The Comité Directeur 2014 – 2015 of AEGEE-Europe, also known as CD52, is back at the Brussels head office, ready to continue the implementation of their Activity Plan and the initiatives they are involved in. They will not be alone though, because they can count on the help of several home-based assistants, who will support the CD in some relevant areas, ranging from website management to data analysis, network development, policy monitoring and more. The AEGEEan is reviewing some of the priorities that the Comité Directeur will have throughout 2015 until the end of their term, which YOU can also contribute to!
The Strategic Plan, a “top priority”
The new Strategic Plan 2014/17 has just started this new term. Therefore, according to the CD’s Activity Plan, implementing the new Focus Areas in AEGEE will be “a top priority”. As youth unemployment is still on the rise in Europe, the Focus Area of Youth Employment will be one of the key issues of this current Strategic Plan, and the Comité Directeur plans to bring up the topic to the Network in several ways, such as the second edition of the Youth unEmployment project. Concerning Youth Mobility, a special focus will be drawn, especially after the deletion of the Visa Freedom Working Group (VFWG). Three CD assistants will work in close cooperation in order to review the guidelines as written by the VFWG and update them.
Moreover, AEGEE-Europe’s Policy Officers will have a very relevant role in the process, since AEGEE is going to have to define its position on the Focus Areas and do advocacy accordingly, after being officially established in the CIA at Agora Cagliari. The Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) will also play a relevant part by ensuring the fulfillment of the Action Agenda 2014 – 2015, and will have a big involvement in drafting the following one at EPM Burgos in February.
Launch and implementation of “new” platforms
AEGEE’s Forum was re-established right after Agora Cagliari, which brought the Network to discuss about which platform would be the best one in order to bring back discussions online in AEGEE. The Comité Directeur will continue the implementation and promotion of the Forum, as well as the Members’ Portal, which was officially launched at Agora Cagliari. Several projects and European bodies use it in order to share information about their work and involve their members.
Moreover, 2015 could bring the new Online Membership System to life, as a replacement of our current Intranet. According to the Activity Plan, the OMS is expected to be launched at the upcoming AgorAsturias. Moreover, the AEGEE Wiki will be developed, as an information database that will gather all kinds of information, from general information about AEGEE to specific working procedures.
Discussion about AEGEE’s organizational culture and structure
Now that the new AEGEE identity has been implemented as a way to present AEGEE externally, the current CD sees it’s time to focus on the internal structure of AEGEE and how the different bodies are connected with each other. Therefore, they have planned to consult the different European bodies about their needs and relations among them, and map them, as well as to start a discussion on its organizational culture.
Moreover, this year will see the follow-up of the introduction of the secretariat strategy. The Comité Directeur is currently researching the possibilities to outsource some of their current administrative tasks to the Secretariat and funding possibilities, in order to ensure professionalism and continuity in the organization.
Strengthening quality assurance and non-formal education
The impact measurement process was recently introduced to AEGEE, and the process of gathering data about the impact of several aspects of AEGEE’s work will be followed up with throughout this year. The same applies to the quality assurance of our events. Since the establishment of EQAC, the committee has constantly been improving and it will ensure that the quality of our events is properly monitored.
What’s more, the Comité Directeur will have a big involvement in the ongoing processes of the validation of non-formal education, with initiatives such as GR-EAT (which stands for “Guidelines for Recognition – European Advanced Tool”), a Life-Long Learning project, where AEGEE is one of the management partners. The COY Project, aimed at striving for the recognition of Youth Workers, is currently coming to an end, so AEGEE will follow up on this project, together with its partners. The recognition of volunteering will also continue, in order to ensure that volunteer work is valued and recognized.
Human Resources and on-line trainings
A lot of attention will be paid to the Human Resources status of AEGEE through initiatives like the Membership Growth Project, which aims to help antennae with their membership strategies in order to become more sustainable. Currently, the locals who will take part in the pilot phase of the MGP are being selected. AEGEE will also bring trainings to the whole Network, as the first webinars and online trainings for AEGEE members are currently being developed.
…and most importantly, involving YOU
These are only some of the things that will keep the Comité Directeur busy in 2015. However, their main priority is no other than to involve you in these processes! From project management opportunities, to helping them define the organisational culture of AEGEE, applying as a home-based assistant, supporting the discussions in the forum or taking part in the consultations about several advocacy processes and policy areas. There are several areas you can support the work of the Comité Directeur in, and AEGEE members are the ones who shape the organisation, so don’t be afraid to take an active role in defining it!
Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona