In one of our last articles we told you about the European Training Courses (ETCs) that the AEGEE-Academy created in collaboration with the Comité Directeur (CD) this spring. Our Editor-in-Chief, Janine Kuroczik, was lucky enough to get selected as one of the participants for the ETC on project and event management, and so she went on a journey to the AEGEE house in Brussels this March to improve her skills. Find out more about her experience!

Being a student of Political Science and a member of The AEGEEan, I did not know much about executing projects or writing grants. However, especially as an AEGEEan, those are very useful skills. I mean every antenna and European body can use members with expertise in these areas! But my lack of knowledge would change drastically after taking part in the four-day long ETC on project and event management! 

The course took place in the infamous AEGEE house in Brussels, where me and the other eight participants from all over Europe stayed, and got to meet the CD members that live there. Two of them, Teodora Panuş and Veronika Chmelárová were our trainers for the event, along with Julia Krebs from the AEGEE-Academy. They created a quite packed but interesting timetable that included everything that one should know about grants and how to manage projects, events, teams and crises. 

The first day of the event started with some ice-breaking games and an introduction to the topic. From then on, we went deeper and deeper into project management with every session. After the course, I can assure you all of us participants know how to do strategic planning and use appropriate methods (such as NAOMIE)! Everyone got to share the projects they are currently working on and could elaborate strategies and ideas on how to best bring those projects further. Of course, the trainers always helped with tips and tricks! Roma Bogdanov, a participant from AEGEE-Mannheim says about the ETC: “I learned a lot. Some of the topics weren’t new to me, like strategic planning or event management, but I’ve discovered new tools and approaches to them. Other topics really were completely novel, especially those connected to the fundraising part of the curriculum: Concept building, application design, co-funding, impact management, and so on. We can definitely apply this knowledge to our local – we’ve got very ambitious plans for the future and external funding will come in very handy to realise them.”

While some sessions were like informative lectures, others were incredibly interactive. In the session on crisis management, for example, we were presented with several problems that could come up during a project, and we had to solve them at the same time as fast as possible with structured team work. We learned how to stay calm in stressful situations, and had lots of fun finding solutions together. In another session we got to learn how to best build teams and a good working atmosphere, and Julia Krebs made us think about each of our strengths that we could put at the service of the team. 

I have been mentioning Julia for quite a while, so I think it’s time to formally introduce her. Julia is a long member of the AEGEE-Academy, and this has been her first live training since the pandemic. She explains: “I am very excited for the course, because I forgot how much fun in-person trainings are! It is always nice to get to know the group of participants and see how they are learning and what they come up with during the sessions. Veronika, Teodora and I had a meeting about the goals of the training, and then we came up with a number of sessions, worked on them individually, and came up with a flow”. She further states that: “after the training course the participants should know what they can do and what AEGEE as a network can provide. They should know how to implement a project from step one to the end”. As a participant, I can confirm that I definitely know now which steps are important while executing projects, which strategies I can use, and what mistakes I should better avoid. 

The training course was very intense, but I definitely improved my skills to a great deal. The trainers were very considerate, and listened to the needs of the participants during the training — between the sessions we even got a city tour from Veronika, and had time to taste some Belgian waffles, fries and beer! I can highly recommend taking part in an ETC as it is not only lots of fun and an opportunity to meet other AEGEEans, but also an amazing way to improve skills that can become very handy for AEGEE related work and one’s professional life! 

In the Ancient Rome, people adored a two-faced god called Janus, with one face looking at the past and the other looking at the future. As in life, there are always changes, with doors that are closed to be opened new ones. And in AEGEE, after being elected the new Comite Directeur during the Spring Agora held in Bucharest (Romania) in 2019, doors are opened for these new CD members that took their charges in July. This new CD, number 57^th and the last of the 2010s decade, puts an end of an era marked by many different events that, in one way or another, put into a risk some of the principles that defined AEGEE as we all know.

With the 2020s decade closer, this new CD has just arrived to the headquarters of AEGEE-Europe in Brussels and is ready for action. As in the previous article, in which old CD members were interviewed, in this second part new members will ask some questions. If readers met them or not, here they are to start 2019/20 course: President Daniel Amesz (AEGEE-Leiden, The Netherlands), General Secretary Monika Mojak (AEGEE-Warzawa, Poland, in her second year after being part of the 56th CD), Financial Director Refik Baris Ozçelik (AEGEE-Istambul, Turkey), External Relations Director Álvaro González Pérez (AEGEE-Heildelberg, Germany), Projects Director Hanna Alajoe (AEGEE-Tartu, Estonia), Network and HR Director Oksana Prokopchenko (AEGEE-Sheffield, United Kingdom) and Communications Director Batuhan Çarikçi (AEGEE-Izmir, Turkey).

Hello and congratulations for being elected new CD members. For starting, how excited are you for your life as a CD member of AEGEE-Europe? What are your plans and expectations?

Hi! We’re all really excited about starting our term and have already fully gotten stuck into all the different things that we have to do. The life of a CD member is full of surprises as we have already discovered. Especially in the beginning you really just have to go with the flow to a certain extent, trying to tackle the challenges as they pop-up. We’re all still get used to our new life, finding the way in Brussels, finding the right e-mails in the inbox, etc. 

We are just starting with drafting our activity plan and it’s great to see the motivation of everyone to work on a wide variety of projects and initiatives. It’s a bit early to already share any concrete plans, at the moment all of us would mostly just be repeating things from our election programme as we have yet to decide which ideas can come to fruition this year. There are some great plans in the pipeline, so we recommend everyone to read the activity plan when it gets published and discuss it with us during Agora Salerno. ;) 

In terms of expectations, it’s quite cliché, but we expect the unexpected haha. Of course, we know certain things for sure. We will have dozens of meetings to discuss strategies and visions, we will welcome hundreds of AEGEEans in the house who come to visit during the year and we will probably read and write a few thousand emails. How all of those things will look like in detail, we’ll find out when we get there!

How was the knowledge transfer from the OLD CD members for you? How would you rate it in general terms?

The knowledge transfer period is one of the most intensive periods of the year. In only two weeks you need to absorb all the knowledge of the last few years in AEGEE in general and the CD’s specifically. This means that you follow a packed schedule that covers 11 hours of the day already. Then besides that, you will spend any extra time in the day to ask your predecessor specific questions you still have.

At the same time, of course the world doesn’t stop so the work of the outgoing team still continues as well. We’re very grateful for all the hard work and effort that CD56 has put into the KT to make us as prepared for the year ahead as possible. We had so many informative sessions, interesting discussions and proper training, it was a really meaningful experience. 

Still, two weeks is not really enough to really get to grips with everything you’ll have to do or learn all the skills you need to start your term. Perhaps it’s an idea to make the KT period a bit longer. Other big youth NGOs here in Brussels often have the two teams together for a whole month, food for thought! 

How challenging do you expect this upcoming year to be? Do you have any specific milestones in mind?

For sure the year will challenge all of us beyond what we have ever faced before, but this is also one of the reasons why we decided to run! We are eager to face all the tasks and challenges and work to grow both AEGEE and ourselves. During our term several of the biggest projects AEGEE has ever been part of will end. This means we need to make sure everything is dealt with properly in the wrap-up and of course financially.

We are also working hard to make progress on the secretariat strategy. As AEGEE keeps growing and doing more grant-based projects, we also strive to continuously make gains in the professionalism in the head office. Employees help to keep continuity as they are there for the whole duration of a project, while the CD might have changed twice already during that period. This is also very important to make sure the meticulous grant administration criteria are met throughout the whole time. Besides that, the whole CD is really looking forward to this year’s statutory events.

We hope to see all of you in Salerno, Barcelona and Yerevan and can’t wait to see what the local organisers have in store for the network. First up in October you all will of course be deciding on the future of AEGEE by voting for the new Strategic Plan. Exciting! 

Coming to AEGEE-house, how was your journey? What were your expectations and how much of it is a reality? What are the things you will be missing from your life before moving to Brussels? And how will you manage to live together in AEGEE-House?

Here we want to spend some space on one of the biggest struggles we have faced so far. Due to a change in Belgian migration laws, we are no longer able to have our non-EU members apply for the same visa procedures as before. The policy has become much more restrictive and it’s virtually impossible for volunteers to come to Belgium through the regular channels. We are currently missing our Communications Director, Batu, as he is stuck in Turkey awaiting procedures. Two other team members will have to go back to their country in the coming months as their short-term visa is expiring.

We are using all our contacts and capacity to try to arrange the right documents so the whole CD can stay in Brussels for the whole term, but it’s an uphill battle against changing regulations and restrictive policies. Now, more than ever, we need to keep up the advocacy work that AEGEE does to change policies. AEGEE’s stance on visa procedures is quite clear. They oppose our vision of a borderless Europe. It is extra ridiculous that people that want to dedicate a year of their life to volunteering for a non-profit organisation are kept from doing so. We will update the network on the progress of the situation as well as initiatives to try to make a change in the new regulations.

Time passes away quickly, even in AEGEE. Last summer, after Agora Krakow in 2018, a new Comite Directeur, the 56^th since AEGEE’s foundation in April 1985, was elected to be in charge of this European students’ association. Knowing that these times are complicated in a political, economic, social, educational, sexual, and environmental way, it was, and still is, full of old and new challenges. 2018/19 of course had an active, hard-working CD which kept the essence of AEGEE and made real new initiatives at the same time (mental health, SMASH project…) that could be further developed in the future; realising many objectives that are still far away from the current days.

Who are these members that completed their board term in July, to start a new life after living together in Brussels for a year? And what are their feelings after leaving the AEGEE House? Alejandra Piot Pérez-Abadín (AEGEE-A Coruña, Spain), previous Communications and Internal Education Director, and current Youth Development Working Group Coordinator illustrates these experiences and feelings in this short feature.

Twelve months of being part of the Comité Directeur can teach you a lot, and in our case, it was no different.  Our journey began in the middle of July 2018, with two intensive knowledge transfer weeks, and on the 1st of August we took charge and started this adventure!

Ups and downs, work, a lot of work, we couldn’t have imagined how much, stress, but also good moments, really good ones! Nights of cooking together and having fun in the house, traveling together to the Agora or EPM, as well as traveling on our own to other events, waking up in the morning and seeing the same people, talking about everything, and standing together until the end as a team. 

The journey is hard, it has a lot of obstacles, but what you win cannot be described in words. You win in friendship, skills, competences, emotions, overall, you will mainly win. 

The journey ended on the 31st of July, but all the memories and everything we gained will remain with us forever. We will remember each other and all the moments we spent together with laughter and a big smile, because yes, we laughed a lot! 

We will see each other again and all the happiness will come, and all the memories, as, an experience like this, is unforgettable and creates true friendships. 

Thank you for trusting us for that year and we wish the best of luck to the current Comité Directeur, we are sure they will do an amazing job! 

The AEGEEans team with one journalist Mohd Zean and one proofreader Sherwin Savio Furtado, led by vice Editor-in-Chief Martiño Rivera pays a visit to the famous headquarters of the AEGEE “ The AEGEE House in Brussels” with one goal in mind “ Life in a CD house” featuring current CD members –  Alejandra Piot Pérez Abadín, Viola Bianchetti, Monika Mojak and Elitsa Hadzhieva (Assistant of financial director). Enjoy this interview with some of the hottest topics in CD house such as “What does it means to be a member of CD and life being a CD member? “.

Soon upon my arrival from Passau to Heidelberg, I was welcomed by Viola (from Your Vision For Europe) and Mareike (from the Network Commission). They showed me the beautiful city of Heidelberg, and after having lunch with them, we joined an evening meeting with the members of AEGEE-Heidelberg.

All members that were present at the meeting shared their experiences and impression about AEGEE. They also offered me an insight in the work of AEGEE-Heidelberg. They have around 50 members and they are structured in teams. Their board members are mainly new members in general, but motivated to work in management of the local. Their main work is focused on European events and the work that they do with Erasmus students is their biggest recruitment tool. Also a few of their members are active in European Bodies of AEGEE. They have several planned exchanges (e.g. with AEGEE-Cagliari, their Twin Antenna AEGEE-Budapest and with AEGEE-Kyïv) too.

My last stop on this journey was AEGEE-Düsseldorf. I met Maja and Jonathan, both board members, and during a very interesting city tour, we managed to discuss the situation in their local.

AEGEE-Düsseldorf is a small antenna, but an active one. Currently they have around 15 members, of which half is active. In the last year they managed to organise more activities and they even organised an RTC a few weeks ago, which gave them the insight in event management and gave them ideas for new projects. What is beneficial for this local is that near them, there are several bigger locals that they can cooperate with.

The local is facing some issues with recruitment, which is pretty normal when there is lack of a proper knowledge transfer. Another big problem for this local is the change of generations, which is a problem for all locals, but is mostly visible in the smaller ones. My chat with Maja and Jonathan generated useful food for thought.

My trip ended with AEGEE-Düsseldorf after more than three weeks on track. Thank you all for your hospitality.

Written by Zvonimir Canjuga, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe

Zvonimir in Passau

After the superbly organised EPM in Zagreb, and a short break with all CD members in my hometown, it was time to move forward with the second part of CD on Track. After eleven hours of train, my first destination was AEGEE-Wien. I spent my short stay in Wien with Bernhard and Christian, current and ex-president of AEGEE-Wien. In the discussion with them I got to understand that AEGEE-Wien is a small, but stable local. They have around 20 members, but they expect to have twice as much after the SU application period. They have around ten active members throughout the year and five former members that are helping when or if needed.  In last years, they organised mostly fun local events, but recently they got involved in meeting events with migrants, and events about environment and sustainability. They also shared their views on AEGEE as an organisation today and concluded that we are focusing on finding the identity and becoming more professional, but AEGEE is still offering more than enough place to have fun and AEGEE is open to everybody.

After a short morning trip from Wien to Passau, I was welcomed by Dominic, president of AEGEE-Passau. We were joined by more members for a nice city tour and we managed to discuss the local context in a nutshell.

I was planning to go to Passau for a long time, as I heard many stories about the local and how well they perform concerning antenna management. AEGEE-Passau has almost 200 members with around 40 active members, working mainly with international students. They have a close and good relation with the International Office of the University from which they receive most of the support. Also, a few members of the local are employed in the office. Dominic arranged the meeting with them where we discussed the collaboration of AEGEE-Passau and the International Office, but also the potential collaboration of the International Office and AEGEE-Europe.

Later in the evening, we had a meeting with the rest of the board and a few more members. They described how they see their local now and what they would like to see in the future. I am happy to see that board is listening to its members and more activities are in plans to be organised.  Also, we discussed the current political situation in Europe and engaged in an interesting discussion after it. After the meeting, we concluded our visit by checking the AEGEE-Passau office, in which I saw nice memories from the past years.

You can check here the interview with Dominic, President of AEGEE-Passau.

Written by Zvonimir Canjuga, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe

19th and 20th of February – Réka, Tekla and Zvonimir

Next stop on my route was AEGEE-Udine. On my way from Bologna to the Udine, I stopped in Mestre to have a short meeting and discussion with Erika Bettin, our lovely support from The AEGEEan and Interim Vice-Chair. Yet, let’s go back to the AEGEE-Udine, whose Summer University was the best in 2016, and I expected to see enthusiastic and young people, new leaders and plans for new Summer University that will be one of the best again. Those expectations were met, even if the local is facing a change of the generations. As soon as I arrived I was welcomed by Filippo, president of AEGEE-Udine, and we went to the city tour where I reunited with Tekla, and later with Reka. During a nice Italian dinner, we had some informal talks about events and European Schools.

On the 20th, our day started with a meeting of the representative of the International Office at the University of Udine, where we gave a short overview of what AEGEE’s contribution is in Brussels, and what the possibilities are to collaborate with both AEGEE-Udine and AEGEE-Europe. Before the meeting in the afternoon with members, through some adventures, we managed to enter our host’s place and work/prepare a bit. In the afternoon, we had a meeting with the whole board and with some of the active members of AEGEE-Udine where we introduced our work in CD, discussed some upcoming plans of the local and gave some recommendations on how to collaborate with nearby locals, how to improve their collaboration with the university and with other possible partners, and how to activate their members. The evening was closed with the birthday celebrations of AEGEE-Udine, as the local turned 25, and for us to take the next train towards Ljubljana, our next stop for CD on Track.

In addition please check the short interview with Filippo, president of AEGEE-Udine.

Written by Zvonimir Canjuga, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, and Tekla Hajdu, Network Director

Day 17 – 18 – 19 – Köln, Mainz-Wiesbaden and back to Brussels (3rd – 5th March)

Tekla with AEGEE-Köln

As all good things come to an end, CD on Track is also finishing soon for all of us: for me, the last two stops were in Köln and in Mainz to visit AEGEE-Köln and AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden, which are among the older locals in our Network.

My second to last stop was Köln, where I spent a nice Saturday brunch with the Board and the members of AEGEE-Köln. We mostly focused on how to plan the semester for the members to keep them active and how to participate in Erasmus+ exchanges and trainings as a local. The afternoon continued with a trip to Mainz, where I observed the General Assembly of AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden and introduced who is in CD 54 and what are we doing in Brussels.

Tekla with AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden members

In the evening, I returned to Köln to discover the city a bit and to prepare for my last train ride back to Brussels on Sunday in order to return to office work from Monday.

Even though the trip has ended for me, it brought a lot of experience, memories and things to reflect on for the upcoming months of my term. I would like to thank once again all the locals and AEGEEans who took part in this journey, hosted us, had a meeting with us, showed their cities or just dared to ask questions and be open to know more about AEGEE.

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Network Director

Day 15 – 16 – 17– München, Stuttgart and Mannheim (1st – 3rd March)

Tekla with the board and members of AEGEE-München

As we tried to cover as many locals as possible, CD on Track continued with three completely different routes after EPM Zagreb, and my first stop was München after spending a day in Zvonimir’s hometown and enjoying his family’s great hospitality. Starting with a very early train (around 5 AM) and a long train ride, I arrived in the early afternoon to the city of München, where we had the meeting with the members and the Board of AEGEE-Münich in their cosy office. Amongst many topics, we mostly focused on recruitment, as München is a very international city with lots of opportunities, and on how to mentor the newly joined members in order to keep them in the organisation.

Tekla with Robert, the President of AEGEE-Stuttgart

The next day continued with two stops in two different cities: in the afternoon, I managed to have a short meeting with Robert, the President of AEGEE-Stuttgart where we mostly discussed the current situation of the local, some of the upcoming plans (including a European event, stay tuned) and how to improve collaboration with nearby locals and with other student organisations.

In the evening, I arrived in Mannheim, where apart from some of the board members and the active members of AEGEE-Mannheim, Mareike Ritter (the Network Commissioner of AEGEE-Mannheim) could also join us for the meeting. We have mostly covered the topic of Erasmus+ and how locals can benefit from the programme, but we also discussed how the policy work and Liaison officers work for AEGEE-Europe.

With members of AEGEE-Mannheim

The evening closed with a short night city tour of Mannheim which included many interesting fun facts – for example, the office of AEGEE-Mannheim is situated in a castle (as the University is using the former castle as the campus), and the welcome events are often held in the catacombs of the building.

The trip is not over yet – on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll pay a visit to AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden and to AEGEE-Köln before travelling back to Brussels and returning to the office.

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Network Director

Many people might know that the Comité Directeur, the executive Board of AEGEE-Europe (who is elected by the Agora) is based in Brussels near the European Commission, in a house that can be recognised mostly by the plaquette on the door. But how many of you have seen how the daily life goes for all the CD members? What do we do during our everyday work? Read on to find out!

As we are elected by the Agora, the Comité Directeur’s main task is to work for the members and locals of AEGEE-Europe. This is highlighted especially in my position as the Network Director, as almost all of my tasks revolve around supporting the locals and the Network. I have 5 main “tracks” in my portfolio: Network management (which is the biggest) together with the Network Commission; Strategic Plan and Action Agenda fulfillment together with the Action Agenda Coordination Committee – which also includes the drafting part of the European Planning Meeting; Visual Identity together with the Public Relations Committee; taking care of the topic of Entrepreneurship, including the management of the external MY-WAY project as CD responsible (together with Pablo Hernández as the project responsible); and I am also CD Observer for the the Juridical Commission.

Since my position includes a lot of administrative tasks, I can usually be found either in the office, in the meeting room (as I generally have quite a lot of Skype meetings due to being CD responsible for many bodies) or in the archives digging up documents, but I also do some external representation (as all of us in the CD). In general, I start my day by reading my e-mails (even sometimes in bed [she smiles, ed.]) and trying to get awake as I am not really a morning person. Then, the day continues with either doing my regular tasks (which often include some ad-hoc requests from locals) or having morning meetings with the rest of the CD about important topics such as EPM preparations, etc. Then, after our lunch break (when I try to cook something nice) I return to my office computer and keep on working until the evening when my Skype meetings are usually scheduled – then I move to the meeting room and finish my day officially after the Skype meetings. Of course, my schedule is different when I travel– in that case I do a lot of on-the-spot tasks and the e-mails/administratives are put a bit behind. I do enjoy travelling, getting to know new places and people no matter the type of the event (internal AEGEE-events or external representation), nonetheless work is first for these kind of travels.

On paper, my position might not look super exciting, but as I am working a lot with the Network there is never a day that is the same: sometimes people ask for information or help with some tasks, other days you get interested people asking how to found a new contact – sometimes I might see that I am a lot on Facebook and other social media, but I get approached in many platforms, so I will just adapt to whichever is more comfortable for the locals or for my teams. One thing that I really enjoyed until now is the CD on Track because I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know the locals better in their own cities and see how they manage in their everyday environment – hopefully, I can help and support them in case they need it.

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Network Director of AEGEE-Europe