Some of you have doubtlessly been following, and maybe even waiting for this for a long time, but finally we’re happy to say that we’re going to launch (again) this amazing project from AEGEE-Europe. Of course, we’re talking about Europe on Track which will debut with its 3rd edition starting in Brussels on the 20th of April, and finishing on the 20th of May at Agora Bergamo. Sounds amazing, right? Keep on reading to get to know more about this project’s edition and the project coordination team members!
In the first edition, the project had won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2013, because of its aim to capture youngs’ vision and wishes for Europe. Now, six lucky ambassadors divided in two teams will travel throughout Europe taking part in AEGEE events, interviewing youngsters, documenting the whole trip and delivering sessions about the main topic of this edition: Borderless Europe.
Besides this main topic, there is also room to discuss about several other subtopics. The project collaborates with the Civic Education Working Group preparing sessions and creating a common background knowledge from which we can discuss about the findings of the present and the future of a Borderless Europe. However, the main goal of the project is to raise understanding and create a constructing and vivid debate by fostering the exchange of ideas, opinions, to reflect on what is happening now and to forecast what we want for Europe in the future.
The project ambassadors will record all the opinions, ideas, proposals and findings that will be generated with the hosting locals and participants during this intense one-month trip. At the end of this railway adventure, all the results will be presented at the Spring Agora Bergamo and to the European Commission later in this year. Hopefully, lots of inspiration and thoughts will come up from young people all over Europe.
Empowering youth is essential for shaping its future, with the help of civic education in building a common and borderless Europe. And is there any better example of understanding Borderless Europe than travelling all around Europe by train and exchanging opinions with other Europeans?
While open calls for locals and ambassadors have been launched recently, for the last three weeks the project coordination team has been secretly working hard to make this possible.
Réka Salamon, Vice-President and Project Manager of AEGEE-Europe, is the project manager. But she won’t be alone with this. Those who are taking care of the PR of the project are: Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva), Architecture student and former PR of the Summer University Coordination Team; Héctor Larraz (AEGEE-Zaragoza), General Motors maintenance foreman and Audiovisual Communications student; Oğuz Tosun (AEGEE-Ankara), Environmental Engineering student and former PR- director of his antenna.
Managing the content we have: Sofia Lobakina (AEGEE-Voronezh), currently living in Napoli studying Social Sciences and Communications; Viktoriia Leonenko, former Secretary of AEGEE-Kyïv and External Relations/University teams leader of Agora Kyïv 2015; and María Ballesteros (AEGEE-Bruxelles), Translator and Interpreter and Political Science student, currently working in the Revision Commission of her antenna and living in Paris;
The route will be planned by Tola Akindipe, not an AEGEE-member (yet), working as a compliance officer in Lisbon and running the Refugees Welcome there; Nicola Guida (AEGEE-Napoli), Architecture and Building Engineering student, involved very actively in AEGEE for several years, both in the local and European level; Alp Güvercin (AEGEE-Utrecht), Spatial Planning and Urban Design student.
As you can see, the PCT is consisting of a great variety of nationalities, backgrounds and working specialities. However, that doesn’t make it harder to work all together, but it’s being totally the opposite: we are working hard to make Europe on Track 3 awesome.
You can apply for Ambassador here or apply as a hosting local by sending your applications to europeontrack@aegee.org until March 23 (23:59 CET).
Written by María Ballesteros Melero, AEGEE AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles