It has been over a year since AEGEEDebate was introduced to the AEGEEan. Recently, a very relevant debate was published, in cooperation with Yvote, on the differences between national rules on participation in the European elections. This made us wonder how the project has developed over the last year and what the future holds, according to one of the initiators of the project: Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno). 

European Presidential Debate 2014

What AEGEEDebate is

Ivan says that “the initiative started at the beginning of 2013. So far, there have been 12 online debates on various topics related to society, the EU, politics or AEGEE. There were experiments with the video debates recently, but because of some technical problems the text-based debates prevail. This year the website also got a Visual Identity template. So the AEGEEDebate initiative has got its own pace right now. People are slowly starting to recognize it and the format. One aspect that is still underdeveloped however, is the cooperation with other thematic bodies of AEGEE-Europe. This platform for debate has the ability to partly overcome the much discussed “lack of cooperation” on European level of AEGEE-Europe.”

The reason behind the creation of the platform

Ivan believes that there are a few definite answers in the world and thus we need to talk and argue about the phenomena that are not definite. “Our social reality is full of such indefinite answers. At Agora, when the prytania is dealing with for example removing nationalities from CIA or establishing regional structure of AEGEE (just to mention first two that crossed my mind), the arguments for or against do not possess a value true/false, but strong/weak. Therefore they offer the space for debate and controversy. The same applies when we talk about problems in society (elections, populism, immigration or war). So the reason for the existence of AEGEEDebate is to provide an online-space for controversial debates. In this way, the debate in AEGEE won’t be restricted and only open to Agora attendees, but provided to a broader audience.”

Benefits of AEGEEDebate

Ivan is convinced that the debate brings three basic benefits for AEGEE. “First, the debate is informative. You get information and knowledge when you listen or read the debate. Thus, you can learn new points of view and perspectives to the problem. Second, the debate develops your skills. I will divide them into two categories – quality of argumentation and ethics of argumentation. The quality of argumentation means that those who debate regularly are able to express their opinion in a brief and structured way that is to the point. Moreover, their arguments satisfy the logical requirements and are reasonable without fallacies (logical mistakes). The ethics of argumentation covers such values as tolerance and respect to different opinions. These values lead debaters into critical thinking about the ideas they heard or had in mind. Last, but not least, is the promotion of citizenship. This abstract concept covers the area of participation and education. Debating makes you engage in fields you care about. Whether it is in your local city, AEGEE or university, debate skills enable you to participate in decision-making and help to raise your self-confidence. Citizenship is also about recognizing between the facts and the feelings, between populism and reasonable arguments. All this is achieved by debating. All in all, as you can see, debating brings more good than harm.”

Involvement of participants

Last month Ivan realized that only organizing debates online does not contribute much to the above mentioned benefits. “That was a decisive moment to launch a new function of AEGEEDebate. From now on, you can find on the website the sub-page Resources that will be regularly updated with material to increase your knowledge about the debate. You can find out how to recognize arguments, what is a debate case or find some other debate portals to learn even more. By this, I believe I can fill the empty space on the website to provide information and basic materials for the development of your skills.

I would say an obvious statement that you can infer even from the text alone. Debate is important for any individual or organization. We need to face controversial issues and debate about them. AEGEEDebate tries to achieve this goal by online means.”

If you have any suggestion for the initiative or you are willing to help with it (PR, design, website or anything else) you can contact the AEGEEDebate team by email at aegeedebate@gmail.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Written by Ivan Bielik, AEGEE-Brno and Wieke van der Kroef, AEGEE-Leuven/Amsterdam

Do you remember the article ‘Be the change’, which was published in The AEGEEan a few weeks ago? Did you have the chance to attend the workshop ‘Impact your university’ during the Agora in Patra? In case you didn’t, we got you covered with this article!

‘Impact your university’ was a workshop conducted by rootAbility, a social business that drives the sustainability transition of the European higher education sector by establishing and coaching student-driven and staff-supported sustainability units, teams and projects. They believe that universities and colleges should create new knowledge to solve complex sustainability questions. Universities and colleges are educating the decision-makers of tomorrow on relevant sustainability competencies. They should therefore reduce their organisations’ ecological and social footprints and assist regions in their sustainability transition.

Do you believe that you can change the world with a simple students’ project? Perhaps it sounds a bit difficult, but if you start small you can have an impact! As university students we are one of the biggest stakeholders in our society. With this manpower behind us, starting with our own institution can be a smart idea when changing the way we live. Later on you can always make it bigger. When rootAbility started, it began with the Maastricht University’s Green Office in 2010. They took sustainability matters into their own hands, the student’s hands.

In the workshop, rootAbility communicated the tools and steps you need to implement your own project. We learned that it is not so much about having ideas but more about executing them. Concrete planning should therefore play a major role before jumping right ahead and try to change things. Thinking about possible problems, strategies to mitigate them and ideas on how to engage the stakeholders for the project are necessary activities to ensure later success.

Photo by: Elise Bessieres

Using a project canvas, sustainability projects were identified through problem analysis, planned according to their needed resources and activities that were mapped corresponding to the desired outcomes. However, no one can plan a whole project in such a short period of time completely. Learning that further steps such as writing a project plan or proposal are required to move on was also a part of the workshop.

We can learn a lot from the business world, even when implementing sustainability projects. Taking the tools you need from different disciplines and working together with students from various study backgrounds further contribute to a project’s realization. With resources that are accessible at your university such as its infrastructure, the knowledge from professors and peers, its reputation or the university’s network, every student is in a unique position to impact their direct surroundings, while also improving your university experience.

Besides, the life skills learned in project management are widely applicable, and more and more employers are seeking graduates that have such additional skills. So, the knowledge acquired when executing a sustainability projects can be used later on and complement university curricula. At the end of the day you have the power to have an impact on the society! Think big, start small and change the world for the better!

In case you have any questions regarding student-driven and staff-supported change projects for sustainability, do not hesitate to contact iris.hordijk@aegee.org, or visit Rootability.

Written by Iris Hordijk, Policy Officer on Sustainability

Of course the AEGEEan wants you to meet all the NetCom candidates so we asked Ana Potočnik a load of questions about herself and her plans. Ana was born and raised in Ljubljana and two years ago she became a member of AEGEE-Ljubjana. At Agora Patra she’s hoping to be elected as a Network Commissioner, for which she will put aside her clay sculpting and Biochemistry studies so she can travel and serve the Network in the Balkan area.

The AEGEEan: What was your main reason for joining AEGEE and is that still the main reason why you remain a member? Or has this changed over time?

Ana: My story of how I joined AEGEE is interesting.  Two years ago one of my friends decided it is time to find her a boyfriend and asked me to join her on the meeting for the New Year’s event which was organised by AEGEE-Ljubljana that year. I had no idea what AEGEE was, what kind of event they were organizing or for whom, but as a good friend I decided to support her “let’s find me a boyfriend” mission.

So you joined the event, but what happened there to convince you to stay involved with AEGEE?

“In one month I went from a complete stranger to board member of AEGEE-Ljubljana.”

I have been living in Ljubljana for my whole life and I know how magical it can be in the winter time, that’s why I was super excited to work on the program for 30 students from all over Europe. Of course my enthusiasm and hard work was noticed by one of the members, looking for people who would candidate for the board next month, so in one month I went from a complete stranger to board member of AEGEE-Ljubljana.

First year as a newbie and a board member was not easy, I was struggling with understanding and getting to know AEGEE and how we work, and from time to time also with motivation. But I believe you have to finish what you started and take the responsibility for your tasks. I finished my term and in this year AEGEE found a way to get under my skin. The opportunities that AEGEE gives me and people that I met keep me motivated to dedicate even more time and energy to our organisation.

In your programme you also mention wanting to support members to grasp opportunities AEGEE presents. So what do you think are the most important opportunities that AEGEE-Europe offers?

The most visible is definitely traveling , but for me the most important is personal development and the possibility to develop your own ideas. In the last two years AEGEE changed me a lot.

I gained a lot of confidence and developed countless different skills. If there would have been no AEGEE, I would be sitting at home right now writing a lab report, not caring so much about what is happening in our society and Europe. It is really fascinating how many opportunities AEGEE offers to its members, but it is up to each member to take advantage of them.

How did you ‘meet’ the Network Commission?

I met the last three NetComs of my area. I remember after my first NWM in Kragujevac I rode in the back of a car to Beograd with Marijana Roščić and Ana Dragić. They were explaining what the work of NetCom is and trying to teach me some “Balkanish” words. Even though I was a very fresh member then I found their work very interesting. And I saw their work in the number of locals raising and “old” locals getting stronger and stronger.

Of course NetCom work is the most visible during Network Meetings which I enjoyed very much. And about our current NetCom Antonija, let’s just say that we developed a special bond during the last NWM in Ljubljana where I was the main organiser. In the last year we have been in contact all the time and during our Skype marathons we also talked a lot about NetCom’s work, its difficulties, about Antonija’s locals and problems that we are all facing.

You’ve been to several NWM’s, have you also visited locals in the Balkan Area on different occasions?

I decided to make a small “Balkan tour” and travel to Patra through Zagreb, Beograd and Skopje.”

Unfortunately I have not had the time to visit locals as Antonija’s SubCom, but I visited or attended events of AEGEE-Beograd and Maribor and I even helped for a few days during the SU of AEGEE-Zagreb last year. That’s why I also decided to make a small “Balkan tour” and travel to Patra through Zagreb, Beograd and Skopje.

I really want to get to know locals before I start my term. Which I am also trying to do by reading Activity Reports from locals for the last few months. I hope this will give me a clearer picture of the situation and problems that locals are facing.

What did you learn as a member of ACT on international cooperation and online communication?

The work of ACT was one of the most challenging tasks I have had in AEGEE. Here I learned how important the knowledge transfer is and that it is not always easy to coordinate work in a big team without live meetings, but if everyone takes the responsibility and does their tasks, everything is possible. I think it was very good preparation for NetCom work.

For NetCom as a whole, I think we should use email as our main communication channel, because it is easy to follow them and it allows the possibility of saving information for next generations. But at the same time I know that the amount of email can be overwhelming from time to time, so I am also in favour of using Facebook groups for reminders and informal communication.

You know some of the other candidates right? How did you meet them and how do you feel about cooperating with them?

Yes, I have met most of them. I have met Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen) and Burak Topaloğlu (AEEE-Eskişehir) on my first AEGEE event – pre-Agora event of AEGEE-Groningen. With Maria I also cooperated in the Identity team and attended the Leadership training in Brussels this January, where I also met Balasz Kovacs (AEGEE-Debrecen). Oh, and on the European level meeting in Zaragoza I shared the room with Lia Tuska (AEGEE-Sofia).

But even if I didn’t know most of the candidates, it wouldn’t be a problem, because I can cooperate with anyone who answers their emails regularly and has a proactive approach.

You also mention the importance of trainings and knowledge transfer in your programme, what will you do to support locals with this?

“I am already working on writing down all the obstacles, tips and tricks that I am facing as president, which I feel are important for my successor.”

With AEGEE-Ljubljana, we organised the Summer University Project School (SUPS) in cooperation with the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) and AEGEE-Academy as well as some simple one-day trainings on different topics. I know how important trainings are for locals, that is why I attended the Training for Trainers (T4T) in Budapest so that I would be able to help and support locals with the organisation and by giving trainings during my term.

A one year-mandate is not as long as it sounds, so using the knowledge of previous generations helps not to lose time learning on our own and from our own mistakes. In my own local I am already working on writing down all the obstacles, tips and tricks that I am facing as president, which I feel are important for my successor.

The current NetCom team is already working on a general booklet about knowledge transfer in boards, which will be distributed before Agora Patra. This booklet contains mostly technical information about working in a board but unfortunately this is not enough for efficient work of new generation. So I will advise and support other board members and locals to write down their tips and tricks as well.

Lastly, what are your personal strenghts and weaknesses?

“A NetCom should have a strong team of Subcommies and not be afraid to share his/her tasks.”

I am very critical and demanding of myself, so it is not easy for me to say what my strenghts are, but I think this is also a good quality. It is the way I keep pushing and developing myself. My other qualities could be that I am fast thinker, a fast learner and that I like to seek new ideas and solutions. This will help me get into the flow of NetCom work fast and develop a new approach to problems that locals are facing.

However, being critical and demanding of myself is also my weakness. Sometimes I like to take a lot of responsibilities on, even too much for the 24 hours that a day has. But I am aware of this and that is why I am already working on building a strong team of Subcommies, whom I trust and will be able to share my work with. I think NetCom work is not a one-man job, so to ensure quality work and support for the locals, a NetCom should have a strong team of Subcommies and not be afraid to share his/her tasks.

I would like to thank you, Ana for your openness and patience with all our questions in this interview and I am sure that your critical thinking and hard work will be appreciated by the Agora. We wish you the best of luck with the elections!

Written by Wieke van der Kroef, AEGEE-Amsterdam/ AEGEE-Leuven

Just close your eyes for a few seconds and think about nature on our planet. Do you see the glistering of the oceans in the sun, the colourful flowers in the fields and can you hear the birds in the forest? Amazing, isn’t it, what our planet looks like today? A source of life and diversity on all different levels and in different appearances…

From the beginning of our existence the human race has always put its stamp on the earth by changing the environment. With the growing world population and the consumption based economy there is no spot on the earth which is not influenced by us. Nowadays, humanity consumes the resources of 1.8 planets and we will need 3 planets by 2050 if the present trend continues.

A solution for this problem would be a more sustainable lifestyle and mind set. Sustainable means that the things we do right now could go on forever and don’t deplete the resources we have. Sustainability will increasingly determine the way we live, do business, vote and understand ourselves as a human species. The change to a sustainable way of living in this world therefore is the challenge of our generation.

University of Lund , Sweden

What could be a better place to start with the change to sustainability than universities? They are the institutes where our knowledge and understanding expands every day by research and teaching. Universities create knowledge to solve sustainability questions. Universities should practice what they preach, so be sustainable themselves as well.

Being a sustainable university goes further than separating the garbage and insulate well, education is a very important factor too. Students are important agents of change to steer the sustainability transition of universities and colleges. As Europe’s largest interdisciplinary youth organisation, AEGEE has a huge potential to sensitize students for the opportunities that the sustainability transition offers and how they can positively contribute to it.

Logo RootAbility

Are you challenged to make your university more sustainable? At the Agora in Patra the organisation rootAbility will conduct a workshop on how to make your own student driven change project possible. RootAbility is a social business which drives the sustainability transition of the European higher education sector, by establishing and coaching student-driven and staff-supported sustainability units, teams and projects. They believe that universities and colleges should create new knowledge to solve complex sustainability questions, educate the decision makers of tomorrow on relevant sustainability competencies, reduce the ecological and social footprints of running the organisation and assist regions in their sustainability transition.

Ever thought your university could do more with sustainability? Learn how to actively impact your university’s transformation process with your own student-driven change project!

Be the change!

What: Workshop Impact your university
When: Thurday the 1st of May
Where: Spring Agora Patra

Written by Iris Hordijk, Policy Officer on Sustainability

On the 4th of February the European Parliament adopted (with a clear majority of 394 in favour versus 176 against) a recommendation for a future road-map against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. This seems to be a step in the direction AEGEE is pushing with the Policy Paper on Homophobia. But what does this road-map really mean? And how big can this ‘step’ be called? The AEGEEan decided to look at this subject with E.G. (AEGEE-Leiden) the previous Policy Officer on Homophobia. 

The recommendation is a non-binding way for the Parliament (which does not have the ability to initiate regulations) to push the European Commission to start developing regulations on a subject. This initiative was based on the fact that the European Union already stated that it disapproves of discrimination based on sexual orientation, becomes clear from international treaties[1] condemning discrimination as well as recommendations, resolutions and guidelines the European Commission and parliament previously developed on the matter.

Ulrike lunacek © EU

However as the recommendation stated, the 2013 EU LGBT survey showed that across the EU “one in two LGBT respondents felt discriminated against or harassed on grounds of sexual orientation, one in three were discriminated against when accessing goods or services, one in four were physically attacked, and one in five were discriminated against in employment or occupation”.

As Ulrike Lunacek (Austrian Member of the EP, author of the recommendation and Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup) states: “LGBTI people face serious problems in Europe today. Despite progress made in some countries, discrimination, violence and harassment continue to occur in all 28 Member States.”

Based on these numbers the European Parliament stated that it “believes that the European Union currently lacks a comprehensive policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people”.  So they decided to call upon the European Commission and Member states  “to work jointly on a comprehensive multi-annual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, i.e. a road-map”. Such strategies already exist in the field of Roma integration, discrimination on the basis of disability and gender equality.

Gay Pride Brussels 2011

The recommendation specifically looks at several specific places of discimination like employment, education (sharing of good practice throughout Member States’ youth), citizenship, families (all forms of families should be legally recognised), freedom of movement and freedom of assembly and expression (like pride events). So this recommendation is meant to get the European Commission to act.

E.G. (AEGEE-Leiden)

Something also E.G. (AEGEE-Leiden) would like to see: “The EU needs to do more than simply state that discrimination against LGBTI persons is unacceptable and must be addressed. It should, instead, come up with specific and practical solutions to overcome this practice.”

But the question remains whether this ‘road-map’ is a real practical solution. According to Eline “The proposed EU road-map is one more political step in the right direction when it comes to making an end to homophobia and discrimination based on one’s sexual preference. It is questionable, however, to what extent this ‘initiative from above’ will make an actual difference within EU societies.”

So although the Parliament is pushing the European Commission and Member States in the right direction with this road-map, a very long road remains ahead of us before we reach a European society free of discrimination based upon sexual orientation. The problem of discrimination calls for a more bottom-up approach from society. This also means that we as AEGEEans have a chance and maybe even an obligation to try and positively influence society around us, so it becomes more tolerant towards people with all sexual orientations.

The idea of the ‘December stories’ project came out of curiosity: how do other people celebrate their cultural events in December? What makes the Russian Christmas special and what do they do on the 24^th? Do the Turkish celebrate anything during the ‘holiday season’? What do the Dutch do? And do they do the same in Belgium? What about Finland, the land where Santa Claus is supposed to live?

The easiest way to know this would probably be to just ask our fellow AEGEE members. After all, who would know better than people who experience all these traditions first-hand? AEGEE is spread far from East to West, from North to South and covers so many cultures, that might or might not have a connection with the Christian holidays that are abundant in December.

So throughout December, the Culture Working Group (CWG) would like to share some of your personal stories with the Network. It’s one thing to read about a holiday on Wikipedia and another one is to get to experience it. But because not all of us can travel, having our members explaining, in their own words, what holidays they have is and how they perceive it would help all of us to understand them better.

Ultimately the goal is to get ready for your holidays, make the spirits lighter and get excited for everyone’s own family celebration and for that of our friends from all over Europe. Some CWG members have already answered our request for stories, but we believe that more stories are more fun! So please no matter where you are from, share your story with us.

Write to cwg@aegee.org before the 10th of December & tell your story!

Don’t forget to add your name, Antenna and tell us all about the name of the celebration, what makes it special and your own personal story. Your stories will be featured throughout December on the CWG-website and Facebook page. And an overview of the best stories will be published right here in The AEGEEan.

Help us make this December truly cultural!

Written by Sabina Guja, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca & PR for CWG

Will the EU succeed in reducing plastic bags?

Who doesn’t accept a plastic bag at the supermarket when shopping and didn’t bring your own bag? Or when you buy a few tomatoes at the market and you don’t want to carry them loose in your bag. Or when the shop already put’s your groceries in a bag, how can you refuse this? Well, you are not the only one. In the European Union every person uses -on average- 198 plastic bags every year. A bit much isn’t it? Not in every country the amount of used plastic bags is the same of course. For example in Finland and Denmark the average inhabitant uses 4 bags a year, while in Poland this number is 499.

Plastic bags can be reused in art as well, source: Flickr, Creative Commons

Why would it be a problem to use plastic bags? Well, the waste of plastic in general is a problem. A lot of plastic is floating in the seas and the oceans. The light weighted plastic is easily taken by the wind, dropped into the water (rivers, lakes, creeks) and floats to the sea or ocean. When the plastic arrives there it takes a long time before it is degraded, about 15 years. These bags, floating in the sea, group together and form a kind of belt. In the Pacific ocean there are two of these big garbage belts of plastic with a total size twice that of the United States and with a depth of 10 meters. This is also known as ‘the plastic soup‘.

The (micro)plastics in the sea and ocean are eaten by fish and birds. 94% of the birds in the North Sea have plastic in their stomach and that is not healthy for these animals. Furthermore, the fish you eat swim in this waters as well …bon appetit. The Environmental Working Group also wrote an article about this plastic soup that is currently in our ocean (read more).

So it is time to reduce our use of plastic, and the European Commission has made plans for doing this. It has resulted in a plan to diminish the use of plastic bags by approximately 80%. The European Commission adopted a proposal that requires the member states to reduce the use of light weighted plastic, by -for example- the introduction of charges (paying for bags) or marketing restrictions (maximum of bags). It sounds like a very good law to reduce the pressure on our environment, but it is strange that the European Commission doesn’t set a specific target for the member states. It is hard to check if the member states are doing well in reaching this goal. Will for example the reduction of 1% for a member state be enough as long as they say they’re trying?

Colourful plastic bags, source: Flickr, Creative Commons

So are there ways to clear away plastics on the continent? Regular plastic can be recycled or burned. However, through burning of plastic unhealthy gasses are released, so this is not a real solution, and at the moment not all the member states are recycling plastic. Another solution can be found in a new initiative in the world of plastic: the development of bioplastic. This kind of plastic is biodegradable or made of plant material and is less harmful for the environment.

Why would we wait before the EU comes with laws and proposals? When the EU is not fixing it, we, the citizens, will do it. The best thing to do as a responsible inhabitant of the European Union is not only to reduce the use of plastic bags but to quit the use of plastic bags. When you go shopping and you always bring your own bag, you don’t need plastic bags any more. In the future it is cheaper to bring your own bag instead of buying a plastic one, and last but not least it will preserve the healthy future of our planet.

 Written by: Iris Hordijk, Policy Officer on Sustainability

AEGEE-Alicante and the Health4Youth project decided to work together on organising a healthy lifestyle pre-event to Agora Zaragoza already before the summer. And when the event was finally there, a small but very active group of participants, a lot of organisers and helpers from AEGEE-Alicante, and Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen) and Sygrit Andringa (AEGEE-Groningen) from the Health4Youth project gathered in Alicante to take part in this amazing pre-event: Mediterraneanly.

A busy four day programme on the topic of the Mediterranean healthy way of life was waiting for the participants. There were workshops on healthy lifestyle, a lot of sports activities (almost all given by professional instructors), cooking activities, and a visit to a biodynamic fruit and vegetable garden. Of course, there was also time for socialising, parties and getting to know the lovely city of Alicante, including its nice weather and beach. Every day started with a nice breakfast and all lunches and dinners were prepared by the participants and organisers themselves.

One of the highlights was the tapas workshop, were the participants made tapas in the public kitchen of the local market. The participants had to work with a budget, buy the ingredients at the market and prepare different tapas in groups. After that, a lovely meal was eaten together in this public kitchen.

One of the participants, Carlos Castillo Perez, wrote about the pre-event. Carlos is a fresh member of AEGEE-Alicante, but he already joined several events in the network. As he did not have enough time to be an organiser for the pre-event because of exams, he decided to apply as a participant, to an event in his own city. This is his story:

MEDITERRANEANLY, UNDOUBTEDLY, IS THE BEST WAY OF LIVING:

There was no better way of warming up for Agora Zaragoza 2013, than with a pre-event on the Mediterranean shore, in the welcoming city of Alicante. We were five minutes away from the beach, and three minutes away from the the city’s party area.  In this city there are just two seasons: spring and summer. Given that the event took place between the 26^th and 30th of October, we could say that we were in the cool period of our summer, with temperatures around 20-25 degrees Celsius.

It all started at 16:00 on the day of arrival. However I have to confess I was not present in that first gathering, as the football match between Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona forced me to arrive some minutes late (240 minutes to be specific). The rest of the participants had a pleasant walk through the streets of Alicante, and a great first contact with the city that was going to be their home for the next days. Once the night had fallen, the amazing, awesome, attentive, charming, outstanding organisers had prepared an authentic Mediterranean dinner, with a varied mixture of meat, vegetables, eggs and more, to the delight of their participants. Throughout the event, they did not only maintain that level of cooking, but they even improved! Legend has it that one of the organisers made the bread every day, and twice a day she carried it to the hostel and delivered it to the participants, freshly baked, and with a huge smile.

The second day started with a yoga class at 8:30 AM (a typical time when everybody takes yoga classes, obviously), followed by the breakfast right there, and thanks to the high temperature we went to swim in the sea.  Some of us went to swim as well the second day, after the “Zumba” class. Simply fantastic.

In addition to all those sports (yoga, beach volleyball, football, jogging, salsa, zumba, or the hardest one, beer-pong), we did a lot of different workshops. A broad range of them: some were more dynamic, others funnier (the one about alcohol. Though it was supposed not to be exactly funny, with Spanish people and our anecdotes relative to that topic, it was really hard to take it entirely seriously) some more reflective (as the one about the effects of the lack of sleep, conscious eating, or the one about healthy lifestyle) or more cultural (the astronomy workshop).

Unfortunately, the nice weather betrayed us the last day, but our organisers had a back-up plan. The first plan had been to go to the mountains and camp there. But because of the weather forecast, we decided to stay in Alicante, and have a Ukulele class. This class was really funny, even for me, despite the fact that I could not play the Sponge Bob-Ukulele (I am still quite upset with that). After that, some of us went to visit the Castle of Santa Bárbara. And after living in Alicante for seven years, it was incredible that I did it for the first time…

As you can see, in spite of this being “only” a pre-event, and relatively short, much could be written about the event and about its people (both all the participants and all the organisers) because in AEGEE we will always have a lot of things to tell (not only because with AEGEE we sleep very little and therefore, days are very long), because every AEGEE experience turns out to be an unforgettable experience.

As “Participelper” (half participant, half helper) I can speak in the name of everybody when I say THANK YOU both to the participants for being so funny and collaborating in every activity with a great smile, and to the organisers and helpers for their hard work and for their positive attitude throughout all the event. And AEGEE-Alicante was not alone in this, as Maria and Sygrit from the Health4Youth project were also involved, whom showed us many interesting and useful things about how to live in a healthy way.

P.s. another participant, Elmar Guliyev, AEGEE-Baki, made a nice compilation movie about the pre-event.

Written by Carlos Castillo Perez (AEGEE-Alicante) & Sygrit Andringa of the Health4Youth Project Team.

Looking to unleash your wild side? Or simply want to experience something really crazy? Let me introduce you the recipe for the best possible summertime event in friendly Valencia region…

Photo by: Serhii Basenko, AEGEE-Odessa

The ingredients are: 21 international participants, five brilliant organizers, caring helpers… Eight days in nine towns in the region of Valencia, a dozen Spanish festivals and parades… Educational city tours, tasty Spanish food, parties, a Sangria workshop, a diversified European night and finally the Europe’s muckiest and liveliest festival: ‘La Tomatina’.

The small village of Buñol hosted 25 000 tomato fans this year. We, a big AEGEE family, were among these thousands of adventure seekers hoping to survive this severe tomato fight. I have seen a lot of Tomatina photos before but I was still pretty shocked when I found myself in the middle of a tomato fight… That hour of chaos was the craziest time of my life.

Photo by Roosmarie Vanrusselt, AEGEE-Leuven

Here are some participants sharing their impressions: Sarah Stockner, AEGEE-Wien says that this was “the craziest event I ever attended and a once-in-a-lifetime-experience. Buñol, the little village, became a real battlefield for 2 hours, so if you got hit by a tomato in your eye like I did you can feel like a real warrior. I will keep on wearing my Tomatina bracelet showing that I survived this massacre and also to keep the memories of the best AEGEE people that I shared this fun with.”

Serhii Basenko, AEGEE-Odessa: “The ‘orange phoenix’ was truly a unique experience for me. During the whole event, I felt like I was being immersed in a completely different world with beautiful nature, great people and a unique Spanish atmosphere. Thanks to our organizers and helpers, the event was organized on the high level.”

Indeed, in these nine days we have managed to see and experience more than one can imagine. We had a chance to observe Muslim and Christian parades, enjoyed marvelous costumes and great performances, participated in bulls running and fire bull festivals, we got acquainted with the splendid city of Valencia and its smaller neighbor cities and we certainly became a part of the world’s largest food fight! Only the nine days in the summer of 2013 left an unforgettable impression for the rest of my whole life!

Written by: Olga Spytsia, AEGEE-Odessa

“Are you a good lobbyist”? This was the central question to a simulation played at the Summer University of AEGEE-Delft, “Create your own world”. More than 20 participants and some of the organisers took part in this interactive workshop on European Union sustainability policy, getting a hands-on grip on the mechanisms of lobbying at the European level.

In order to facilitate the discussion, the workshop at Delft’s amazing modern university library was kicked off with a brief introduction to sustainability and the European policy-making process. With the adoption of the Lisbon treaty sustainable development became a fundamental objective of the European Union. This is partly operationalised in the Europe 2020 Strategy, though unfortunately limited to energy and resource efficiency.

Nonetheless, a number of sustainability topics outside this restricted scope remain hot items in European politics. One of them is of course climate change, which is being recognised as a strategic priority of the EU. The international deal is to stay within a 2°C temperature rise since pre-industrial times (say 1750), but this will of course require significant cuts in CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions: from 20% by 2020 to up to 95% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.

The EU has designed a cap-and-trade system to help achieving these goals, but due to the economic crisis and flaws inherent to the auction basis of this Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the carbon price is currently far too low to stimulate any investment into cleaner production. Still, European climate ambitions remain ahead of most other developed countries, making the EU a front-runner in international negotiations.

Another topic currently under discussion is the protection of biodiversity, which in recent years has reached alarming levels of destruction. With extinction threatening 1 in 4 mammals, 1 in 3 amphibians, and 1 in 8 birds in the near future, the EU’s initiative to translate the Nagoya Protocol into European law is more than welcome. This international protocol aims to preserve biodiversity by sharing some of the profits generated by its uses (e.g. in medicines or foodstuffs) with the inhabitants of the regions it originates from.

With such powerful players as the pharmaceutical or agricultural industry, and such huge amounts of money concerned, it comes as no surprise that the Members of European Parliament (MEPs) working on the new rules are constantly being approached by lobby groups, both from industry and civil society. What are their demands? How do MEPs deal with them? And who is the best lobbyist, using the best arguments to protect his/her interests?

Based on personal work experience at the European Parliament, a simulation of the lobbying activities was developed, with each of the participants receiving a specific role, ranging from French small-scale farmers over Peruvian indigenous populations to big industry representatives. Of course a couple of MEPs from various political parties were added to the mix as well, with the difficult task of judging the lobbying efforts and taking a final decision on the proposed European legislation.

After a cautious start, arguments started flying up and down the circle, with people adding new elements to the discussion to refute claims made by other lobby groups. The representative of the agricultural industry, for example, proposed the French small-scale farmers to switch to his more lucrative, genetically modified crops, but saw his argument countered by a particularly stubborn scientist from Germany pointing to the threats such crops can pose to local biodiversity.

At the end of the debate the lead rapporteur from the European Greens, acting as moderator, consulted with her colleagues and they then delivered their verdict: a percentage of commercial profits to be used for supporting small-scale farming, additional funding for research into the effects of GMOs on biodiversity, and a number of industry-supported and NGO-monitored projects to conserve biodiversity on site. A reasonable and balanced deal, applauded by all parties — though in reality things are not always that easy.

Written by Mathieu Soete, Policy Officer on Sustainability