This year is a very important one for AEGEE. Of course every one is important in it’s own way, but in 2015, AEGEE celebrates it’s 30th Anniversary. It was celebrated in almost every local, everywhere in its own way. We tried to summarise some of the events and the ways that this historical moment was celebrated among antennae.

The 16th of April, 1985 is the day when AEGEE was founded. EGEE(Etats Generaux Des Etudiants de l’Europe) conference organised  in cooperation with five Grands Écoles in Paris, was the one that marked the beginning of AEGEE. The whole process was led by Franck Biancheri and all the students who were involved wanted to turn the EGEE conference into an organisation in order to create a platform for young Europeans.

The aim of the founders was to create a platform so the European matters could be discussed and the youth could present their ideas to institutions on national and European level. Because it was not an idea wide spread among Europeans at that time, many students established antennae in their own cities.

The name EGEE is related to the Aegean Sea where democracy was created 2,000 years ago, but because it was confused with a French company, in 1988, the name was changed into what we all know today as AEGEE.

This year AEGEE celebrated 30 years of success, great projects and development. The date itself could not pass by unmarked, so there a big event was organised, The Night of the Seven Antennae, in order to recreate the conference that took place at the creation of AEGEE. This event was organised by seven locals: AEGEE-Aachen, AEGEE-Bergamo, AEGEE-Catania, AEGEE-Eskisehir, AEGEE-Kyiv, AEGEE-Leiden and AEGEE-Sofia and took place on 18th of April. The motto was 7 cities, 1 event.

The original conference was called Nights of Europe, and took place on 7th March 1986 in seven cities, different from the ones in which the 30th Anniversary took place: München, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Bruxelles and Nice.

The Night of the Seven Antennae was connected through live streaming on the night of 18th of April. The ones involved, even if they watched the live stream relived the moments of the 30 years of AEGEE and connected to the night of 1986.

Many antennae celebrated the 30th anniversary in their own way. AEGEE-Brescia for example made a video with a short history about AEGEE, how the organisation made it through to today, and how AEGEEans are forever young because they help to create a border-less Europe.

AEGEE-Bratislava celebrated this event with a dinner and a small panel discussion about how the youth can get involved in the the EU and what future is awaiting the EU. Of course they could not forget about the cake as well.

AEGEE-Paris went Back to the Roots between 6th to 8th March. You can read more about it here.

Of course Brussels could not miss the celebration, so the event took place from 8th until 10th of May. The conference had the theme Schuman declaration 65 years later – wishes of the young generation for Europe and on the 8th of May, four panel discussions took place, regarding the European integration: social, political, economic integration – where are we heading?; democratic innovations and active citizenship; jobs and growth; education and learning mobility. The speakers were from the European Commission, representatives of civil society, politicians and students from all over Europe.

There were as well some antennae who did not create an event, but celebrated at a smaller scale, with some discussions about the history of AEGEE or a night out, partying, like AEGEE-Helsinki did.

The celebration among antennae will continue this year, because this moment should be celebrate all throughout the  year, not only on one day and AEGEE-Cagliari is organising one this July.

AEGEE will get older, will contribute to a lot more things that we can imagine, it will change members’ destinies and perspective about different things, it will grow as it did until now. We have to take care of it and do our best so the people that will follow can enjoy the moments and the project like we do. Happy Birthday AEGEE, many members, projects and years ahead!

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

On the weekend from the 7th to the 10th of May the main event of the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of AEGEE was held in Brussels. During three days, 70 members of the association gathered to celebrate various events. It all began on Thursday, when they were guided by members of the local antenna, AEGEE-Bruxelles/Brussels, around the city center. The visit included a stop by the Grand Place and the Manneken Pis.

On Friday morning the most formal part of the event took place, visiting the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and having talks with representatives of other European institutions and organisations, including the European Youth Forum, Euractiv, the Association of Friends of Franck Biancheri or OBESSU (Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions) among others, and with the participation of MEPs. Proposals were discussed and voted in the areas of European integration, democratic innovation and non-formal education and mobility. The document prepared serves as a guide for future actions of AEGEE. In the afternoon there was a visit to the Parlamentarium (the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament), and to the Museum of the European Union next to the European Parliament.

Saturday and Sunday sessions were held at the Cervantes Institute in Brussels. This time they were more oriented to reflect on the history of AEGEE, its identity, its achievements, its present and its future challenges. Amongst the participants were also members of the Comité Directeur (CD) of AEGEE-Europe, and also members of Les Anciens, the Alumni network of AEGEE, with whom interesting experiences were exchanged. Other topics discussed were the concept of an European Republic, a better link with Les Anciens or multilingualism, which is set as a priority by the European Commission for the upcoming years. French was recently abolished as operational language of the association mainly for practical reasons, but that does not mean that there will have to be a step back in the field of multilingualism.

In the evening hours the participants, members of locals from Lisbon to Baku, could taste typical Belgian fries, its chocolate or waffles, and participate in typical Brussels celebrations and fairs. It is to be noticed that Saturday 9th was the EU Day, with a lot of events all around the city. On Sunday afternoon many participants could discover that Brussels, the “heart” of Europe, is a city of an international atmosphere, institutions, lobbying and networking.

In short, a dignified celebration for an association with European values and ancient past, exciting present and promising future.

Written by Ferran Arruebo, AEGEE-Barcelona

AEGEE-Hamburg has lots of experience hosting Network Meetings (NWMs). They did it in 2009, 2012 and they are in the process of organising yet another spring NWM for 2015. A NWM where 25 participants together with AEGEE’s President Paul Smits as well as Network Commissioner Maria Arends will go back to the future, digging into the history of AEGEE over the last 30 years. Before interviewing AEGEE-Hamburg, The AEGEEan interviewed Network Commissioner Maria Arends to hear about the organisation behind the event and what plans she has for the upcoming NWM.

The AEGEEan: Why did you choose Hamburg as destination for the next NWM?

Maria: AEGEE-Hamburg expressed their interest in organising a Network Meeting right when I started my term already. When I was there during my NetCom trip, it became very clear they were taking the Spring NWM seriously into consideration. I liked the idea right away, as Hamburg is more or less in the centre of the antennae I work for. Actually, it is a bit the same idea as last year: NWM Tartu in the north, NWM København in the south, now Sankt-Peterburg in the north, Hamburg in the south!

Will you follow up on what you did in NWM Sankt Petersburg?

Yes, definitely! In Sankt-Peterburg we exchanged best practices with each other through SWOT analyses, and in Hamburg I want to follow up on this by comparing it to a different method. Furthermore, where last time we had a session about AEGEE’s history, this time we will address the 30th Anniversary and the participants will even have the chance to come up with ideas they can implement in their antennae. Furthermore, as NWM Sankt-Peterburg was after the Agora, it was interesting to discuss the results and see everyone’s point of view. We did a preparation for EPM Burgos as well, and now we will discuss the results during the NWM and prepare for AgorAsturias! And there’s more, but let me not spoil all the fun beforehand.

How are you working with AEGEE-Hamburg to prepare for the event?

Through hundreds of emails and Facebook messages! AEGEE-Hamburg is a really nice antenna, and they have a lot of ideas as well. They came up with the topic of Back to the Future, and after they explained it to me (I still have to watch the movies) I fell in love with it immediately! It is so applicable to every part of the programme: socially AND content-wise!

Have you already been there? Can you recommend people to visit the city?

Even though the distance between my home town and Hamburg is smaller than from my home town to, let’s say, Rotterdam, I’ve been several times to Rotterdam, but last December during my NetCom trip I was in Hamburg for the first time. It was so lovely, really, the city has everything: an old city centre, super modern parts, at that time there were Christmas markets and Glühwein… So how it will be in spring, I have no clue, but yes, I can definitely recommend it, if only for the nice atmosphere there! I’ll have to see next time, but it might become one of my top three favorite cities in northern Europe (at least on the main land).

Who from the CD will join you at the NWM? 

Paul Smits, the President of AEGEE! Last week we’ve already talked about the programme, brainstormed on the content for some sessions, came up with some cool ideas… So I feel confident it is going to be amazing! Fun fact: one of the organisers is also called Paul, so that might cause some funny confusion from time to time.

Why is this NWM interesting for the Network? What will be special about it?

Nordic Network Meetings (if I may call them that way) are always a bit unique. I am the Network Commissioner for the Baltics (including AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg), Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the United Kingdom, so it is very broad and has many different locals. The programme is gonna be cool, the local organisers will be amazing, but the participants… will be simply the best! Another thing that’s unique, is that AEGEE-Hamburg has organised a Spring NWM in 2012, and a Spring NWM in 2009. So, it is also a tri-annual tradition!

The AEGEEan of course also interviewed the President of AEGEE-Hamburg, Saskia Heller, about the upcoming event and the first thing she mentioned was also the NWM experience of AEGEE-Hamburg.

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to host the NWM?
Saskia: Actually a simple thing called rhythm. We hosted one in 2009, 2012 and 2015 it was just about time again. Additionally, we are not organising a Summer University this summer (please don’t be sad!), so a NWM offered us a new platform to still host an European event.

What is special about the city of Hamburg?
We don’t really want to brag, but we are the second biggest city in Germany (1,7 million inhabitants) and the “gate to the world” due to our harbor. We would describe ourselves as Nordic as we have our big river Elbe, which is the reason that Hamburg has been a free and rich city since centuries. Hamburg is not this little cute town you see on brochures about Germany, but it has its own Hanseatic (red brick stone buildings), industrial (mainly harbor area) and modern (newly build districts like Hafencity/Harbor city) charm.

What will be the focus of NWM Hamburg?
Our NWM offers several workshops for our all participating local antannae to exchange their experiences as well practices. Additionally we will talk about AEGEE’s 30th anniversary, Democracy in Practice project and other AEGEE related events/current issues. Our thematic informal focus is the 80ies as AEGEE was founded then and we just like to play our old records in public.

Who do you have in the organization team?
Our current board and some additional volunteers, we have two of 2012’s NWM organisers helping this time again.

Why should people come to Hamburg?
You should come if you want to enjoy a cool breeze, you like small & big ships, you want to explore unique corners, you like big cities or you simply love to eat fish.

Is it easy to access your city?
You can easily access Hamburg via our own Airport (as well as Bremen or Berlin). There are national bus lines to connect us with all of Germany. For our railway enthusiasts there are different international trains once a day.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza

The year 2015 marks the year that AEGEE-Europe turns 30 years old, although we surely don’t look that old yet! To prepare the birthday, the Anniversary Team has been created, which organises several events throughout the year to pay tribute to the history and future of our organisation. One of these events is the Night of the Seven Antennae, which commemorates the Night of the Seven Cities of 1986 and will be taking place on the 18th of April.

Before we can take a look at the future plans for this event, it’s time to delve a bit into our past and take a look at the very first edition. During the night of March 7^th, AEGEE (at that moment still called EGEE) and the newspaper Le Monde cooperated to broadcast political debates about the future of Europe between students and high level politicians from seven different cities. In 1986, these locals were located in München, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Brussels and Nice. The history is repeating itself, because once more there will be debates about the future of Europe in seven different cities. Except the cities have changed, because the locals elected to host the event are: AEGEE-Aachen, AEGEE-Bergamo, AEGEE-Catania, AEGEE-Eskisehir, AEGEE-Kyiv, AEGEE-Leiden and AEGEE-Sofia.

AEGEE-Aachen

Why did you apply to be part of the Night of the Seven Antennae?
We organised a political debate last year for the Karlpreis, and now we have a discussion group about politics in Europe in AEGEE-Aachen. We wanted to take it to the next level!

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?
We’ll talk about the place of young people in Europe, and because there are a lot of students in Aachen, we’ll try to answer this question: is Europe a place where youth can flourish, regarding jobs, mobility, family, retirement?

What other things do you have planned for your participants?
We’ll write our wishes for how Europe should be and put them in a time capsule, protected for the next 10 years. We’ll also have a nice birthday ceremony to celebrate properly, and of course a party! Some other things too, but if you want to know, you have to come!

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?

There will be 25 places for participants from other antennae, but all workshops and debates will be open to every student in Aachen. We hope we can reach a broader audience and share points of view with people who don’t have AEGEE experience.

AEGEE-Bergamo

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?

The topics we have chosen are: Europe needs youth, mobility programs shaping European identity and old/new Europe. Bergamo is going through a period of strong internationalization programs, our antenna has recently launched an Erasmus Buddy Program, so we feel this topics best describe us and are interesting to examine in depth. With the topic of old/new Europe we want to give an insight in the major transformations that have happened during the last century.

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

We will have a city tour and are also working on the organisation of a live concert for the opening ceremony in the evening. The second day there will be three conferences each on the different topics and thematic discussions.

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?

We will host 50 participants. Members from other antennae will be warmly welcome, but also applicants that aren’t a member of AEGEE will be accepted in order to make this event fully open and memorable.

When does your own local have its next anniversary, and what plans do you have for it?

We have had our 25^th anniversary this year. We celebrated it with members of others antennae, during a regional dinner event we organized for Christmas. However for most of all it was a surprise, because our President discovered only recently that AEGEE-Bergamo was earlier founded than we all believed and she kept it a secret. It was a really beautiful revelation and moment of celebration.

AEGEE-Catania

What was your first reaction when you heard your local was chosen?

Surprise and satisfaction! We knew that other Italian antennae had applied, so we were aware of how difficult it was to get the event, but I’m sure that the anniversary team understood our great motivation to host this important event, and they probably liked the “mission impossible” video! 

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?

We have chosen “Europe in me – Me in Europe”, since we are working hard on the involvement of our members in Europe, pushing them to be active and interested also beyond our borders. At the same time we also believe that being European gives us a lot of great opportunities.

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

The event will be thematically full and very interesting, but aside from the theme, we won’t forget our origins and will fill up the event with our known AEGEE-Catania spirit! Funny activities, great team-building, and an unforgettable party will distinguish our weekend.

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?  

We are able to host up to 50 participants, and of course we want this event to be open both to our members, but also to all our European new and old friends. This is an event of everyone!

AEGEE-Kyiv

Why did you apply to be part of the Night of the Seven Antennae?

First of all, we would like to take actively part in celebrating a really important date of our organisation. AEGEE is 30 years old this year and together we achieved a lot, so there is something to celebrate! Moreover, we would like to show our members and Ukrainian students that AEGEE-Kyiv is a serious NGO. We are well known for our Summer Universities and Local Training Courses, but our aim for this year is to change that image. Another reason is that we would like to check how the team will work for this event to be prepared for the upcoming Agora. Finally, we are really interested in the topic and would like to share our interest with others and create an event with space for communication and discussion.

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?

We chose the topics that are interesting to our audience: “Europe Needs YouTH” and “The state of Ukrainian democracy”. Young people are the ones ready to change the present, to dedicate their efforts and contribute to Ukraine’s and our future. The lack of knowledge and experience is the problem, so we would like to dedicate the event to exchange experience with other countries, not forgetting about Ukrainian realities. Of course, the role of AEGEE and Frank Biancheri will be highlighted as, striving for a European future, we have been supporting the main values and aims of AEGEE for twenty years.

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?

We are planning to host around 70-100 participants. 30 places are open for participants from other antennae, the other places are for AEGEE-Kyiv members and students from Kyiv universities.

When does your own local have its next anniversary, and what plans do you have for it?

AEGEE-Kyiv turns 20 on February 17th! The Ukrainian way of celebrating is always surprising for Europeans. We invite everyone to our house, prepare lots of food and drinks and go out until the morning and all the guests feel like it’s their birthday. We prepared something huge for our friends: an event from the 13th to 15^th, with a huge party, city tours, games, interesting content and of course Ukrainian AEGEE spirit!

AEGEE-Leiden

Why did you apply to be part of the Night of the Seven Antennae?

AEGEE-Leiden has always been active on the European level and in the last few years the interest of our new members regarding AEGEE-Europe has grown significantly. By organising this event, we hope to show all of our members and the rest of AEGEE how awesome this European Network of ours is and what we all can achieve if we work together, thus creating even more awareness of AEGEE-Europe among our members. Also AEGEE-Leiden is one of the founding locals of our beautiful association, so who can give a better history lesson about AEGEE than us? We think it’s a nice way to show the Network how much we like AEGEE and that we are here to stay for another thirty years.

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?

We’d like to use the topic ‘Old Europe, New Europe’, because we, as an antenna, have a lot of history inside AEGEE, so we have a lot of topics to put into perspective. Of course it’s not all about AEGEE, but also about Europe itself. We have good connections with a few European Parliament members and with the head of the Dutch Information Desk of the European Union. We are going to contact them soon, so hopefully we can present the participants some experts on the ‘New Europe’.

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?

At the moment, we want to host a maximum of 40 participants from all over Europe, but we cannot confirm this number yet.

When does your own local have its next anniversary, and what plans do you have for it?

AEGEE-Leiden was one of the founding locals, so our own 30th anniversary also takes place this year. Our birthday is on the 31th of October and because of that we are going to organise a whole lot of awesome activities till November. Organising this event is one of our bigger activities and it fits really well into our own anniversary year.

AEGEE-Sofia

Why did you apply to be part of the Night of the Seven Antennae?

We strongly believe that Europe’s future mostly depends on the actions and ideas of the youth, so we would be honored to host an event on the topic “Europe needs youth!” Almost thirty years ago, the Night of the Seven Antennae wasn’t just a big historical event, but the moment when Europe understood, in practice, that young people have the power to change the present and build the future. The foundations were laid, so we should not only discuss, but show that “Europe needs youth!”

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

First of all, we think that Europe needs healthy, open-minded and active youngsters, so we are planning some sport activities in order to promote the great importance of health and an active lifestyle. We have also planned other outdoor activities like a flash mob in the center of Sofia, to promote the importance of youth in Europe and the Night of the Seven Antennae as an event. Our participants will have the opportunity to show the power of young people to bring change by helping other people. Separated in groups they will make people exercise on the street, talk with them about human rights or help people with disabilities. One more of our intentions is to gather the participants in the non-formal atmosphere of a concert of a Bulgarian youth band during one of the evenings.

How many participants will you receive, and are you open to participants from other antennae too?

We are expecting to have around 50 participants. This includes members of our partner youth organisations, students from universities in Sofia and, of course, participants from our own network who will bring the AEGEE spirit from all over Europe.

When does your own local have its next anniversary, and what plans do you have for it?

Next year AEGEE-Sofia turns 25. At the last couple of awesome Balkan events our members visited (Shtafeta Novi Sad and Network Meeting Skopje), we learned that most of the antennae in the Balkan network were founded in the same year and we are one of them. So, this sounds like a nice opportunity to celebrate our 25th anniversary together!

AEGEE-Eskişehir 

Why did you apply to be part of the Night of the Seven Antennae?

Firstly, we want to take part in one of the most important night for AEGEE. Secondly, in 30 years period this is just the second time of  live streaming, that means that our hearts will palpitate at the same time with seven different antennae. And finally, with the topics chosen, we would like to make our participants more informed about both, an angle from Europe and different perspective from East by inviting important people from politic and academic life.

What will be the topic of your part of the event? Why did you pick this topic?

Our Main topics are ‘The State of Turkish Democracy’ and ‘Europe Needs Youth’. We believe that we should show our differences as a big organization, AEGEE. First of all, in Turkey, İt is really difficult to organize and manage kinds of discussions. Secondly, this is hard to deny the fact that democracy is not working properly in our geography. But there are so many examples for this situation all over the world. Thanks to panels and discussions we are planning to show process of democracy for young active individuals with blending experiences of politicians and academicians. Besides, as AEGEEans , to be respectful for all and to understand their ideas and feelings, with the target of representing one of the biggest aim of AEGEE, Europtimism, our event will be opened for all sections.

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

In the light of Democracy and Europe we have panels, discussions etc. but this is just beginning because we are organizing the event as a youth fest. Kind of games and entertainment and of course party!!! With the spirit of AEGEE in Eskisehir you will see a perfect birthday ceremony in company with a huge fest.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen