During Autumn Agora Cagliari, Policy Officers were established as a body of our Network. President Paul Smits and Secretary General  Antonija Parat on behalf of the Comité Directeur presented a proposal to formally establish them in order to set some rules. The proposal was accepted with an overwhelming 94.49% of votes in favour.

The position of Policy Officers was launched in 2012 by the Comité Directeur 2012-2014 to  to express the  views and concerns of the Network and bring them up to the policy level. The Network has now four new Policy Officers who will work for one year on the Focus Areas of the Strategic Plan 2014-2017 (Youth Mobility, Youth Employment, Europtimism and Civic Education). But this is not all. The Comité Directeur (CD) 2014-2015 decided to also address two other topics this year, namely Education and Gender Equality. Six positions were created, but the CD strongly encouraged applicants to develop their ideas on a topic that was not mentioned, but could be important for the Network. A lot of applications suggested the topic of LGBT so the CD decided to appoint a Policy Officer to work on that topic too.

Pablo Hernández Rodríguez, Policy Officer on Youth Participation

For the second year in a row Pablo Hernández Rodríguez willwork as a Policy Officer: “Last year I was Policy Officer on Youth Participation, something that helped me to develop skills to work better on Youth Employability now”, he says. Member of AEGEE-Alicante since 2010, he became active in AEGEE right after Agora Alicante 2011 “having strong references like Miguel”. Being a Policy Officer (PO) for the second year is a spur for Pablo: “I decided to continue as PO mainly because now I’m better prepared to work on this position being in the place where I can contribute the most”. As uncertain as it is nowadays, Employment is a big issue for youngsters and according to Pablo “AEGEE understood its responsibility and put this issue on the stage so, now, what we need to do is to give solutions and support initiatives that make us think positive in this field”. He continues: “I think that young people have to have proper internships and future perspectives in their labour live, something that I want to put a lot of effort into. It’s also very important to look for a solution for the lack of local job opportunities so young people don’t have to go to capital and big cities or abroad but also find job places in their home towns.”

Teo Šarić, Policy Officer on LGBT

Teo Šarić is the Policy Officer on LGBT. Member of AEGEE-Zadar, he got motivated to apply for the position of Policy Officer when he “was a member of the Y vote Bus tour in UK, a campaign to engage First Time Voters in the Elections of the European Parliament in May 2014. We were speaking a lot [about LGBT ed.] with people on the streets about this topic”. LGBT is the suggested topic and for Teo “very important to AEGEE because a lot of young people are feeling insecure and do their “coming out” when they are students. So it’s nice to see that there are people who are interested to help, advice and support you and who are working on the topic in your own association”. Teo has a lot of experience with the topic of LGBT issues, being one of the organisers of the Pride Parade in Split (his hometown) and in Zagreb. “The first gay pride in Split in 2011, where anti-gay protesters were throwing rocks, tin cans, tomatoes, tear gas and glass bottles at the LGBT activists, motivated me to be an activist. It was very sad and emotional to me to watch, sit and do nothing. I had to take actions”. For his work as Policy Officer Teo has a clear idea: “I want to make sure that no one is taken down by the actions, language and attitude of others. It is particularly important that everyone demonstrates mutual respect and avoids any attitude that would be hurtful or dismissive. It is important that we are aware of our own attitudes and actions, and that we are willing to challenge our own prejudices in a constructive and respectful manner”.

Alfredo Sellitti, Policy Officer on Youth Mobility

In the aftermath of the deletion of Visa Freedom Working Group, visa issues and youth mobility have never been so important. The Policy Officer on Youth Mobility is Alfredo Sellitti, member of AEGEE-Salerno since 2006. “Youth Mobility is a wide concept. If we want to bring it to our interest, I would say that youth mobility is a great (if not the first) engine to build up a real European civic sense, in the broadest possible meaning”, Alfredo says. “This tool is probably the most powerful to increase cross-border competencies that will influence, besides the natural effect on personal development, a civic development and boost the economy by bringing new experiences and know-how in the system”. When asked why he applied for such a position, he stated that he “has always been interested in the policy making field, and when I was in CD I realised how little support we had from the Network, as the organisation had plenty of great ideas but not a good structure to canalise them. Therefore, when I saw the open call, I thought it was a great opportunity to keep  working on something I like and help AEGEE to improve its structure to better lobby for our interests”

Turgut Tosun, Policy Officer on Civic Education

Former president of AEGEE-Ankara, and member of the local since 2007, Turgut Tosun is the Policy Officer on Civic Education. “After spending years in AEGEE and gaining lots of experience, I decided to transfer what I learnt from my journey to other motivated AEGEE members”, he says. “It was my turn to help youth workers and activists with a subject that I trust myself. Then, I found myself writing my application for being a Policy Officer”. Even if we are living in democratic countries, there are many other theories that Europe is going through an anti-democratic process. “I believe that AEGEE will use civic education for strengthening and supporting members to be active citizens so that we can help Europe be more democratic and have young people who are aware of it”. Says Turgut, “In AEGEE, I think that we can integrate civic education in our local or regional training courses in order to raise the awareness of active citizenship and democracy among our members”.

Sofia Lobakina, Policy Officer on Education

One of the two girls elected, is Sofia Lobakina from AEGEE-Voronezh, who is Policy Officer on Education. Very active on the Local Level, this is her first experience on the European level, but she has “the motivation to contribute, a relevant experience to base my contribution on and an eagerness to learn more and develop the topic of Education in AEGEE”. Even if Sofia feels a huge responsibility in presenting the vision of the Network on the topic of Education, she finds that “AEGEE, one of the largest students’ organisation in Europe, is missing a clear basic position on the topic of Education, though we have some successful projects, like Higher Education Days (HED) and Europe in Exchange (EiE)”. She continues: “What is more important, is to advocate non-formal education and informal learning and their future recognition and quality assurance”. In fact, according to her vision, Education “is like a time bomb, the input you make now will be visible only in years. So the boldest experiments should be time-proved. However some things stay clear, high quality and equality are the basic points of it, and education is an always-going process and not just a place, list of courses or diploma”.

Miha Ilc, Policy Officer on Europtimism

Student of European Studies in Ljubljana, but now living in Estonia for his Erasmus, Miha Ilc (AEGEE-Ljubljana) is the Policy Officer on Europtimism. Tightly connected with his field of study, Europtimism is a “wide field, so it is going to be a really challenging task for me, but I’ll do my best. I usually compare it with a mosaic. There are different pieces that compose the whole picture (politics, economy, welfare, taxes etc.). Currently this “whole” in Europe doesn’t have a nice look and we need to fix it in the interests of all of us. Europtimism is at this point on the lowest level since the establishment of the European Union and the beginning of European integration, which is definitely not good for the future of Europe”. The scepticism on an united Europe is high, but for Miha “just criticising and observing it passively won’t change anything. Therefore we need active debates and discourses about the future of European Union.We have the capabilities and knowledge to improve the general opinion of the EU, to promote Europtimism and shape our future in a positive way. The only thing that we need is will and a long-term strategy”.

Léa Charlet, Policy Officer on Gender Equality

Léa Charlet (AEGEE-Paris) is the Policy Officer on Gender Equality. Member of AEGEE-Paris since September 2011 she was the Project Manager of the Y Vote 2014. Always a strong supporter of the thematic work within the Association, she now works for the Association of the friends of Franck Biancheri, an organisation which aim to promote the idea of our founder. “Gender equality is a topic I am extremely interested in for some year now, and since Agora Zaragoza I am trying to find people interested in the subject to start a project after the end of Y Vote. A lot of people were interested, so when the open call arrived I was ready to go for it and become policy officer”. says Léa. Her idea about gender equality is to reach a perfect equality where “everything is in the nature, let’s just not put people into boxes and accept the combinations around us. When we are dividing the world into Men/women we are taking a lot of people out of the equation”. Regarding her work she see that the mail concern is the awareness. “I think both me and Teo (Policy officer on LGBT, ed)  have this challenge to overcome as policy officer, that before being able to give AEGEE an official position, we need to make people aware of the subject, give the tool for people to think and then finally, ask for an opinion”. She concludes.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia.

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

Armenak Minasyants (AEGEE-Yerevan) has done many things in AEGEE and recently was re-elected as Policy Officer on the topic of European Integration. The AEGEEan interviewed Armenak to hear more about his time in AEGEE and his interest in the Eastern Partnership Project and more. 

Why did you join AEGEE?

Good question! In the mid of 2010 I was looking for Yerevan-based youth NGO working and dealing with European projects. Sad to say, but at those times in my country (Armenia) we did not have many independent and politically non-affiliated youth NGOs, as even the student councils in our universities were very politically affiliated. So, just to be short, I accidentally found out that AEGEE-Yerevan’s first president, Shushan Khachatryan, was going to establish an AEGEE Contact in Yerevan, so I approached her and automatically became part of this family.

What have you been doing in AEGEE since joining the organisation?

Perhaps one of the most difficult and complicated questions to ask: for two years I was a Board member and President of AEGEE-Yerevan, twice elected as the Speaker of the International Politics Working Group (IPWG), for another year as the Main Team Member of the AEGEE Eastern Partnership Project, and last but not least, already for more than an year I have assumed the position of the Policy Officer on European Neighborhood Policy of AEGEE-Europe.

You have done many things on the local level of AEGEE, what good tips do you have when working on AEGEE in your local antenna?

My biggest advice to everyone involved on the local level of AEGEE would be to trust your colleagues and teams. I have been in many projects with huge amount of participants, and every time to get through any difficulty and to make a project happen you should dedicate yourself, work hard and first of all trust your team members.

How do you activate members in Yerevan?

If I were brutally honest, we have never had any problems with activating our members at AEGEE-Yerevan. Everyone joining AEGEE-Yerevan knows that it is some kind of a serious youth organization, which is considered to be the very leading one in the Armenia-EU relations youth sphere, thus every new member since the very beginning knows why he/she is joining the association, and the most important – what the Local Board expects from him/her. I am not mentioning the very good opportunity for all members to work in close partnership with the EU Centre in Armenia and the EU Delegation to Armenia, which are the partners of AEGEE-Yerevan and accordingly get much more professional skills. In general, this gives us strong and very motivated members, who are ready not only to attend local and European events, but also run their own in Yerevan.

You recently took part in the Eastern Partnership conference in Lithuania and also another one in Brussels at the European Parliament: how do you make time to attend different conferences?

I have a life motto “If I do something, I do it the best” and if I have been appointed to any position within AEGEE, day by day I should make my best to prove everyone that it has been a right appointment. Additionally, both projects were some kind of a landmark youth events on the Eastern Partnership, to which AEGEE-Europe must be present. As you mentioned, I took part in two conferences in a row: the first one was the EaP Youth Forum in Kaunas, which was convened within the frames of the Lithuanian Presidency in the Council of the European Union. It was a side event of the EU-EaP Vilnius Summit and the joint conclusions of our forum were sent to the heads of the EU and the EaP member states. The second one was the EU-EaP Young Leaders Forum, organized by the European Parliament. We had a big AEGEE delegation to this event and had a chance to meet up with the President of the European Parliament, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy and groups of MEPs.

What makes you interested in the EaP topic?

Probably my home country’s direct involvement in the EU Eastern Partnership Programme is one of the most important points. In AEGEE I have worked on the EaP thematic already for three years and to be honest I still see lots of room for our development and involvement.

What made you apply to become a Policy Officer on European Neighborhood Policy?

Personal and professional interest, good opportunity to work in close contact with the Comité Directeur and definitely the willingness to contribute to the thematic and policy work done within AEGEE.

What will you focus on as a Policy Officer on this topic within this term?

During the term of 2012-2013, I have already managed to develop a well-shaped and inclusive position paper of AEGEE-Europe on European Neighbourhood Policy, which was successfully ratified at the Autumn Agora Zaragoza 2013. I would like to state, that within this term I would try to follow up of the mentioned Position Paper of 2012/2013, through attending relevant meetings, conferences, events and/or sending it to the respective stakeholders. Another key point of my actions would be sustainable monitoring of news, reports, developments on EU Eastern Partnership Programme and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The interaction with the Network and development of the effective cooperation is one of the key priorities of this term. The experience of the past year shows, that without constant and active communication with the Network, it is quite difficult to imagine any success while drafting and presenting a comprehensive position paper not only to externals stakeholders, but also to the AEGEE Network.

How have you been following the situation in Ukraine?

I picked up the easiest way to follow up the situation in Ukraine: I visited Kyiv and EuroMaidan on December 6th-7th. Frankly, the scenes, enthusiasm and European spirit which I saw and felt at Euromaidan in Kyiv could not be simply described by words. Ukraine is an amazing country, with a huge territory, hard working people and natural resources, but on the other hand now it is in the middle of political speculations done by a third party. Once again I would like to state my strong commitment and belief that Ukraine’s future is connected only with the European values and the EU. Only civil dialogue could lead to overcoming this deep political crisis in Ukraine, and hopefully it seems now that the good conclusion to this story is very close.

How do you think AEGEEans can help each other when such situations occur?

We first of all should show our solidarity with our locals and members who are in such situations, as for them even one very short letter coming from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Yerevan or from any other place may be a very strong inspiration. At the same time, I strongly believe that it is already high time for AEGEE not only to react but act, when such situations occur. At least for Ukraine, I would just suggest to take a very short break and follow up on the situation development, but be sure, we would act if we would see the necessity.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Pablo Hernández joined AEGEE-Alicante in 2010 due to his wish to travel abroad. The year prior to that, he traveled to Iceland for a big event being organised in the North and from that moment he realized how amazing it is to share experiences with people from different cultures. His first Summer University was in Leiden 2010 and today he can call himself policy officer on Youth Participation.

The AEGEEan interviewed Pablo about his time in AEGEE so far in which he has been president of his antenna AEGEE-Alicante and very active on the European Level of AEGEE as well.

The AEGEEan: What have you been doing in AEGEE?

Pablo: It took me more than one year to get active in AEGEE, but from that moment I have not stopped. I became a board member only three months after meeting my local. I took important responsibilities assisting the secretariat. After the Spring Agora Alicante 2011, there were experienced people who made it easier in these first steps. The following year, I became president of AEGEE-Alicante and I also took active part in the organisation of some events such as the 10th Anniversary of the antenna, Tabarca’s diving event or the Summer University.

At the European level, I have been member of the Education Working Group (EWG) and the Europe in Exchange (EiE) project where I am coordinator of an action. I will be also collaborating with AEGEE-Thessaloniki this year taking advantage that I have moved there!

Why did you apply to become Policy officer on Youth Participation?

One of the most important topics in AEGEE is to develop an active citizenship and encouraging people to take part in the social live, including political affairs. I believe that we have to fight for an improvement of the current situation and react against the actions taken to limit these rights. I am really motivated and aware of the situation so I want to contribute to the improvement of this aspects.

So what will you be doing as a Policy officer on this topic?

As Policy officer, I want to continue reinforcing and implementing the work done by former Policy Officer Felipe González Santos. If we work in the same direction, we will be able to go deeper and obtain better outcomes. This will allow us to have a stronger position in the different discussions that will take place concerning Youth Participation topics. As a policy officer I want also to let the Network know what is our work, why we are important for them and that we work for the interest of every member, so I will try to spread results, get closer to each hot situation and be the bridge between youth participation problems from the members/locals and the political position of AEGEE-Europe.

What do you do when you are not working on AEGEE matters?

Now I am doing my Erasmus in Greece and I try to take advantage of every second of this great chance. I like going out with friends to a café and spend 2-3 hours following the “χαλαρά” spirit (“take it easy” in Greek). About my studies, I am about to graduate law, so I will be studying hard and I will combine it with Greek language lectures.

You have been part of the Education Working Group for a while also. What makes you interested in this particular topic?

I believe that education is the key to progress. In AEGEE we are all part of the same thing, Europe, but we have very different backgrounds and cultures, so what makes us understand each other is education. This association is a great promoter of the non-formal education as we both teach and learn, break stereotypes and open people’s mind without books or strict lessons.

The Europe in Exchange (EiE) project had a little bit of a slow beginning, but is speeding up at the moment with lots of promotion. How do you see the future of the project and what is your part in it?

The first steps in the project were to build it up with solid structures. We have finished this phase and now it is the time to implement our actions. We need a strong collaboration from members and antennae, so I encourage everybody to come and contact us.

In EiE I am responsible for the coordination of an action that strives to increase the exchange agreements among universities, as AEGEE is a good platform to put in contact two different universities.

You have been president of your antenna, AEGEE-Alicante. What did that experience give to you?

Being president in AEGEE-Alicante has been the best experience of my life. I has been a challenge from the beginning because we do many different things at the same time and the coordination sometimes is very demanding. It couldn’t be possible without the help of my mates.

I learnt about team building, distribution of roles and responsibilities, leadership and, of course, to deal with difficult situations.

There are many people active in AEGEE-Alicante, how do you motivate them in AEGEE-Alicante?

First of all, our team is not only a group of people that organize activities but it is also a group of friends. It is very easy to work in an atmosphere in which everybody is walking in the same direction.

And secondly, we engage a lot of people in organizing some events during the year. After that, usually, they get motivated and they request more, so we inform them about the different possibilities that they have within the whole AEGEE. We mostly use our website as a platform to inform people, there are always a lot of articles explaining what we do and which are our different activities. It is in Spanish, but you can have a look: www.aegeealicante.org

How do you encourage them to join the European Level?

This should be a natural thing. We provide all the information that they need and we explain a lot of different experiences about it in order to motivate them not only in local affairs but also in European activities. For a long time we have had strong representatives in the different bodies to whom the members can ask many questions.

You have been working on having collaboration between AEGEE-Alicante and ESN (Erasmus Student Network) in Alicante. Why do you think it is important for different associations to collaborate?

The relation between AEGEE-Alicante and ESN-Alicante was not good. There were strong differences. I personally met the current president of ESN-Alicante and I explained to him what we do and why a collaboration between the two of us is a positive thing and now we have some common projects.

This collaboration makes both of us stronger in the University, and we can organize a huge variety of activities such cinema forums or tandems courses.

You are currently doing your Erasmus in Thessaloniki, what made you choose Greece?

I chose Thessaloniki mainly because some time ago I went to the Summer University in Athina (2011). I can say that the event was very good, and it really made me fall in love with the Greek culture and meeting a lot of Greek people. They always want to enjoy social life, not taking so much care about money, styles or other secondary things. That is exactly what I am looking for now.

You also recently took part in the Network Meeting (NWM) Thessaloniki, what was that experience like?

It was the first event they organised in a long time and it was a complete success. The trainers did a great job. The idea was planting the seed for the development of these antennae and starting to work. Now they have a better communication systems and also a more solid structure. There is a lot of work to do here, but if they keep on this line, they will improve soon.

You will also take part in NWM Eskesehir, what is it that you like about taking part in NWMs?

I want to take advantage of living close to Turkey (10 hours by bus to Istanbul). To see and to meet the people who are running the Turkish antennae and to know what they are working on. Sometimes we only focus in the organisation of locals near us and it will be a great opportunity to break this wall and see other working formats.

Wrtiten by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

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

The work of a Policy Officer involves a lot of reading — lengthy study and survey reports, lofty European Commission publications, and repetitive online discussions — but every now and then something more exciting comes along as well. One of those moments was the first lobbying meeting of the Dutch Youth Council on Education for sustainability, followed the next day by a busy policy debate at the European Parliament on Entrepreneurship skills. A brief account of 24h in the life of a Policy Officer…

For the second year the Dutch Youth Council (NJR) is trying to focus the bulk of its lobbying efforts towards a single aim. Last year, their board member for advocacy, Gabe worked on study financing, and this year his successor, Felix got the task to work on Education for sustainability. This topic was proposed some months ago by the Dutch AEGEE locals who, following AEGEE’s Strategic Plan, recently became an NJR member.

Of course ‘Education for sustainability’ is a hopelessly broad field, so the aim of the meeting at the NJR headquarters in Utrecht is to help Felix narrowing this down to a workable lobby point. Felix and Gabe and some of their colleagues had prepared four possible scenarios to bring sustainability into the Dutch education system, going from working on the learning outcomes to creating sustainability for university students.

Two rounds of discussion with board members and representatives of member organisations direct the topic towards developing sustainability projects within the vocational education system. A challenge since many member organisations — including AEGEE — have fewer links with this part of the student population, but also a huge opportunity, as sustainability has long been considered as something elitist.

Early next morning, I’m on my way to the European Parliament in Brussels for a policy debate organised by EUCIS-LLL, the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning. Together with CD-member Beata Matuszka, I’m presenting AEGEE’s experience with entrepreneurship education, drawing lessons from Europe on Track’s discussions with young people and the previous editions of the European School on Entrepreneurship.

The meeting is hosted by the Austrian MEP Heinz Becker (EPP), who immediately frames the debate by referring to the European Commission’s Social Business Initiative: “The main objective of social business is to generate a significant impact on society, the environment and the local community.” After interesting presentations from EfVET (on teaching young people entrepreneurship skills through their regular teachers) and YFJ (on the results of their study into the impact of non-formal education on youth employability), and a testimony from a former participant of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme, we are up.

Other contributions before the floor is opened to questions include people from DG Education and Culture (“The methodologies needed to teach entrepreneurship skills are very much based in non-formal education”) and DG Enterprise and Industry (“Entrepreneurship is a key competence for everybody, it’s not just how to start a business”), as well as a rapporteur from the EESC refocusing the discussion on the main goal of education: to create free citizens with a critical mind who can function fully in the society.

Strong comments were made by SYNTRA, pointing to the fact that we are fighting — and are thus risking to lose — a war on two fronts (namely by using a confusing terminology and by frightening teachers with new topics to teach), by EFIL on extending the debate to entrepreneurial knowledge and attitudes, and OBESSU stressing the danger of focusing the education system too strongly on following the job market — a concern also heard in Zagreb during Europe on Track.

MEP Becker’s closing question whether students know about social entrepreneurship offered the opportunity to put in a quick point on Education for sustainability as well: “Students don’t know about these valuable types of entrepreneurship, just like they know little about social or sustainability issues. To change this, a deeper reform of education is needed, beyond the contents of entrepreneurship education.” Now let’s hope that  he will take all of our comments with him!

Written by By Mathieu Soete, Policy Officer on Sustainability

Pictures credit of:

Hans Kreutzer

EUCIS-LLL