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! 

AEGEE-Academy is a group of young and motivated trainers from all over Europe that aim to provide all us AEGEEans with great training opportunities to build up our skills. This spring, they are organizing two European Training Courses in collaboration with the Comité Directeur. Learn more about amazing opportunities to improve your skills in this article!

Hey and thank you for answering some questions for us! First of all, who are you and can you explain to our readers what AEGEE-Academy is?

Hello! My name is Anastasia Sidiropoulou, and I am the current Speaker of AEGEE-Academy.

AEGEE-Academy is the official pool of trainers of AEGEE-Europe, and is built up of a group of young, motivated trainers from all over Europe.

What exactly is the purpose of AEGEE-Academy? What are your main objectives?

We aim to provide high quality non-formal learning experiences that facilitate the self-development of our training participants.

We are specialized in many topics, varying from soft skill workshops to practical training courses, all targeting the world of non-profit organisations, and social entrepreneurship. Therefore, we provide training activities, experienced trainers, feedback on training design, and their preparation.

This spring AEGEE-Academy and the Comité Directeur are offering two European Training Courses. What can the participants expect to learn in these courses, and what kind of AEGEE-members would especially benefit from taking part in them?

As you mentioned, we have two ETCs happening in spring in the AEGEE House in Brussels, both of them with a different focus.

The first one, the ETC+, taking place from the 9th till the 13rd of March, will be focused on leadership, external relations, and policy & advocacy, which aims at preparing the next generation of leaders of AEGEE for their future. 

It is especially a great opportunity for those who want to candidate for a position at the Agora, be part of a speaker team, become a Liaison or Policy Officer.

So, what can participants expect? We won’t reveal everything yet of what we have planned, but expect to learn how to network meaningfully, practice your public speaking, learn about team and crisis management, about digital campaigning from European Movement International, and  European Youth Forum policy.

The second training, the ETC, taking place from the 7th till the 10th of April, will be focused on grant writing and project management, as AEGEEans expressed their desire to have a training on  this. 

It is for AEGEEans who want to start new initiatives on both the Local or European Level, bring their Locals’ work to the next level, or future Comité Directeur members.

Here, members will learn how to identify funding opportunities, how to write and apply for grants, and how to manage a project from start to finish. They will get knowledge, tips and tricks from Veronika (Secretary General) and Teodora (Vice-President and External Relations Director).

The sessions will be held in person, right? How excited are you after the period of online events to host these European Training Courses in Brussels? Will it be difficult for the trainers to hold sessions in person after adapting to online teaching methods? How do the Comité Directeur members that will be delivering sessions in the ETCs feel about these two offline events?

Exactly, as I already mentioned these two ETCs will be held in person in Brussels. Speaking on behalf of the current board, I would like to say that we are really happy to organise offline training events again, after almost two years of having organised several online training courses. The in-person interaction is always preferable for trainers. One can really feel the moment, and connect with the whole group when interacting face to face than when being behind a screen.

I cannot say that if it will be difficult or not to hold sessions in person after adapting to online training events, because this is something that depends on each trainer individually. What I can say for sure is that our trainers missed delivering offline a lot, and they have been waiting for this moment to come. Offline training courses will work as a motivation booster for the AEGEE-Academy trainers. As for how the Comité Directeur feels about giving training sessions physically again, I cannot say —you would have to ask them— but they have shared that they are looking forward to having the chance to meet AEGEEans offline.

Why should people not miss out on these European Training Courses in Brussels?

As every European Training Course, these ETCs are unique training events providing its participants with as many tools as possible, and methodologies to develop themselves and reach their potential within AEGEE. These ETCs are going to be quite different from the previous ones. Mostly because they have different focused topics, which gives the space to the training team to dive more deeply into the topics and create more expertised training content.

Don’t miss this amazing possibility to improve yourselves and your skills!

Where can people find out more and where they can apply? When is the application deadline?

Everyone can find more information about these events on myAEGEE, where they can apply as well! Applications are open until the 4th of February 2022!

Here are the links for the ETCs on myAEGEE:

• European Training Course+ on Leadership, External Relations and Policy & Advocacy
• European Training Course on Project and Event Management

The AEGEE culture has always been about learning and sharing. That is why it is one  of the strongest youth networks in the world. This year AEGEE-Academy marks its 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades it continues to hold stick to the mission to train and to develop AEGEEans all over the world. With a lot of enthusiasm and motivation, the team is now planning their activities for 2019 in order to engage more trainers and trainees.

1.Describe your mission in one tweet.

AEGEE-Academy aims to provide high quality non-formal education trainings that facilitate the self-development of our trainees in different fields such as HR, PR, event management, antenna management and much more.

The more elaborated version would also add that our aim is to qualify new trainers by inspiring AEGEEans to share their knowledge and provide them with the right tools on how to do it and support them with  opportunities for their further trainer development.

2. How many people are currently members of AEGEE-Academy? Are you electing the board every year?

AEGEE-Academy has 72 members. The board is elected every year and it consists of at least three members. Our board decided to change the current structure of AEGEE-Academy into a more flat hierarchy structure, so everyone can be involved. We can see that not only antennae but also European bodies struggle with a perception of an active board and more passive members and we definitely want to change that and give more space and support to all members with great ideas.

3. How many trainers have you trained during the last year?

We had the chance to train 16 brand new trainers and to give  8 experienced trainers the chance to further develop their trainer skills and self-confidence.

In June 2019 we will again offer the opportunity to 16 experienced and motivated AEGEE members from the whole network to take part in  such trainings and become trainers themselves. We definitely recommend this chance to everyone who has enough expertise in specific fields (you don’t have to be an expert in everything ;)) and would like to pass it on to newer members but don’t know how exactly. Also new trainers would benefit from this life-changing experience a lot.

4.What do you consider as the greatest challenge in non-formal education?

The balance between the amount of training hours and social program (especially parties per se). Sometimes it is incredibly challenging to let the local organizers and participants (majority) understand, that a good training course requires a clear mind, focus, space for reflection and a high quality rest (= sleep and time to be alone). And that is not always possible if the expectations of the participants or the hosting local are  also to party, see the city etc. Trainers also want to have fun, talk to the participants outside of the workshops, get to know each other, eat and chill – and that is also possible without huge discos, European Nights and drinking alcohol.

This is something what we are trying to clearify by setting up the right expectations to both locals and applicants, although our AEGEE party culture is not making it easier for us.

5. Which topics are the most popular among the training events?

From our observations and experience we can say that the most wanted trainings are those on the topics of self-development (leadership, communication and presentation skills, personality), project and antenna management, topics around HR (HR cycle, team management, recruitment) and recently also those focusing on mental health and gender equality (incl. topics as sexual harassment).

Therefore also our focus, not only as a body but also as individual trainers, is inclining towards these topics. Due to many grants which the CD and its employees manage to get from European institutions, AEGEE has now the opportunity to organize many trainings on these topics and we are extremely happy about it! Although not every of these trainings is being organized by AEGEE-Academy, we are still present through our members/trainers there. And this only shows how important and desired trainings are.

6. What did AEGEE-Academy achieved in the past year?

Apart from organizing the above mentioned Training for Trainers, we managed to become more visible during Agorae by providing some of our workshops – and this time not only during prytania slots but also as a parallel program to morning plenaries – for all the visitors and envoys who were not attracted by the administrative part of the Agora. We offered a small workshop “teaser” in order to show  regular members how trainings in AEGEE are being done.

In a few weeks we will also organize the Mental Health European School in  cooperation with YDWG, and we believe it will have a great impact on the network.

In the process is also a European School on Leadership, which will happen in  early autumn.

Moreover, we are at this moment having 3 of our members on the Trainers Tour – travelling with interrail tickets, visiting the antennae and delivering workshops on topics important to the locals and helping them to create contentful programs for their SUs.

7. What can AEGEEans expect from you in 2019?

We are happy to say that everyone can expect the reason why AEGEE-Academy was created for: trainings, involvement in AEGEE‘s internal education strategy, presence in your local or regional training courses (let us know if you need a trainer!) and at the statutory events, reflecting upon the needs of the network and last but not least, even more trainings ;)

Did you know that AEGEE-Academy was created exactly 20 years ago?! Therefore you can also expect some surprises at the upcoming Agorae :)

If you want to find out more, visit our workshops or our Agora Fair stand at the Agora and we will tell you more :)

The Summer University Project School is going to take place this year in Catania from the 7th until the13th of March. The participants will learn all they need to know in order to organize the perfect Summer University. We asked Ioana Duca, Main Organizer of SUPS 2016 and Roberto Patanè, president of AEGEE-Catania and SUPS Responsible, about the event, so now you have no excuse not to apply for it.

The AEGEEan: Ioana, you have a rich history in AEGEE. Why Main Organizer for Summer University Project School?

Ioana Duca: It is true, but in AEGEE is never too late to do something. Unfortunately, during my term in the Comité Directeur I didn’t have the opportunity to do as much as I wanted, as there is too much bureaucracy and too many other things to do, but now I’m still trying to do some things. Plus it is my favorite topic in AEGEE: Summer University and how to organize an SU.

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-Catania, winner of the best Summer University in the past years, are the local organizers. How do you think that this will influence the participants of SUPS?

Ioana: I’m happy that AEGEE-Catania will organize SUPS this year. I think we will all have the chance to see the secret behind winning best SU several times in a row. And more important for the participants, they will be able to see, observe and learn from AEGEE-Catania, a very experienced and highly prepared local. And what way is the best in order to learn? To see them in action!

The AEGEEan: Your local has been organizing great Summer Universities for the past years. Why did you choose to organize a Summer University Project School only now?

Roberto: I was the main coordinator of the best SU 2015 and an organizer in 2013 and 2014. So I just took part in the latest best three SUs out of four and as everyone knows, three is the perfect number [he smiles, ed.]. Jokes apart, this year as president I decided, together with some board members, that it is time to organize a memorable SUPS.

The AEGEEan: What is the theme for this year SUPS and why did you choose it?

Ioana: The inspirational theme of this SUPS is South Park. Personally, I’m not very familiar with this TV show. It was a proposal from SUCT (Philipp) and we all agreed that it is a nice idea that can fit with the place and the event; we have students, buses, a school and I think it is a nice and attractive idea.

The AEGEEan: How many participants will there be? Are you looking for someone special, some kind of skills and knowledge from a participant?

Ioana: We will have 25 participants. We are looking for motivated people that really want to learn how to organize the best Summer University, to learn and discover new things and to make some new friends. Skills and knowledge will be gained during this event, they just need to be open and ready to learn and experience.

The AEGEEan: Why do you think that AEGEE members should apply for your event?

Roberto: AEGEEans should apply because everyone can improve their skill such as: Event management, Fund Raising, Team building, Creativity, and so on. Also, they can discover all these along with some experienced trainers and surrounded by the wonderful Sicilian landscapes, in the most awarded as best SU city.

The AEGEEan: Did you already choose the trainers? Who are they?

Ioana: Yes, and it was one of the most difficult decisions ever. We had a lot of applications, around 20, and almost all applications were really good, motivated and experienced members and for this reason, it was very difficult to decide. Unfortunately, we couldn’t select all applicants.

The trainers team of SUPS 2016 is composed by: Lucia Gavulova –  SUCT, Paolo Furia – AEGEE Catania, Ander Guerrero – CD, Carolina Alfano – SUCT and Mateusz Muszalski – AEGEE-Kraków/Audit Commission; best team of trainers!

The AEGEEan: How are the preparations going so far for this event?

Roberto: We are still working in order to organize the accommodations, meals, social program for the participants, and make everything prepared to host the trainers for some high level sessions.

The AEGEEan: What are your expectations for this event?

Ioana: I expect to have the best organized SUPS ever, as we are in Catania! Trainers to be not only amazing (as they already are), but to share their amazingness! Last but not least, participants to be active, motivated and by the end of SUPS, to go home with a bigger luggage, full of knowledge, experience, motivation and friendship (they should pay more for their return luggage). And to show once again that the cooperation between the Academy, SUCT and AEGEE-Catania is perfect.

Here you can find the Facebook event for SUPS and you can apply here.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

Every year the Academy, in cooperation with the Public Relations Committee, organises a one week training: the Public Relations European School (PRES). This event is an unique opportunity to develop skills in terms of PR strategy and in particular in the fields of corporate identity, presentation techniques and development of PR materials. This year, PRES will take place in Poznań, Poland (23/11/2014 – 30/11/2014): The AEGEEan met Zsofia Komaromi (AEGEE-Budapest), manager of this upcoming event, in order to understand what we should expect of the next edition of PRES.

The AEGEEan: Zsofia, can you tell us what we should expect from the next PRES in Poznań?

Zsofia: We have a great team of trainers working on the program of PRES right now, so participants should expect a week packed with exciting training sessions and workshops as well as invited guest speakers from the corporate sector. Thanks to the organizers in Poznań, a social program in the evenings and a sightseeing tour will complement these sessions.

Which are the main topics of this upcoming event?

In each element of PRES, we focus on giving participants practical knowledge and providing them with an opportunity to explore and develop their skills. The main aim of PRES is to support participants in taking a strategic view on PR and communications and help them explore the various tools, channels and best practices that they can use in order to drive the success of their antenna or European level project. Within this framework, we will cover the topics of branding, online communication, social media and media relations. Another important element of PRES is using creative messages and communication tools in order to get the message of AEGEE across and stand out from the crowd of an increasing amount of youth organisations.

What can you tell us about the trainers and the training methods?

We have a team of six trainers (you can get to know them here) who have a lot of experience in PR in NGOs, as well in the corporate sector. Many of the trainers are also members of the Public Relations Committee and Mayri Tiido, Projects and Communications Director, will also be joining us for the event.

As for the training methods, we would like to make PRES as interactive as possible, and thus allow participants to learn by doing and learning from the experiences of each other. Real-life case studies will also be an essential part of PRES, allowing participants to put their knowledge into practice, while contributing to AEGEE’s projects too.

According to you, who are the ideal participants of Public Relations European School?
We are looking for participants who would like to work in the field of PR in their local or on the European level of AEGEE. They should be enthusiastic to learn and develop their skills while exploring their creative side.

In which terms do you think that the upcoming PRES may influence a member or local’s activity?

I think that PRES provides a great opportunity to learn from the best practices of other locals and come up with new and improved ways for doing PR after the event. As for the members, we hope that PRES will motivate them to contribute to the work of AEGEE on the local or the European level.

Why shouldAEGEEans apply for this event?

They should apply because PRES is a great opportunity for them to learn from experts as well as their peers and at the same time get inspiration or figure out what could be the next step for them in their AEGEE career.

So what are you waiting for? Join PRES this autumn!

For further information visit the official website and follow PRES on facebook.

Written by Larisa Smajlagic, AEGEE-Verona

17 participants, 6 trainers, 6 main organizers, 9 days, many guests and helpers. From  the 17th till the 25th of May 2014, the AEGEE-Academy,  together with AEGEE-Enschede had organized one of the most important  trainings in our association – “European School 1” aka ES1.  

Two years after the Agora in Enschede, AEGEE was back to the University of Twente,  where  participants gained new skills and  knowledge, getting ready to become future leaders. Leadership, Project Management, Human Resources and Fundraising; those were just a few of the sessions that took place during the training. Along with the sessions, the participants were working on different Case Study tasks, that helped them to put the newly-aquired knowledge into practice right away. Moreover, thanks to the local organizers, a lovely social  programme  followed  each  hard working  day.

Among  the  guests  of  the  event were representatives from the AEGEE­-Academy  board, the  board of FATF (Foundation AEGEE Trust Fund ed.) and trainers from the Dutch National Youth Council. The event would not have been the same without Urša Svetelj (AEGEE-Ljubljana),  Training  Manager  of  the ES1  2014.  Urša  was  ensuring the smooth  process from the very first preparations on, being a bridge between the trainers and organizers involved in this ES.

It is somehow hard to describe European School 1 with just few words, but the feedback received from  the  participants  speaks  for itself.  Nevertheless,  this  event  would not  have  been  that  successful without their strong motivation, commitment and endless energy.

“You rocked! The best AEGEE event I’ve been to ­ from trainers’, participants and organisational aspects. Good job!”

“Awesome! Inspiring! enriching! a great time! great people!”

“You guys are awesome and especially the organizers. Please pass my thanks because without them this event would not be as amazing as it was.”

“I  am  extremely happy to having been here!! ES1 changed my life and it will define my future! Thank you very much for selecting me cause I really had to be here! And thank you for making this event so awesome and useful!!! Looking forward to meeting you all again somewhere in Europe! I really admire you for what you are doing! Keep up improving the world!!! ;) And good luck with everything!”

“A big hug to everyone! Thanks for this outstanding experience!”

“I am very thankful this happened to me. And I thank you for realizing it. I find everything I want to find in my life in AEGEE. Thank you for making this true.

“Organizers  and trainers, I must say a huuuuuuge thanks for the hard work. I learned a LOT and had awesome time while doing it :) Thank youuuuu all! :)”

“I will suggest my local Antenna members apply for ES.”

“European School 1” is already over, but more AEGEE trainings will follow! Stay tuned and keep the AEGEE energy alive!

Written by Elena Antova, AEGEE-Academy

Ever since its establishment in 1999, the AEGEE Academy has been working hard to develop and strengthen the human resources of AEGEE and to stimulate the motivation of its members, by providing them with non-formal learning experiences. Last April the new board of the Academy was elected, starting their term on the 1^st of June after their Knowledge Transfer. Next to this, the Academy also signed the Convention d’Adhesion during Spring Agora Patra. The AEGEEan spoke to the board of the Academy to find out more about their achievements and plans for the future.

Currently, the board of the Academy consists of eight members, namely: Speaker/PR Responsible Andra Berila (AEGEE-Bucuresti), Treasurer Patrick Scholz (AEGEE-Aachen), Secretary John Eikosidekas (AEGEE-Patra), HR Manager and External Relations responsible Urša Svetelj (AEGEE-Ljubljana), Database Manager Michele Minuti (AEGEE-Brescia), IT Responsible and Board Assistant Costas Deltouzos (AEGEE-Patra), Alumni Coordinator, Network Communication Assistant and Board Assistant Maartje Natrop (AEGEE-Utrecht) and Mentorship Program Responsible and Board Assistant Lyda Michopoulou (AEGEE-Leuven).

Although only active for a few weeks now, the new board already has great plans upcoming, like the European School of Entrepeneurship (ESE), organised together with Youth unEmployment this September in Gran Canaria, the Fundraising European School (FRES) hosted by AEGEE-Barcelona in October, the Public Relations European School (PRES) hosted by AEGEE-Poznan in November and the Summer University Project School (SUPS) hosted by AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca in December. Besides these great events, plans already have been made for Spring 2015 too. As Andra tells us: “We are planning to organise a Self-Development European School (SES), Training for Trainers (T4T), Human Resources European School (HRES) and European School 2 (ES2).”

However, it’s not only the new board that is new. The Academy itself also got a new status, signing the Convention d’Adhesion at Spring Agora Patra. As Maartje explains: “Since we signed the Convention d’Adhesion, we are no longer a working group. It was a strange place to be in, as we have never really been a working group and therefore couldn’t comply with the requirements. Now we are officially an independent partner organisation of AEGEE, but serving the network remains our main priority. In practice you will not really feel or see the changes, it is just paperwork, but we will keep on rocking as always.”

And rocking is what the Academy has been doing lately. Thanks to the hard work of the former board, the Academy managed to “make the Academy rise from the ashes like a phoenix”, as Antonija Parat said before. “We have had an amazing board term.”, Maartje says, which also shows in the achievements made during the past half year. “We built a new website including an interactive map of trainers and a trainer database, a big online materials database, a new HR booklet, new HR strategy with different levels for trainers (candidate, trainer, senior, alumni), new PR strategy including a new Facebook page and small recruitment movie and we have been rocking a lot of European Schools, Training for Trainers and trainings at the Agora. We did a lot of work behind the scenes as well, like standardizing templates for presentations, Open Calls and creating knowledge transfer manuals for the future boards.”

The database for training materials is a never ending but very thankful job, according to Michele. “Brick by brick we build a house. I am collecting materials of trainers and especially of Academy events and some Network Meetings. At the moment we have the materials, but we have to update them and increase the quality. The best part of my job is that there is no end. My motto is: ‘To collect data is a step for knowledge, but to share is a step for community.’” Another important job is the website, which got updated in January. “The previous website of the Academy had an old fashioned design and its content was rather outdated, so when we launched the new one all of our trainers were excited about it”, Costas says. “The new website’s design is fresh and modern, the content is better structured and easy to find and we have some new features. The main addition that made everyone happy was the trainers’ database. Now it’s easy for everyone to see a list of our trainers and alumni with details about them and where they are located.”
Although the Training for Trainers that took place in April in Budapest already resulted in twenty new trainers, the Academy is always open to new applications. This can be done by applying on the website through a form, or by attending the next Training for Trainers in Spring 2015. Want to find out more about the Academy? Take a look at their website!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Restoring the AEGEE-Academy to its former glory – this has been the main goal of the board of the AEGEE Academy in the past six months and they have ambitious plans to keep working on during this new term.

The Academy has recently hold elections, and their previous board members, Maartje Natrop (AEGEE-Utrecht), Costas Deltouzos (AEGEE-Patra) and Patrick Scholz (AEGEE-Aachen) were re-elected for six more months. However, this time, the number of ‘boardies’ in the ACA has been enlarged from three to six positions, so the Board has been completed by Andra Berilă (AEGEE-Bucureşti), Urša Svetelj (AEGEE-Ljubljana) and Michele Minuti (AEGEE-Brescia). The Mentorship Program has been restored and is proving to be successful, and they have already been working on the image of the Academy and improvement of trainings.

Maartje Natrop, speaker of the Academy

Their agenda before Spring Agora Patra is almost full, and The AEGEEan has spoken with Maartje Natrop, speaker of The Academy, about their plans for this term.

First of all, Maartje, you have just been re-elected as a Speaker of the Academy. Which are the most valuable lessons you have learnt during your first term?

That being idealistic is great, but that this idealism needs to be met by realism! We had so many plans and great ideas but, with just the three of us (Patrick Scholz and Costas Deltouzos who are also reelected and myself), we simply could not manage this. We have spend our entire first term getting the Academy back on track in its most basic form.

Which have been the greatest achievements of the previous board?

To be fairly honest: cleaning up the mess behind the scenes and fixing the not-so-healthy state that we found the Academy in. There is not much to show to the public just yet, but trust me… we have been working hard!

How has the (revived) Mentorship Program been going so far?

Really great actually! Of course, this depends on mentor-trainee couple. The program also relies on the amount of energy and time they put in, but I have heard of many happy trainees so far. The new mentorship guideline with assignments and progress reports surely helps, and of course the Academy responsible for the Mentorship program, Michele Minuti, checks in with the mentors on a regular basis. The whole idea of the program is to make new trainers feel at home within our organisation and to show them we care and we want to guide them trough the process of becoming an experienced trainer. So far, I believe we are on the right track reaching this aim….

The Academy’s brand new logo

What can you tell us about the first meetings with the new board?

Until now we were restricted to Skype. At first I feared how this meetings would go, since we are six: twice as much as the last board! I feared chaos and saw a big challenge ahead for me as leader of the group, but luckily our meetings turned out very efficient, productive and creative. We are also very much looking forward to our official board weekend in the Comité Directeur house in Brussels in January (24-26th).

You are preparing a new database for training materials, what can you tell us about it?

Michele Minuti is not only our Menthorship Program Responsible but also our Database & Knowledge manager. He is very busy collecting as much training material as possible from trainers and creating many standard formats and presentations for trainers. This way we can make the process of preparing training much easier for our trainers. It is also a great way to standardize certain trainings and thus make them uniform. Last but not least, sharing is caring. We want to share our knowledge and not constantly reinvent the wheel! Like our official motto says: The Academy – Learn and Share!

Which other plans do you expect to achieve this term?

We are already proud to announce a new cooperation with the Network Commission, as you might have read in the AEGEE Europe newsletter. Furthermore, Urša Svetelj, our Event and HR manager, has been crazily productive. She made a welcome booklet for new trainers, new application forms, evaluation forms, a new HR strategy and much more. Andra Berilă, our PR responsible, is also a great addition to the team. She just finished an awesome new PR strategy and works on creative designs for a new Facebook page, the booklet and many other communication tools. Patrick Scholz, our financial responsible, is working on new financial guidelines concerning reimbursement for European events, which is also an important step. Last but not least, Costas Deltouzos and myself are working on the new website, which is going to be absolutely awesome. We will launch our first newsletter within a week. It contains an update of our activities, in a pretty design of course. So in short: we are already achieving more than I could have imagined!

T4T in Warszawa

We recently found out that the Intercultural Communication European School (ICES) was cancelled. Why is it hard to set up new successful pilots of European Schools?

Well, as always with pilots: they are new so you do not know what to expect. Risks are there to be taken, as I always say: the bird who dares to fall, is the bird who learns to fly. With ICES the organizers were just too late with promotion resulting  in a lack of trainers and participants. However, the concept is great so we are hoping to try again in 2014. SES (Self-development European School) was our pilot in May 2013. Of course some aspects could be improved, but overall it was very succesfull and definitely worth repeating.

You will live an exciting moment in Patra when signing the Convention d’Adhésion. Besides that, is it true that you are planning to propose a change for board members to be elected for a year?

Yes, definitely! We have noticed now (twice already) that half a year is way too little time to actually achieve something. With a proper knowledge transfer period and some time to get to know your fellow ‘boardies’, you are already one or two months further into the process! Plus, being on the Academy board is just way too much fun to give up after half a year. Hard work, hell yeah, but very rewarding and fun!

Does the Academy have any other plans before Spring Agora Patra?

Well yes… drum roll….. to finally show you all the products we have been working on for so long!!! HR booklet, website, new strategies, new Facebook page etc. Although it was not visible yet, we have been working our asses off and cannot wait to share the results with you in 2014! And of course we will bring our cool trainer t-shirts to Patra again, and most of us ‘boardies’ will be there to represent the Academy and show that we are well on our way restoring it to its former glory! And, on a more serious note, we will most definitely focus in 2014 on the quality of the events and how to get more trainers and participants involved and how to avoid cancellations of events. Anyway, I am looking forward to 2014: the year of change.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

+ Do you know what the Working Groups did in September?

+ Are you aware of what kind of tasks they develop and which topics they are tackling?

You can check the document on the Issu down here, or download from here http://goo.gl/KfQ0g

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Check out our new trainers in The Academy!

Patrick - AEGEE-Aachen

        Patrick – AEGEE-Aachen

“I have been a member of AEGEE for almost six years and have been the most active in Human Resources (HR) and Network field; as a board member (HR responsible)  in AEGEE-Aachen, and as the Network Commissioner and NetCom speaker. Also, I’ve been active in everything related to our general assemblies – as Agora organizer (Incoming coordinator) at Agora Aachen and Chair Information Technology (IT) technician; and recently our operative planning reform – by developing the methodologies for the pilot European Ideas Factory (EIF) in Gliwice, which has culminated in the EBM reform.”

Martje – AEGEE-Utrecht

Dear future co-trainers, my name is Maartje Natrop, I am a Dutchie, therefore obviously quite direct, very open, and If I am not at the University studying Communication Science, I freelance as a corporate trainer and work as a corporate/internal communication advisor. I have lived in several countries and I am very passionate about cultures, languages, travelling,

Martje –AEGEE- Utrecht

 and meeting new people (just like every AEGEEan, I guess). Fun facts about me: I am addicted to indoor cycling, chocolate, and watching TV shows.

Of course I also devote some of my free time to my local, AEGEE-Utrecht, where I am the president of the Events Committee, and organise Local Training Courses (LTC). For example, in February, I organized a fundraising LTC. In December I was a participant in European School 1 (ES1) and just now I came back from Training for Trainers (T4T). I hope to start training very soon and share my knowledge in the field of (intercultural) communication, soft skills, and fundraising, and to start putting all the training skills, methods, and theories I learned into practice.

Caro – AEGEE-Passau

My name is Caro, I’m 22 and exactly three years ago, in April 2009 I started my long-term relationship with my beloved antenna AEGEE-Passau, where

Caro – AEGEE-Passau

I am the current president. Since I joined AEGEE I’ve had the chance to meet so many friends, to shape the Europe of tomorrow, and to develop myself to the extent I could not imagine before. Through AEGEE I experienced what it means to dedicate a lot of energy to youth work and also what it gives back. Now, as a member of the Academy I want to share my experience and support others in their development. I get a lot of motivation and energy from helping others, and for me, delivering trainings is a challenge but also a big pleasure. I am passionate about motivation theories, intercultural competence, communication, and international teamwork. I am eager to develop my knowledge in other fields such as emotional intelligence. Besides AEGEE I gained some experience in organising and facilitating international youth exchanges and in managing an international student network. I am really looking forward to being a member of the Academy family!

Written by the Academy