Four or five times a year all Dutch speaking locals and their Network Commissioner (NetCommie) gather for a collective meeting called the Nedertop. The reason for this gathering is a mystery for the rest of the AEGEE-network. Until today, because this article will give you all the ins and outs about this Dutch meeting!
The exact date of establishment is unknown, but Diederik Smit (honorary member of AEGEE-Leiden) remembers it started as a secretive, forbidden meeting, where text messages were used to reveal the location. Dutch locals have always been very close, so the idea to get together and have a meeting probably stems from this bond. Having a national level isn’t something that AEGEE-Europe strives for, since it wants to operate without a national level, so the Nedertop wasn’t received well. At first the Comité Directeur also feared that the locals were in fact making decisions about votings during the Agorae, but after they had visited a Nedertop they saw the potential and were enthusiastic too. From that moment on the Nedertop was opened to all Dutch speaking locals instead of just Dutch locals.
As already mentioned, all Dutch speaking locals are welcome at a Nedertop, which refers to the AEGEE-locals from Amsterdam, Brussels, Delft, Enschede, Eindhoven, Groningen, Leuven, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Tilburg and Utrecht. Together, these locals discuss potential issues they have (for example finding new boardmembers), Network Meetings, updates about each local with their plans and activities and the boardmembers share tips they might have for each other (for example in the process of finding new board- or active members). Votings for the Agorae are not discussed, but the successful implementation of the accepted proposals or motions in the locals is discussed. The Network Commissioner of the region (currently Dominique Lenssen) also gives updates on what he or she has been doing in the past couple of months, but can not be held accountable for her activities since this can only be done during an Agora.
Last year the participating locals also became a member of the NJR (Dutch Youth Council), to represent AEGEE on a national level. Because AEGEE as an association does not have a national level, a representative is elected that speaks on behalf of the AEGEE-locals. Next to that, the locals try to use their large amount of members to search for collective fundraising. The fundraising team together tries to provide fundraising options for all Dutch speaking locals like mailings or advertisements. In the past they have worked together with ‘Working at the EU’ for example, which would post banners on all locals websites and send out regular mailings in exchange for an extra payment to the locals.
The Nedertop isn’t only about serious business though! Last year the first Fun Event was organized: a weekend without thematic activities, but providing the opportunity to make friends with members from other Dutch speaking locals. Friendship often forms a good base for a successful collaboration, therefore, the Nedertop tries to connect members of Dutch speaking locals in both a formal and informal way.
The Nedertop locals also created a website, where all the Dutchspeaking locals can be found and a short explanation about AEGEE-Europe is given. This website can be found here.
Written by Svenja Van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen