AEGEE-Passau is the Local of the Month (LoM)! Founded in 1990, it celebrates this year its 25th anniversary, and of course the LoM nomination. This is the reward  for the great job it did with the European School 2 (ES2). But the antenna is not only about that event. Its members will help us to find out more. We spoke with Antonia Haftmann and Verena Meier, PR & Marketing Responsible of this bavarian local to know more about them. 

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-Passau is the Local of the Month. Are you happy about it? Do you think you deserve it? Why?
When we got the news, we were quite surprised to hear that we were nominated as Local of the Month. Of course, all of us give their best to support AEGEE-Passau, as well as AEGEE-Europe and it makes us proud to see that our work is appreciated in such a way. Nevertheless, we are totally aware of the fact that there are many other locals which also do excellent work.

What is the story of AEGEE-Passau?
Our Antenna was founded in 1990 by Marco Kalbusch together with 24 other students of the University of Passau. Since the founding, AEGEE-Passau developed constantly. It was and still is very active and among the 10 biggest locals. Our Antenna is really keen on organising at least one big event per year. Thus, during the last 25 years, we organised for example the “One World Convention on Social Business”, the Network Meeting “Pride and Prejudice” as well as “Music Moving People” in 2014. Furthermore, at least one Local Training Course (LTC) per year is part of our regular programme, in order to include our members well in the AEGEE-Network and provide a stable relationship. Besides that our antenna is known as an Erasmus antenna: we are the main contact for all international students coming to Passau. Therefore, we are responsible for the welcome weeks each semester and, what is more, we support them throughout their whole time at the university. What makes our antenna also quite special, is the fact that AEGEE-Passau was one of the first to sign a Twin-Antenna-Contract. In 2013 the contract was signed at the Agora in Mannheim with our dear friends from AEGEE-Delft. Even before that we had a close relationship and each year at least two exchanges to which all of us are always looking forward to months before. This year, AEGEE-Passau had several reasons to celebrate. Of course, on the one hand, the successful European School 2, but on the other also the antenna’s 25^th anniversary.

Tell us something about members and the relationship between all of you.
The Antenna consists mostly of girls studying cultural studies. We get along very well though and are very happy that there are no cat-fights within our group.

Almost all of us are motivated outstandingly and invest a lot time in AEGEE. However, the relationships among us go far beyond the weekly meetings. We develop close friendships among AEGEE-Passau and also with other antennae. Our Twin-Antenna from Delft are also like AEGEE-Passau members for us, even though distance separates us.

We always talk about “The AEGEE Spirit”, but what is the “AEGEE-Passau Spirit”?
We certainly have some symbols to show our sense of togetherness. Firstly, AEGEE-Passau is well known for their sign, the crossed arms which always goes along with the “Passauuuuuuuuuuu”-shout. Secondly, starting this semester, we also have a mascot: a dear whose name is still up for debate. Thirdly, we also have shirts and sweaters for our members. This is the visible part of our spirit. But our AEGEE-Passau Spirit can also be seen throughout our daily life: due to the fact that Passau is a small city, you meet members literary everywhere. Thus, we are more like a big family and being in AEGEE-Passau goes far beyond a simple membership.

Your antenna was nominated Local of the Month also because the great job you did with the European School. Can you talk us about this event?
To put this event in one word: AWESOME!

But let us explain that. The days were characterized by intense sessions for participants and trainers. During the nights, however, there were typically fun sessions at the hostel with lots of games such as “truth or dare”. Creative hugging can also be considered as major part of our ES2 routine. Hence, the sense of togetherness between participants, trainers and organisers was established extraordinarily fast. We can tell for sure, that we all love each other now and the ES2 remains unforgettable for each one of us. We expect everyone to come back to Passau soon, if only because of the delicious food. One, for example, came already back to visit us.

Finally, what are the future plans of AEGEE-Passau?
For our future, we want to continue to organise at least one European Event per year in Passau. We are, for example, now in touch with the two other Bavarian Locals Bamberg and Munich, to start a Travel Summer University through Bavaria.

Furthermore, we plan to integrate more European Projects in our daily schedule, in order to make our members more aware of them. Our aim is to motivate more of our members to be not only committed to the local level, but also to the European one.

Thanks to our members, AEGEE-Passau has become a very stable and successful antenna during the last 25 years. Over these years, lots of knowledge was accumulated and we would be more than happy to support other locals with our experiences.

Written by Karina A. Silivas,  AEGEE-Udine

AEGEE Inspire aims at inspiring AEGEEans, giving everyone the opportunity to present their inspiring story in a limited amount of time in order to motivate other members. The AEGEEan interviewed Mathijs Waegemakers, AEGEE-Enschede, and Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona, about their experience as host of AEGEE Inspire at Agora Patra 2014 (Mathijs) and at EPM Burgos 2015 (Anna). Read on to find out more about it!

The AEGEEan: Can you introduce yourself?

Mathijs: My name is Mathijs Waegemakers and I am a proud member of AEGEE since 2008. I was very active on our local level, but in 2013 I tried something European. That year I went on a Summer University in Kyiv and it was awesome. Once you start with the European things, you never want to quit. After being a delegate for a year, I am currently member of the Audit Commission. When the open call was sent for participant, and later host, of AEGEE Inspire, I knew I wanted to be part of it as well.

Anna: My name is Anna, I am an AEGEE member since late 2011 and I am currently board member of AEGEE-Barcelona, as well as assistant to the Comité Directeur at AEGEE’s head office in Brussels. Apart from being an AEGEEan, I am a journalist, so you can imagine which my three biggest passions are – writing, travelling and AEGEE!

What is AEGEE Inspire?

Mathijs: AEGEE Inspire is an event in which every member of our association has the opportunity to present something they find inspiring. This can be anything, from very personal stuff, to very large new concepts or ideas. The participant is free to present what they want, and how they want to present. The only rule is that you keep your presentation within the limited time, as we only have one hour and we want to give an opportunity to as many persons as possible.

Canterbury is ready to make its entrance in the AEGEE’s Network. Here the story of the new Contact since the first steps, told by Emily Zerling, one of the founders.

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce yourself.

Emily: My name is Emily Zerling. I’m 20 years old. I’m from Paris in France. As the daughter of a French father and an English mother, I feel very European myself. I’m a student in my second year studying at the University of Kent (Canterbury) doing a five-year course in Politics and International Relations in partnership with one of France’s “Grandes Ecoles” called Sciences Po Lille. At the end of these five years, I will have spent two years in Canterbury and three years in Lille and I will receive a double degree. I would like to work if possible in the European Union institutions.

How did you hear about AEGEE?

I first heard about AEGEE last year when I was studying in Lille. I was one of AEGEE-Lille’s first members and coordinated the society’s communication and advertising through its Facebook and Twitter pages.

Why did you decide to create your own Antenna?

I really enjoyed being part of AEGEE-Lille, so I wanted to continue the AEGEE experience in Canterbury by creating my own. With some friends, we decided to create a new contact based at the University of Kent where we all study. The University of Kent describes itself as the UK’s European university but there wasn’t any European society we could join so we decided to set up an AEGEE on campus.

The main motivation and the main reason why me and my team decided to create a contact of AEGEE Europe in Canterbury was to raise awareness about the EU in the UK and challenge preconceived ideas, especially the rise of Euroscepticism which the UK is facing at the moment. We are therefore mainly addressed towards British students who take an interest in European projects.

Was it difficult to start?

It wasn’t easy at the beginning because we first had to get the university’s approval which took quite a long time. But once, we had their approval, everything went quite quickly. Experienced AEGEE members also helped us to get everything started so it wasn’t too difficult.

How many people are currently involved?

For the moment, six people are involved full time and all come from different European countries, but we aim to target many more members in the following weeks.

Do you get any support from other AEGEE-locals?

We don’t but we are going to try to establish a contact very soon with all the other UK AEGEE-locals.

Is there something you need?

We need to find as much members as possible who are interested in helping us setting up our contact.

How would you describe Canterbury?

Canterbury is the ideal place for setting up AEGEE because it will provide our antenna with many opportunities such as the fact that the city is well connected to other important European cities like London, Lille, Paris and Brussels. The town is also a very popular tourist destination and a historical city with a wealthy legacy.

The city is full of students who come from all over England and from all over Europe and the rest of the world. It appears to be a very dynamic town with an important student life with many bars, clubs and events for all occasions. Kent Union, the University of Kent’s student organisation, looks after more than 200 societies and gives each and every society the possibility to develop itself, providing them with facilities and equipment.

What are your plans for the new Contact?

Our plans are to organise many events, conferences at the University of Kent where we could discuss European issues with students studying in Canterbury. We would like to put in place many debates where we could invite British MEPS or MPS to talk to students about European issues, objectives and especially engage a discussion about a burning issue at the moment which is the UK’s tricky relationship with the European Union. During the following year, we intend to run a campaign called “UK stay in the EU” if the EU referendum was to take place.

Are you already organising something?

Our first project will be to take part and support an Election Observation Mission focusing on the 2015 General Elections in the UK, that will be held in Canterbury in May.

How do you imagine your Contact in a year?

We hope that in a year’s time, we will have been able to expand greatly and many UK students will have joined us and taken part in our European projects.

Written by Karina A. Silivas, AEGEE-Udine

A passion for communication and a love for AEGEE have convinced Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona, to apply for becoming a new member of the Comité Directeur. Public Relations and Communications or Projects is the way! Read on to find out more about the candidate! 

The AEGEEan: Describe Anna Gumbau. How old are you? Where are you from? What do you study? How about your future aspirations?

Anna: I am a 22-year-old girl from Premià de Mar (a town near Barcelona), who recently graduated in Journalism. This has been my biggest passion in life since I was a kid, and for the past six years I gained quite a lot of work experience contributing in several media platforms in local and regional level. My dream is to keep writing, travelling, reading, writing and still write a little more and pursue a career in news reporting somewhere in this world. In the meantime, I am now a CD Assistant at the AEGEE-Europe Headoffice in Brussels!

Now describe just Anna. Who are you? How is your personality? What is your way of thinking and of living?

Anna is one of those people who are constantly dreaming awake. In the AEGEE teams I have worked in, I have been usually described as the “fluffy puffy” teddy bear, others call me “cuqui” [a Spanish word pronounced like “cookie”, which means something like “sweetie”] so you might get yourself an idea. I would describe myself as someone caring, idealistic, a good listener, extremely clumsy, and enthusiastic. As for my way of thinking, a very good friend of mine from AEGEE-Barcelona told me once that “positive thinking makes things happen”, and since then I adopted it as my personal motto. I always try to show passion and enthusiasm at what I do, and try to have a smile on my face for everyone!

What is your experience in AEGEE?

I joined in the end of 2011, even if I didn’t get active until summer 2012, when I got back from my first Summer University and started to get involved with AEGEE-Barcelona, for which I have been board member for two years and been main organiser of two of our biggest events, a Summer University with AEGEE-Las Palmas and the Fundraising European School 2014.

It was at Agora Budapest 2012 when I got to know about AEGEE’s European projects and initiatives, so I started to get involved in The AEGEEan, first as a freelance writer, then as editor, and spent a challenging but awesome year as editor-in-chief of the magazine, probably the most challenging but amazing of the projects I have ever been involved.

Now, besides being still part of The AEGEEan’s team, my main task is being the responsible for the 30^th Anniversary Conference that will be taking place in Brussels this May, as well as part of the Election Observation Project’s team (as Fundraising Manager and Mission Coordinator to Moldova, in November 2014).

From local to European. This is the journey that every active AEGEEan dreams about and this is what Svenja van der Tol is trying to realise applying for the position of Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe. Read on to discover more about her candidature, but also about her life, experience and personality.

The AEGEEan: Introduce yourself. How old are you? Where are you from? What do you study? Future aspirations?

Svenja: Hello everyone! My name is Svenja and I’m a 22-year old girl/woman (I never know what to call myself) from the Netherlands. I finished my Bachelors in Dutch Language and Culture and now I’m working as a full-time intern for a Publishing and Marketing company. When I grow up, I would like to continue in the field of communication, preferably as a journalist or copywriter. In an ideal world I would get paid to travel and write about that, which would be a nice follow up of my AEGEE life. Since my nickname is Mommy of the Network already, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one day I want to be a real mommy and have a looooooot of kids (she said before actually having had one herself). I think my future aspirations in AEGEE became quite clear with my candidature [she laughs].

What kind of person are you? How is your character, strengths and weaknesses?

If I have to use a hashtag to describe myself, it would be #svenjaoptimism, which, fun fact, my friends actually really use. I’m a happy, optimistic, honest fluff puff girl full of energy who loves rainbow unicorns, talking, eating, laughing and travels. I like to keep myself busy, so you will find me writing, reading or working on something almost all of the time. My strengths are that I am a hard and fast worker, very enthusiastic and therefore able to motivate others, understanding and a good team player. My weaknesses are that sometimes I forget to take some time for myself because I’m so passionate about what I’m working on that I want to work on it day and night and I can be a bit impatient.

What is your experience in AEGEE?

I started my AEGEE career as the Secretary of AEGEE-Nijmegen’s board, where I got my first experience with taking minutes and administrational tasks. During and after this year I was active in different committees, including the advisory board. I’ve also given several trainings and organised events like a Network Meeting (NWM) and several Summer Universities (SUs).  After my board year, I had learned a lot more about AEGEE-Europe, and decided I want to contribute to it too. First off, I joined The AEGEEan as a journalist and proofreader, where I became Editor of the Network section not too long after. After Agora Patra, Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Venezia) and I decided to run for the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe, and I started to help Lia Tuska (AEGEE-Sofia) and afterwards Boudewijn Steenhof as SubCom for the Dutch locals. Around that time I also joined Action Agenda Coordination Team (ACT), where I again used my love for writing and became the Project Manager of the Guidelines and ACT responsible for the Dutch locals. At Autumn Agora Cagliari I was elected as Secretary of the Agora and European Planning Meeting (EPM), meaning that as part of the Chair Team I have been preparing both the EPM and Agora and I was responsible for the report of the EPM. Last but not least, in the past month my tasks for The AEGEEan have been expanded since the current Editor-in-Chief Erika Bettin appointed me as her vice Editor-in-Chief, which is a task I very much enjoy.

Secretary General of AEGEE Europe, please explain the role. What do you find interesting about it?

Personally, I see the Secretary General as the glue that keeps the rest of the Comité Directeur together. In the different teams I have been in, I was the facilitator most of the time, making sure that everyone could do their work properly and felt good about the team too. I enjoyed this role very much, so I would like to be ‘the glue’ again. I have a strange love for creating order out of chaos so I also really look forward to working on the administrational tasks. Related to that, I want to continue exploring the possibilities of a secretariat and delve into the archives to look at opportunities to make them available to everyone. During my board years I’ve learned a lot about representation and communication with externals like the university and several other involved parties. I really enjoyed these contacts, so I look forward to being responsible for the external representation. As Secretary General you are not only working within the Network, but also on behalf of the network to share with the rest of the world how great AEGEE really is. To do that, I would like to develop a media usage strategy and work in close cooperation with The AEGEEan and Key to Europe to properly represent AEGEE-Europe to both in- and externals. As all Comité Directeur positions, the position of Secretary General is quite flexible when it comes to the exact task division. I have worked on quite diverse tasks in- and outside of AEGEE, so I am very happy that I would be working on different projects too as Secretary General. Some of the topics that I’m interested in are the (improvement of) statutory events and, as ACTie, the thematic aspect of AEGEE.

Why are you applying for this position?

Our new Local of the Month is AEGEE-Lyon, a small French antenna with big AEGEE spirit! Let’s find out more about this antenna through the words of Marine Betrancourt, President of AEGEE-Lyon.

The AEGEEan: “AEGEE-Lyon is the Local of the Month”, how does it sound?

Marine: It’s an utmost pleasure to have been selected Local of the Month. We received the news while we were at AEGEE-Paris’ 30th anniversary event and I couldn’t have been more proud of my small, but super active team. It’s a recognition of the hard work of the small antennae that are usually forgotten within the network, because size does not matter, quality does.

How would you describe AEGEE-Lyon?

AEGEE-Lyon is a small antenna in the landscape of the AEGEE network, but although it went through hard times, the consecutive teams led great projects.

Which are these projects?

We are involved on local level within the associations of the “associative incubator”, as well as working with the House of Europe & Europeans of Lyon/ Europe Direct Office, the European Union National Institute of Culture ( EUNIC, which are Goethe Institute, Institute Camoens, Institute Cervantes etc) and others European focused network & platforms.

AEGEE-Lyon organised several European projects under the Youth in Action program, now called Erasmus +. Many years in a row, we also organised a European event for the famous “Fête des Lumières”, Lyon’s festival of lights happening early December.

Last summer, AEGEE-Lyon organised a Travelling Summer University with AEGEE-Genova, going from Lyon to Genova and through Cinque Terre, through Annecy (the “little Venice of the Alps”) with the support of the city of Lyon and the region Rhône-Alpes.

Since 2012, when the Health4Youth project was founded, it aimed to make young people aware about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, from a physical up to a psychological level. As water is a basic element of life, the Health4Youth team, with the collaboration of the Environmental Working Group, decided to plan an entire day dedicated to it on March 22nd, in honor of World Water Day. Great initiative, for which they get also the United Nations partnership.

World Water Day takes place once a year on March 22nd, since 1993. This single day celebrates something that is constantly in our lives : WATER. The importance of this awareness event is huge because it tries to promote in 24 hours a way of thinking and of acting we should  always adopt. This is why during the year The United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for freshwater and sanitation (UN-Water) provides ideas, resources, projects and more to inspire the celebrations of March 22nd around the world.

Water Day is observed shining the spotlight on a different issue every year. “Water and Sustainable Development” is the theme of 2015. It is about how water links to all areas we need to consider for creating the future we want (health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food, equality).

Since the event has also become a popular Social Network trend, Health4Youth decided to promote online awareness campaigns to celebrate Water Day. Join them in this initiative by:

– organizing a one/half day event with workshops and discussions about one/all these topics: water and health, water and hydration, water and sport activities, water as economical, political and social elements in conflicts around the world, water and pollution, experiments with water, water and clean water, water and current situations, etc.

– creating a flashmob in your city to make people aware of the importance of water;

– taking selfies, pictures, videos in your personal and original way with elements that refer to your connection with water or just express a message about this topic you would like to share

“The involvement of Health4Youth on this day is due to the relevance of the topics covered by World Water Day, to the closeness of the issues with our project and to the desire to get knowledge. As the initiative will be held all over the world, this will be an outstanding occasion to connect each other in the name of water’s importance in our health.” said Christian Spagnol, event manager of Health4Youth.

In March 22nd, AEGEE-Udine and AEGEE-Ljubljana will collaborate to organise a Water Day Event in Nova Gorica. A concrete realization of these ideas, a day of discussions and workshops about water and the issues connected with it. Everyone can participate!

If you want to take part in such an important initiative, make suggestions or simply get more information, write to health4youth@aegee.org!

Written by Karina A. Silivas, AEGEE-Udine

The Network Meeting (NWM) of AEGEE-Budapest took place from 4th  to 7th December 2014.  The event was for everyone, young and old, experienced and new, who had the motivation to go further with AEGEE. Have you heard about it? Have you been there? Today Anita Ruszcsák (Vice-President for External Relations) and Tekla Hajdu (Network Commissioner) are going to tell us what happened!

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to host the NWM?

Anita: For a long time, AEGEE-Budapest was planning to host an international event for the whole Network. As there hadn’t been a Network Meeting in Budapest for a while, that’s why we decided to give it a try.

How did the organisation of the event go?

Tekla: The core team consisted of eight members: four main organisers, the President, the Treasurer, the Vice-President for External Relations and the Network Commission Assistant for the area. After I was elected as Network Commissioner, I was worked in the core team both as the responsible Board member for the event (Vice-President) and as Netcommie for the area. Apart from the core team, around 25 helpers were involved with smaller tasks. The organisation of the event started as soon as we were informed the event was accepted, and did not stop until the evaluation of the NWM. We had a mailing list for the core team for quick and efficient communication, and personal meetings once a week.

What was the event about?

As a Network Meeting, the main purpose of the event was sharing best practices, getting to know more about AEGEE and strengthening the cooperation between locals. During our NWM, participants were able to learn about how European Bodies work, grasp the concept of the “golden circle” in public relations, get to know the basic rules of fundraising, how to apply for an Erasmus+ fund, and much more.

How were the days of the event organised?

The event lasted for four days, and for each day an appointed main organiser was responsible for that particular day. Every day the participants could broaden their knowledge in several sessions and they could finish the day with some real Budapest parties. The special city tour at the Christmas market and the iconic European Night were of course in the programme.

One of the questions on the application format was “What is your motivation to apply to this NWM”. Did you receive any interesting answers? Can you give an example?

Some applicants were trying to impress us with their Hungarian knowledge, but the most remarkable one was from a Polish participant who cited a whole paragraph from a Hungarian – Polish saying in Hungarian.

Which was the funniest moment of the event?

One of the participants had a very interesting way of getting to the airport, but he arrived back home safe and sound.

Did anything go wrong?

Every event has ups and downs, but we managed to solve everything that came up, so nothing went wrong.

Was it worth it? Why?

Yes, it was worth every minute! We received a lot of positive feedback from participants at the end of the event.

How would you describe AEGEE-Budapest?

AEGEE-Budapest is one of the biggest locals in the Network: we currently have around 200 members. We will celebrate our 25th anniversary in May and so far, we have organised many international events and exchanges. I would say our antenna is special because you can find everything here from thematic events, to pub crawls, from PR Working Group to Sports Committee. Of course, each board has its own priorities, but in general, we offer really diverse programmes.

Comparing AEGEE-Budapest of “yesterday”and AEGEE-Budapest of “today”, what has changed?

We had a change in the structure of the Board in 2013: before, the board consisted of eight people and then we decreased it to five. The goal was to create a mid-level, to remove the operative tasks force from the board, so that they can focus on the strategy and have a more balanced division of labour between the members. It was definitely a successful change: now we are more project-oriented, efficient, transparent, plus the mid-level leaders have a „carrier path”.

What is the best thing you have ever done?

I would say the Autumn Agora Budapest 2012. Should I explain?

What about the future plans of your antenna?

We would like to engage more and more young people and make them active and committed to AEGEE. We also plan to organise the most amazing travel Summer University in the history of Summer Universities together with AEGEE-Kraków.

Complete the sentence: If you think about AEGEE, you think about…

Opportunities!

Written by Karina A. Silivas, AEGEE-Udine