Last October was quite a busy month for all AEGEE locals with the preparations for the Autumn Agora upcoming. However, there were locals still organising events related to the Action Agenda! The outstanding local among those was AEGEE-Ploiești, which worked hard to organise events related to two of our Focus Areas: Spreading Europtimism and Civic Education. Their events were a good example of the impact that can be achieved with only a few people. We spoke to Alin Georgescu to find out more!
ACT: Congratulations! As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?
Alin: AEGEE-Ploiești is relatively a new local, but still we succeeded to organise five Summer Universities since 2012 with different topics and in partnership with three different locals. Due to the fact that in general we don’t have so many active members, we try to do our best and we are proud to be part of the big AEGEE family.
You have organised the European Democracy Promoters project. Can you tell us more about this project?
During two weeks, we organised workshops and presentations in five of the biggest high schools of our city. With these workshops and presentations, we made young people (and their teachers too) aware of what the European Union really means for us, what its values are and what benefits we have thanks to it. We tried to show them how the world would look like without European institutions and without the values that are protected by them. We also discussed about critical problems that we are facing right now, like the migration crisis, human rights, youth unemployment and lack of active citizenship.
Why did you decide to organise this project?
Last year June, we started a partnership with the Information Office of the European Parliament in Romania, which gave us the chance to organise the European Democracy Promoters project. As part of a bigger project organised by the Office, with activities organised by different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Romania, we decided to take action against lack of information, euroscepticism and misinformation, which are issues that young people face every day.
What was the result?
Well, the result was unexpected. We succeeded to have an impact on more than 300 high school students in two weeks. In general, our participants were young people with no clue about what the European Union really is. We offered them the opportunity to find out more about its values and opportunities. Moreover, some teachers showed interest in future collaboration with us, willing to organise more sessions or conferences related to this topic and AEGEE’s Focus Areas.
Why do you think the Action Agenda is important for the Network, and what would you say to locals that are thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?
We consider (especially after this project) that it is our responsibility to fight against the lack of information, euroscepticism and misinformation, because these are the problems that we face. People and especially young people have the right to know more about the European Union and its values, and to believe in it. I think it is our duty as one of the biggest interdisciplinary student associations to fight and create the society that we want to live in.
Do you have any other big plans for the upcoming months?
We decided to work more with the Action Agenda and try to have an impact on as many young people as possible. We will continue our activities in high schools and also, having new members, a team building on a Focus Area in order to have more people involved. Besides that, we are going to organising a Summer Course with the Human Rights topic, from the 2nd to 16th of July.
AEGEE-Ploiesti has certainly shown to the Network that it can be an example to other locals. What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you?
We have to work together, as a group, as a family, in order to create a better society. It is in our duty to do so, sharing the same values and same interests, spreading the AEGEE spirit everywhere.
Which sentence would describe your local and your event?
“Some call it Europe, we call it home.”
Written by Action Agenda Coordination Committee