Dear AEGEEans,
On the second week of September 2012 AEGEE-Europe was represented at the European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference, which is the biggest Education Conference in Europe gathering more than 4300 participants and representatives of more than 1500 Universities from around 100 countries. The EAIE organises the conference on a yearly basis. This year it took place in Dublin.
Next one will happen in September 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.
During the conference, President of AEGEE-Europe Luis Alvarado Martinez was invited by ETS as a speaker for one of their sessions called:
21st century skills: Are students ready to succeed?
During this session, AEGEE presented to other European Stakeholders, like the European Parliament, European Commission, Universities around the world and other educational platforms, how we work with Non Formal and Informal Education in AEGEE to provide opportunities for our members to 
acquire skills and competences.
These help our members to have a better and smother transition from higher education toward the labor market. The abilities and experience we gain in AEGEE, are something which Universities of nowadays cannot provide. We develop and grow by using different approaches and methodologies as in Formal Education like horizontal learning (peer to peer, where the teacher and student are on the same level) and a lot of practical work (learning by doing). This allows us to be more prepared for the labor market´s needs.
Therefore, AEGEE is the perfect platform for our member to develop and prepare themselves for what is waiting for them in the outside world.
Our President took this opportunity to make a call upon European and International Stakeholders toward a further recognition of Non Formal Education and the role of Civil Society Youth Organisations like AEGEE, as well as of the need to allow students and young people to become co-managers of their own learning.
The organisation which invited us, ETS, advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research.
ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® General and Subject Tests and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at more than 9,000 locations worldwide.
Stay tuned for more news soon.
Written by Luis Alvarado Martinez, President of AEGEE-Europe 2012-2013 & member of AEGEE-Las Palmas