Nightline Europe: bringing together volunteers for a conference in Paris
Over two days, representatives from each Nightline Europe member shared best practices and knowledge regarding student mental health in Europe and how to best support all Nightline volunteers.
What is Nightline Europe?
Nightline Europe is a network, launched officially in autumn 2023, which creates connections and supports the development, quality and impact of Nightlines across the continent. The network also aims to raise awareness on student mental health throughout Europe.
In 2024, Nightline Europe counts 20 members across Austria, Germany, France, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
What happened during the conference in Paris?
The first day of the conference opened with a typical French breakfast offered by the French association and presentation of Nightlines taking part. In the morning, Nightline Europe members put their heads together to work on the network’s current projects: a Starter Kit for new Nightlines, a comparison of training and organisational policies, and data for a report on student mental health in Europe. In the afternoon, participants exchanged ideas on methodology and platforms for common data collection, following a presentation from the head of Nightline France’s research team.
The two last workshops of the day enabled participants to discuss volunteer motivation and well-being.
The second day of the conference was dedicated to group discussions about discussing and providing solutions to key challenges for Nightline Europe members, and ended with an overview of the next steps for the future of the network.
In between workshops, activities such as creating a logo or learning sign language enabled participants to explore different cultures and find unique connections with each other.
What’s next?
Through two days of sharing experiences and best-practice, Nightline Europe members brought invaluable new skills and knowledge to the network, which in turn will help support existing and new associations.
The work done during the weekend will also help Nightline Europe to grow and make progress on key projects. We leave you with the feedback from one of our volunteers :“ Thank you to all the wonderful people we met this weekend for the lovely time and for all your productive input!”
