Recognition

LOKO recognises associations to support the student association landscape of Leuven. Different types of recognitions offers several advantages. For example, you can book classrooms at KU Leuven more easily (and free of charge), you can make use of the LOKO rental service and you can apply for various subsidies.

'Kringen' are automatically recognized and thus do not have to apply for recognition.

For other student associations that are not 'kringen' (free associations), there are three options:

LOKO will notify associations when their recognition needs to be renewed.

You can find more information on the different subsidies on our website using the buttons below. All details about recognition and subsidies, definitions and deadlines, you can find in the subsidy regulations.

To qualify for recognition by LOKO, an association must at least meet the following criteria. The association that is applying for recognition:

1. must be aimed at students in Leuven.
2. is open for all students of Leuven.
   1. open as in both for local and international students (in the form of, e.g. accessible, e.g. bilingual communication where possible) and accessible to both KU Leuven students and UCLL and LUCA students.
   2. open as in at least a public event on Facebook or a post on a public Instagram page, and in
      terms of promotion not limited to a restricted group.
3. makes no difference between students who want to become a member, or not, of the requesting recognised association (it has no financial threshold).
4. is not profitable.
5. is active and has organised at least two open activities itself, without cooperation of other organisations, in the past 365 days.
6. tries actively and objectively to recruit new members.
7. respects the regulations of posters on KU Leuven premises.
   
8. has a goal that is in line with the general principles that LOKO wants to carry out.
9. endorses and defends the hazing charter. Each recognised association must sign the hazing charter. If they don’t organise hazings, they must also sign a document.
10. endorses the human rights (European Convention on Human Rights) and the anti-discrimination legislation.
11. strives for a good cohabitation with the inhabitants of Leuven.
    

Even if an association meets all the conditions, its recognition may still be refused. After all, the subsidy committee (subsidy regulations, chapter 1.3) must also take into account a balanced distribution of the association's landscape. Therefore, it can refuse recognition if the association has a goal that is too similar to that of another existing association, does not have a sufficiently valuable goal, or for any other reason it deems justified.

Official (faculty) student unions ('studentenkringen') are automatically recognised and therefore do not have to apply for recognition. Other student associations that are not 'kringen', must have their recognition renewed every three years. LOKO informs the associations at the beginning of the academic year when their recognition needs to be renewed.

An application for recognition can be submitted by sending the filled in template with attached the supporting documents of evidence of the activities and of the functioning of the association (see regulations chapter 3.3) to subsidies@loko.be or via the tool on the website (temporarily unavailable). You can find the template below.

ATTENTION! Keep in mind the dates the subsidy commission meets. Submit your application at least 1 week before the meeting at which you want your application to be reviewed. The second semester's deadline is April 1st. If you apply for recognition after this date, the application will only be processed in the next academic year.

Consult the subsidy regulations first, where everything is explained and defined in detail.

Not quite clear yet? Contact subsidies@loko.be with further questions.