After the Open Call held last May, a new Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) was selected. Despite having been announced only in August, the team has already started to work on new projects and on finding ways to bring the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan closer to the Network. Members of the Speaker Team, Ruben Navarro and Monika Duda, talked to us about the program of the Committee, including a special focus on the PR of the committee.
Ruben Navarro
The AEGEEan: Can you please introduce yourselves and your team?
Ruben: My name is Ruben Navarro, and I’m a member of AEGEE-Tarragona, a small antenna in the north east of Spain. I’m 22 years old and a student of electronical engineering. And, of course, Speaker of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee since the beginning of August.
Monika: My name is Monika Duda, I’m a member of AEGEE-Zielona Gora, but I’m also active in another local, namely AEGEE-Wroclaw. I’m 21 years old, student of Mechanical Engineering at Wroclaw University of Technology and Vice-Speaker of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee.
The rest of the team is formed by Doriana Chirilă (AEGEE-Cluj Napoca), Etibar Aliyev (AEGEE-Bakı), Katharina Krüll (AEGEE-Passau), Maksym Kovalenko (AEGEE-Kyiv), Mert Gökçüoğlu (AEGEE-Ankara), Silvija Perić (AEGEE-Zagreb) and Svenja van der Tol (AEGEE-Nijmegen).
Why did you decide to apply for the Action Agenda Coordination Committee?
Ruben: I decided to apply because I believed (and still believe) that the Action Agenda is one of the most important documents we, in AEGEE, create. Defined by our Mission and Means, the Action Agenda creates the basis of the thematic work of our association. Taking that into account, I consider the body taking care of its realisation one of the most important in AEGEE and I thought I could make a change to it.
Monika: I do believe that the Action Agenda, along with the Strategic Plan, is one of the most important documents in AEGEE, because it compresses the Mission of our organization into specific actions. The vision of AEGEE is very close to mine too. I got familiar with the Vision, Mission, Means and the Statement of Principles on my first Network Meeting, so I decided to do my best to contribute to them, which lead to my decision to candidate.
What are the tasks of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee?
ACT works to help fulfill the Action Agenda, not by doing the thematic work ourselves, but by coordinating the antennae, Working Groups and other bodies, suggesting them ideas to implement it and encouraging them to do so. To do so, we actively collaborate with the Network Commission. To make our work more efficient, each member is in charge of a part of the network, working directly with the NetCommies to have the most direct approach to the locals as possible.
Last year, the previous team had some issues with the knowledge transfer. How was your knowledge transfer period?
Our knowledge transfer period felt short (too many things to learn in a few weeks), but we can say that we’re happy with it. There weren’t too many instructions, so we can think of our own ideas and plans. Moreover, we are still in touch with the last Speaker Team, so they can help us whenever we need it.
How would you like to implement and improve the work of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee?
We’re working on many things, such as the creation of new Guidelines, which we want to be completely different this year. We’re also working to establish a collaboration with several other bodies to make not only our work but also the Action Agenda more visible. We’re working on our PR strategy and writing and creating workshops about the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan. And many, many more things!
What are your plans for the upcoming months?
Right now, we’re mostly focused on the preparation of Network Meetings, writing the new Guidelines and our first team meeting in Brussels (which is going to take place from the 3rd until the 5th of October). After Autumn Agora Cagliari, we’ll start working even harder, trying to collaborate much more with the locals and continuing to improve the work of the Committee.
Monika Duda
It is often said that the Network is rather distant from the work of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee and the Action Agenda in general. How do you plan to deal with this gap?
That’s, unfortunately, completely true. The Network is sometimes unconscious of the importance of the Strategic Plan and the Action Agenda. Therefore, we’re working and planning to have a really strong PR management and we’ll also try to provide workshops for antennae about the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan, along with taking the advantage of a very active team spreading the word of the Action Agenda too. It won’t be an easy job, but we’re ready to put our energy and time into it as much as we can!
Want to stay updated about the work of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee? Follow their Facebookpage!
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia