The Charlemagne Youth Prize is one of the most prestigious European Prizes. It has been awarded annually since 1950 by the city οf Aachen, Germany, to people who contributed to the ideals upon which it has been founded. It commemorates Charlemagne, ruler of the Frankish Empire, who resided and is buried in Aachen. Traditionally the award is given to the recipient on Ascension Day in a ceremony in the town hall of Aachen. In April 2008, the organisers of the Charlemagne Prize and the European Parliament jointly created a new European Charlemagne Youth Prize, which recognises contributions by young people towards the process of European integration.

This year AEGEE has the honour to have not one, but two projects that won the national round in Romania and Slovakia, respectively: “Faces of Europe” and “Summer University”.

Faces of Europe is a photo blog launched by Your Vision for EUrope, a project of AEGEE-Europe. Inspired by the famous Humans of New York, the photoblog aims at making Europe more personal and exploring the human diversity of our continent. They want to collect and spread the faces and voices of people from different social, cultural and national backgrounds.

The first edition of Faces of Europe, running from January until June 2016, was already a success. In the first edition, the team consisted of 16 committed reporters from seven different nationalities. As a result of their works, they published more than 100 stories of many Europeans on Facebook, collected more than 2,500 likes and many messages of support and positive feedbacks from readers. The second edition is currently ongoing.

Summer University, one of the most successful, if not the most successful, project of AEGEE, has proven its value to all of us through the years. The Summer University is an event that takes place in the summer between two to four weeks. Usually, 20 to 50 participants are hosted in different parts of Europe, and they have the chance to learn by travelling, meeting new people, integrating with the culture of their hosting country and as a result they broaden horizons.
Specifically, in 2016 it gave the opportunity to over 4000 Europeans to see different parts of the continent, meet other youngsters and learn new skills and abilities together. Since 1988 more than 100,000 people participated in Summer Universities, which took place in over 260 cities in more than 40 European countries, making it the biggest volunteer-based mobility project in Europe.

In 2013, Europe On Track, another project, which was inspired by the current president of AEGEE-Europe, Reka Salamon, was awarded with the Charlemagne Youth Prize.

This month, from the 22^nd to the 24^th of May, the Charlemagne Youth Prize Winners’ ceremony will be held in Aachen. AEGEE will participate with these two nominations that were received from Romania and Slovakia. Due to the fact that AEGEE has already been a laureate in the past, apart from the winner projects, the CD also received some invitations. So our association will have represantitives who will attend several events, including the Youth Prize Award Ceremony, which always takes place two days before the Ascension Day, the day on which the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is awarded.

Written by Vasiliki Andrioti, AEGEE-Ioannina

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne_Prize

https://www.projects.aegee.org/suct/su2017/cyp2017.php

http://www.zeus.aegee.org/portal/

Summer Universities… it all began in 1988 when AEGEE had the intention to promote the European integration. The project promotes cultural exchange, exploring the diversity of cultures in Europe, fighting for tolerance and guiding you in order to become an open-minded citizen.

Every year, more than 2000 young Europeans take part in Summer Universities from all over Europe, organised by more than 100 antennas. The project can be different in each antenna: It can be Summer Course, Summer Course Plus or Travelling Summer University. Summer Course is where the youngsters have about 14 hours of courses per week about specific topics like language, environment, politics. Summer Course Plus is pretty much the same as Summer Course, the only thing that changes is the hours of received courses, and for this one is about 20 hours per week. Travelling Summer University is the one that attracts a lot of young Europeans. It is more like a cultural trip to at least four different parts of Europe and it combines different cultures from the places visited with courses.

The project itself is one of the best ways to promote multiculturalism in Europe. Every year, hundreds of young people join AEGEE just because of Summer University. They enjoy the idea of spending two or more weeks somewhere they have never been before, with people they will meet for the first time, coming from different cultures, with different perspectives and new ideas.

This year, in 2017, the Summer University project is celebrating 29 years of thousands and thousands of happy people, great friendships, awesome memories and unforgettable summers. Every year, before all the work begins in organising this amazing project, main coordinators and people who want to get involved in organising this event are taking part in Summer University Projects Schools. This is an event to learn how to be the best SU organiser. This year not one, but five SUPS are being held around the Network. They already took place in Berlin, Las Palmas, Voronezh, Tartu and the last one will take place in Skopje between 23rd and 26th of March.

The people that are working for this project in order to make it great are the members of the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT): Project Manager & Treasurer – Lucia Gavulová (AEGEE-Bratislava), Content Manager – Claudio Gennaro (AEGEE-Agrigento), Public Relations – Ralitsa Mihaylova (AEGEE-Berlin), IT Responsible – Philipp Blum (AEGEE-Aachen) and the appointed CD member – Joanna Pankowska (AEGEE-Warszawa).

This year, 5 smaller SUPS were organised, and the SUCT told us that it was a risk they took “because we saw the decrease in the number of participants, high price, lots of time needed to be taken from daily schedule. Therefore, we made 5 SUPS all over the Network so that people could be flexible with travelling. It is also cheaper and in general more reachable. We have trained 75 future organisers and there is still one more SUPS to go, so we believe the impact is pretty big. With each participant that brings at least a tiny bit of knowledge back to its organisers’ team or decides to become a valuable helper, we have fulfilled our goals.” As for feedback, they said they got a really amazing response and “that is all thanks to amazing teams of trainers and local organisers who made it possible”.

This year you will have 65 chances to discover the AEGEE Spirit, to make new friends, to have an amazing summer and the time of your life! You can choose any of 23 Travelling Summer Universities from Castelló to Moscow, and 29 Summer Courses from Las Palmas to Samara and Tartu to Mağusa, in addition to three Summer Courses+. Check them here and choose your destination!

Even if there is a decrease in the number of SUs, it is not seen as a problem “since the number of organising locals is not significantly decreasing and since we still have more applicants than places available. This should change. Otherwise, the SU Project would face difficult times. The reasons behind this can be compared to almost all activities in AEGEE – less active members willing to organise, missing knowledge transfer and also the unstable political situation in some parts of Europe is not making things easier”.

Next year, the Summer University Project will celebrate its 30th birthday. There is already a team who is working for it and is going to prepare a programme for the next year. Lucia Gavulová told us that “we are starting very slowly, getting to know each other, observing what we want and what our ideas are. The SUCT and the CD had a live meeting to find the balance between our plans and to set up some initial timeline. We have to admit that at the moment this project team is not the most active in AEGEE and we would still welcome some help, so if you are interested, let us know”.

You can read more about the SUPS in the article written by Golden Times here.

You can find the Summer University on Facebook here.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

I’ll never forget the view of the port of Vigo outside the train’s window. It was simply beautiful with the sea, the morning light. I had just woken up in that instant to this palette of amazing colours. But my story began before that moment, more or less one month before… [This article is sponsored by Interrail]

When AEGEE gave me this amazing opportunity to travel with an Interrail ticket, I was so excited for this great experience. After ten months working hard on the Summer University Project I had the possibility to see its the local management with my own eyes.

My Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) trip was taking shape slowly, mostly thanks to Interrail.

At the start of my trip, the procedure was not so clear in my head, even after the arrival of the Interrail ticket. Do I need reservations, which trains should I take, by which train companies, will it all be possible, or impossible?!

I felt so stupid and, because I’m not so good at making decisions, I chose my trip very late. I made my reservations on time, but too late for them to be shipped. There was however the possibility to write down the address of some hostel and have them sent there, so I decided to put down the address of the hostel in Madrid, the city where my Interrail trip would begin.

With one fewer task and with one additional concern, I said “Goodbye Italy” and flew to Spain.

When I arrived in Madrid, it was great to understand that the procedure to buy a ticket was not difficult. I bought my ticket to Alicante in two minutes; I was so happy that day!

But after two days in Madrid, I was becoming anxious and nervous because my reservations had not arrived on time at the hostel, so the only solution was to call the mailing company for an explanation of what went wrong.

The final answer was: the tickets were somewhere near the airport of Madrid, and with the help of a Spanish friend we went to pick them up. The problem turned out to be a case of “Destinatario desconocido”, or ‘unknown recipient’. Today, I still wonder why this was such a problem, but, in the meantime my mission was accomplished, and I could finally start my Interrail trip!

Another fantastic discovery was that with Interrail tickets many doors open.

The partner company of Interrail in Spain is Renfe, and for certain trains you do not have to pay for tickets: I cannot deny that I felt privileged a couple of times.

After Madrid, my second ‘Spanish step’ was Alicante. I have been in Spain more than once before, but I really did not know how trains and train stations are organised: passport controls before reaching the train etc. Yep, I am Italian and, for me such great organisation was wonderful. In Italy, it is a mess and I usually am ready for the worst, like waiting an hour-and-a-half for a simple regional train. I slept three comfortable hours on the train and before I knew it I reached hot and sunny Alicante.

I spent three amazing days in Alicante with beautiful people and the organisers of a great event. I have really good memories of my stay there, plus a bracelet! Yep, a bracelet! Because, more or less at the beginning of this amazing SUCT trip, I decided to buy a bracelet in every place I would visit. This way I would have an unusual souvenir at the end of my adventure.

And agan I was at the train station in Alicante.  Another train, another group to meet. Destination: Valladolid.

I went there some years ago, but this time, I found a great city, full of amazing buildings and new people to know. But my most memorable event from this part of my trip was when I arrived at the train station in Valladolid and I needed to take the next train to Vigo. It was during the night. I was a bit scared, alone, and not in my native country. I spent some hours at an empty station, until the train arrived.

Near my seat there was a woman of about fifty years old and, in front of me, an old man. The woman started to talk to me about the train timetable, delays, a new connection, and, only at the end of the conversation, she understood that I was not Spanish. I was so proud of the Spanish I knew and that I managed to make a good impression on her! When I said that my destination was Porto, instead of Vigo, she told the old man that I would help him to find his train. The man started to talk in a strange language: a mix of Catalan, Portuguese, Spanish and French… I really didn’t understand him! The woman confessed to me that it was also hard for her to understand his strange language, which struck me as funny. In the beginning, I was so scared to travel during the night alone, and in the end I felt very comfortable there and I fell asleep.

I woke up in Vigo. The train to Porto would leave in ten minutes, and I needed a ticket. I told the man and his family to hurry up and I ran to the ticket office. In one minute, I had my ticket and, some instants later, I was on the train with the man, his strange language, and his family.

The sun was rising over the port of Vigo, and that image will be forever in my eyes.

I am currently in my room, remembering this amazing adventure, which, to me, was momentous. I grew up during this experience. Travelling is seriously the best way to improve yourself, to face your fears and concerns. “No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow” (Lin Yutang).

This is a three part article; for part one, click here, and, for part two, click here.

Written by Carolina Alfano, Summer University Coordination Team

Travelling is indeed the best way to get to know the world. Sounds like a simple truth which millions of people have said before myself. “It is not about the destination – it is about the journey” – they said. Read all about my adventure in this article, sponsored by Interrail.

I have always shared this statement, that it is all about the journey, though this year it came back to me every time I was amazed by the spectacular Balkan nature or shook the hand of a new friendly person I met in the aisle.

Travelling is indeed the best way to be convinced that the world is full of great open-minded and kind people, and that you are one of them. I could easily recognise them by the Interrail 2016 ribbon on their wrists. For instance, when I tried to understand what was wrong with the train timetable, standing completely alone at Niš train station, I spotted an English woman also heading to Greece with her Interrail adventure. Or when I suddenly helped some Danish girls to create their next route. Or when a group of Spanish students shared their internet with me, seeing me totally lost in Athens, while they were heading to Thessaloniki, the place where I had just come from.

Travelling is indeed the best way to get to know yourself. To become a real global citizen and to check the whole of Europe, refusing the opinion that Ukrainians often face obstacles with this. To understand your desires and life goals, to feel comfortable even somewhere not comfortable by definition. To get to know you limits. Or to get used to the fact that you do not have limits at all.

Travelling is indeed the best way to plunge into a different reality. Or to accept that travelling is the reality and prepares more and more pleasant surprises for you.

Travelling is basically the best way of life.

This time I am happy to make dozens of new outstanding friends, captured more unforgettable memories and thrilling adventures. Thank you to AEGEE and Interrail for making everything possible.

This is a three part article; for part one, click here, and, for part three, click here.

Written by Yevgeniya Gagarkina, Summer University Coordination Team

Do you remember that feeling, from when you were a kid, and you were looking forward to something so much? Well, that was me, waiting for my Interrail ticket to appear in my mailbox and to start my summer adventure. Article sponsored by Interrail.

My name is Lucia and I am member of a youth organisation called AEGEE, which is a proud partner of Interrail. One of our projects is the Summer University (SU), a youth exchange, full of cultural activities and non-formal education happening throughout different cities in Europe. As its project manager, I spent my summer travelling around and checking up on its quality and meeting new people.

My trip with Interrail started in Belgrade, where I arrived from Cyprus after checking up on my first Summer University there. Directly after meeting thirty new people and spending some time on sunny beaches I arrived to hot Belgrade and met another forty people. We saw Belgrade, played many ice-breaking games and went to enjoy the nightlife, but since my trip was tightly scheduled, I already had to take a train and move on to Novi Sad the day after.

Novi Sad is another nice city in Serbia, where I met forty new people, participated in new sessions and trainings and visited another city to put on my travel map. After moving back to Belgrade, I took a night train towards Ljubljana. To my surprise, a conductor placed two other young girls from Norway with me in my coupé and we spend these ten hours together. They told me stories from their travels and I advised them on what to see in Slovenia.

Unfortunately, sometime during the night, while I was heavily sleeping on the train, somebody stole my money from my wallet and almost caused me a heart attack when I could not find my backpack during the passport control at the Croatian border. Not a nice experience, but a learning one for me to always put my valuable things into my sleeping bag, mainly when crossing non-EU borders.  In Ljubljana, we visited the amazingly beautiful lake Bled, which I definitely recommend to everybody to see at least once.

My last Summer University to visit was happening in charming Udine, in Italy. On the way the I met with two Swiss girls – also Interrailers – visiting the same cities as me! I again gave them some tips on where to go, as they were on their way to visit also Bratislava, my home city. I had to change train in Villach, a small Austrian city and I was simply amazed by its beauty and relaxed atmosphere. Udine was really beautiful and charming and I met another forty young people, I definitely recommend visiting it!

After some rest at home, I used Interrail to also visit many beautiful cities in Germany, which is a huge country offering many travel possibilities and great train connections. I visited many cities in Saarland, on the border with France, and the French influence was really visible. Moreover, I also visited the centre of Germany, Kassel, and also Berlin of course.

For my last trip, I went to Prague, my most beloved city, where I met an incredible number of Interrailers, mainly on the free city tours and on the trains around. I talked to many of them and all of them praise the advantage of traveling with Interrail – being flexible and free.

To sum up, my summer simply was the Summer of My Life, thanks to Interrail and AEGEE!

This is a three part article; for part two, click here, and, for part three, click here.

Written by Lucia Gavulová, Summer University Coordination Team

Summer is appoaching and in only few days applications for Summer Universities will close. Writing a motivation letter is always very tiring and sometimes you don’t know what to write, maybe that’s why we keep on putting it off? Therefore here is a guide to help you write a winning motivation letter.  You have already chosen your dream destination for the Summer University of your life. You have successfully logged in (extremely important step) with working username and password from the Intranet. So what to do next?

• Create an IDEA for your motivation letter, which should reflect how passionate your are to participate in this particular SU and not any other. It can be some imaginary story, some personal facts which lead you to this SU, your real experience, a fairytale or an interview. We don’t put limits to your creativity. Be sincere and work on it.

• Why exactly do you want to participate in this Summer University? Is it because you adore W.I.N.E. or just because Dublin has always been on the top of your travel list as you want to find Leprechauns? Maybe you have always been dreaming to be a part of cycling lifestyle, therefore you just NEED to participate in Burgundian Bicycles Vol. III SU? Your Grandma comes from Transnistria and your goal is to go back to your roots? Or you just simply don’t think that a trip to Lake Baikal will be complete without crazy AEGEEans? The key to a successful motivation letter is to explain your real motivation, connected to the topic of the SU (not just “I want to lie on Sicilian beaches”). It may sound too obvious, but that’s the way it is. Decide on the concept of your motivation letter and the best way to express it.

• Be sure your motivation follows a structure. Good news – it is up to you to decide what this structure should look like. However, it is always nice to greet the one who reads your text, to introduce yourself in terms of the topic of the SU, to divide your text into separate paragraphs, connect them with the linking words, to tell some nice stories from your life etc, and to say goodbye in the end. You can establish quite formal structure or to speak to your organisers like to your friends or relatives, if your writing style allows it.

• C for creativity. What about some additions? We believe that every person in the world is really talented. This is a platform to express your talents! You may sing a song, especially if you wrote it for the SU, draw a nice picture connected to the topic, make a photo collage, write a poem, make a video, do infographics, a PowerPoint presentation, a website with funny facts, whatever. Note: adding these things does not guarantee that you will be automatically accepted. Therefore you really should watch the quality of what you send, filter your ideas and follow one concept. For instance, don’t send just an introductory selfie-video: most probably, it won’t be that original for you to be accepted.

• Be concise and try to keep your letter short! Not everyone enjoys reading novels or long films as motivation letters. Time may be the most valuable resource in the world, so be respectful about it – don’t put the same ideas twice and use only those that are worth it.

• If you think your English is not that good… Don’t think so. Most of the participants are not native speakers, therefore, nobody will blame you if you wrote something wrong. However, for better impression you should proofread your text and correct some typos or mistakes. And practice English before the SU! 

• Fun is always a good idea. We all are young generation of amazing Europeans who really value good sense of humour, which is suitable for this informal style of writing.If you include some jokes or funny facts, it will be easier for you to attract people. Take it in consideration especially when you answer the three questions from organisers in the end. But please remember that you shouldn’t include jokes that are too radical or too personal.

• Read your motivation letter once again when you are finished. Not just to check the mistakes, but to answer the question: if you were an organiser, would you accept yourself as participant? If your objective answer is “yes”, then your chances are very high.

Good luck with your applications and enjoy the #summerofyourlife! We hope everyone manages to get a place in the Summer University of their dreams.

Written by Yevgeniya Gagarkina, Summer University Coordination Team

In Autumn Agora Cagliari, the new Summer University Coordination Team was elected. Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Thessaloniki) is the new Project Manager, Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, is the Comité Directeur appointed member, Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva) is the publication responsible, Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir) is the PR responsible and Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio) is the IT responsible. From the 3rd to the 5th of December, they met in Budapest in order to draft the new SUCT outline. Here you can find some of the new ideas they had. 

As this year will be the year of the unusual, SUCT did an unuSUal meeting, which (unlike the others that were hosted in the CD house in Brussels) took place in Budapest – in the center of Europe, city of ravishing bridges and lights. It’s members were running from one event to another and two of them (Georgia and Ksenia) arrived from the PRES in Poznan. The remaining three members (Antonis, Suzan and Ioana)  were getting ready for the Network Meeting in the city. An apartment became the SUCT home and they did not leave it for two whole days in order to prepare for the most unforgettable SUmmer experience for all AEGEEans.

Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Tessaloniki), Project Manager

Georgia Grolliou, the project manager, was the last one to arrive and, since it was her birthday just a couple of days before, they threw her a proper SUrprise birthday party. After a nice traditional Spanish dinner and late night talks they drank their milk and went to bed early. The next day started with a famous AEGEE wake-up call by Financial Director and many times SU Coordinator, Ioana Duca yelling “AEGEE Peeople Come oon Noww Leets Goo Pleeassee Come ooon noww!! You are late agaiiinnn!!!!” And the day started with a beautiful breakfast.

Brace yourselves, a new Theme is coming: GREEN SU

Thousands of AEGEEans, from all around Europe, going somewhere in Europe and gathering for 15 days… spending and wasting is unfortunately inevitable. The thing is, how can we minimize this and turn the tables to our favor? By being more sustainable, using green materials and of course raising awareness through workshops and applied activities. You can either choose GREEN SU as your main theme or combine it with another theme, such as Sports + Green or Culture + Green. And yes, it will be a PLUS for you. The Greener your SU becomes, the higher your ranking will be in the evaluation. Everybody will be Green, High and Happy.

Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio), IT responsible

Ready to be a Super Mario

Not only being GREEN, but also other things can give you extra points. SUCT is being very generous and we want to give you a lot of extra points and smiles. More thematic workshops, enriched content, more compulsory sessions (other than the two obligatory ones), and of course our milestone Action Agenda and implementing it to your SUs rewards you with more points. Throughout the year SUCT will be in cooperation with ACT and together we will do our best to ensure the effective implementation of our Action agenda in the SUs. In order to do so, ACT will prepare guidelines for the organizers, including tips, suggestions, workshops and activities to teach people about the Focus Areas and make them ACTive on them…

Last but not least, one of the crucial issues that AEGEEans, the voice of Europe, have to focus on is Disabled Members. We should improve and adjust our activities according to the needs of our members. The SUs which are available for disabled members will be awarded with extra points as well. So get prepare to run around and collect mushrooms (your extra points) while doing amazing things for your participants.

Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir), PR responsible

Don’t Compete – Be Creative!

Since the idea of giving many many points was well received within the team, another idea was quicly raised: why not give a real award to the ones who deserve it? This year’s extra awards will be for the following categories:

– The GREENest SU

– The Best Interactive Activity

– The Best SU T-shirt Design

So get ready to release the creative thoughts in your mind and pour them into your SUmmer!

Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva), publication responsible

Our Best Companies, Outgoing Responsibles

Their responsibility is of crucial importance, as they are the ones keeping the project alive with their interactive communication with members, attractive presentations about the project and personal charm to motivate members to participate in a SU. The information they will give to the members is highly important, so as not to deviate from the aim of the project. Creating realistic and appropriate expectations in the members’ minds, explaining the real purpose of the project and what is expected from them during an SU are among the essential duties of Outgoing Responsibles.

Having follow up sessions is something the SUCT highly expect from Outgoing Responsibles this year. After the SU period ends and everybody returns to their antennae safe and sound, with lots of unforgettable memories, the Outgoing Responsible should catch those happy thoughts and turn them into productive ideas. OR should meet with the participants so they can share the experience, discuss pros and cons and also to ask how they would like to continue their AEGEE life. As most of the SU participants can tell you, after the project, they came closer to the association and were part of great projects.

Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, Comité Directeur appointed member

 Have you ever participated in a SU? Have you ever wondered about the magic of SU? Do you want to know about SU stories of notable AEGEE people?

A new database is coming! Including more than 100 old/new members of AEGEE who have participated in the SU project which changed their lives and owe all the great work they’ve done for this association to that great SUmmer. Be ready to discover the secrets of SUccessful members and share their experience.

As you read on, these are the core topics of the upcoming year. Is it all? Of course not. New merchandising, guidelines for organizers, helpful workshop ideas, lots of support and fun is waiting for you along the way to the SUmmer 2015. Don’t forget that we are AEGEE, and we never walk alone!

Written by Summer University Coordination Team

The 23rd of April is approaching, which means that the chances to apply for a Summer University are getting smaller. This year there are 81 SUs, organised by 115 locals with a total of 2286 free spots all around Europe. As this article is being written, the favourite SUs will take place in Greece, Italy and Germany, but the situation is changing every day. The AEGEEan had a pleasant talk with Francesca Russo (AEGEE-Padova), project manager of the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT).

The AEGEEan: Notoriously AEGEEans are not early birds and they often wait for the very last minute to submit their applications. How would you encourage them to apply on time?

FRANCESCA: Future participants need to understand we are speaking about 4000 applications per year and there are limited places, even if we count open calls. Plus, a lot of people apply at the very last minute, so the risk of having technical problems is quite high. Do you really want to lose the opportunity to spend the most amazing summer of your life? As you know, the system uses an algorithm to place you in case you have given up two or more choices. This means that the sooner you apply, the more chances you have to be placed in your “favourite choice”. And after all you can always edit your application untill the 23rd of april.

The AEGEEan: In the past, sometimes it happened that locals didn’t have enough participants and were forced to cancel the Summer University and with that all the work of months. Is there any way to avoid this blight?

FRANCESCA: It’s pretty unlikely that such things happened and thanks to the Open Call participants are redistributed. To increase the number of applicants, I suggest a good promotion campaign using a Facebook page, videos, recent updates and shares. Plus often it is decided to delete an event due to financial problems or HR rather than by the number of participants. Sometimes the problem is the costs of transportation to the destination. If you can manage with a good FR campaign, you can try to encourage the participants to contribute with a certain percentage to the journey.

The AEGEEan: Last year, the former SUCT chose a map over the booklet. What about this year?

FRANCESCA: This year we have maps, too. Maps have all the destinations and all the information about AEGEE explained in a clear and catchy way. They are an excellent way to promote the association and recruit new members. Most of them were given in the EBM and, for those who requested, were delivered by mail. If you need more, you can always go to our website and download maps and flyers.

The AEGEEan: Everybody can see the restyling done to the website. What did you change?

FRANCESCA: The core of the website is the same, but Andrea Nostro from AEGEE-Reggio Calabria made it faster and more dynamic. New functions were released and now you can see it on tablet and smartphones. All the graphics follow the new visual identity.

The AEGEEan: One of the major points was the Summer Universities available to disabled people. How many locals adopted this philosophy?

FRANCESCA: So far we have eight who will host people with different types of disabilities. Moreover, everyone can apply for all the SUs. If the applicant is disabled, the organisers will be notified and they will decide if they are able to handle the disability.

The AEGEEan: Did you change the application procedure? If yes, why?

FRANCESCA: Not so much. Actually we have only one major change: it won’t be possible to see the name of the applicant untill their approval. We are trying this system to invite organisers to focus more on motivation letters, and not on the facebook profile of participants.

The AEGEEan: Right now you, the SUCT members and Kathrin Renner (appointed CD member) have been working together for six months already. What do you think is the key factor of this cooperation between SUCT members?

FRANCESCA: The passion for AEGEE that we share. We are very motivated and active on a local level, so we devote all our time to have brilliant SUs. We are all very competent in our field of action and we instantly understand each other.

The AEGEEan: Anything to add?

FRANCESCA: We are working for you and for the best-known project in AEGEE: the Summer University. If you have doubts, problems or suggestions do not hesitate to write us at suct@aegee.org

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia