The core team of Agora Bergamo is restless in preparing the Agora and letting the world know. Their next hit is a little wooden plane that, they hope, will travel all around Europe like an Olympic Torch. We spoke with two lovely ladies, namely Lisa Gregis, who is also responsible for the fair, and Silvia Cannarozzi, part of the PR team, and this is what they told us.
The AEGEEan: What is the Agora Plan?
Lisa and Silvia: We were inspired by the Olympic Torch. Before the Olympic Games start, there are people all around the world, who are passing it as a baton, from one to another, and the final destination is the Opening Ceremony of the Games. The same for us, we thought that the AEGEEans could have an active role in Spring Agora Bergamo, even before the beginning of it. So there will be the AGORA-plane (a wooden plane symbol of this Agora) travelling around Europe, thanks to the AEGEE members who would like to support our initiative. It will be delivered at the Opening Ceremony of Agora Bergamo, on the 18th of May 2016. It’s a symbol which states that the Agora is in Bergamo, but it is made by every member in Europe.
When was this initiative born?
We thought about it when we met the Gruppo Giovani Artigiani Bergamo (Young Artisans Group Bergamo) a few months ago, which is a collective of young artisans of our province. They were very enthusiastic about the event and wanted to take part in it since the beginning. They are different kinds of workers: mechanics, carpenters, smiths, bricklayers and so on, and they were willing to help. So we decided to create this plane (that required a customized inlay work made by Davide Aresi) and we are very happy about the result!
When will the project be launched and where will be the first stop?
The project will be officially presented the 8th of January, but the Agora Plane has already left, riding the wave of NYE events. In this moment, it’s in Skopje and has already stopped over in Movska and Kyiv. Then, from there we expect that a lot of AEGEE members will take it to their cities and that the Agora Plane will travel a lot around Europe!
How locals and/or members can be Plane carriers?
They will just have to fill a form and then we will match all the transfers. It’s easier than it seems, since there are many AEGEEans travelling between the Locals every day of the year (due to the european events of our network) and the plane is designed to easily fit in every hand luggage.
What do you expect from this?
We expect a lot of members willing to participate, send us their pictures with the plane in the cities where AEGEE is present and bring the plane back to Bergamo. We want the Agora Plane to travel through as many Antennae as possible, to connect us all towards a common European spirit.
Who are the partners?
The partners are Gruppo Giovani Artigiani Bergamo and Confartigianato Bergamo. We’ve just started to collaborate and we are already planning to do many other things together in the next future!
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona