The Student Organisation in the Democracy – Democracy in the Student Organisation

The agenda for the conference is still under development but themes to be addressed at the conference will include, but are not limited to:

The student organisations as channels for influencing national democratic structures

Public relations – creating and maintaining popular support Lobbying towards local and national governments How to influence the democratic structures of the institutions of higher learning

The student organisations as democratic tools

How to build strong student democracies, nationally and locally How to gather and manage the common students’ wishes and interests How to ensure student participation in the student organisations and within the institutions of higher learning How to ensure equal access to participation for all, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation or handicaps. Solidarity building across borders - How can student organisations work together across borders to make a greater impact

SAIH would like to present a program which is relevant for the participants hence we are dependent on input from different stakeholders to make the program as interesting as possible. If you have ideas or input on topics, speakers, or links to relevant articles to be included, please contact us: sigrun.espe@saih.no / +47 21 06 34 76.

The conference will be held in English, and translations to Spanish will be provided. SAIH hopes to invite about 20 international guests, mainly presently elected members of national student unions from the countries in which SAIH has partners, namely South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nicaragua and Bolivia. We are also inviting students from Western Sahara and Colombia. There will of course also be representatives from the student unions in Norway, both national and local, as well as representatives from SAIH’s local chapters. The conference will be open to students in Norway with an interest in the topic and to other stakeholders.