Back in 2015 in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, a patch of industrial land boxed in between the brewery and the railway line lay abandoned.
Conscious that increasing numbers of students were weary about having to come to a cramped set of campus buildings, ŠOU (the Student Organisation of the University of Ljubljana) decided to do something with it.
Its student leadership cracked out the post-its, gathered its multitude of student associations, institutes and other student non-governmental organisations into a room, and came up with a blueprint for a dedicated student campus in the heart of the city.
The vision was to provide students with a platform – where they could develop their potential, create things together, engage in sports and art, develop their project or business ideas, and have appropriate professional and infrastructural support – along with subsidised services and activities to ease students’ financial problems.
There was to be everything from a reading room to a canteen with cheap and healthy meals, a discount store, a student incubator, a cultural and artistic centre, a multi-purpose sports hall, a fitness centre and offices for all the activity of the SU.
Today, with a bit of co-financing help from the EU’s European Fund for Regional Development and the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana’s Student Kampus is a stunning student facility – delivering on the initial mission with co-working spaces, a multi-purpose space for educational events and art exhibitions, three lecture halls, a pizzeria and more.
As the UK’s towns and cities hollow out with the boom days of retail long gone, some time soon government will need to get around to revitalising our centres. Having a vision for shared student space and putting students’ work into the in the heart of our university towns and cities will be a huge opportunity.
A life of our own
It’s one of the places we’ve visited on Day 2 of the Wonkhe SUs spring study tour to the Balkans and Austria, where student leaders and SU staff are on a bus tour of students’ unions, guilds, associations, and city-based student organisations.
One of the characteristics of the SUs we’ve seen so far in the Balkans is that discreet projects – always led by students – end up taking on a life of their own, and appear to able to then thrive and draw in volunteers and support without having to go through the central SU and its representative function.
A great example of that is Študentski tolar, a foundation established by ŠOU sixteen years ago to assist students in need through refundable and non-refundable financial aid, material assistance, and ongoing programmes and subsidies for extracurriculars.
The ŠOLT institute is even more impressive. Founded as a student society in the 1960s, its aim is to fill in what a student’s university course doesn’t provide – and since its conversion into a fully-fledged institute a few years ago, now runs a dazzling array of non-academic programmes on everything from languages to IT. And its student trainers also attract plenty of external income from local and national businesses.
Meanwhile the ŠOU Student Counseling Institute, established in November 2009, aims to assist students with legal and social issues. It offers free legal advice in areas including student (educational) rights, social security, scholarships, residence issues, work and income tax, student families, and student entrepreneurship – as well as temporary accommodation for students who have found themselves in social distress.
As ever, it’s almost completely student-run, and has attracted government grants and fundraising income with its quasi-separate legal status from the main SU.
It’s worth saying here that these types of organisational form – which partly come from laws requiring that the tax top slice from student work is spent on student activity across the Balkans – are fascinating insofar as they appear to offer far more opportunities for student leadership than we might see in a department in an SU or university, and spaces where stakeholder relationships specific to the service can be built.
Given that the role of the central SU is usually to fund both student-run projects and ideas and services like these, it’s akin to a Channel 4 “commissioning” model – where the UK’s SU and university systems can more resemble the heavy bureaucracy of the BBC.
Eggs in multiple baskets
It’s a similar situation up at Maribor SU, where the Maribor University Sports Association, an Institute for Youth Travel, the PIP Institute (Legal and Information Center), the Association of Disabled Students and the Youth Assistance Foundation have all become quasi-autonomous projects of the SU – effectively multiple brands for the price of one.
The other thing that’s interesting about SUs right across Europe is the number of events throughout the year that are both organised by students technically, and which provide a platform on which student talent can shine. In Maribor every spring, for example, the traditional Lantern Games are held, where teams of students compete in various “entertaining skills” – and a highlight of the academic year is the evening event, which moves to the stage and takes place before the summer vacation itself. Entertainment is provided by various musical performers.
Meanwhile for an SU which has a focus on fostering a spirit of volunteerism, humanitarianism and intergenerational solidarity, it’s been crucial to work to provide a platform on which volunteers can gain diverse work experiences and learn the value of teamwork and community support beyond material means.
The best example of this is its impressive Student Work Brigade, Slovenia’s largest student volunteer project, involving annual 10-day missions where 40-50 students aid socially or demographically challenged areas. Additional projects include helping the elderly and disabled in Maribor with household tasks, and aiding local farms during the COVID-19 pandemic with tasks like landscaping and planting. The brigade has received multiple recognitions – including a documentary, an exhibition celebrating its 20th anniversary, and several awards for its impactful volunteer work.
Oh. And the SU has a mascot. Students love a mascot.
More from the tour tomorrow when we’ll be off to Austria.
