It all started with our recruitments where we welcomed 35 new members to our association. Soon after that, the Winter Welcome Week arrived, where we welcomed more than 800 students upon their arrival in Zagreb. Throughout the semester, we organised numerous events with which we wanted to integrate them into the local community, help them get to know each other, and experience Zagreb and Croatia in a different way! In the summer semester, more than 400 international students came to Zagreb which we, once again, introduced to all the charms of studying and living in Zagreb.

Apart from the fact that we actively organised events for our international students during the year, we did not forget about our volunteers, to whom we provided a series of education opportunities and events that they could attend in the Network. It all started with the traditional Newbie Training to familiarise new members with our work and areas of activity. In November, we organised the second edition of our Local Platform, where our volunteers had the opportunity to learn more about leadership, conflict management, branding and finances of an NGO. In order to bring the year to an end in a fun way, we also held a traditional Christmas team building to thank all members for their efforts and work throughout the semester. 

2023 started with the organisation, now for the second time in a row, of the Mobility Festival, where we wanted to introduce local students to the possibilities of studying and/or working abroad. Just two months later, we had the opportunity to organise the 22nd National Assembly of ESN Croatia and to greet more than 70 volunteers from all seven local associations to Zagreb. May was also a busy period in ESN Zagreb because we held a third Local Platform that focused on critical topics such as current challenges, motivation and unity, while also organising Skills & Employability Week - a two day conference focused on enhancing student’s skills and professional development.

And if you think that's the end - it's not! Continuously throughout the year, our volunteers had the opportunity to participate in many other local, national or international events, such as the National Training Samobor, National Assembly Zadar, Local Boards Meeting Split, Community Meetings in Romania and Austria, the Croatian Erasmus Event, and finally the biggest event of the Erasmus Student Network - the Erasmus Generation Meeting, which was held in Bucharest this year.

To wrap up this amazing year, we received two amazing recognitions from ESN International - one of them was winning the second place in the "Fundraising Award" category for our CAREoke event, where we collected donations to help Ukraine, and the other one being that our Plants for (Comm)Unity event was recognised as the Activity in the Spotlight for May!

So, nine months, 35 new members, 60+ events for international students, 2 events for the local students, 2 awards and countless opportunities and possibilities later, we finally celebrated 12 years of #esnzagreblove.