The AEGEE Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the Estonian parliamentary elections on 1 March will be more professional than ever.  A cooperation with the Polish Forum of Young Diplomats (FMD) has been set up and after an open call two experienced mission coordinators were welcomed to the team. Read here a preview by Viktor Bezhenar and Lucrezia Aresi who will coordinate the EOM and Sławomir Szyszka, head of the Election Observation Mission of FMD.

The Polish Forum of Young Diplomats (Forum Młodych Dyplomatów – FMD) is a nation-wide youth NGO, bringing together students and recent graduates in the field of international relations. The Forum was established in 2002 and nowadays consists of 125 members and several branches in major Polish cities. In 2011, the FMD started the “Young Election Observers Program” at the initiative of Sławomir Szyszka. The program focuses mostly on networking: organising conferences on election observation, advocating for the rights of civil society observers and participating just like AEGEE in OSCE/ODIHR Human Dimension Implementation meetings.

AEGEE & FMD

The cooperation between FMD and AEGEE dates back to 2012, when the two organisations jointly applied for a grant to deploy EOMs to Georgia and Armenia. When the initiative to organise an EOM to the Estonian parliamentary elections came up, Sławomir immediately approached AEGEE. “I follow the AEGEE Election Observation Project with great interest. I admire it because it is an example of a well-conceived, organised and sustainable project that achieved quite a lot in a short period of time. We contacted AEGEE because we believed that mutual cooperation would allow us to learn from each other and improve our missions.”

The approach to election observation is very similar for both organisations. Just like AEGEE, FMD considers EOMs as a chance for young people to gain direct experience in election observation activities and both rely on OSCE/ODIHR resources to prepare participants and share results. But there are also differences: FMD missions last two weeks and focus on specific aspects of the elections and pre-election period. Sławomir: “I will arrive in Estonia two weeks in advance. I will observe the decisive part of the election campaign in the Ida-Viru county (the most north-eastern county of Estonia bordering Russia, ed.). I am particularly interested in the regulations and practices in the area of electoral finance”.

Missions by AEGEE’s Election Observation Project on the contrary typically last five days, are much more numerous and have a focus on the social, cultural and political background of the country as a whole. The cooperation between AEGEE and FMD will consist of benefiting from each others local partners, organising part of the program together and exchanging best practices on election observing and coordinating missions.  Thanks to both these similarities and differences, it will definitely be a mutual learning experience.

A great learning experience

The prospect of a learning experience was certainly the motivation for Viktor Bezhenar and Lucrezia Aresi to apply as mission coordinators. Viktor, a 23-year-old software development manager from Kyiv, has a clear purpose: “Due to the recent events in our country, many Ukrainians feel the need to monitor and understand political processes.  As I work in the software industry, I am incredibly interested in the process of e-voting (which is very advanced in Estonia, ed.) We need to establish this in Ukraine too, so I hope to learn from the Estonians and share my knowledge and ideas in my home country.”

Lucrezia & Viktor

Lucrezia (27, Milan) holds an advanced diploma in Effective Electoral Assistance and brings this experience in her approach to the mission. “I consider the elections as a process, rather than a mere event. For this reason I recognize the vital importance of the Electoral Cycle Approach, project management and international team work, in order to contribute to the transparency of the procedures. I examined in depth the political situation and the electoral system of Estonia. The country is being approached by European partners with increasing interest, and the resignation of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and the arrival of the new Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas have opened new scenarios.”

Viktor adds that “It will sure be interesting to see how the Russian-speaking Estonian society will act under the pressure of EU-Russian relations”.

Whatever will happen around 1 March in Estonia, it will be a great experience for everyone. With 31 observers selected and a busy program, some great results are expected. Lucrezia sees the people as the biggest highlight: “There will be many observers in the field and we, as coordinators, have to arrange every aspect of the mission. But we are assisted step by step by the amazing AEGEE Election Observation Project members, who are a constant source of inspiration. Moreover we selected brilliant, passionate and motivated youths. We can’t wait to meet each other and to work together on the mission!”

Written by Marije Arentze (AEGEE-Leiden), Publications Manager of the Election Observation Project

On October 12th 2014, the Election Observation Project of AEGEE organized an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the second mission of this project after the EOM to the parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine on the 25th of May 2014 . Around 45 polling and voting stations in and around Sarajevo were visited during election day. 

The observers team, at 6 AM on election day, ready to start

Learning moments and eye-openers
As members of AEGEE, we realize democracy is fragile and should never be taken for granted. Therefore we aim to strengthen democratic processes and activate political participation of young people. With this in mind we took off for Bosnia and Herzegovina, hoping to contribute to the aim of fair and honest elections and to investigate the involvement of youths in the various election processes.

Being aware of the fact that our background influences our judgments and opinions, we left for Bosnia with a certain image of this country in our minds. The media in our home countries describes Bosnia as a corrupt, bankrupt country, torn apart by nationalist tensions and deprived of any hope for a brighter future. We are happy to report that our experiences during the elections do not reflect this image completely. In almost all polling stations we have visited, we met officials that were genuinely concerned about the fairness of the election procedure, especially during the vote counting. We saw vote counters working until early in the morning to ensure all ballots were checked and cross-checked. We saw almost all polling station officials handling the elections with a high level of professionalism. In addition, we were positively surprised by the transparency of the accreditation procedure for international observers. All relevant documents, even the Bosnian election law, can be found in English online in pdf format, which is exceptional compared to other countries.

One of the most complicated political systems in the world
The Bosnian political system has been named one of the most complicated in the world. The country is divided in two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), mostly populated by ethnic Croats and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), and the Republika Srpska (RS), mostly populated by ethnic Serbs. The country knows a three-headed Presidency, consisting of a Serb, a Croat and a Bosniak, controversially elected exclusively by their respective ethnic groups and controlled by the Parliament. Apart from that, each entity has its own president. The RS President has been chosen directly during the elections on the 14th of October, whereas the prime minister of FBiH is indirectly appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly. The FBiH is divided in Cantons (regional municipalities), and RS knows a National Assembly. Consequently, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina had to fill in four different voting ballots. All inhabitants of the country voted for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, and next to that the inhabitants of FBiH voted for their House of Representatives of the BiH Federation Parliament and the Cantonal Assemblies, and the inhabitants of Republika Srpska voted for the National Assembly of RS and the Presidency of RS.

Map of all voting and counting stations visited in and around Sarajevo

Most people will agree that this is an extremely complicated system. We clearly saw that voters and even vote counters were having a lot of difficulties understanding the procedures. We are highly concerned that this situation detracts the legitimacy of the vote and the trust of the voters, which is harmful for the credibility of the political system. One woman said, shrugging her shoulders, while explaining the voting ballot of the FBiH parliament: “No one here has a job, so everyone tries to be a politician”.

Kako glasovati? How to vote? These posters with explanations of the voting systems were hanging in every polling station.

The position of youth
During election day, we had the chance to speak to a lot of observers and other officials. It struck us that despite the fact that a surprisingly high number of polling station officials were of younger age, young voters were underrepresented. A higher voting turnout among youths would be warmly welcomed, however it was very positive to see this amount of young people involved in the elections in another way. “At least in this way, youths learn how to do democracy”, as one observer put it.

The ethnic divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are frozen into place by the country’s constitution, which was not more than an annex to the 1995 Dayton peace agreements that put an end to the Bosnian war. According to this constitution, Bosnians are obliged by law to proclaim themselves as one of the three identities Bosniak, Croat or Serb, or “other”. Controversially, the “Bosnian and Herzegovinan” identity is not recognized. An observer told us the story of a friend of hers at the university. This woman did not particularly identify herself with either the Bosniak, Serb or Croat identity, but she was not allowed to register herself as “Bosnian-Herzegovinan”, because this identity does not exist according to law. She went to the principal and asked him: “What if I register myself as Eskimo?” This was allowed, because it falls under “other” identities. This woman is still registered as an Eskimo, an official recognized identity.

A busy polling station in Pale

Is there hope for Bosnia?
This anecdote is an example of what happens when the rules or the system of a country are being overtaken by reality. Whereas the older generation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still stuck in its ethnically divided past, as the preliminary election results clearly show, the younger generation is slowly getting ready to move on.

A lot needs to happen for this country to leave its past behind. The election results unfortunately do not show much progress, but the people we spoke to, the dedication and integrity we have seen in the polling stations, the power and the drive of Bosnian youth that we have witnessed all give us hope for a brighter future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This article aims to give a short background overview, there are way too many impressions to fit in one article. Visit us during the AEGEE-Fair at Agora Cagliari for the full report of our Mission.

Find here the press release we wrote for Blogactiv the day after the elections. 

Pictures from Roel de Natris, Boudewijn Steenhof,  Thomas Leszke and Marije Arentze

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden 

This week a photo featuring a crying girl and a policeman during the protests in Sofia has gone viral on social media. Until that picture was shown, not many people had been aware of the protests. As today is already the 156th day of the protests, it is high time to show the world what is going on in Bulgaria. The AEGEEan asked Atanas Nachkov from AEGEE-Sofia about it.

Can you tell me the facts behind the protests that are going on in Bulgaria right now?  When did it all start?

Atanas: In May we got a new government after a temporary one, because the previous one had resigned in February after relatively big protests from mostly poor people, who were unable to pay their electricity bills for January. So, as a result of the earlier elections, they remained the biggest party in the Parliament, but couldn’t form a government due to the lack of majority. After that, all the trouble started.

The new government, led by Plamen Oresharski and consisting of some ministers who are not linked to a political party, was supported by the Socialist party (BSP), a movement for freedom and rights (DPS), and a xenophobic party called “Ataka” (attack). On June 14th, the leader of the socialist party proposed to the Parliament a media tycoon to be the chairperson of the State security agency (DANS). He is 33 and has never been active at all: his mother is the actual businessperson. That same day an open call for a protest was initiated on Facebook.

What happened then?

The protest was scheduled at 18:30, after working time. Basically, the candidature was withdrawn the day after that first rally, but the protests continued for every day at the same time. Most of the people who started to gather were young and middle-working-class people, chanting for transparency, accountability, responsibility and other democratic values, behind the word ‘ostavka’, which means ‘resignation’. The protests looked more like street performances, but the whole nation was following what was going on. The amount of people went from 500 to 30,000 only in Sofia, depending on the weekday, which is kind of a lot for here.

A lot of new democratic initiatives emerged, e.g. electronic discussion for bills. However, the government did not respond and some deputies brought out some arrogant words to the protesters. But, as I said before, even though these were huge protests for Bulgaria, the Parliament’s support still is less than 10%. By the way, a lot of stories like the one with the crying girl and policeman were true, like the one from people giving flowers to policewomen and water and food to all guards. The French and the German ambassadors made a common statement, where they declared that they supported the protestors. The Belgian and the Dutch made it only orally and on interviews. The British also responded against the appointment.

For how long did the protests go on?

In Summer it declined and eventually only a few people went to protest. But now, when the school year started a bunch of young students decided to occupy the biggest auditorium in the University of Sofia. A lot of other students supported them almost immediately, as well as some well-known lecturers. After one week, the one before the Agora, they occupied the whole university and this rushed a wave of occupations of other rooms in other universities. They formed an alliance altogether and have the support of the university of Sofia’s authority and some of the student councils. They have made their own parliament and make decisions how to continue with the protests. They demand more moral, less corrupted and transparent government as well as the ostavka of the current one. They protest during work hours till night time almost each day.

On Tuesday there was a protest, but there were a lot of policemen, I’ve never seen so many. But if it wasn’t for them, the deputies would never be able to go out from the Parliament safely. Some students got hurt, either because they were rioting too harshly or because the police was already too arrogant. On Wednesday there were protests against the violence from the police.

What are the reasons behind the protests? What are the Bulgarians fighting for?

Bulgaria is the poorest EU member, a semi-consolidated democracy, has a corrupted media and partially banking system, but most importantly – very insolent politicians. The last election results showed that the people’s trust in the political system is below zero. The economy is comparatively growing slowly, but the fiscal discipline is too harsh. We cover 4/5 of the Maastricht criteria, but we don’t expect to get in the Eurozone in the next 10 years.

You may compare us with Turkey’s GeziPark riots (striving for democratic values), but economy also plays a big role in our protests and we don’t have problems with secularism. Except that in the fact that here’s a strong frustration with their and Egypt’s protests, because the world news agencies, showed mostly them and wrote just a few posts about us during the summer. We felt neglected, because the lack of blood (something that we were proud of) and the vivid performances were skipped. Unfortunately, on Tuesday some people got harmed.

There is a strong need for further implementation of democratic principles in the political system, but people start to realise about it just now and that’s why they are fighting for them, with very vague labels. Ostavka means only resignation, but here and now it also means that there is something really wrong with us, it can’t go on like that and it’s high time we find a solution. After the fall of the communism, it is obvious that we still haven’t found the proper way to set a prosperous state and we’re making circles in the same place, which we call “transition”. We are still learning what is active citizenship and open-mindedness.

What is your opinion about the protests? Do you believe in a change? Are you doing anything yourself?

I support them. I’m active on Facebook and sometimes I go to the protests, but at the same time I have to study for the state exams. If you check closely the Agora Zaragoza pictures of the Chair Team, you’ll see #ostavka on my laptop.

Roger Waters playing “Another Brick in the Wall” in Sofia and displaying “ostavka” on the screen

I don’t think that our politicians will change their minds, we need a whole new generation to come on stage. Even if they resign, it’s likely that the same parties will be back on the floor and this will continue. I think this will last for long time. The police are actually really scared because they are in favour of the protestors, but they don’t want to lose their jobs.

I was thinking to write to the mailing list “AEGEE-L”, but later I thought that lighting a candle is not very attractive. Moreover, the EU institutions did not react as we presumed they would.

Find more background information and a chronology of the protests here, and Atanas’ favourite opinion article about the protests here.

Pictures on the courtesy of Atanas Nachkov

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden

Dear Network, the Local of this Month is located in the sunny Greece, the one and only AEGEE-Ioannina. The AEGEEan has interviewed Dionisis Tzavaras, the President, to see what is up with this young local. 

So, AEGEE-Ioannina is the new Local of the Month. Congrats! Were you expecting that? How do you feel?

Hello, lovely AEGEEan! Thank you very much for such a honor! Merci, grazie, gracias, danke, köszönöm, dziękuję, хвала, teşekkürler, спасибо and so on!

Well, let’s say – yes, we were kind of expecting it, since we know that we are extremely awesome! Actually, the last days we had some feelings about some awards and then your e-mail came! In fact, it feels very good, we were a bit shocked at the beginning (we are quite sensitive!) but now we are ready to enjoy it!

The first time we had an interview you were some of the ‘newborn’ in AEGEE, how is it like one year after you were upgraded in Budapest?

Was it a whole year ago?!   Wow, time flies! But this happens only when you have a great time. It was a year full of unexpected energy, full of joy and nice moments. But to tell the truth, one year after, we still feel as immature as that moment. We are still babies, we need a lot of AEGEE experience so as to say that we have become children, or adults, but still we keep growing up.

As we all know this year you had your first Travel Summer University with AEGEE-Patra. Can you tell us what it was like and the challenges you faced by organizing for the first time?

As we are babies, and babies fall in love with everything, this is exactly what happened to us. We fell in love with everything that had to do with our TSU. It was our best experience so far from the first moment of the cooperation agreement with AEGEE-Patra, until the last moment when we were in our beds and we couldn’t feel our legs! I can confirm that we got really tired, but it was the sweetest tiredness of our lives due to the sweetest participants in Europe…! We have so many things to remember, among them a very special moment for us was when during the European Night we had our very first birthday that we were lucky to share with many happy faces! We were really sad when all this came to an end. Actually, we should start thinking of extending the SU period from two weeks to a whole month!

On May 7^th 2013 AEGEE reached another milestone in its history when Europe on Track – Capture the Future of Europe won the Charlemagne Youth Prize for best European youth project. An achievement with great international significance and which, when you look at it in a broader perspective, provides us with a variety of promises and opportunities. Mathieu Soete: “Getting this kind of high-level external validation is quite exceptional”.

The winners of the Charlemagne Youth Prize with Martin Schulz

A big reward
Luis Alvarado Martinez, present on behalf of AEGEE at the awarding ceremony in Aachen, tells winning the prize immediately opened doors. “We had the opportunity to publicly ask Dalia Grybauskaitė, president of Lithuania and winner of the International Charlemagne Prize, to stand for young people in the current EU budget negotiations and we were invited by Martin Schulz to a meeting in Brussels. We have used this opportunity very much to put youth on the agenda of the European Parliament and to have a dialogue with influential people”. In the days after the victory, Europe on Track appeared in numerous publications all over the continent and AEGEE was congratulated by many external partners.

Dear winning team, you have given a very fresh and optimistic message about Europe, you used all the multimedia channels for young people, you have worked with many different countries, and you contribute to the EU 2020 strategy.” –Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament

The secret of Europe on Track’s success
Many people contributed to the success of Europe on Track. Of course InterRail and the ambassadors and the team in Brussels, but the locals were just as important. Mathieu Soete, one of the ambassadors: “Towards the end of our journey we could really start to see the enormous added value they offered to the project, organising group discussions, media coverage, and even city tours. Also, when you are changing language and currency every other day, it’s nice to have some stability and local knowledge to see you through the day. So AEGEE-Leuven, -Tilburg, -Enschede, -Berlin, -Poznan, -Katowice, -Praha, -Brno, -Wien, -Bratislava, -Budapest, -Zagreb, -Cluj-Napoca, -Bucuresti, -Sofia, and -Istanbul: thank you, this is also your prize!”

Team Blue in Katowice

“We see it is very important for our projects to tackle things that are currently going on in society in order to maximize their impact” – Luis Alvarado Martinez

Why has Europe on Track won? We can distill several ingredients from the concept  that reveal the secret. Its biggest strength appears to be its ability to voice the opinions of young people about their European future and to inspire them to re-engage with the European dream. And by explicitly linking it to the Europe 2020 strategy, it is very relevant to current European politics. In times where faith is waning and Euroscepticism is growing this must have sounded like music to the ears of European leaders.

A promise for AEGEE’s future
What does this mean for AEGEE? Of course it means visibility, prestige and money, but there is more. Mathieu put it into words: “It means that we still have the knack for developing and executing big projects with European and external relevance. Over the past years a lot of people have said that AEGEE is increasingly turning inwards, but winning the Charlemagne Youth Prize for the second time shows that the recent drive for more thematic content and external representation is starting to show results”. Luis adds that “Europe on Track shows that when we work as one united network, we can achieve big things”.

Team Red Toulouse

The future of Europe on Track, bright but undecided
The cycle of the project has not finished yet; Luis: “We want to use the prize money to produce a youth documentary which we will show in the European Parliament”, and also the survey is still ongoing, but the brainstorming phase for the next edition has already started. Most importantly the conditions of the travelers have to be improved, and the need to extend the project both geographically and in terms of topics and the team is also mentioned. The plan of the CD is to make Europe on Track a self-sustained and annual concept, just like the Summer University project.

Great plans of course, but not everyone sees this put into practice easily. Benjamin Battke, one of the ambassadors of the project: “I think the Europe on Track project will lose its attraction if carried on the same way. Except if the events would be huge, but that would be unlikely in my experience. It would need a very clear and significant objective, which I don’t know yet”. He raises a valid point. Europe on Track has proven to work as an instrument to address European leaders, but how to continue this momentum? Luis: “In order for the project to stay relevant, it has to stay connected with “hot topics” in Europe. By having different themes, and by proving to young people that this project is effective in delivering their message to decision makers, we will be able to make this initiative sustainable”. Topics that are brought to the table are for example Euroscepticism in the UK, Elections 2014 and the accession of Croatia to the EU. Brainstorming has started on the facebook page, where everyone is welcome to join.

“For me, a good project makes people think about their ideas of Europe, however a project that is kept inside the organisation has little chance of winning”. – Mathieu Soete

Benjamin explaining the map

What can we learn from this?
All in all, this project means three things to AEGEE. Firstly as Mathieu mentioned, a recognition of the work we are doing and the path we are taking as a network. Secondly it is a challenge to our network to think about how we want to manifest ourselves in the future, what topics we want to tackle and which messages we want to spread.  And last but not least, Europe on Track serves as an example and encouragement for new ideas. In the end it is our thematic delivery that keeps AEGEE alive, so AEGEE has to carry on providing an inspiring and stimulating environment for new ideas. All our projects have a chance of winning as they have a clear European perspective, and as Benjamin very well said: “I am sure someone in AEGEE already has the next winning idea in mind”.

Pictures on the courtesy of Luis Alvarado Martinez and Europe on Track

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden

What do AEGEE members understand when talking about sustainability? Where did they learn about this? And how would they like AEGEE to be involved with this topic? Finding out the answers to these questions was the aim of the survey on sustainability which was completed by almost 120 people from over 60 locals all around the network. Both multiple choice and qualitative answers were analysed and quantified, and will serve as input for AEGEE’s position paper on sustainability.

Sustainability is…

… a buzzword/often misunderstood/a way of thinking/ a clear path for action/ all of the above. One thing is clear: ask 120 people about their understanding of sustainability and you will get 120 different answers. This can however only enrich the debate, as a concept as complex as sustainability can only be understood and operationalised by looking at it from multiple angles at the same time. So — at risk of generalisation — what do AEGEE members think of sustainability?

Sustainability is the way of living, creating public policy and economic growth that takes into account environmental issues and will help to preserve natural resources for future generations.”

This explanation by a respondent from AEGEE-Poznań perhaps succeeds the best at capturing the wide range of ideas and definitions collected through the survey. For when analysed the answers fell broadly into a number of categories, of which the most important keywords are (in order of frequency): Future, Resources, Green, 3 elements, and Balance.

One in two respondents focus on long-term thinking and planning, preserving our planet and quality of life for future generations. This requires a different approach at resource usage and the introduction of closed-loop production and consumption systems. While many respondents mentioned the classical 3 components of sustainability — economy, society, and environment — and the balance between them, over 20% however, still see sustainability in a predominantly green light.

Education for sustainability

So even though 91% of respondents have at least some notions of sustainability, there is still some room for improvement. How much do AEGEE members — and youth in general — know about sustainability, and how much of this did they learn at school? It is true that the basics are being discussed in primary and secondary school — think water cycle and geography field trips —, but this “decreases as you pass to the next level of education, as the education becomes more specific and ‘serious’”, says a member of AEGEE-Valladolid.

Almost three in four respondents feel there is not enough attention for sustainability within formal education and 48% even estimate that sustainability-wise their time at school was a waste of time, with another third only learning a little about it.

On the other hand less than 25% believe they don’t know enough about the topic to do anything themselves. So where do people get their knowledge from then? This is where non-formal education (NFE) comes in, says Bogdan from AEGEE-Bucureşti: “I only found out about this from my AEGEE local.”

For one in three respondents, NFE is also a more suitable method for teaching sustainability than formal education. “Non-formal education is better in showing people ways to live more sustainable instead of simply telling them what to do”, says Wieke of AEGEE-Leuven, and Nolwen (AEGEE-Toulouse) continues: “Sustainability is about reforming our societies deeply and fundamentally, it therefore requires non-formal education, out of books, it requires to learn by doing, by discussing.”

Time for action

While playing a big role in teaching young people about sustainability, NGOs (28%) score significantly lower than e.g. national government (33%) when respondents are being asked to rank 6 stakeholders in order of importance to take initiative in making life more sustainable (weighted average 30%). It is therefore crucial to cooperate with all stakeholders in pursuing sustainability, including national and local government, business, youth and other NGOs, citizens’ initiatives, and individuals.

What role do respondents then see for organisations such as AEGEE?

Like many things, sustainability starts at home. For Guillermo Garcia Tabares of AEGEE-Barcelona, we should “first of all establish some obligatory criteria for all events. Secondly, create best practices which are easy to follow.” Only then, he says, should we start working on bigger projects. Again analysing the answers, we can see that respondents suggest a number of possible approaches.

More than one in five support Guillermo’s proposal for internal sustainability standards, while slightly more people would like to see Environmental Working Group and others to provide assistance to members and organisers to become more sustainable. Most respondents favour the raising of awareness and spreading of knowledge through workshops, but as this was not a multiple choice question, this serves mostly as a first step towards a more active engagement. Finally, remarkable are also the 15% who suggest raising our voice externally, by lobbying institutions for more sustainability or partnering with other youth organisations.

And now?

Credits to Jjpacres on Flickr

After defining the topic and conducting a survey to gather the first input, the next step is to launch an online consultation on the topic of sustainability — more in particular education for sustainability. This process will be informed by a lay of the land in Europe, and will define the basis for future lobbying for more attention for sustainability in both formal and non-formal education.

On sustainable entrepreneurship, the second subtopic proposed at Agora Budapest, not sufficient knowledge and outspoken opinions seem to be available within AEGEE at the moment. While I will continue to research the topic and share useful opportunities, it might be too soon for AEGEE to take a position on this. Rather, more time and efforts should first be invested in raising people’s understanding of, and experience with entrepreneurship as such, e.g. through successful projects such as the European School on Entrepreneurship or collaborations with Startup Pirates and other specialised initiatives.

Written by Mathieu Soete, Policy Officer on Sustainability

While Agora Rhein-Neckar took place, the new board of the Academy was elected trough online voting by the Academy members. Costas Deltouzos from AEGEE-Patras is the new secretary / IT-responsible, Patrick Scholz from AEGEE-Aachen is the new treasurer and Maartje Natrop from AEGEE-Utrecht,  whom I spoke to over a nice cake dinner, is the new speaker.

Firstly, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

I’m Maartje and at the moment I am doing my masters in communication science, which I hope to finish end of 2013. But what I love to do much more is put my hours into AEGEE-work. For example, I’m main organizer of the Self-development European School in Utrecht this May. Next to my part-time sales job, my studies and AEGEE, I love working out at the gym pretty much every day!

Why did you candidate for speaker of AEGEE-Acadamy?

I have been training in AEGEE  for a year now, and I felt like I wanted to take the next step and get active in a board position on European level. Since training is my passion I though the Academy was the best place to do this.

Why did you candidate after the deadline?

To be honest, first  I wasn’t planning to candidate at all, because I didn’t think I had the time this job deserves. But at the Network Meeting in Leiden two weeks ago I spoke to Kathrin from the CD. We had a really inspiring talk, in which she convinced me that the Academy is one greatest resources AEGEE has, and I agree. This made me realize that I do actually really want to do this. After that I thought long and hard, and decided not to continue my work in several local commissions next year, making room for fresh blood and which gives me much more time to devote myself to the Academy. So I was really happy the deadline happened to be reopened.

Why do you think AEGEE-Academy is one of the best bodies of AEGEE?

Because in the Academy we help organize training events, like Training for Trainers (T4T) where we train those within AEGEE who want to be trainers, or European Schools (ES) where we train many AEGEE members and prepare them for board positions or other important functions. Trainers,  in their turn, deliver so much knowledge, skills and inspiration to all other people in AEGEE during trainings in these events. We basically facilitate Human Resources Manaement in AEGEE so I would even go as far as to say the Academy is in some way the backbone of AEGEE Europe.

“The Academy is the backbone of AEGEE” 

What makes you so passionate about the Academy?

I’ve always been passionate about teaching others, and I realized this even more during the ES1 I attended in 2011. The T4T I went to inspired me even more. Training makes me so happy, because you give so much, but you get so much in return. To help others become their best selves; being able to do that is one of the best things there is in life. Taking things to the next level for me is also being able to ensure that the Academy is working at its best so the other people can do this as well!

What are you hoping to achieve in your time in the Academy?

Well, a lot, which is why I can already state that I will be re- candidating in half a year. An Academy board member stays in his or her position only for half a year , but I have so many plans, that I definitely want to stay longer. With Patrick and Costas and hopefully some assistants (we already have some interested), we have an amazing team and we already did some brainstorming. We think the Academy has so much potential, but it has to be revived. Many members do not know what we do. At the end of my term I want everybody in AEGEE to know what the Academy is, what we do and how we do it!

Do you have some concrete plans?

We have a few important goals we want to concentrate on in our time as board. Firstly, to get people more aware of what the Academy actually does. For this, I want to make a communication / promotion plan that informs the network about our activities. Also, I want to improve the online training database with trainers profiles and create a new one with training materials. Furthermore: communication with trainers, I want them to know we, as a board, are there for them. I would love to introduce regular online chat-sessions. We also want to work together with the CD and some other people on impact management. Then improving the website is also one of our goals. Lastly, I really want to invest in both quality and quantity, to get as much qualified trainers as possible, and really invest in their education. Make sure we have optimal human resources.
And of course, I will still give trainings myself, because that is what I love to do.

“Strategic planning, action, structure, coordination, promotion and communication are keywords for our term!” 

You made the decision two weeks ago, but you have so many plans, so I take it that you must have thought about it before. 

Somewhere deep down I knew that I wanted to do this position all along, I only didn’t do it because I didn’t think I had the time. So the ideas have been in my mind for a long time. Plus, the brainstorming with our team and during the general members meeting brought up a lot too! I am so happy to have the guys on board, we are all equally important in realizing the many plans we have.

How are you planning to celebrate your election?

Actually I already did, with the cake we are having now and with a celebration ouzo-shot from AEGEE-Patra, even though I actually don’t even drink, but for this occasion, I gladly made an exception!

Written by Roos Tamis, AEGEE-Utrecht 

Monday afternoon, the first class of the week is over. Lauren leaves the lecture hall and crosses the street to another university building. She’s excited, because today she will pick up her first vegetable bag. Like hundreds of students in Antwerpen and other cities, she can’t wait to discover what vegetables will be on the table this week. Will it be celeriac or spring onions, turnips or carrots? But she’s sure of one thing: they will be fresh, locally grown, seasonal, and organic. And they will be cheap.

Three months earlier. It’s the beginning of winter and Lauren has just arrived home from university. After what seemed to be an endless bike trip through the cold wind, she’s happy to finally be inside. She puts a ready-made pasta dish with fine beans and fresh tomatoes in the microwave, takes out the trash for tomorrow’s pick-up round, and settles on the couch with her steaming dinner.

Surfing through the channels on TV, her attention is caught by a topic on the 7 o’clock news about the new minister of Migration addressing the issue of winter shelters in the city. Something I might be able to use in our debate on social inclusion later this week, Lauren thinks.

While forking through her pasta, she continues to follow the news as the cameras move to Kenya where food is once again getting scarce. According to one of the villagers being interviewed, his entire harvest of fine beans is being shipped away at a low price, leaving him not enough money to feed his growing family. Lauren is about to move on to another channel for her favourite series, when the penny drops…

They don’t know one another well, none of them knew in advance that the other two were candidating, but all three of them ensured us that there is no competition going on. This might be surprising since only one of them will in the end become Network Commissioner of their beloved Russian-speaking locals, as splitting up the area is not a real option. The AEGEEan interviewed Oleg Gladchenko (AEGEE-Kharkiv), Vira Kaknych (AEGEE-Lviv) and Sergii Turchyn (AEGEE-Ivano-Frankivsk) about their candidatures.

Sergii Turchyn

Network Commission elections are a special case in AEGEE. Since all Network Commissioners are elected by the whole network and not per region, locals have no exclusive influence in who will be their NetCommie. This sometimes creates special situations at Agorae, for example when two candidates from the same country candidate and both are elected. At Agora Rhein-Neckar we will have a very special occasion: not one, not two, but three people from Ukraine are running for NetCom, and they might as well all three get elected.

The AEGEEan: What was your reaction when you found out that two other Ukrainians candidated as well?

Oleg: (smiles) It was unexpected, but fact-inspired: Ukraine has a lot of motivated people who want to work on the European level of AEGEE. And on the other side – competition is always good, I love competitions.
Vira: I was surprised and of course I was afraid, because the more applicants, the less are my chances to win the elections.
Sergii: When I submitted my candidature, I knew that another person applied as well, which turned out to be Vira. I think it is great to have so much motivation from Ukraine. One of us will certainly win!

Vira Kaknych

The AEGEEan: There is a chance that you will not become the NetCom for the Russian-speaking locals. Can you make a top-three of the regions you prefer (Russian-speaking locals included)?

Oleg: I just want to work for AEGEE, so for me it does not matter which locals I will work with. But if I’d have a choice, I prefer to work with Russian-speaking locals, because I’ve already worked with them as Subcom. Also I would like to work with the Caucasian locals, as I have always been interested in this area.
Vira: Of course I would love to work with my dear Ukraine, but if it happens that I won’t, I’m ready to work with any locals. My main mission and goal is to keep the Network working steadily and effectively, to support locals and be ready to help them in any situation, extend AEGEE horizons, promote members in contributing to AEGEE development, etc. It’s not about the winning, it’s about fighting for what you think is best for the locals.
Sergii: If it is not North East, I would have chosen the region with Poland, Hungary etc. It can be the Baltics, it can be Turkey or Caucasus. Any area, where locals have Skype and understand English or Russian. But I decided to apply because I have some ideas about international events and grants, which can be more interesting for post-Soviet countries, so I would like to be responsible for the North-East region.

The AEGEEan: Why are you a better candidate than the other two?

Oleg Gladchenko

Oleg: I think my greatest advantage is that I’ve already had the experience of working in the NetCom team, I already know the people from the locals I worked with well and they know me, and have skills in managing locals.
Vira: Nobody can ever identify who is better and who is not. We are all different. Everybody already lived a piece of their life, has their own experience, life stories. It’s incomparable. It’s like comparing an apple with a peach – both are fruits, but the taste, color, structure care completely diverse. I know which abilities and skills I have and what I’m good at, but so do they. The only way to find out this is to work as a team, to supplement each other, so that AEGEE would be proud of its NetComs.
Sergii: As far as I have read in the applications, I see that I am the oldest and most experienced among others. But my experience is not connected with AEGEE. My weak place is that not so much people in the Network know me, but I have no idea about how many people know Vira and Oleg either. These elections are a lottery. If I win – great, if not – not bad, I will apply for a SubCom of Vira or Oleg.

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden

Agora Rhein-Neckar is coming up in a few weeks. Every local has selected its delegates, all proposals and candidatures are published and now it is time for the delegates to prepare themselves. Being a delegate is a responsible task; you have to represent your local in the broadest sense of the term and this year’s Chair Team will be more demanding than before. They are taking some measures to ensure a very productive Agora and are expecting all delegates to be well-prepared. But what does that mean, being prepared? And why is it so important? How can you be a good delegate? 

Chair table at Agora Budapest

During a prytanium at Agora Budapest a delegate from a small local approached me and asked: “Marije, please tell me what I should vote, I have no idea what this discussion is about”. I asked him about the opinion of his members, and he looked at me with a face that said: “How should I know”? I explained shortly what the proposal was about to help him form his opinion, but still he had no clue what to vote for. In the end I just told him to vote with the majority, which he did without further thinking.

Good news for unexperienced delegates: examples like these are the reason the Chair Team wants to help delegates where possible at the upcoming Agora. “Together with the CD we want to ask delegates and envoys where they have problems, give this feedback to their locals and maybe cooperate with the Network Commission in order to solve these problems in the future. We also want to plan a moment during the Agora to explain why it is so important for delegates to actively take part in prytania”, says Vice-Chairperson Paul Smits.

The importance of prepared delegates
“AEGEE is an organization believing in and promoting a Europe standing for democracy and the rule of law. Therefore it is expected from us all to set an example to the world and to respect our democratic structure”, stated the Chair Team in an e-mail to the Network.  Democracy is a great thing and AEGEE is an opportunity for students who lack democracy in their own country to experience it. With our work and our lobbying we are striving to influence democracies all over Europe, so we’d better set a good example ourselves. Besides that AEGEE is a vast network-based organization, and in order to keep track with developments in European politics it is important that our democratic decision-making process runs as smoothly as possible. One of the key values of democracy is the equal representation of every individual, and therefore the importance of good delegate-preparation for Agorae cannot be emphasized enough.

Rule no. 1: Stay awake

The delegates and envoys of locals to the Agora of AEGEE-Europe are elected by the local Agora of the respective AEGEE local.
– Working Format of the Agora Art. 3.2

Every local sends at least one and at most three delegates, elected in the local Agora. The number of votes per AEGEE Antenna depends directly on the membership fees paid to AEGEE-Europe.– Statutes of AEGEE-Europe Art. 14.3

According to the abovementioned articles from the CIA (Corpus Iuridicum AEGEEnse, the European rules that each local should keep to), delegates need to be chosen democratically. A small questionnaire among locals from different parts of the network indicates that the way this issue is dealt with varies per local. In some locals delegates are chosen by the board instead of elected by the local Agora, and in some locals the opinion of the board about elections and proposals outweighs the opinion of other members. Not very democratic, you might think, since a delegate represents every member of his local individually, not only his board. Moreover, as you can read above locals are actually paying for their voting rights, which is one more reason to take the job seriously.

How can you be a good delegate?
Enough with the sounding like a moralistic professor. Imagine you are a freshman on your first Agora, and your local board made you a delegate in the absence of more experienced members. They pointed out your responsibilities, gave you a big pile of paperwork with all the proposals and candidatures and wished you good luck. And then you sit there in a prytanium, between all those experienced members, and while you are trying hard to follow the discussion the responsibility towards your local suddenly weighs heavily on your shoulders…

Participants’ badges at Agora Budapest

Being a good delegate contains two key points:
1. Knowing what the discussions are about and
2. Knowing what the members you are representing think about the subjects. It’s about understanding the value of democracy. And in fact you can learn very much from taking part in a discussion in a prytanium.

Here are some tips:
1. Read everything beforehand, you don’t have time for that during the Agora.
2. Ask experienced members if there are things you don’t understand. They are always willing to explain things (but don’t let them tell you what to vote, it is your choice).
3. Make sure your local board organizes a consultation event where you can collect the opinions of as much members of your local as possible. This way you have the opinion of your members to fall back on if you don’t know what to do and this also creates new involved members in your local.
4. Dare to speak up and be critical in prytania, it is always highly appreciated. You are never the only one with this criticism.
5. For the sake of democracy, please keep far from voting arrangements.
6. After returning back to your local after the Agora, make sure you report about your activities as delegate. It is very useful to get feedback from your members.

And last but not least: have fun. You’d be surprised how fascinating it is to discuss with young people from so many different cultures. The first time it might be a bit scary, but if you’re over that is is actually quite awesome to ask a question in front of so many people.

One more note: I made a mistake by telling the guy from the story to vote with the majority. If you really, really don’t know what to think of something, voting abstention is the best option. Because for democracy, giving a hollow and unfounded opinion is much worse than giving no opinion at all.

Pictures on the courtesy of AEGEE-Enschede and Dasha Onokhova

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden