Alfredo Sellitti – President
February officially represented our half term benchmark, and despite being the shortest month of the year it didn’t prove to be the least busy. On the 2nd of February I participated in the consultation round for defining the Strategic Priorities of the European Youth Forum. The process is almost coming to an end, and it is supposed to finish with the presentation to the Members for approval at the upcoming Council of Members in Brussels. After this the new European Boards’ Meeting finally arrived. The event was particularly inspiring, and provided to the Network not only a draft of Action Agenda but also new ideas about projects and activities, thanks also to our external speakers present there. Thanks to Gizem, Jana, Thomas, Katja, Patrick and all the members that contributed to the success of this EBM! And of course all AEGEE-Izmir crew for their professionalism and their valid contribution to the positive outcome of the event!
Further than that, on the 17th together with Marko we met the representative of “ThinkYoung”, a Brussels based Youth Think Thank with which we are planning to start a cooperation, while on the 22nd I attended a meeting with EUCIS-LLL to update our common position about Erasmus for All – still far from a concrete result, but some leaks from the Institutions seem to confirm that we are on the right way.
Last but not the least, with the support of Philipp we managed to start LiquidFeedback, an on-line decision support system, meant to foster active participation in the life of AEGEE and the decision making process in between Agorae.
Alma Mozgovaja – Secretary General
For me February started as a proofreader – the Summer University booklet was almost done and all it needed was a last cross-check, so that it could be sent for printing. Big thanks go out to Alperen, who arranged everything in Istanbul and of course SUCT which worked on improving the Summer Universities with the greatest dedication. During February the task distribution within the Comité Directeur was changed, after which I was appointed for the Juridical Commission. As it was high time to finalize the CIA, I spent quite some time cross-checking and proofreading CIA 22.1.
And then we arrived in Izmir for the European Boards Meeting. All in all, the EBM was very well organised – thank you AEGEE-Izmir and everybody involved who helped with the implementation of the EBM reform and making it successful. The high amount of quality workshops and a lot of thematic input in the event gave me a feeling of happiness. Hopefully it was a place for a lot of new ideas that will bring a fresh breeze to AEGEE.
February was also a special month because I got my five days of snow, which is very important for the person who enjoys winter. My discovery – you can enjoy an excellent winter holiday also in Greece where I spent few days after the EBM to get energy for the upcoming months.
February was the 6th month of our term; we are now clearly after the middle of it. Quite some things are done, a lot more is ahead and spring is around the corner to start-up more actively and passionately!
Elena Antova – Financial Director
February, February… everyone of us was waiting for this month with mix feelings, fear of the unknown, fear if everything will be alright and in the same time impatience to make this big step and to start one totally different EBM, where we will start drafting our future.
We started the month with preparations for the EBM. Even though paying membership fees is not obligatory at the EBM according to the new EBM Working Format I had to prepare the financial part of AEGEE-Europe Registration desk. During the EBM itself I was helping as observer for the 1st Focus Area: Youth Participation, Aim 1 focused on involving more active young people in local communities in cooperation with other associations. After this successful event we returned back to Brussels filled with hope, inspiration so as to tackle new challenges.
The rest of the month continued in a usual way. I was doing my regular tasks like checking reimbursements, making money transfers, bookkeeping. Together with Jüri I visited the European Council, visit organised by EMI (European Movement International(, where we had really interesting presentation of its work and started discussion about the future of Greece in EU.
Later that month, I started preparation for an External Audit. We were informed that one of our projects will be audited and I had to make sure that everything is prepared and all documents are present. The audit took place at the end of the month and took most of my time at this period. Now are waiting the audit company to give an assessment for the project. Hopefully, everything will be approved!
Marko Grdošić – Vice President and External Relations Director
It is obvious that if there is one thing that marked February and that all of us will write about is EBM held in Izmir. It was really a satisfaction to see AEGEE going back to its roots – filled with thematic, topics in variety of fields, panel discussions, workshops. I do have to mention the added value that external speakers had during these days, giving us different approaches, sharing with us their knowledge and supporting discussions.
Second thing that caught some attention during February was an external audit sent by the European Commission for a project of ours. In the frame of Youth in Action, the Commission decided to cross-check the work of 10 finished projects, out of which one was ours. Together with Elena, we were here to assist the audit company and prove that all the work that has been done is according to the rules and regulations given by the Executive Agency. In the following weeks we will get to know the results.
Another partnership is on the way. After a succesful meeting with Microsoft, they have decided to support us. Besides the technical support, AEGEE will take part in Microsoft consultations with NGOs searching for ways how the company can support different youth initiatives from the technical aspect.
One more thing made my day was the letter from the Commission approving the application for General Subvention for 2012. For one more year Commission has recognised our achievements and decided to financially support us. It is always a pleasure to see that the hard work pays off!
Jüri Kirpu – Internal Relations Director
As for many other people in the Network, February was marked by the European Boards Meeting in Izmir. Although the weather was something that none of us expected, the EBM was more than what we had all imagined. It included many workshops about topics varying from environment to media in Hungary. Over a long time AEGEE had also an opportunity to host live panel discussions, which answered lots of enquiries, but with it also raised lots of other questions and ideas.
The return to Brussels on the other hand was a big contrast to what we experienced in Izmir. Ideas and thoughts were overtaken by daily tasks, which were accompanied with a small EBM administrative followup and start of preparations for the Agora. The Network Status had to be updated with the information that was gathered in Izmir with the answers to the questions that Network Commissioners and I asked during registration of locals at the EBM.
During the end of February Elena and I attended a small excursion to the European Council, where the European Movement International organised a small hearing on the structure of the council and also a question round about its functioning among the EU institutions. This also brought with it many thoughts about the essence of bureaucracy and to which complex functioning the institutions operate on.
The month was also concluded with a new addition to our team, namely Luis, our new assistant arrived to the house, which is why Alma and I got a new room-mate.
Gizem Karslı – Projects Director
February will be always remembered… Two happenings of this month will be the milestones in my life. During February, I restored my trust in us, young people, once more I started believing that we can indeed change. For a long time, we have been complaining about the direction AEGEE is going, not very bright… Finally with EBM İzmir we made a concrete step towards change. Let me thank everybody who was a part of this – friends, we made it real… The results have already started to be seen: good project ideas, motivated members, and raised awareness on certain topics, what else we could have wished for…
After EBM, I had the chance to visit my hometown for few days. Sleepless nights, stress, tiresome, what I needed was no Internet but only sun for a couple of days… Together with Marko, Guillermo and Thomas we visited Antalya and enjoyed the summer warmth in the middle of February, then they set off for the rainy capital again.
The second part of February was in Spain, together with the ES2 Castelló family. There, I fell in love in AEGEE once again… I guess, those eight days we spent together changed my view of life. I would not imagine myself telling that, but I really discovered myself. I taught, I learnt, I was inspired, motivated… These days were simply amazing. I strongly suggest you to take part in European Schools, you will not regret. Dear friends, non-formal education rocks, be a part and enjoy it. That’s all from February: good results, motivation and inspiration!
Guillermo García Tabarés – Human Resources Director
Even if it is said that this February had a day more, it’s still shorter than all the other months, and actually it also seemed so.
The Local Training Courses were back. They were all the time ongoing, but with this sentence I mean that a new cycle started for the ones happening in spring. Related to that, we had more than 20 applicants for the 10 places granted with the up-to-100-Euro support from AEGEE-Europe. As always, the selection was based on the need of the locals, the geographical position and the results of the LTC support that was done in autumn. I wish lots of luck for the preparations to all of them and to the ones that might still consider organising them. As they know, and I want to share with you: in case there is a need for training materials or a trainer, not only during LTC period, but anytime, you can send me or the AEGEE-Academy an e-mail!
Apart from that, February was a month of evaluations: AEGEE-Fair in EBM İzmir had a great success and it seems that there is a strong established system fixed so far. On the other hand we had an unlucky case once more with the Cultural European Night, but after analysing the inconveniences I am working on it with the Cultural Working Group.
Moreover, a mid-term evaluation happened in the core of the Human Resources Committee and all Working Groups. It was the moment to check not only their achievements, but their feelings in order to see what changes need to be done to follow the desired direction.
Last but not least, you can already check the Working Groups’ Monthly Newsletter.