Last April, AEGEE-Barcelona organised the Youth Employment Conference. The event was directly connected with the Action Agenda (Youth Employment Focus Area). For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Néstor Saura Torres, president of antenna, to find out more!
Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Barcelona was chosen as ACTive local of April?
We were all amazed about it! Also receiving the news all together during our Summer University has been very special! We are really happy to see that all our effort is being recognised. Thank you!
Why did you decide to organise the Youth Employment Conference?
We decided to organise this conference for many reasons. On one hand, we thought that it would be really interesting for many people, as unemployment here is a big problem now for young Spanish people. On the other hand it was a good opportunity to show all the work that we do in AEGEE, as this topic is part of the Strategic plan 2014-17, and also to strengthen our relation with the university.
Also, it has been a good opportunity to organise something different that we hadn’t done before.
What was the result of the conference?
The reality is that we did not have an extraordinary big amount of attendants, but the general opinion from most of the people who came was that the conference has been really interesting.
Also, we received positive comments about the quality of the speakers. They were representatives of the European Commission, the regional government of Catalonia and the University of Barcelona, and they all offered great speeches explaining the roots of the problem and the solutions proposed by the institutions.
How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?
We have some key moments to inform about it during the year: the Local Training Course and in the general meetings just before both Agorae. We constantly encourage all the members to explore all the communication channels and we inform the new joiners personally.
Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?
We try to introduce some sessions about the Action Agenda in every event we do. We are really active on this point, as we have organised three events in the last nine months including a Network Meeting! Sometimes we like to discuss about the Focus Areas during our weekly meetings.
Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?
They should organise as much as possible because the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan are the reasons why AEGEE exist. We cannot forget that apart from cultural exchange and some other general ideas, we are involved in this organisation for building a better Europe, and we already have those guidelines to do it. Also, organising this kind of activities can motivate their members to become more active and also willing to give a hand in the European level.
Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?
It may seem too obvious, but it’s important to focus on one single topic and not touching softly many. It would make everything easier and the results would also be better.
Another important tip is asking for advice to other people. For example, we received much help from some ACTies as Borja and Juragis, as they are always willing to help motivate members. Also external help is always important: without the support of the university this conference couldn’t have been possible.
Can you tell us a bit more about your local?
AEGEE-Barcelona was founded in 1986, so it’s one of the oldest in all the Network! Last October we celebrated the 30th anniversary with a great party where we were able to meet old members from the last decades, and of course many interesting stories about the ancient AEGEE!
Nowadays we have around 60 members and around 15-20 are active. We try to do at least one activity every week and this last course was highly intensive. Now we are just finishing our Summer University, organised together with our twins from AEGEE-Thessaloniki.
The next steps are getting new active and motivate members and continue having fun with the current ones. Of course we are also thinking about interesting events and activities for the next months! We are willing to meet you all in Barcelona!
Characterise your local in one sentence.
We are unstoppable! That’s our definitive motto since some months ago, when some members from other antennae were trying to make fun of us.
Written by Elena Efremova, on behalf of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee.