Louvain Coopération works actively with students at UCLouvain, to strengthen their capacity for individual and collective action within society. The main themes addressed focus on strong and transformative values: feminism, ecology, anti-racism and decolonisation. In 2022 our Education for Global Citizenship and Solidarity (ECMS) team was again very active. Here's what the students thought of it.

Exchanges...

Alita took part in the second edition of Campus en Action, a weekend organised for all students at French-speaking Belgian universities. Participants have the opportunity to learn about a particular theme - intersectionality between sexist and racist discrimination for this year - but also to create an awareness-raising tool. She says: "It was a very rewarding weekend! It was my first time taking part in an event of this kind and it was very well organised. I was particularly impressed by the "decolonial tour" of the city of Mons. We also watched a film about committed women in Belgium, which generated a lot of interest. Each activity included plenty of interaction with the speakers. It was an opportunity for each student to give their opinion and debate it. Being in communion with students from different universities not only allowed us to meet new people, but also to compare ideas.

Original creations...

Mathilde studies at the École Supérieure des Arts de Saint-Luc (Brussels). As part of an exercise in documentary comics, she took part in creating comic strips on the theme of decolonisation. Her creations, along with those of other students, were highlighted at Louvain-la-Neuve, in the exhibition "Angle mort: les questions décoloniales en Belgique". She says: "I really enjoyed the exhibition, and I was really surprised when I arrived at the opening! For me it was a unique moment because I'm not used to seeing my work exhibited. At the start of the project, we attended a number of completely different presentations. Fiona Nziza (Louvain Coopération) helped me enormously. The teachers also explained the project, and we learned a lot about decolonisation and colonisation. Afterwards, we did an exercise where we had to find traces of colonisation in the city or elsewhere, and comment on them to prepare ourselves. Thanks to all these elements, we were able to come up with ideas and apply them to the exhibition.