange of ideas and equal opportunities are just some of ideals all of us try to achieve through higher education. Talks are given, studies are conducted and documents are written on this subject, but implementation mainly fails.
High expenses, general incompatibility and human narrow-mindedness are main issues plaguing the vision of united Europe. Differences in quality of higher education cause variable acknowledgement in society. We try to show that the level of higher education varies significantly across Europe. It is of up most importance to highlight these inequalities in all discussions in higher education. We all have different backgrounds, needs and expectations which ought to be fulfilled in our vision of European higher education.

EUROPE THROUGH OUR EYES!
We, university students in Europe are the promising future of this continent. We view Europe optimistically, always looking at the brighter side of life. A united Europe has a lot to offer. We can study, work and travel in any European country. We gain access to high quality education in top notch universities. Through increased mobility, we interact with students from other European countries, at home and abroad, experiencing and learning to embrace cultural diversity. We form multicultural friendships for life and build on common ground to incite sustainable development and environmental preservation. A united Europe is all about opportunities. Let us seize them!

Europe trough student´s eyes.
Europe became free and open after the fall of the iron curtain. Students use this possibility for travelling and studying without boarders.
But in reality, not all curtains have fallen down. Some of them have remained in our heads in the form of prejudice against some nations, others have been shifted to the boarders of today´s Europe.
Europe, which seems to be open and free, might be an unreachable goal for students of non-European countries. Many of them undergo dangerous or illegal journeys to cross its boarders. We have in mind especially risky cruises from Marocco to Spain (realized on small boats whose capacity is exceeded manytimes), illegal means of getting a visa, illegal marriages etc…
Travelling gives us a new perspective of Europe and thus helps us appreciate things that are not a matter of fact – let us name freedom among others.

Relations are everything. Today’s students in Europe have all opportunities to network with each other across borders. Europe is getting smaller and conferences like UNICA contributes to a strong relationship among the students in Europe. From the outside, Europe may seem diverse. However, when students gather to share values and discuss point of views on subjects of common interest, we are not that different after all. We are all pieces of a large puzzle, and the development of multi-way relations is very important to secure the future of Europe. To maintain the network in the future, we have to focus on the informal as well as the formal activities, so don’t go home too soon. The Danish delegation is very excited to meet you all and we promise we will never be the first to leave!

A lot of Estonian students travel through Europe or even further in their late teens or early twenties, to see the world around these 45 000m2 dear to us, to meet further people than the 1,3 millions living in our home country. In 2004 we became part of the European Union, which contributed to our even before global mindset. Today we do have a strong self-identity as Estonian nation, however almost just as strong is our identity as Europeans. In academic life, where you simply cannot manage without mobility we really think there are no borders between us and thus is how all the European academia can profit on synergies between each other. We believe there are no borders for students, no borders for knowledge.

FUTURE IN OUR HANDS
NETWORK OF IDEAS
SEIZE THE NET!

For us young students, Europe is a network we are building together.
With the help of communication and transportation we are able to share ideas easier than ever before. In the expanding European Union students of today share common thought and global worries: many today are concerned about the climate change, environmental issues and the world economy. Together, by building a European network, we are able to deal with the issues.

Nowadays an inceasing number of students go abroad to study. Why? For the unique experience of meeting new people and encountering different cultures. In Europe, boundaries are free, encouraging mobility and thus enabling interactions between countries. We are students of our own countries but aslo students of Europe! Not only do we have the chance to see Europe under construction, we are the engineers designing its foundation. The place Europe should occupy in the world and the face we want to give it are some ideas we need to think about. Despite our enthusiasm for further interactions between the european we should keep in mind that Europe’s wealth partially resides in its diversity. An excessive effort of homogenization, neglecting each national particularity, will play against motivations for mobility. That’s why it’s important to see Europe as a link between all cultures and not as one country.

UNICA 2010 – „Europe trough students eyes“: As the title of the conference already displays, the main motivation is to share insightful experiences about the higher education in Europe. The UNICA network is a network connecting european capital universities. This special character of the conference reminded us of a puzzle, in which many pieces fit together completing one image in the whole. The main condition to complete the puzzle is to make the single pieces compatible. By uniting delegations of all european capitals universities, the UNICA conference offers a great opportunity to achieve this condition. We are looking forward to share experiences with all of you in the end of septembre.

The poster in front of you shows the eye-chart of students. First you see the bigger picture, then the place where you live: EUROPE. After that, you can find the themes from students lives and finally the main topics of this conference.
The installation shows us, that it's just the (conscious) vision of yours makes the difference. Everything has the same size, everything is important.
A solid Europe can only be achieved for future generations, if we improve our vision now.

Looking from a student’s point of view Europe is a land of possibilities. It is a place without borders – real or symbolic ones. Every student, who is a citizen of a member state of European Union, has a chance to study in other EU countries of his choice. He doesn’t need to fight officials and overcome bureaucratic obstacles to travel outside of his country. We believe that a battle of wits is the only kind of fight that students should engage in. Knowledge is our victory!
As you can see by the colours of the poster, we support some aspects of the European Union , more precisely, the idea of united Europe. It is our understanding that the word „united” means „neighbourly”. Friendly countries support each other and open up their borders for the citizen of corresponding coutries, giving them a chance to travel, study, work and experience new things. Open minded students who are ready to take up the challenge of going abroad and „widen the horizon ”are the bright future of Europe. We have replaced the thirteen bright stars situated on the flag of the European Union with thirteen students who are forming a circle – the symbol of unity.

Europe through students eyes.
We try to see not only the bright side of Europe society, but also problematic one. The purpose of this poster is to appeal those dogmatic truths that are decelerated by the European Union (EU = ES in our language). We don’t deny the benefit and opportunities that the EU offers but we try to draw attention to negative and problematic issues, that still exist in the EU.
The first part of the poster shows how the EU looks from outside. The middle part represents few problems that are still tenacious and vulnerable like social exclusion, inequality, disunity. And the last one induces to question the whole situation in EU and all the issues that we may think we realize.

.FACE EUROPE.
Europe. An entity so difficult to grasp in all its aspects in our modern global and quickly changing world. Europe is dynamic, thus always creating new challenges and pushing us to move forward. Europe is diverse – unifying 27 states beyond their numerous cultural differences.
As a result, our Europe is well informed and always connected. She has established many friendships and she is extremely popular in her social network. She has a busy agenda, creating the possibility to exercise a vibrant social life. She wouldn’t refuse an invitation for coffee, whilst mingling with similar minds in thought-provoking discussions.
We, as young students, eager for development, eager to be connected and to stay informed, eager to look beyond our horizons, are the FACE of our EUROPE.

Europe through students’ eyes.
The poster in front of you portrayes a borderless map of the geografical region trying to show how the european continent is becoming intertwined accross borders. The lines crossing the map are a way of showing the opportunities for students to travel and see different parts of Europe as well as it is trying to show how communication, cooperation and interests are highly evident across Europe. In a student’s eyes the cities marked are representing potential places to study. A student of today has a tremendous set of opportunities to go abroad on different exchange programs, all providing a way of enriching one’s education. The persons portrayed on the map is a small collection of academics from the european scientific field, each representing excellency in science. Being placed on different soil than their country of origin, we are trying to show how academic work are borderless and evident across institutions of  European higher education.

The poster was inspired by the thought of hopes and perspectives that United Europe raise among young people and students. Today's possibility of travelling without limits, the progressing tendency of knocking down borders and barriers, free choice of the place to live, study and work - it all make us feel free and feel like at home everywhere within European Union. Thanks to Lifelong Learning Programme each of us, already during our studies, has an opportunity to live abroad, get to know profoundly another culture and language - for most of the students participating Erasmus Programme is an adventure of life that gives loads of unforgettable memories and useful experiences. We should all try to appreciate the facilities given to our generation and be glad to be a part of all-different-all-equal societies.

The Lisbon Poster recalls the genesis of multiculturalism: the Atlantic and maritime endeavour also known as the Discoveries. Setting an astrolabe
against a background that is reminiscent of the ages-old art of cartography, we underline that the Age of the Discoveries, arguably a Portuguese
contribution, is, like the Age of Multiculturalism, as praised as controversial: a time of new opportunities, of undeniable courage, but also of fears and possible mistakes. Likewise, the world as seen by students’ eyes is both new and daring.
The poster gives special relevance to the Atlantic ties. For we believe that being a student in Europe is to live with a common past, looking forward. It
is to sit in class with students from many European countries and to share experiences with those of other continents. Hopefully the poster evokes
these ideas, for they should be the “North” of any further step in the construction of the Europe students aspire to.

To study in Europe means for a student the oportunity to follow a road paved with ambitions, courage, diversity, innovation and tolerance. All this will sum up the personal and professional development of the student who will tgive in return what he had learn in his country, his own experince and not only.
The student, who was helped in his big step in Europe, could form an important part of development, side by side with other students.

Starting with what the first man, who put his foot on the moon, said, we can safely say that studing abroad is a small step for Europe but a giant step for student.
In this way, together, we will succeded in unifying a Europe based on knowledge, creativity, performance, solidarity, freedom and diversity.

How do students see Europe? We have used symbolism to express our ideas and our views about it. Each of the symbols has its particular meaning which contributes to the main idea of the poster.
The mortarboard and the configuration of university made of books on it come to symbolize the education and students’ society.
The ray of light from it represents the students’ view and it flashes on a young girl which symbolizes Europe. Such a symbol of Europe stands for harmony, beauty, unity of the area, as well as its role as an ancestor of all modern Occidental civilizations. From the earliest times Europe brings peace and excellent education to the world - the girl in the picture let a white pigeon out of her hand.
World-famous architectural structures in the background highlight the rich history of Europe, its high culture and far-famed art.
The colors of the picture, especially the greens, emphasize the attention to the ecology and healthy lifestyle in Europe.
So from our point of view, Europe though students’ eyes can be described in 5 main words: unity, beauty, harmony, environment, education!

They say that all young people have their heads in the clouds, and students are no exception. A student's mind is busy not only with the university, but also with the friends and shared plans how to travel around and see the world. And Europe seems to be a perfect place for all of this. We can study at prestigious universities, where variety of exchange study programs (e.g. Erasmus) and high-quality education with long tradition lay the foundations of solid future careers. We get to know new places, different cultures and meet interesting people. Thanks to the Schengen Agreement and common currency as the cornerstone concepts of the EU, travelling is easier and broadly available. A land of unlimited opportunities with a good standard of living, which offers young people everything they dream of - that is Europe through students' eyes.

Today, everybody has something to say about Europe. We feel that these opinions should be shared and discussed, since European matters have become a matter of everyday student life. Students from all over Europe can now use this opportunity to raise important issues and develop a critical view on the current situation in Europe. It is why we are interested in knowing what our colleagues from around Europe have to say about it.

EUROPE: Choose your future.
Students should see Europe as a wide offer of choices to build up their future. They have, for the first time in history, the opportunity of choosing among so many universities of high prestige to study so many different careers, that the map of Europe, for them, cannot be other thing than the map of possible choices of academic institutions to study. Countries, places and boundaries are secondary and of course, the poster can only represent a few of the much wider offer. The most important thing is the freedom to go to share personal and cultural experiences, and academic resources with other European people while learning with them and from them. For that reason, in the poster, the map has an opacity of only 65% while university logos have a full opacity of 100%.

In our globalized and ever-changing world of today, there is a need for collaboration in order to ensure continuous development towards a sustainable future of peace and good relations. The theme of our poster is therefore collaboration. The coloured ribbons represent the colours of the flags of Europe. However, instead of displaying each flag separately, the colours mingle and unite in new formations – as do the people of the countries. The vertical blue letters connect the UNICA Conference that binds it all together, to the views of the students of Europe taking part in the conference. Finally, the map of Europe acts as a reminder of how close to one another our countries are situated, and then also how interdependent we are; it stresses the importance of collaboration, and the UNICA Conference provides us with an excellent opportunity to do our share by working towards a bright future for Europe.

How great is it that students can choose from all the tempting flavours that the different European countries have to offer? The slogan "HAVE A TASTE OF EUROPE" and the image of Smarties to pick from remind us how lucky we are to have the choice to travel, study abroad, and get to know the taste of other cultures.

Each nation represented at the UNICA conference is portrayed in the shape of a Smartie. We chose the image of Smarties because they are made by Nestle, one of the best known companies of our country. One red "Swiss" Smartie is kept in the periphery of the European ensemble to illustrate that we are not members of the European Union. Nevertheless, two other red Smarties are scattered within the letters (as are NO, HR, EE, RU), which reminds us that we are also closely connected with the EU in many ways: culturally, economically, and geographically. The question of when and if Switzerland will enter the European Union remains a big debate. As our country is located at the very centre of Europe, universities and students want to be a part of the great European system of study and research. We are convinced that the world moves forwards by sharing ideas and exchanging opinions despite the different political situations.

The colours of the Smarties represent the great diversity in the community of European students, whereas the handwritten notes in the poster highlight the idea of independence and a "do it yourself" spirit. The UNICA student conference also contributes to this spirit as it enables students from all places to participate in shaping their own future. Take a pick!