For years known as European Level meeting, there is a rendezvous of members of the Agora who are not tired of constructive discussions and spend some time more over the issues and challenges of our organisation. Before Autumn Agora Cagliari, then Human Resource Director Ivan Bielik and Comité Directeur 52 decided to change the original concept opening it to everyone attending the Agora and making it a platform to share best practices. Vice-President and External Director Maarten de Groot recently sent the Open Call for the Spring Agora Enschede edition and we seized the occasion to ask him some questions.
The AEGEEan: What is the SHARE meeting?
Maarten: A SHARE meeting is meant for Agora participants who are eager to continue discussing their ideas for AEGEE in a smaller, more informal setting. It is an open space for you to share your ideas – any ideas – related to AEGEE, and to get direct feedback from other active AEGEE members. The SHARE meeting is open towards both new and more experienced members. We just want you to be motivated to have an active attitude in the meeting.
When and where will it take place?
The SHARE meeting will take place during the departure day of Agora Enschede, on Sunday, May 28th, from approximately 11 am to 6 pm. We are hosted in the pub of AEGEE-Enschede, in the city centre of Enschede. If you are interested in joining, you can still apply through this form.
What were the results of last year’s SHARE meeting?
During the SHARE meeting of Agora Chisinau, we started by evaluating the Agora itself. Afterwards, we discussed challenges and opportunities related to human resources and internal education in AEGEE, also in relation to the freshly adopted Strategic Plan 2017-2020 (Focus Area Youth Development and the Organisational Improvements). Another topic that was tackled is the question of collaboration between European Bodies, and how to make European bodies stronger through enhanced collaboration, especially considering the low-interest in the European Bodies Activity Report sessions during Agora.
What are the topics for Spring Agora Enschede meeting?
We will probably start with a brief evaluation of the Agora, and identify points for improvement, as is usually the case for SHARE meetings. Afterwards, we will go into topics proposed by the participants, and selecting them according to their popularity among the participants. However, this time we will focus the discussion on concrete ideas for change and improvement of AEGEE, and less on analysing problems.
What is done with the things that are discussed at the SHARE Meetings? Can you give us an example?
I must honestly confess that I haven’t managed yet to finalise and publish the minutes of SHARE meeting Chisinau. At the same time, I believe that the most important output of meetings like these is a certain level of bonding among members who are eager to get more active or those who simply want to continue contributing to a better AEGEE. As such it is also a place where newer members can get to know more experienced AEGEE members. While the dissemination of the outcomes is the responsibility of CD (and myself in this case), the follow-up on concrete ideas is really up to the participants of the SHARE meeting themselves. While I am not 100% sure, I believe that the idea for gameification of the Agora has its origin in the SHARE meeting of Agora Chisinau.
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona