AEGEE-Warszawa has been elected as ACTive Local of the month because of the activities that they organized for the European Day of Languages and the Week of Global Education, and also as recognition for their more than famous Christmas postcrossing. We talked with Mariana Gasparska and Vladyslav Obushko, two members of the Polish local, to know more about the activities they carried out.

Which emotions did you have when you know that AEGEE-Warszawa was chosen as ACTive local of November?
Marianna Gasparska: We were very surprised, but also excited. For us the thematic events related to Focus Areas and fulfill the objectives of Action Agenda are very important and valuable. We strongly believe in that and by organizing such activities like Global Education Workshop,  European Day of Languages and Christmas Postcrossing we can help in fulfilling the Action Agenda and contribute to the mission and vision of AEGEE. We are also delighted  to hear that our work has been recognised and we can share with the network more info about our initiatives.

Why did you decide to organise these activities?
Marianna Gasparska: For the 7th time in a row we decided to involved AEGEE members in our Christmas Postcrossing initiative. People from all over Europe made friendships through sending each other postcards and little gifts. We wanted to prove that distances and borders don’t matter and we can spread easily the multicultural christmas joy. Through Global Education Workshop we wanted to educate our members on the importance of using natural resources and how to use mobile phones in a smart way. Lastly, we decided to organise the European Day of Languages event, because we think, that sharing information about the culture and language of a foreign country is very important and can ease the understanding of other people.

Vladyslav Obushko: On this regard, I love to share information about my country, and this event helped Polish people to understand better their neighbour – Ukraine.

What was the result of your activity? (I.e.: how many people participated, what were the opinions about it, etc.)
Marianna Gasparska: Around 20 people participated in the Global Education Workshop. They actively took part in the discussion on how can we decrease our negative influence on the environment. Christmas Postcrossing is very popular among all AEGEE members. This year over 900 people took part in it, so it means that 900 participants have made new friends around Europe, what is another step in building united Europe. 20 participant took part in the European Day of Languages event and they really loved it, because they could learn more about Ukraine and had a possibility to try some Ukrainian sweets, which were delicious.

Vladyslav Obushko: This event broke some myths about Ukraine people  and culture. It also brought basic information about living and environment in Ukraine.

How do you inform your members of the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?
Marianna Gasparska: In every LTC we organise a workshop about AEGEE where our members learn about the structure of the organisation and its aims. Participants are also informed about Focus Areas, Action Agenda and Strategic Plan brainstorming on possible projects that can contribute to the mission of AEGEE. Before every Agora we organiase a meeting for our members too, where they can learn about it and be more prepared for the statutory event.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan plan?
Marianna Gasparska: Our antenna also organised workshops about Excel and contracts on employment, which are connected to Youth Development. In March, AEGEE-Warszawa and European Citizenship Working Group organised the conference Citizenship at its Grassroots about the state of democracy in Europe. Another activity related to the Action Agenda was the Mini European School on self development as an Agora Kraków pre-event.

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?
Marianna Gasparska: Activities related to the Action Agenda/ Strategic Plan are very important for AEGEE’s values. If every local organises an event, which is connected with Action Agenda/Strategic Plan, AEGEE could have even a bigger impact on the European Environment and fighting against the anti EU-movements, which are gaining some strength.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?
Marianna Gasparska: Organising local thematic activities is a great way to develop members’ leadership skills and contribute to the AEGEE’s vision. If a local wants to organise a thematic activity, it should gather people who are interested in this specific area. The Board should also support them by giving some guidelines.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? (Founded in, members, active members, committees you have, etc.)
Marianna Gasparska: AEGEE-Warszawa was founded in 1992. We have around 60 members and 20 active ones, regularly involved in local activities. We have also a few members being part of European Bodies, that help us even more to stay connected with AEGEE-Europe.

When it comes to the way we organise our work. Members are divided into project groups responsible for specific events. They usually meet every second Tuesday during Projects’ Meeting. We have bigger events plan in advance but we also welcome new initiatives coming from our members that can make them happen with the support of other members.

Written by Cristina de la Parte, Action Agenda Coordination Committee

Last October, AEGEE Salerno organised an Erasmus+ project that contributed to the Focus Areas of Civic Education and European Citizenship. As recognition for such a wonderful project, they have been elected as ACTive Local of October. We talked to Sonia Della Sala, HR responsible of AEGEE-Salerno and co-coordinator of the project named “Erasmus nei Picentini”. She was the co-coordinator because the project was idealised, finalised, and delivered by Coordinamento Provinciale dei Forum dei Giovani di Salerno and AEGEE-Salerno.

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Salerno was chosen as ACTive local of October?

Sonia: Well, happy will be too reductive! I remember we were at our AEGEE-Salerno office at Università degli Studi di Salerno when we read the communication. Our first reaction was silence, then the President moved his eyes from the computer screen and looked at us with a big pirate smile on his Jack Sparrow’s face and we hugged each other. For sure we felt proud of our hard work, sleepless nights and early wakings.

Why did you decide to organise this activity?

There was more than one motivation to be honest. I will try to be as brief as possible, promised! After we signed our agreement on mutual cooperation with Coordinamento Provinciale dei Forum dei Giovani di Salerno during our Summer University “Non Solo Sole -XXIX Edition- InSpiring eUrope” we decided to start official cooperation with “Erasmus nei Picentini”. It took place right after “Erasmus Welcome Days” (that AEGEE-Salerno organises twice a year to welcome incoming Erasmus and International students). We wanted to introduce our local European history and international visions to foreign students with AEGEE flavor. Ideas came during long talks between Forum Giovani and AEGEE-Salerno. I was content manager of our Summer University and a member of CEWG and together with Francesco Barbarito, who is Coordinamento Provinciale Forum Giovani di Salerno External Relations Responsible and AEGEE-Salerno member, “Erasmus nei Picentini” happened!

The idea was to combine history, science, arts and beauty with AEGEE’s Civic Education and European Citizenship Focus Areas. Three cities of the province of Salerno were selected for this project to come true, each one of them selected for a specific reason. Montecorvino Rovella -known as “Science City” because it hosts the astronomical observatory dedicated to the famous local astronomer Gian Camillo Gloriosi, which in 1989, for the 20th anniversary of the Moon landing, held an international initiative where among the guests there were Micheal Collins (Apollo11), astronauts Cristiano Cosmovici and Patrick Baudry, and cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko. The observatory received numerous awards from famous national and international bodies for its research (especially on the extragalactic supernovae and the photometry of the minor bodies of the solar system). Now the Technological and Environmental Multimedia Centre European Planetarium San Pietro is under construction. San Cipriano Picentino because it had the privilege to host Benedetto Croce who was one the founders of “Liberal Italian Party”, which is the founder party of the world federation of liberal and progressive democratic political parties “Liberal International” and party member of the “European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party”, now known as “Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe”. Giffoni Valle Piana because it is the venue of the “Giffoni Film Festival”, now known as “Giffoni Experience”, which aims at promoting the knowledge and circulation of products of high artistic value which contribute to the formation and cultural growth of a mature critical conscience in young people.

Throughout this project, our main goal was to sow intercultural learning among foreign students on the importance of active citizenship, so to foster a stronger European culture.

Participants spent one full day at each venue and had workshops, conferences, debates and city tours. Pretty cool, huh? I bet you are thinking to apply next year…

What was the result of your activity?

When we opened the Open Calls for Erasmus students in Salerno the response was surprising. We reached more than 60 applications. Only 50 have been selected based on motivations given. The feedbacks we received were positive. Both AEGEE-Salerno members, international students and Forum Giovani were participative to workshops.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Usually, we inform members about the Action Agenda on several occasions: during general members meetings, for instance, when the board presents the activities planned for the upcoming month. We also have a Whatsapp and Facebook group in which we spam OCs for EBs, Task Forces, AEGEE-Europe Projects and so on with a general introduction on the topic. During LTCs and Agorae Preparation, we go into more detail on the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda. Anyways, every members meeting is a good occasion to recap on AEGEE’s mission and vision. Too much info is hard to store all at once!

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Of course we do!! Action Months are approaching fast and we are looking forward to it. We have already planned February according to the guidelines YDWG sent. In March we are going to focus on our Internal Project “Civica Civitas”, while in April we are going to host the prestigious conference for the Franck Biancheri Award. Stay tuned because you are going to hear about it soon!!!

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Personally, as Vice-speaker of the Human Resources Committee of AEGEE-Europe, I would say that organising activities related to Action Agenda/Strategic Plan could be a good recruiting strategy. It is the best way to show to externals what AEGEE really is and does. The impact that it can have on youngsters. The purest motivation to join AEGEE comes with participation, without having to explain what AEGEE is and does in a few minutes -because it will still look ridiculously impossible after a few hours!!

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

Quite a few, actually. Planning beforehand is definitely one. Download and store guidelines is for sure a start, especially if you will eventually read them. Co-operation with a close or twinn antenna is another tip. Keep a constant eye on OCs, especially on projects and try possible combinations. I do not feel to go much into details because every local has separate needs, but for sure thematic activities could come in handy to solve attendances at events, as in make sure to organise a thematic activity as part of a general local assembly (or members meetings to sound less Dutch).

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Salerno was founded in 1989 by Fabrizio Moscati. As soon as AEGEE-Salerno was founded, in the same year we hosted “Autumn Agora Salerno 1989” and “Non Solo Sole – Summer University”. In 2003 we have been awarded “Best Summer University” and this year we are going to host our 30th edition of “Non Solo Sole – The Show mUst go on”, so stay tuned! Currently, we count 50 members of which 20 are active (but 10 are super active-productive). Our board is composed by six members, two of which are active on the European level: Federico Melella, AEGEE-Salerno IT responsible, and IT team of Europe on Track 5; and Sonia Della Sala, former vice-President and AEGEE-Salerno HR responsible, also vice-speaker of Human Resources Committee of AEGEE-Europe, member of Civic Education Working Group and Migration Interest Group of AEGEE-Europe, as well as sub-commissioner of Francesca Zorcolo for the Rainbow Locals. We do not have any committees, we prefer working groups. According to the specific needs we create a WG. One that has been going on for a while now is the “Translations Working Group” which has worked on the translation of the Statute of AEGEE-Salerno (currently under approval of the JC) and on the translation of events descriptions in different languages. We also have WGs according to the European events we host, at the moment we have FBA WG and SU WG.

Written by Cristina de la Parte, Action Agenda Coordination Committee

AEGEE Sofia has been chosen as ACTive Local of the Month, because during August they organised an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange, and a SU that matters in collaboration with the Civic Education Working Group. We interviewed Elitsa Hadzhieva, president of AEGEE Sofia to know more about those wonderful activities and the local.

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Sofia was chosen as ACTive local of August?

Elitsa: Total and complete joy! It was a very hard working month for our very small and compact team, so you can only imagine how surprised we were that everything went very good with our events and we even got recognised for it. [she smiles, ed.]

Why did you decide to organise this activity?

We wanted to organise our own Erasmus+ exchange for some time and basically driven by the motivation of one of our members – Ivaylo Bogomilov, we decided to try with the deadline for project proposals in February and luckily it got approved. It was a project that his previous board wrote two years ago but then it was put on the waiting list and we improved it a little bit and applied again. About the Summer University, I have to say that we were very hooked up by the idea of making a SU that matters and from the start when we saw the booklets from SUCT about possible cooperations with some of the AEGEE bodies, we started thinking about doing something more special this summer. And we chose the topic and contacted the Civic Education Working Group because civic education has been a very hot topic in Bulgaria for the last few years. We as a local in Bulgaria feel that it’s a really important issue and of course we should get involved as much as possible, and also our board was very keen on the idea. After we decided the topic and that we would do it with CEWG we were like “Maybe we should make it a summer course+”. So, we took the challenge. We decide to have a meaningful topic, our SU to be an SC+ and at the same time to be a travelling one. It was a big challenge, but it was worth it.

What was the result of your activity? 

We had 50 participants from eight different countries in our Erasmus+ project, which is a big challenge because there are tons of different bureaucratic things you have to do. The topic was about healthy lifestyle and youth empowerment and I have to say that three months after the project our participants are still sharing their experience, like how they challenge themselves, what kind of events they participate to because they were motivated to do so after our project, etc. During our SU we had 25 participants and we did more than 20 workshops about civic education, active participation, European citizenship, politics and policy-making and about Structured Dialogue, which is my personal favourite, about how young people can get active in policy making on a national and European level. Also, we received feedback from some of our participants that have been active in AEGEE for the past few years, they said most of the workshops had very good content, diverse and different from what they had seen until then and they marked it as something positive.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We mainly use our LTCs as informative mediums, where we are telling our members what it is. We are planning to get better at this in the future.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We will have a project about social inclusion of young people from marginalised groups. And also we have some ideas for organising some training sessions/workshops connected with the four focus areas for students and pupils (that are 17/18 years old).

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

It’s easier to organise an event when you know that you have four focus areas and some guidelines with them that can help you with coming up with an idea that you would like to put into practice. Also, as cheesy as it may sound, it’s always better to have in mind the bigger picture of the whole network when you organise or execute a project.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

People, just make our network great again! Joke aside, if you think that thematic activities are what your antenna or what you members need – do not hesitate to organise something. Also, the feeling of what you have accomplished can motivate your board and your members to do more and more activities not only related to the Action Agenda.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? 

AEGEE-Sofia is not a big local, but it is like a family for most of its members. The antenna was established at the beginning of the 90s. In 1992 the local became part of the Network of AEGEE-Europe and ever since that moment, the number of members varies between 15 and 50 people. This mostly depends on the time of the year. Usually, the peak period in the past when most of the members were extremely active was just before the Summer Universities started. We have around five-six active members. Nevertheless, this year we managed to overcome a lot of challenges and we organised a few big events despite the lack of active people but in that way, we had the chance to work with some of the older members who were active two years ago and were our biggest help this year.

Written by Cristina de la Parte, Action Agenda Coordination Committee

Last May, AEGEE-Lublin organised the Aktywator project (Youth Employment Focus Area) and First Aid training (Civic Education Focus Area). For this reason, they were chosen as an ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke with Martyna Jarosz – Advisory Board, Honorary Member and previous Secretary of AEGEE- Lublin, to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you know that AEGEE-Lublin was chosen as ACTive local of May?

Martyna: Thank you so much for the nomination! We still can’t believe it. We were very excited by knowing that AEGEE- Lublin was chosen for this designation. We’re pleased that our whole effort is noticed. This gives us even more motivation to act.

Why did you decide to organise Aktywator project and First Aid training?

We decided to organise First Aid training for many reasons. Firstly, I always wanted to promote civic education, so I was the originator and the main organiser of the First Aid training, because is there anything more important in the world than human life? However, there may be situations in which it is threatened. We should all acquire practical first aid skills so that, in difficult situations, we can respond quickly and effectively to save lives. That is why we organised a pre-medical First Aid training to make Lublin’s society aware of the importance of stopping and saving someone’s life. Secondly, there are many such training available but little practiced. Our training was practical, practical and much more practical. [she laughs, ed.]

Aktywator project is a training event aimed at young residents of Lublin, whose main idea is motivation for various types of extracurricular activities and self-improvement. We decided to organise Aktywator project because it is already at its 10th edition. This project was held every year for several years, after which it had a three-year break. A year ago, it got another chance and was reinstated. We hope we succeeded! In addition, it is a good opportunity to promote our antenna in the community of Lublin.

What was the result of your activities?

The First Aid workshop was attended by 25 people. We heard only very good opinions in evaluation from the workshop participants. They liked the practical nature of the course, so I think our assumptions have been achieved. People learnt how important is First Aid thanks to this workshop. And most importantly – they can do it!

This year’s edition Aktywator project didn’t have a lot of participants, but the opinions about this project were very interesting and they want to participate in subsequent editions. Trainers received comments that they conducted very professional training. What’s more, we achieve new partners for cooperation, including a bakery, a cinema, a restaurant and a gym.

In the organisers’ opinion both projects were one of the best decisions we made. And from the results we are proud of it!

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Our members have been informed about the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan during main meetings, Local Training Courses and the general meetings just before both Agorae. We constantly encourage all the members to explore all of AEGEE’s communication channels and we inform them about every local activity. Furthermore, we talk about European events and inform new members about AEGEE-Europe.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Recently, we organised a few Action Agenda activities, such as self-presentation workshops, workshops on how to effectively train, First Aid training etc. We love to talk about it during our weekly meetings. We strongly want to encourage everyone in Lublin to participate in Network Meetings, Agorae or European Planning Meetings, where you can learn more about the Action Agenda or Strategic Plan. In addition to this, you can meet amazing people with whom we develop exciting relationships and make an exchange of experiences which help us grow even further. I see that this year our members are even more interested in active activities, they have a lot of innovative ideas. I hope we will surprise you again soon!

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

The Action Agenda and Strategic Plan help us to build a better Europe, because they set out an action plan.  These activities motivate members to actively engage in projects for common success and development. A Strategic Plan shouldn’t be understood as a restriction or an obstacle. We should all use it, since it is a help for us to work effectively. It’s our inspiration for our ideas to be realised. Every action is beneficial, even the smallest, because it will always leave its sign and will be an inspiration to others. In addition, thanks to the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan, we can be described as a stronger local, we have goals and we set the course of action.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

The key is to take action -capital A! Most people do nothing because they are afraid of the problems or challenges that they will face or they are just lazy to do anything. But the way to organise activity is to make one decision. This decision is to ACT! The most important thing is to move on from one place to another without thinking about this as another obstacle to overcome. Then it’s just getting better and better!!!

You should also cooperate according to your plan, which will help you not to get lost during the organisation of a project. We should be open to help others, work with them, listen to ideas, activate and motivate them. This makes work more easier and enjoyable.

Remember! In organising activities, it’s not about being successful but even about getting the satisfaction of what you do, having pleasure and get to know fascinating people. 

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE- Lublin was founded in 1993, so this year we celebrated our 24th birthday. Every week we try to spend time together, both preparing projects and having fun. For us every new member is a new idea. However, every new idea can turn into a fascinating project. We get to know each other better organising such projects, and this creates a great atmosphere between us and generates a lot of positive energy. We learn from each other’s experience and work.

That’s what AEGEE- Lublin is all about.

We currently have about 15 very active members. That doesn’t stop us from doing brilliant things. We create this small Polish Antenna, but we have a lot of passion to work and new ideas to involve. We try to participate to events like Network Meetings and Agorae. The projects that we implement are based on the needs of our members and their ideas. We have a few events which have a continuation. We will not let them die. In May we prepare the Aktywator. This is one more edition of the training project – a few days of practice, workshops and training. Moreover, we want to repeat the First Aid training.

In a small but well-integrated TEAM there is power to work! That’s us!

Characterise your local in one sentence.

We’re the local of inspiration. Just like Lublin has a motto – the city of inspiration. You don’t feel it, unless you come to us.

Written by Elena Efremova, behalf of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee.

Last April, AEGEE-Barcelona organised the Youth Employment Conference. The event was directly connected with the Action Agenda (Youth Employment Focus Area). For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Néstor Saura Torres, president of antenna, to find out more!

Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Barcelona was chosen as ACTive local of April?

We were all amazed about it! Also receiving the news all together during our Summer University has been very special! We are really happy to see that all our effort is being recognised. Thank you!

Why did you decide to organise the Youth Employment Conference?

We decided to organise this conference for many reasons. On one hand, we thought that it would be really interesting for many people, as unemployment here is a big problem now for young Spanish people. On the other hand it was a good opportunity to show all the work that we do in AEGEE, as this topic is part of the Strategic plan 2014-17, and also to strengthen our relation with the university.

Also, it has been a good opportunity to organise something different that we hadn’t done before.

What was the result of the conference?

The reality is that we did not have an extraordinary big amount of attendants, but the general opinion from most of the people who came was that the conference has been really interesting.

Also, we received positive comments about the quality of the speakers. They were representatives of the European Commission, the regional government of Catalonia and the University of Barcelona, and they all offered great speeches explaining the roots of the problem and the solutions proposed by the institutions.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We have some key moments to inform about it during the year: the Local Training Course and in the general meetings just before both Agorae. We constantly encourage all the members to explore all the communication channels and we inform the new joiners personally.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We try to introduce some sessions about the Action Agenda in every event we do. We are really active on this point, as we have organised three events in the last nine months including a Network Meeting! Sometimes we like to discuss about the Focus Areas during our weekly meetings.

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

They should organise as much as possible because the Action Agenda and the Strategic Plan are the reasons why AEGEE exist. We cannot forget that apart from cultural exchange and some other general ideas, we are involved in this organisation for building a better Europe, and we already have those guidelines to do it. Also, organising this kind of activities can motivate their members to become more active and also willing to give a hand in the European level.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

It may seem too obvious, but it’s important to focus on one single topic and not touching softly many. It would make everything easier and the results would also be better.

Another important tip is asking for advice to other people. For example, we received much help from some ACTies as Borja and Juragis, as they are always willing to help motivate members. Also external help is always important: without the support of the university this conference couldn’t have been possible.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Barcelona was founded in 1986, so it’s one of the oldest in all the Network! Last October we celebrated the 30th anniversary with a great party where we were able to meet old members from the last decades, and of course many interesting stories about the ancient AEGEE!

Nowadays we have around 60 members and around 15-20 are active. We try to do at least one activity every week and this last course was highly intensive. Now we are just finishing our Summer University, organised together with our twins from AEGEE-Thessaloniki.

The next steps are getting new active and motivate members and continue having fun with the current ones. Of course we are also thinking about interesting events and activities for the next months! We are willing to meet you all in Barcelona!

Characterise your local in one sentence.

We are unstoppable! That’s our definitive motto since some months ago, when some members from other antennae were trying to make fun of us.

Written by Elena Efremova, on behalf of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee.

Last March, AEGEE-Torino organised Europe Café about Populism. For this reason, they has been chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Roberto, Gulia and Luca to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you know that AEGEE-Torino has been chosen as ACTive local of March?  

Roberto: We were very excited and honored by knowing that our Antenna was chosen for this recognition. We put a steady effort on this activity and I am glad to see that it has been recognized as useful to the objectives our organisation!

Why did you decide to organise that activity?  

Roberto: Actually, this activity as such dates back to some years ago from an idea of Sergio Genovesi. Despite the activity was a little bit neglected, this year, when we had to decide whether to stop it or not, we just gave it another chance and revitalised it because we thought it was worth having also a cultural side in our local!   

What was the result of your activity?

Roberto: We organise the Europe Café on a monthly basis with an average attendance of 15-20 people coming from various parts of Europe (France, Germany, Romania, Poland, to name a few). As mentioned, it is a talk in English open to all those who want to discuss in an international environment. We deal every month with the “hot” topic of the moment: just to give a few examples, we talked about Brexit, the crisis of Schengen, the rise of populist movements,  the impact of terrorism on everyday life. In addition, each time we also have a little focus on the electoral moments in the European countries (General Elections, Referenda, and so on).  We had many good feedbacks: making available a space for relaxed and thoughtful talking gives a real opportunity for free expression to the international (but also Italian) students in our city.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic plan?  

Giulia: We’re keeping them updated about every activity/news regarding the AA or the SP through our social channels, during our weekly meetings and LTCs.  We are also quite lucky because we can boast the presence of three ACTies in our local, Gabriele Scollo was in ACT in 2015/2016, Marco Daniele will finish his term at the end of July when I will start with mine for the next year.   

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?  

Giulia: As Roberto said the Europe Café isn’t a sporadic activity, but is a regular spot that every month changes its topic taking into account news reports and participants’ interests. This means that a new challenge is waiting for us each month and this is the strength of the event: its flexibility and constant innovation. Besides, this year’s experience increased and stimulated the interest of our members about thematic activities, so maybe we have something on our plate for the next year!  You will see!

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?  

Roberto: The Strategic Plan is sometimes read as a sort of top-down set of orders and, even worst, generally organising activities related to the Action Agenda is too often seen as a constraint. We need to change that! We should take the Strategic Plan as an inspiration for our activities and the AA as an instrument which can help us to put into practice our ideas and to measure their impact. We have the chance to make a real and measurable impact on society, no matter how little or big, and it shouldn’t be wasted. This is the reason why we should all organise this kind of activities.   

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?  

Three fast tips!

First: KEEP IT SIMPLE. If you overdo with the organisation, you will probably not be able to carry out all the details and be disappointed. If you start from the little things however, you will have a lot of room for improvement and development. After all, Europe Café is simply a nice talk with some international friends and it works because it is simple.  

Second: INVOLVE PEOPLE. It is really important to have people involved, not only for the impact itself, but because when people are with you, they help you and your job becomes far easier and effective. In Europe Café, the participants are those who make the discussion great for everybody, our job is just to make it work.

Third: YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN YOUR PROJECT. Always think on why you want to organise your activity and make your cause your landmark. Organising something only because you have to is just not worth it.

In any case, feel free to contact us if you want help and tips about how to organise a Europe Café in your local, we will be glad to help you! You can contact us on our Facebook page or send us an email! (aegeetoboard@gmail.com  or  giulia.melis@aegee.org)

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

Giulia: AEGEE-Torino was founded in 1992, so this year we celebrate our 25th birthday. We have a long history behind us and among all moments coming from the past we cannot forget 2004, with the Autumn Agora and one of our members, Nicola Rega, as AEGEE-Europe’s President.  Now AEGEE-Torino can count on around one hundred members, forty of them really active. Since three years we’re working hard with the aim of growing up, starting from the local level and now focusing on the European one.  Our efforts led to two strong and stable local events, the “Europe Cafè” and of course the great “Aperitivo linguistico: USE YOUR TONGUE” that attracts each month almost eight hundred students and Erasmus people. In addition six of us are currently involved in European bodies, committees, commissions, interest and working groups.  

Are we tired? Absolutely not! We still have a lot of new ideas and projects in progress. To be continued…

Characterise your local in one sentence.   

Luca: Organised mess brings great results and happy people!

Written by Elena Efremova behalf of Action Agenda Committee.

Last January, AEGEE-Nijmegen organised a workshop about Sign Language (Civic Education Focus Area). For this reason, they were chosen as ACTive Local of the Month of January. We spoke with Daisy Brugman, President of AEGEE-Nijmegen, to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Nijmegen was chosen as ACTive local of January?

Daisy: We couldn’t believe it actually! We were overwhelmed with joy after re-reading the e-mail. Thank you for the title, it makes us even more determined and enthusiastic to organise more activities!

Why did you decide to organise a workshop about Sign Language?

Every year our committee Formal Activities organises different formal activities varying from language workshops to lectures. After brainstorming they came up with a workshop about sign language. One of the members of that committee was following that subject for her studies, so she contacted her lecturer who gave the sign language workshop.

What was the result of the workshop?

We invited a teacher who gives the course ‘sign language’ at our university. During the workshop he first explained what sign language actually was and how it is in practice. Then we started off with learning some basic signs. In the end we even translated parts from our website! So the members who remember the signs can now promote AEGEE in sign language.

There were around 14 members of AEGEE-Nijmegen attending the workshop. We heard only good things about the workshop from the members and the committee was really content with the results! I think that thanks to this workshop more people realise how different it is for a deaf person to communicate.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We tell our new members about the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan during our introductory period. During every introduction we always have one information evening about AEGEE-Europe! We also inform our members by our newsletter, Facebook page and website as well as by face to face talks.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We organised a few Action Agenda activities this past year. For example we had an improvisation workshop, a first aid workshop and a Dutch course. Our highlight of the year was the Network Meeting in April, which included multiple topics related to the Action Agenda and Strategic plan. I hope we can organise even more activities in the upcoming months!

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Because the Strategic Plan gives locals a goal to aim and the Action Agenda gives locals a path to follow. It makes us stronger as an association if we have the same goals!

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

You should see the guidelines as a help and try to think outside of the box! It always leads to the most interesting and creative activities! Also, don’t forget to organise something that is close to the interest of your members.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? 

AEGEE-Nijmegen was founded in 1986 by Bart Kruitwagen. Every now and then he still drops by at our weekly social drink. Currently we have our 31st board, called ‘Infinito’, running the local. We are very active in and around Nijmegen. Last April we welcomed our 200th member and we have about 50 active members spread over 13 different committees this year, who made it possible to organise a lot of amazing activities varying from members’ weekends to lectures about gender equality. Besides these activities we also organise different trips, exchanges and hitchhiking competitions. This year we already went to Brescia, Dublin, Prague, Cluj-Napoca and Sofia!

Characterise your local in one sentence. 

We go to infinity and beyond, we are limitless!

Written by Elena Efremova, on behalf of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee

Last February, AEGEE-Zaragoza organised “DISCUSSION- Facebook Campaign about Sexual Health Day”, which was directly connected to the Action Agenda (Civic Education Focus Area). For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Celia Riveres, president of the local, to find out more!

ACT: What emotions did you feel when you found out that AEGEE-Zaragoza was chosen as the ACTive local of the month of February?

Celia Riveres, AEGEE-Zaragoza: We did not expect this. So, after the news, the widespread feeling was happiness and pride in ourselves. Moreover, being chosen as ACTive local of February has motivated us to do more activities. To conduct a campaign like this one is really easy and truly helpful.

Why did you decide to organise “DISCUSSION– Facebook Campaign about Sexual Health Day”?

We realised that the 14th of February, far from being just Valentine’s day, is the European Sexual Health Day, which was for us much more important. So in order to promote it, we decided to take pictures with the sentence “Be Sexual, Be Healthy” and post them on Facebook. The aim was to create awareness about “sexual health” not only as a prevention of STD but also as a way to give visibility of the intrinsic meaning of sexual rights that it entails: sexual freedom, integrity, autonomy and safety.

What was the result of your activity?

Our community manager wrote a post on AEGEE-Zaragoza’s Facebook page with the photos that some members took with the sentence. We immediately received the feedback we were expecting, some of our members even posted their photo in their profiles to give their opinions and create debate. Even the ACT congratulated us for the initiative!

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We have a person in charge of the Action Agenda who is always coming up with new ideas and activities related to the Strategic Plan.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Actually, we are planning to do some activities like a first aid class given by some of our members studying for healthcare degrees or activities including debates about gender equality and chauvinism.

In AEGEE-Zaragoza we used to have a Zineforum every Sunday, we watched a film focused on a topic and later discussed it. This kind of activity was quite popular, especially because it made people think and develop different perspectives and arguments around an issue.

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

It can be very useful to show some members a different view of AEGEE  and a new aspect which can help them learn more and get more involved in a deeper way in the association. We strongly think that AEGEE members are active people who are involved in what is happening in the world, with a lot of interests, that can contribute a lot to the purpose of the Strategic Plan.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

We try to show every activity as something funny and enjoyable, apart from the fact of learning something new, in order to encourage the members, especially the new ones.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Zaragoza, founded in 1998 (next year we turn 20 already!), is a very active antenna in the centre of Europe. Nowadays, we are a family of 158 members who meet regularly and enjoy organising both cultural and fun events throughout the year. We have more or less 30 active members at a local level; furthermore, some of them are involved at European level.

Characterise your local in one sentence.

We really are a GROUP OF FRIENDS working together! [she smiles, ed.] Because for us, beyond the great non-formal education AEGEE gives you, friendship is the most important thing you take from the years you are in our beloved association.

Written by Elena Efremova, Action Agenda Coordination Committee

Last December, AEGEE-Amsterdam and AEGEE-Beograd organised the event “Home is where the Heart is – Erasmus+ exchange 2017”. For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Amy Treuren, European Affairs Officer of AEGEE-Amsterdam, and Isidora Braljinac, President of AEGEE-Beograd, to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you discovered that your local was chosen as ACTive Local of December?

Amy Treuren, AEGEE-Amsterdam: We were of course really happy to hear this amazing news! Thanks a lot! We were also very surprised because we absolutely did not expect to become ACTive Local of the Month.

Isidora/AEGEE-Beograd: We said: “Finally!”, but it is not like we expected it. Anyhow, very grateful and happy. 

Could you tell us little bit more about your event? (Home is where the Heart is – Erasmus+ exchange 2017). How many participants did you have, who applied, programme, goal, etc.

Amy: The goal of the event was to make the participants get in contact with another culture and country and learn about it, to learn about their own culture and country and what this means for themselves and for others. We also wanted to remove prejudices and stereotyping, create intercultural dialogue and create awareness about and stimulate European values. The participants developed different kind of skills, like organisational skills, working in a team, language skills, open-mindedness, confidence etc. We had 20 participants in total,  12 from AEGEE-Beograd and 8 from AEGEE-Amsterdam. Both groups already made a short movie in which every participant and group leader introduces themselves for the other group. During the programme we got to know each others’ culture and country. We did a boat trip, went to a museum, visited the participants’ parents, met and played soccer with refugees, did street interviews, had a European Night. The programme was very varied. The Erasmus+ exchange was co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

Why did you decide to apply for grant and organise that event?
Amy: Our local applies every year for an Erasmus+ grant. Most of the times our application gets rejected, like the 3 years before. So it was quite a surprise for us that our application got accepted.

Isidora: We wanted to try something different and when AEGEE-Amsterdam asked us if we want to be their partner – that was it. 

Could you tell us all steps you did to apply for grant? Did you have any problems?

Amy Treuren: Last year Iris van den Oord, our previous European Affairs Responsibe, applied for the grant. Unfortunately there were too many applications and this one got rejected. We received feedback on the application. We received the advice not to apply for the deadline of the 4th of October, because the chance that the application would be accepted was really small. They only had a small part of the budget left. We decided to still do it and to improve the application of the previous year, this time with extra feedback. I went to a training in Spain to learn about Erasmus+ and how to write an application. I learnt a lot there and this is the result! Close before the deadline our previous partner for the project did not reply anymore and we had to look for another partner. Luckily we found AEGEE-Beograd and they are a great partner.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Amy: We tell our new members during the introductory period about the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan. Only this is very short, because there is not enough attention for this by our members (unfortunately). Sometimes we share things on our Facebook page so people who are interested can read it. And also we send a European Newsletter to our members every month. Our members can also read about it on our website.

Isidora: We always do a short introduction about it to every new member, from time to time discuss it at our meetings and encourage them to ask us about everything that is not clear to them.

Do you have any activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Amy: Every year we organise new ones. Last summer our Summer University was related to the focus area Civic Education. Our Cultural Committee organises a couple of lectures every year, with sometimes themes related to the Action Agenda, like gender equality.

Isidora: This year we are cooperating with ACT for our Summer University and we are planning an LTC. Last year we organised a NWM, which included multiple topics related to the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan. Also, there are many other small things in other events we organise. 

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

AEGEE is fun, but it also has its powerful side! 

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

Think about what you would like to organise and about what your members are interested in. Do not think too difficult and be creative.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? (Founded in, members, active members, committees you have, etc.)

AEGEE-Amsterdam was founded on 26th of March 1986. Since then it has grown to become the biggest AEGEE local with around 550 members, 200 are of them active. We have around 24 committees varying from a party committee to a cultural committee and from a European committee to a social drink committee. There are too many to name them all. Every Tuesday we have our social drink, every week we have activities and we have a couple of trips throughout the year, like two hitchhiking trips, a skiing trip, exchanges, a European members’ weekend and many more. We organise many local activities during the year. We are always happy to welcome you and show you around in Amsterdam so do not hesitate to contact us!

AEGEE-Beograd was founded on the 12th of November 1995. Right now we have 70 members including around 20 active members with FR and PR teams. We are a mostly girls’ antenna and we tend to show that girls can manage to do anything they want. We are all good friends, which makes us an even better team. Come to Belgrade, meet us, you will not regret it!

Characterise your local in one sentence.

AEGEE-Amsterdam: Breaking borders with AEGEE-Amsterdam at local and European level with the help of parties, activities and trips.

AEGEE-Beograd: The best things are in small packages.

Written by Elena Efremova, behalf of Action Agenda Committee

Last November, AEGEE-Kraków organised 2 workshops: Social Engineering and “Soft skills – key to success”. It was directly connected with the Youth Employment Focus Area (Objective 1). For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Karolina Lapczyk, President of  AEGEE-Kraków, to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you discovered that AEGEE-Kraków was chosen as ACTive local of November?

AEGEE-Kraków: Seeing the mail with the title “You are … ACTive local of November. Congrats!” was one of the best information for us, especially reading it at our board meeting. We were pretty surprised, in a positive way of course, and happy that our work has been noticed and appreciated. This motivated us to act even more vigorously.

Why did you decide to organise these activities?

Those two activities were organised as a part of our annual project “Let’s get better”, which aims at arranging the workshops and trainings with professionals, not only for our members but for all students from our city. Our local is strongly focused on self-development because we deeply believe it is a key to success. Nowadays, employers require a great extent of abilities from the future workers, including soft and hard skills. By studying at universities we can get higher education but it is not enough, students still need additional trainings, which we try to provide them for free to increase their chances in the job market.

What was the result of your activities?

Both workshops were visited by 15-20 people. It was very nice for us to see people satisfied, motivated and asking for more trainings like this. There is a big demand for more practical and useful activities so all year long we try to give students what they need the most.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

Twice a year we organise a meeting for new members in which we introduce AEGEE, how we work, on which important issues we are focused. In addition, at every Local Training Course, we try to bring the Strategic Plan closer to our members. During the year, the special occasion for repeating and updating information is a meeting before the Agora.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We organised a few projects focused on self-development which aimed at raising the qualifications of students in the job market. For example Excellent Speaker, PR Camp or Design IT. Our great pride is the ‘Free Language Conversations’ project, which takes place every semester, and because of it around 500 students can learn 12-15 foreign languages for free, including unusual ones like Arabic or Chinese.

Moreover, we are interested in Civic Education, therefore we run the International Politics Working Group. The members of the group have possibilities to discuss the most important news from all over the world and organise various conferences and meetings with experts.

In addition, at the turn of March and April we are organising the conference “Running out of democracy in a democratic union. How to bring the EU closer to its citizens?”, which aims at covering the problem of insufficient participation of the European society in the decision-making processes across the European Union.

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

If we want to build a strong and still growing network, the most important thing is to have people who believe in the ideas behind the organisation, identify with the organisation itself and of course with its objectives. By organising such activities we can attract new people who share our interests, have similar goals, and it is highly possible they will become the most motivated and involved members. However, exactly at the same time, we can give our active members opportunities to develop, become more aware of the chances that they have and encourage them to become even more active. To make it happen, people need to feel that being in AEGEE brings some special value to their life. We believe this value is a unique combination of development, fun, friendship, travelling and passion. That is why we organise a lot of different activities, including the ones related to Action Agenda and Strategic Plan.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

Ask your members what are they interested about and which kind of project they would like to organise. Make sure you have a common objective which is satisfying for all people involved, only by this you can organise an amazing activity while having a lot of fun! Also just be reasonable – if your local is small, it may be hard to organise a huge conference (although it is not impossible of course!), but preparing a workshops or a training might be a nice experience for your members which will motivate them to do more in the future.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? 

Our local was founded in 1991, so last year we had a big 25th Birthday Party [she smiles, ed.]. For now officially we have 80 active members but there are a lot of older members and friends around us who still take part in our internal events like Christmas Meeting or AEGEE-Kraków’s Oscar Gala. Now we run 5 working groups of Human Resources, Fundraising, International Politics, IT&Design and Public Relations. Whenever we organise a bigger event, we have a project group responsible for it. So for now there are project groups preparing the conference, Summer University, Free Language Conversations and Let’s Get Better project.

We are a big local but the atmosphere between our members is just great! After our general meetings on Thursday we always have an “integration part” which sometimes ends the next day or… in other countries (spontaneous hithchhiking is quite popular here!). AEGEE-Kraków is just a quite big group of friends [she smiles, ed.]. 

Characterise your local in one sentence.

They say the sky is the limit, we say there is no limit [she smiles, ed.].

Written by Elena Efremova, on behalf of Action Agenda Coordination Committee