Never Sad in Novi Sad

The series of sustainability road trips has begun! In line with the phase 2.0, EUGLOH will welcome 4 new partner universities to the alliance, including that of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and was founded in 1694 when Serb merchants formed a colony across the Danube from the Petrovaradin Fortress, a strategic military post. The city was heavily devastated in the 1848 Revolution but was subsequently rebuilt and restored. Today, along with the Serbian capital city of Belgrade, Novi Sad is an industrial and financial center important to the Serbian economy. Its university is one of the largest educational and research centres in Central Europe.

We were warmly welcomed with a campus tour, guided by local students of diverse faculties, and ended the day with an array of local specialties. The dinner was a chance for us to discover a taste of all the countries present. Representatives from Paris-Saclay, University of Porto and University of Szeged participated in this trip, allowing for a cultural exchange that reflects the essence of EUGLOH. Food was not the only glimpse of the Balkans that we got, since we also had the opportunity to learn the steps of the Slavic folk dance Kolo and were presented its traditional clothes alongside this. On the last day, we spontaneously ended up at the Petrovaradin catacombs and were lucky to have a guided tour by the founder of an NGO aiming to clean and map the extensive maze of tunnels.

Aside from all the fun, we also managed to deliver numerous workshops and team building activities. We disseminated the concept of EUGLOH with as much enthusiasm as our hosts when sharing their history. Thankfully, everyone was motivated and attentive, and our activities seemed to have achieved their goal. The potential members of the Local Student Board were interactive and pertinent in their questions, which allowed an efficient exchange of information. Emily, our secretary general, also helped the mediation between the students’ expectations and university’s plan.

All in all, the few days we spent in Serbia enabled us to strengthen the ties between our partner universities and gave us a better understanding of the identity and needs of the incoming team.