On the 3rd and 4th of November 2016 the conference ‘Integrating international students: perspectives from cities, civil society and academia’ took place. It was held in the Conference Center in Lublin. This year’s conference was the second edition of the event. It was opened by Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of the City of Lublin. During two days, topics regarding integration of international students were broadly discussed. Among the invited guests there were panelists from different countries engaged in integration of international students in new surroundings. They presented their standpoints based on the variety of everyday experiences with students from all over the world. The event was attended by the representation of the Rule of Law Institute Foundation and its President, dr Tomasz Sieniow.
During the conference speakers gave keynote presentations, got involved in structured discussions and took part in workshops together with other participants of the event. Vivid discussions were the basis for a better understanding of different approaches taken by particular countries towards presence of international students at universities, in cities and local communities. Thanks to the conference, it was possible to confront differences and similarities in practices regarding students from all around the world studying abroad. Panelists exchanged their views on how to deal with diversity and gave solutions to racist and discriminatory behavior encountered by international students in receiving societies. Participation in the event was significant for Login:Lublin team whose members were present on the conference. During the breaks, there was the time to talk in person which created a possibility to make contacts and strengthen already existing ones.
In my view, the conference was an inspiring event as it created space for the exchange of good practices, points of view and approaches towards international students by specialists working in this field. For me, the most interesting point of the conference were workshops which turned out to be extremely engaging for participants. One of the workshops was moderated by Julian Hofman, the worker of the Rule of Law Institute Foundation. It was held in English and concerned integration of international students with the local community. It was interesting to hear participants sharing experiences concerning international students with whom they deal with in everyday life. At the same time, it was surprising for me to hear that universities in countries such as the UK or Belgium are not supported by NGOs or city halls in actions aiming at international students’ integration. From the perspective of a person living in Lublin it was a big difference to be observed. The city of Lublin itself was even pointed out several times as a model of the city dealing well with integration of international students. Undoubtedly, participants of the conference came back home with new knowledge, experiences and inspirations for working on even greater integration of international students.
Kinga Hodór
