History
ISN Amsterdam is a member of Erasmus Student Network (ESN).
The ESN is a
European wide student network. Its goal is to support and develop
student exchange. It is composed of sections working in Higher
Education Institutes (Universities, Polytechnics, University Colleges
etc.) and National and International structures.
In
1987 the European Community approved a plan to create an extensive
mobility scheme for higher education. The Erasmus program thus created
became one of the exchange programs with which students in higher
education can spend part of their studies abroad. Two years later the
Erasmus Bureau invited a few former Erasmus students to an evaluation
meeting in Belgium. This resulted in the idea of the Erasmus Student
Network, in order to help international students encounter practical
problems during their stay at a host university via the system
"students help international students". ESN sections were instituted in
various European university cities. With the financial support of the
European Commission, the founding meeting was organized in Copenhagen
(Denmark) 1990 with participants from nearly all of the EC member
states. In that meeting the Erasmus Student Network became a legal
association. Nowadays the Erasmus Student Network, as a pan-European
network, provides its services to all exchange students studying in
Europe.