In early July, AEGEE-Madrid organised an event about two important pillars in many, if not all, countries in Europe; these being ‘democracy’ and ‘equality’. The event got a special dimension by also including LGBT rights in the discussion. This further underlined the idea that there should be equality between both majority and minority groups. To know more, please continue our interview with Maria Ballesteros Melero from AEGEE-Madrid.
The AEGEEan: Who, within AEGEE-Madrid, organised this event?
Maria: Vicent Torres (secretary of the antenna) and María de la Torre (vice president) were the main organisers and the ones who decided to organise this event. We also had other board and active members of the antenna involved in the organisation of the event and the logistics during the event.
What was the event about?
Democracy: Where Are You Going was an event focused on debate about topics related to democracy and equality. We addressed subjects like how democracy works or the fight for equal LGBT rights in Spain.
Where and for whom did you organise it?
It was open for all AEGEE members and it took place at a youth hostel in the south of Madrid.
When did you organise it?
It took place during the first weekend of July (1-3 July), during the big weekend of the Gay Pride in Madrid. On Saturday, we had sessions on how democracy works in society, with practical games and with the collaboration of Óliver Soto, president of JEF Spain. We also had a very interesting debate with Miguel Ángel Sánchez, honorary president of Fundación Triángulo, who told us a lot about the fight for equal LGBT rights in Spain and how it evolved to become what it is today. On Sunday, we had a workshop about the history of democracy and e-democracy with Antonis Triantafyllakis, who is involved in the Euroland Agora project.
The evening program was focused on the Gay Pride activities in the city. We attended the Gay Pride Parade on Saturday evening, the major highlight of the whole celebration.
Why did you organise the event?
We wanted our participants to get a better grasp on how democracy works in Europe. We have noticed that we barely have events with content in AEGEE anymore and we wanted to change that. We also wanted to encourage the collaboration with experts and bodies that are not AEGEE in our events.
How did the event go?
I think it went great! We were a bit disappointed that the number of participants wasn’t higher, but after all we prefer quality over quantity. The contribution of members from other associations was very enriching for both participants and organisers and the debates were really interesting.
Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen