From the 20th to the 24th of May, AEGEE-Kraków in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Project of AEGEE-Europe (EaP) will organise a convention on the Eastern Partnership in the city of Kraków, Poland. The convention will host 23 people from all around Europe and will tackle issues such as European integration and the international relations with the countries from the Eastern Parnership. The AEGEEan spoke to Katarzyna Kluczka, organiser of the event, and Marta Wnuk, member of the EaP.

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to organise the event?
Katarzyna: AEGEE-Kraków has quite an experience in hosting international events, so as a strong and motivated antenna, we wanted to continue this tradition. Personally, I have been interested in the Eastern Partnership Project since I came into contact with it during Network Meeting in Poznań. I have dreamt about becoming more involved, so as soon as the opportunity to coordinate this event appeared, I had to take my chance. I wanted to be part of EaP in any way possible and this position gives me and my fantastic team a chance to become part of something great. In my opinion, here and now, we can redefine the term “integration” by showing our participants it is possible to create a united Europe with no political or economical borders, if only there is the will and ideas to change the current state. This vision makes me very enthusiastic and is one of the main driving forces to be the host of the Eastern Partnership Youth Convention.

Why Kraków?
If we ask foreigners which cities in Poland are the most familiar to them, we can be sure that Kraków will be at the top of the ranking. It attracts tourists from all over the world, offering rich history at every step – whether in words of inhabitants, or just by looking at monuments that surround us. Kraków has been the cultural heart of Poland for centuries. It has always been a symbol of many nations coexisting together in peace and harmony, sharing innovations and stories. Taking this into account, Kraków is the perfect city to host the Eastern Partnership Youth Convention and boast about cultural heritage. However, there are more than this reason why our city has the privilege of inviting 23 active, young people from the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries. For centuries Kraków was the capital of Poland and the main seat for kings. Nowadays it is called the capital of students and the little homeland for migrants. Also, I can proudly assure you, AEGEE-Kraków is very well-prepared to organise this event, being one of the most active and strongly developed antennae. Our members believe that they are young people who, today, can create the growth and innovation of tomorrow. To sum up: the charm of Kraków, the city itself, being a symbol of friendly cooperation between nations and the activity of society, are the main factors why Kraków is the best location for a project concerning the collaboration of the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries.

What can participants expect from the event?
To begin with, a warm welcome and great enthusiasm of the organisers! We can’t wait to meet these fantastic young people! I hope they will be satisfied. The workshops prepared by the Content Team sound thrilling – inspiration will be the keyword of this event. Another one can be the power of the team – I hope we will all become a well-knitted group who can learn from each other and share ideas or common experience. The location of workshops – The Embassy of Cracovians – is perfect for this kind of project – it is very cosy, well-equipped and also situated very close to the main square. You will love it! Another advantage: it is near to the One World Hostel, where the participants will be accommodated. Also, the food participants get will represent the traditional Polish cuisine – the part of our culture we are very proud of. And of course, there will be a lot of AEGEE spirit. Apart from the workshops we have planned integration activities and parties, the perfect mix for a successful event!

Can you tell us what the convention is about?
Marta: The Eastern Partnership Youth Convention is an event that will gather 23 young leaders coming both from EaP countries and EU states that focuses on foreign policy and state of relations between the EU and the EaP countries with regard to current international situation.

The participants will be introduced to the Eastern Partnership programme (EaP) and its main features. We want to identify the problems that the European continent is currently facing in this area, build an understanding image around them, and work on common approach to solve these problems.  The final result of the Convention will be a set of recommendations towards the European institutions on how the EaP programme should be improved according to young experts on the topic (our participants).

What is the role of the Eastern Partnership Project inside AEGEE?
The project’s values are based on belief that this initiative is an important element of AEGEE’s mission of bridging Europe. By our activity we would like to raise the level of knowledge about the Eastern Partnership countries and help to build understanding around issues that concern them. Our project organises various workshops during AEGEE events, writes articles and issues monthly newsletters. However, we do not restricts ourselves to delivering information. We see importance of discussion and exchange of views. We proposed the topic and helped to shape the content of EPM Burgos and right now we are in the process of organising the Convention. We see our role as advocates of the six EaP countries, which still remain an unknown part of Europe for many.

Why do you think bridging Europe is important?
It’s a question of European integration in fact. One of the biggest achievements of AEGEE was the decision on establishing new locals in Eastern Europe beyond borders of the EU. Now when our continent is free of the Iron Curtain there is still a need to create more links between its Western and Eastern parts. Awareness of the six EaP countries always remains an important issue to tackle. Bringing attention to the region helps to get more recognition and support.

Eastern Partnership is an EU programme oriented on making links between the EU countries and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. Our project within AEGEE aims to bring this vision to AEGEEans and to build integrated Europe through the bottom-up approach, by involvement of young people.

Taking in consideration the current situation of Ukraine, what can be done by AEGEEans and young people in general to make the situation better?
I believe that communication and direct contact are always the key elements in conflict situations. Common projects allowing to meet and exchange opinions in a discussion-friendly environment can lead to facilitation of mutual understanding between all sides. Young people perhaps cannot change politics in a substantial way, but they can invest in themselves by becoming more knowledgeable, aware and open-minded people and in this way becoming advocates of consensus and spread this attitude about the crisis to others.

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

Hanna Alajõe, member of AEGEE-Tartu, is running for the position of Network Commissioner. She wants to take over the Nordic Stars, the AEGEEan asked her some questions about her candidature.

The AEGEEan: You’re running for the position of Network Commissioner, what is your motivation for this position?

Hanna: The simplest answer would be to say that when I started working as a SubCommie, I just fell in love with this position. I saw how important working with the network is and how motivating that can be. I have been quite active locally and I want to put my experience in use. I am just graduating from psychology, so communicating with people and trying to solve problems is exactly what I like to do. Besides that, I want to invest the free time I will have after finishing school for a good purpose. I know that being a NetCommie is not going to be an easy task, but I am sure the positive parts make up for the difficulties and I am confident this is the position for me.

You’ve been very active in your local, how do you think that can contribute to your position if you get elected?

I think it can contribute in multiple ways. First of all, being in the board has taught me a lot about being a team member and a team leader, that is a general necessity for the work of the Network Commission and for working with the SubCommies. Secondly, during the time I was a board member, AEGEE-Tartu grew a lot in size and is now much stronger than it was a few years ago. This was achieved through the hard work of all the board members and I believe that I can use that experience to help other locals to do the same. I feel like I have a better understanding of possible problems locals can face and that will definitely help me in communicating with the antennae. Lastly, I have been one of the main organizers of a Network Meeting and as organizing Network Meetings is a responsibility of a Network Commissioner, that experience will definitely be useful.

The locals that form the Nordic Stars are very separated from each other and certainly come from very different cultures, what do you think makes them special?

A lot of people may see this as a disadvantage, but it’s exactly the opposite! The Network Meetings, for example, are always very productive, because people from different backgrounds have different ideas that are extremely useful in the brainstorming process. The Nordic Stars feel a great connection to each other and all of them want to stay together distribution-wise. Even our president Paul Smits said after participating in the last Network Meeting of the Nordic Stars in Hamburg, that it was one of the best network meetings he has ever been to. As you may have heard – nordic people need their personal space – maybe that applies to antennae as well and explains why they’re spread apart? [she smiles]

It is mentioned in your program that you would like to strenghten the knowledge about the Action Agenda among the locals, do you have any ideas on how to implement that?

Speaking from my personal experience: when I joined the board, I didn’t even know what the Action Agenda is and what we are supposed to do with it. That’s the first part of the problem, we have to make sure the antennae actually understand and know about it and only then they can start implementing it. That is why proper knowledge transfer is very necessary and having a board manual is very useful. I think when the first part of the problem is solved the second part that is actually contributing to the Action Agenda will follow more easily. ACT has been doing a really good job and has provided us with guidelines and just recently came out with a video about it. I think proper explanations to locals, pushing them even more on this topic and working closely with ACT will show us some results.

The most important work of the Network Commission is to assist the antennae, but there’s also the internal work of the team (communication with other bodies, internal work, etc). How do you think you can contribute to improve this work?

I enjoy working in teams and I am really looking forward to this part of the work as well. Firstly because who wouldn’t want to work together with people who are enthusiastic about the same things as you?! And secondly, I think that the internal work of the Network Commission is also very necessary for the further development of AEGEE. One thing that I would like to work on, is implementing the new human resources strategy. I participated in a workshop about it during the Network Meeting in Sankt-Petersburg and saw how necessary it is for the locals and how much potential it has. There are also many proposals that the current NetCom team prepared, that will probably need some support with putting them in use when accepted.

Last but not least, can you tell us in a sentence why do you think you’re good for this position?

I would be perfect for this position as I am currently a SubCommie and already up to date with some of the locals, I’m very well-organized, get along with people easily, am a great team player and most importantly would love to take on this new challenge of being a NetCommie!

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

It has already been proven that AEGEE-Alicante can serve as an example to be an awesome local. They manage to organise a lot of local activities, their Summer University was the 2nd ranked last year and they have a lot of members involved in many AEGEE-Europe bodies. Besides that, their contribution to the Action Agenda, acquiring certificates with ECTS recognition (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, creditation for academic competences in Europe) from the University of Alicante, has made them become ACTive Local of the Month of February. We interviewed Melissa Carreres, President of the antenna and one of the main executors of the successful Buddy Program.

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations! You contributed to get certificates for mentors for your Buddy Program, which is the reason you were chosen as ACTive Local of the Month. Can you tell us more about these certificates?
Melissa: Many thanks! This recognition makes us feel very happy, because this program has lots of work behind it. This is the second year we are doing the Buddy Program in Alicante; we organise a new edition every semester. As you may know, it’s a mentorship program which aim is to provide support to international students by pairing them with local students who help them to settle in during their stay in Alicante. This program is offered to all students, not just AEGEE members. We thought it would be great if we could recognise somehow the great labour of integration done by more than 500 students from the university. We are currently working on the certificates of the previous and the present edition and we will deliver them soon. We will do the same for the organisers whose labour has been the key of success. But what is more, we’ve got a learning agreement with the university and they will recognise up to 1 ECTS for buddies and 2 ECTS for organisers, which is more than a really great achievement for us. Nevertheless, students are interested in the program even without knowing about this recognition, but of course, this makes the Buddy Program even sexier!

Your Buddy Program is an outstanding example of great cooperation with the university. Can you tell us a bit about it? How did you achieve this level of cooperation?
It was an idea we had for a long time. We heard that other antennae were doing it and we wanted to bring it to our university. Two years ago, Pablo Hernández, who then was our President, contacted the International Mobility department and they showed interest in the program. After several meetings and although the setting was not easy at all, we could finally start with it. At first, as a test, we started with a small group of international student. It went pretty well, so after gaining the International Mobility department’s trust, they decided to open the program to everyone (Erasmus and international students). In this current edition, at least 80% of the incoming students have applied for the program. This program has grown a lot and the results we are getting are amazing. We are very happy and the mobility department is giving us a lot of support. Since we started, they have asked us to present the programme in the welcome talks for International Students, they have printed PR materials such as posters and stickers and also, as you know, we have got the agreement to certificate and recognise the skills and work of the participants!

Also, we have a good relationship with ESN, so besides the Buddy Program, we did another project with them: a Guide for International Students. This guide collects lots of useful tips for foreign students who comes to Alicante for the first time. The International Mobility department has printed lots of them and has delivered it to all the internationals students.

Are you willing to collaborate by spreading this project to help other antennae to do the same?

La Tripulación, the NetCom team of our area, thought it would be useful for other antennae and asked us to develop a guide about the program with all the organisational details, so other AEGEEans could have all the information. We agree that it can be beneficial for other antennae, specially for those who are working on establishing good relationships with their university. In our case, it has been one of the biggest projects we have done so far and it has brought many benefits. We have the support and a good relationship with the university, it’s good for member recruitment, very different from the SU campaigns, it has given us visibility and recognition through the university community and in addition, some people who have joined AEGEE because of the program, seem to be potential active members.

Why do you think the Action Agenda is important to the Network, and what would you say to another local that is thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?

What makes AEGEE different from other associations is just that. The Action Agenda is about what we want to achieve in AEGEE and it’s something every antennae should include in their Activity Plan. Without it, AEGEE would lose its essence. We are the ones who decide during the EPM what we will do, so why not contribute to something we are trying to reach as organisation? Organising an activity related to the Action Agenda doesn’t mean it should be a complicated activity. Sometimes it happens that you are organising a fun activity and you don’t realise you are actually contributing to the Action Agenda!

Are you planning to organise more activities related to the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda?

We have already started with our SU campaign, which is going to take almost all our time and energy but we like to organise other activities, especially if they contribute to the SP and AA. In fact, next week, we are doing an exchange with AEGEE-Eindhoven. They are coming to Alicante and we will show them around and visit some special places. Since the 22nd of March is the World Water Day, we will do some activities related to it with them.

Regarding the Buddy program, the next milestone we want to achieve is for participants of the Buddy Program to get preference (or extra points) in the application process of the Erasmus program. We know that it has been done in some Universities, so hopefully, we will get it too.

Nevertheless, we will keep on promoting awareness among our members and participating in benefic campaigns as we have done so far, like for example, the last Blood Donation Marathon or the bike marathon against the climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps.

Local and Regional Training Courses (LTC and RTC) are key points of our organisation when it comes to internal learning. Our members learn from them, create bonds and it can serve as a start to think about running for a board position. With two proposals for Agora Asturias, the Comité Directeur (CD) along with the Network Commission (NetCom) wants to implement LTCs as antenna criteria and define LTCs and RTCs in line with the Strategy for Learning and Training of AEGEE-Europe. Let’s see how the changes in the CIA can help AEGEE achieve that.

Setting Local Training course as a criterion for Antennae

With the addition of the simple rule to have LTCs in the Antenna Criteria, the Netcom and the CD are expecting antennae to give more learning opportunities to new members. Right now LTCs are highly promoted by the Network Commission and with funding opportunities from AEGEE-Europe for trainers and material, but not all antennae are organising LTCs and some of them are highly unstructured.

With the second part of the criteria, antennae will not only have to organise a LTC but the content of it will also be monitored by the Network Commission, thus making it more professional. Furthermore, it is stated in the argumentation for the proposal that antennae will not be alone in this, because organisational and content packages will be available for them right after AgorAsturias. See the full proposal clicking here.

Defining Local Training Courses and Regional Training Courses in line with the Strategy for Learning and Training

The purpose of this proposal is to make the new Strategy for Learning and Training (link), which will be presented at the Agora and still has to be ratified by the Agora, binding for trainings. The trainings defined inside the Strategy are: Local Training Course (1 and 2), Regional Training Course, European School and Training for Trainers.

The Strategy not only defines what kind of trainings are official inside AEGEE, but also which content they should have, who is responsible for it and what the overall purpose of each training. In the document, there’s an introduction to the new concept of LTC1 and LTC2, where the first would be for entry level members, the second for involving members, and the RTC for giving Knowledge Transfer for members interested in board positions.

With a focus especially on LTCs and RTCs, the proposal aims to make the Strategy binding, defining the rules for their organization, content and funding. Furthermore, it is stated in the document that content-related information will be available for members. See the full proposal clicking here.

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

One of the points in the 52nd CD’s Activity Plan that brought some expectation was the creation of a platform for discussion for AEGEE. As most of the readers probably know, one of the means of our beloved organisation is ‘a forum for discussion’. That implies that AEGEE has to serve as a space for discussion among young people in Europe, enabling them to discuss about important matters related to our society and of importance for youth.

Even though, that has been unrealistic for quite some time. AEGEEans discuss, but not in a whole, structured way. If you go to an AEGEE party you will probably hear groups of people discussing about such important matters as the lack of employment for youth, the problems with visas and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Then what is happening to structured discussion?

Agoras do not have the time for it, EPM is not enough, and local events are not totally inclusive. Discussions got lost in the world of 293,000 posts per minute on Facebook and the maximum of 140 characters on Twitter. People do not discuss on the internet anymore, they comment, like and retweet.

What should the place for discussion be, then? One of the most powerful tools of the 21st century has been the web 2.0, which enables the average user to easily share and spread information and content among the world wide web. The revolution in Syria and Egypt and raise of awareness like the famous ice bucket challenge are just two examples of the great power that this tool provides.

So, ideally, the web and internet seem like the perfect channel for AEGEEans to discuss?

Historically, the mailing list AEGEE-L had served as a meeting point for discussion for AEGEEans, with the amazing feature that there is no filter for it (the messages one sends are sent to all the subscribers right away, without having to be approved by anyone). Even though, with the intoxication of information anybody with internet access suffers nowadays, people were ignoring the happening discussions. Nobody was interested in what was said in there, and they were complaining that too many mails were sent.

That’s when the 52^nd Comité Directeur came with the brilliant idea of improving AEGEE’s Forum, created in 2009 by the 49^th Comité Directeur. So, after the Activity Plan was ratified by the Agora in Cagliari in November 2014, they came back to the headoffice and started working on improving the forum. Just before Christmas it was relaunched.

It’s quite funny that one of the first discussions that happened in the forum was a meta discussion, pushed from AEGEE-L by members of the Comité Directeur, about the use of the forum as a means of discussion. Some experienced members were defending the use of AEGEE-L and the members of the Comité Directeur told people they had no right to complain about the use of the forum since nobody made any comment when the Activity Plan was presented in Cagliari.

The truth is that, with a 42 page Activity Plan, a 134 page Activity Report,  a 23 page Agora booklet, a 57 page Candidates booklet, a 42 page Proposals booklet, and a 13 page Thematic booklet it is no surprise that everybody missed something as the ‘Forum for discussion’ topic.

So, the forum became the official channel for discussion for AEGEE. But, is there life after the forum?

Since the forum was officially launched on 12th December 2014, 23 topics, of which 16 are related to internal work, were opened. In total, these topics have 120 answers, making it a bit more than 5 answers per topic. No single topic was closed, or a conclusion was reached, after it was opened. Among the 7 topics that are non related to internal work, 6 of them were opened by Policy Officers and one by a member of the Comité Directeur. (Data on 27th February 2015) With a network of 13000 members, these numbers are far from high enough or ideal to call AEGEE a means for ‘forum for discussion’.

Thirty years ago, a dream was born. A dream conceived by a man who wanted to see a better Europe for its citizens: Franck Biancheri. With this aim in mind, and after a conference in Paris (EGEE 1) about overcoming Europe’s integration paralysis, the Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l’Europe (AEGEE) was created. Up to this day, it brings together more than 13000 students from all around Europe. This year, AEGEE-Paris, one of the founding antenna, wants to celebrate this fact by organising an event about it. With the cooperation of the Association des amis de Franck Biancheri, a promising event is presented. The AEGEEan asked Léa Charlet, main organiser of the event, about it.

The AEGEEan: What will the main topic of the event be?
Léa: Nowadays, the EU is going through the most serious crisis in its history, and it seems that if it fails to rebuild itself, helped by the European citizens, there is no way out of this situation. Just like Erasmus would not have been possible without AEGEE-Europe members, we believe that our democratic, influential and sustainable Europe, will not see the light of day without the Erasmus generations of which we, in AEGEE, are the representatives. Our event will therefore be an occasion to discuss the future of Europe as AEGEE, the Erasmus generation.

What can the participants expect from the event?
To discuss a lot on subjects of which we are not always talking about in AEGEE, but it doesn’t mean that as citizens we do not have an opinion. To get out of their comfort zone in terms of ideas and debate about essential subjects which might get us further in our emphasizing project. To meet a lot of people from all over Europe. And of course to celebrate the 30 years of our amazing association in the beautiful city of Paris!

Tackling the situation of the future of Europe is always a difficult point, how is it going to be presented?
The idea is to tackle the different problems by theme: Europe of jobs, Social Europe, Europe of the Media, Political Europe etc. We also want our participants to prepare their own recommendations on saturday (following the same good practice from Y Vote 2014). The recommendations will be presented to the whole assembly on Sunday during the final conference. A speaker will then give his arguments and we will have small debates. We do not pretend to redress Europe in one conference, but want to state that it’s time that politicians, journalists, european citizens, civil society and many more actors start working together.

What do you, as main organiser, expect the outcome of the event to be?
For people to enjoy the discussion and feel that they learned something during this weekend, to enjoy the whole event and Paris, and also to feel part of this big 30 year anniversary celebration!

AEGEE-Paris was one of the founding antennae of AEGEE. How do you feel to be part of this milestone, and how do you think it influences the members of AEGEE-Paris?

I personally always felt it was fun to be able to speak French during Agora(she laughs). More seriously, I don’t think it’s changing anything except that we can brag about it sometimes.

The Association des amis de Franck Biancheri is cooperating with you on organising the event. What is their role going to be?
First, in the framework of the Franck Biancheri year, we received a consequent financial help, without which this event could not happen. The help is mainly for the final conference: speakers, venues, content. They will also be present for a little while during the preliminary debate, in order to bring the ideas supported by Franck Biancheri to the debate.

Franck Biancheri was certainly a role model in most aspects regarding this AEGEE life, how is he going to be present during this event?
As I mentioned, some of the members of the association, who worked with him for twenty years, will be the representatives of his ideas saturday morning. He will also be part of the celebration retracing 30 years of AEGEE!

If you want to apply for it you still have time untill the 15th of February. For more information, check their event on Facebook!

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

Since the new Action Agenda Coordination Committee started working after Agora Patra, one of the main aims of the body has become spreading knowledge about the strategic work of AEGEE-Europe. This means giving a lot of attention to promoting the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan, and a good way to do it is, why not, rewarding the antennae fulfilling the objectives set in the Action Agenda.

The Strategic Plan and Action Agenda are two of the main documents of our organization, written and approved by the AEGEEans, which give us a path to follow regarding our thematic work. The first document, the Strategic Plan, contains four Focus Areas (namely Spreading Europtimism, Youth Employment, Youth Mobility, Civic Education) and gives us a general approach to the topics we will be working on in the upcoming three years (Strategic Plan 2014/17); while the second, drafted during the EPM gives us an insight of the specific aims and objectives we should be fulfilling within a year (Action Agenda 2014/15).

These two documents are one of AEGEE’s biggest achievements on structured thematic work, because they unite AEGEEans in the work they do. Without these documents, every member would follow their own way and our work would not have so much impact. Besides that, the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan also unify the Vision and Mission of AEGEE, because at the end, they are based on them.

The Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) helps the antennae implement the Action Agenda. It promotes the document, tracks its fulfillment and exists to connect bodies and locals; and more than that, they’re a team of people (the ACTies!) always willing to lend a hand and help with what sometimes has been called one of the less understandable documents of our organization. To do this, they presented the Guidelines to the Action Agenda after Agora Cagliari, which is a set of guidelines with examples to every aim and objective of the Action Agenda, easing the transition of a merely vague sentence in a document to a speech, a set of conferences, or even a whole event (Guidelines to the Action Agenda 2014/15).

And of course, with the will to reward those who put an effort to the fulfillment of the Action Agenda, ACT, in cooperation with the AEGEEan, has created the Active Local of the Month award! With this new award, ACT intends to spread awareness about the Action Agenda, as well as increase the implementation of it and motivate people to organize more thematic events. And even more, with the example of good practices, they want to show other antennae that great thematic events can be easily organized! It’s not hard to organize something implementing the Action Agenda. You can find a lot of examples in the Guidelines for the Action Agenda and you can also, of course, use your imagination. If you’re still doubting about it you can also ask our first Active Local of the Month, AEGEE-Heraklio, who organized a conference on the rights for deaf people and sign language in Greece.

Do you want to organize something related to the Action Agenda but you don’t know how? You can ask ACT to help you! See who is your responsible at ACT’s About Page and make sure you include your activity in your next monthly report!

Will your local be the next Active Local of the Month?

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona