Representation
Representation is one of the three pillars LOKO stands for, next to events and services & support. Representing students is our motivation. On numerous social, cultural, sporting and international themes, LOKO representatives are working every day to improve Leuven for their fellow students.
LOKO provides representation on everything to do with student life in Leuven.
We sum it up for you!
- Social
- Acco
- Alma
- Diversity
- Sustainability
- Mobility
- City
- Student services
- Culture
- Sport
- International
CULTURE
At policy level, the president of LOKO regularly meets up with the Vice Rector for Student Affairs to discuss general and broader issues, such as the support of student work. Many initiatives start from here and evolve via the other LOKO representatives.
Acco
Acco is a cooperative that wants to offer cheap course material. The board includes five student representatives, three of whom are delegated by LOKO. Their responsibility is twofold: on the one hand they are directors of the cooperative and on the other hand and first and foremost they represent the students. Within the board, their main tasks are therefore to ensure that the courses are decently priced and that they are present correctly and on time, also at the course services from the student unions. In addition, they monitor new projects, such as an Acco branch in other cities or Acco's e-learning project. On top of this task as director, the student representatives maintain the link with the course services of the student unions.
Questions for the Acco representative(s)? → Contact acco@loko.be.
Alma
LOKO has two student representatives on the executive board of Alma. As representatives within the board of directors, the students check the results and try to develop a student-friendly policy together with the entire board. In general, they have to make sure that Alma does not lose sight of its objectives (cheap, quality meals for students) and that all branches are in balance. Points for attention are the prices of the meals, the offer (e.g. for vegetarians), but also for example the role of Alma 2 as a party location.
Questions for the Alma representative(s)? → Contact alma@loko.be.
Diversity
The two student representatives on diversity sit on a few city consultations (accessibility, digital accessibility...) and work on bringing diversity to the attention within the Leuven student community, with all kinds of initiatives and campaigns. They are currently working on the KU Leuven Charter Inclusive University!
Questions for the Diversity representative(s)? → Contact diversiteit@loko.be.
Sustainability
In general, the sustainability representatives see to it that events and initiatives are run as sustainably as possible. Two student representatives sit on the KU Leuven Sustainability Council and are in close contact with the Green Office. These student representatives are also involved in Leuven 2030. In the academic year 2020-2021, they took care of planting extra trees in Leuven and are investigating a large-scale project with reusable cups!
Questions for the representative(s) Sustainability? → Contact duurzaamheid@loko.be.
Mobility
An important partner in the area of mobility is Velo, a social and ecological bicycle project where, among others, Leuven students can rent a bicycle. Velo also has a bicycle repair shop where students can have their bikes repaired. Together with the City of Leuven, educational institutions and the police, LOKO actively works to promote traffic safety in the city and prevent bicycle theft. Two student representatives from LOKO sit on the Velo board of directors. The mobility representatives also deal with broader mobility issues such as public transport, the state of the roads, bicycle policy in Leuven, etc.
Questions for the Mobility representative(s)? → Contact mobiliteit@loko.be.
City
The City of Leuven also likes to see the large group of students living in the city represented at some meetings. Every month, a consultation takes place between the city and some student representatives of LOKO. In addition, the two city representatives participate in consultations such as the Drugs and Alcohol Partner Consultation, the fakbar consultation and several theme tables. They maintain close contact with the Leuven student population and literally put the students on the map of Leuven.
Questions for the City representative(s)? → Contact stad@loko.be.
Student services
KU Leuven receives annual funding from the government to establish student services. The purpose of these student facilities is to promote equal access to and participation in higher education for all students. This goal is achieved by providing material and immaterial assistance and services and by removing study barriers. In order to remove these barriers, efforts are being made in various areas. These areas are housing (residences, housing service), food (Alma), social services (Student Career Centre, study advice service, social service responsible for study financing, study and disability service and a number of contact points in relation to diversity), medical services (student health centre, student psychologists and Mindmates) and student representation (LOKO). Furthermore, mobility and sustainability (Velo, sustainability and mobility policy) are also addressed, but these are not separate services. Some of these domains are specific to KU Leuven’s Leuven campus, such as Alma and Velo. By the way, did you know that campus Lemmens of LUCA also joins in the entire service package and campus Leuven of UCLL is in for everything except health? For more information on the full range of services you can take a look at the website of student services.
Since KU Leuven is present in several cities, KU Leuven has decided to set up a Student Services Council (Deelstuvoraad) at each campus. The Council should pursue the objectives of student services at campus level. The Council at campus Leuven of six voting student representatives and six voting KU Leuven members. The Vice Rector for Student Affairs chairs the Council. The Council decides how much money is to go to each domain and what is to be achieved with that money.
But what do the student services representatives do? Before a file is approved by the Student Services Council, it is usually prepared in a working group. These working groups consist of student services staff, experts, policy makers and, of course, the student representatives. The student representatives ask for input from the LOKO General Assembly and then try to incorporate this input as much as possible into the dossier via the working group. If there are certain aspects of the file that are difficult for the students, this is taken up and clarified with the relevant heads of student services. This ensures that once the file is submitted to the Council for approval, it is already widely supported. As a result, it only needs to be fine-tuned in the Student Services Council before it is approved. This ensures that the opinion of the student is always taken into account as much as possible when dividing the budget over the various domains and which services are offered.
Another task of the student representatives is to help students who have a problem with a service. This problem is then brought to the attention of the relevant department head and a solution is sought together.
Questions for the Student Services representative(s)? → Contact deelstuvo@loko.be.
CULTUUR
Culture Committee
The Culture Committee is a cultural council of KU Leuven. It awards subsidies to cultural projects and discusses KU Leuven's cultural policy. This committee also includes several subcommittees, such as the Contemporary Arts Committee, the Academic Heritage Committee and the Colonial Heritage and Past Committee. Two student representatives sit on the Culture Committee.
Board of Directors en General Assembly STUK
STUK was founded by and for students, and two student representatives still sit on the board of directors of the arts centre. The board of directors does not concern itself with artistic programming, but oversees STUK's practical operations and ensures student friendliness.
- KU[N]ST Leuven
KU[N]ST Leuven organises major cultural city festivals in collaboration with numerous organisations and Leuven University. These festivals bring together heritage, science and innovation in a surprising way. One LOKO student representativesits in the meetings with KU[N]ST Leuven.
Questions for the Culture representative(s)? → Contact cultuur@loko.be.
SPORT
- Board of Directors University Sports Centre
In this council, the budgets, investments and innovations of the University Sports Centre are discussed. In consultation with the other members of the board, the two student representatives ensure a large and good offer of sports infrastructure at a democratic price.
Questions for the Sports representative(s)? → Contact sport@loko.be.
INTERNATIONAAL
The international policy lies mainly with the Student Council KU Leuven (Stura). LOKO International sits together with the student representatives of Stura on two meetings, the liaison consultations and the WSIS coordination team.
- Liaison consultations
Together with Stura, one or two student representatives of LOKO meet once every one and a half months with the faculties of KU Leuven. Here they discuss international policy and can give a student point of view.
- Working Support group International Students (WSIS) coordination team
WSIS is a working group to support international students. One or two student representatives from LOKO have a seat in the team. In the past, different goals were set to be achieved in the field of international policy. LOKO, together with Stura, is responsible for two of these goals. Once or twice a semester, the progress of each organisation is discussed with the coordination team.
Questions for the International representative(s)? → Contact international@loko.be.
In addition to representation, LOKO also provides you with events and campaigns, both within these different branches (mentioned above) and beyond. We have two teams to thank for this: events and corporate relations! The IT and communication team are responsible for getting the right information to you! At the helm of LOKO's third pillar, services & support, are the general manager and vice president. The LOKO team is managed by the presidentand is a big jumble of volunteers who complement and support each other: they are students who are committed to representing all their fellow students.
Wil je meer weten over LOKO? Stuur gerust een mailtje naar loko@loko.be!
Send us a message
Do you have a question or do you just want to have a nice chat?
Contact or visit us!