Lying in the middle of Aragon province, there is a city called Zaragoza. There, in 1998 AEGEE-Zaragoza was born, with a “long and a vibrant history” as the board said, having organised countless of events including two Agoras (2003 and 2013), NWMs, Summer Universities and so on. Currently, they have 158 members who meet regularly and they organise both fun and cultural events. We asked some questions to the board of AEGEE-Zaragoza, to know a bit more about the Spanish local. 

LTC during February 2017

What is the peculiarity of your local? What makes you special?

We tend to invade events, it is very difficult to find just one or two people from AEGEE-Zaragoza in an event. Once the Open Call is on, we apply like a pack and we end up being at least eight, or up! We are a big family that does not only meet to do AEGEE related things. We have social meetings with new members and we organise informal meetings very often!  That is why we are a group of friends working together [they smile, ed.].

Which activities do you usually organise?

We have weekly meetings and we usually prepare thematic activities such as the European Day of Languages or the AEGEE day. However, everything the members are willing to do is valid. So, everybody can propose ideas.

Participants from AEGEE-Zaragoza – RENOVE VI

Name one good thing to be in AEGEE and one bad thing.

A bad thing could be that sometimes we have to prepare and do too much official stuff which might not be as useful as doing some other activities that could be more interesting for you and your local.

The good thing is the new lifestyle that you have while being in AEGEE, with experiences and people who make your life change.

How is the cooperation between your local and others in your area? And also how is it with your Network Commissioner?
Locals in La Nave [Spanish, French and Portuguese speaking locals, ed] usually cooperate with each other sharing good practices and ideas, organising events and attending to the local events. So, we can say it is very nice. The same with our Network Commissioner, we have an open communication with her and our assigned subcommissioner. We can share worries and successes with them.

Active members of AEGEE-Zaragoza

How do you implement Strategic Plan and Action Agenda with your members?

We try to do local activities to implement them as well as workshops, for example during the LTCs. This year, we participated for the Food Bank and we usually publish or participate in campaigns to raise awareness about certain topics such as Sexual Health, International Women’s day and so on.

Four years ago you organised an Agora. The experience can strengthen or break a local. How did things progress after the statutory event?

As in many events, there were some tensions in the team but apart from that, the results we had were very amazing! Among the helpers, there were many new members who wanted to collaborate with the rest of the team and who came out very motivated, eager to discover and work in AEGEE and AEGEE-Zaragoza. They built the basis of today’s AEGEE-Zaragoza. Now, these helpers share their experiences with the new members, talking about how awesome the agora was and people motivate to do another event in Zaragoza.

AEGEE-Zaragoza Summer University 2016

What are the future plans for AEGEE-Zaragoza?

The main objective would be to keep in touch with the new members, to motivate and encourage them to become active in AEGEE and to start doing things in AEGEE. We want to organise more local activities in order to empower our members to become more active both in Zaragoza and in the European bodies.

This year AEGEE Zaragoza is working on a Volunteering Summer University. We plan to stay a few days in a small town nearby, helping the local people with our young spirit, with activities such as playing traditional games, performing theatre plays, etc. Moreover, all of this will be combined with visits to the most beautiful places of this region and a lot of AEGEE spirit! We would also like to organise European thematic events… and we are starting to think about something big again in Zaragoza.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Last October, AEGEE-Verona organised the event entitled “Perchè l’Europa unita ieri e oggi?” (Eng. Why a united Europe, yesterday and today?), directly connected with Spreading Europtimism Focus Area (Objective 2). For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month of October. We spoke with the former secretary Raffaello Corsini, and the ACT responsible Camelia Kajbaf, to find out more!

ACT: What kind of emotions did you have when you found out that AEGEE-Verona had been chosen as the ACTive local of October?

Raffaello and Camelia: We felt very happy, proud of ourselves, but also thankful and grateful to the ones who had made this decision. We are happy to be rewarded for the hard job we are doing as a young and small local. Thank you!

Why did you decide to organise the “Perchè l’Europa unita ieri e oggi?” event?

We decided to go for this activity when we had the chance to organise something in collaboration with other student organisations such as ESN, AIESEC and JFE. We were all interested in this kind of topic. As a single group, we considered that we were able to organise an event all together and with the different ways of approaching it, we could spread the idea of Europtimism more effectively.

What was the result of your activity?

The result of our activity was a conference that gathered 40 participants, who listened to a short lecture from a professor and then discussed about what is Europe today.

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

We inform our members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan by spending some time during the member meetings, but we also use to speak about them during our local events, such as the Aperitivo linguistico, or when we promote events related to them (EPM or thematic events).

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

In November last year, we organised another conference about the USA presidential elections with a special focus on how the American political system works and what was its evolution through time.

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

Locals should organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic plan, because it is a good chance to make students aware of the world they live in and to raise their knowledge and self-confidence.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

Our main tips for organising thematic activities are the following: plan everything in detail and with good care, and start looking for the help of other associations if your local is too small to manage all these things on its own.

AEGEE-Verona Board 2016-2017

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Verona was refounded in 2013. At the moment, we are about 40 members and approximately 15 of them are active at the local level.

Characterize your local in one sentence.  

AEGEE-Verona: Very small, but very strong!

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

Founded in 1994, AEGEE-Tartu is a very active antenna which organised the Network Meeting entitled “The City of Good Thoughts” in November this year; moreover, it was ranked as the 3rd and 10th best Summer University in the recent years. AEGEE-Tartu also organised a Network Meeting in 2013, and it will be the host of the European School I in April 2016 along with a surprise for its next Summer University and many other plans. AEGEE-Tartu is the Local of the Month of November. So, we had a little talk with Kristin Moppel, the President of AEGEE-Tartu, to tell us about their motivation and plans behind all of these.

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations! Tell us something about AEGEE-Tartu. What is its story?  

Kristin: AEGEE-Tartu does not consist of typical Estonians. We are not quiet or sitting in the corner, hoping for someone else to take the lead. We might have kept the typical Estonian sarcastic sense of humour, but that is so deep in the roots, you cannot get rid of it. AEGEE-Tartu has always been active, but like every other antenna, it has had its ups and downs. Recently, the positive aspects have escalated through the roof: we have been ranked as the 3rd and 10th Summer University in recent years, we have organised two successful Network Meetings and we have a lot of active members with great plans for the future of our local! AEGEE-Tartu is motivated and eager to be known all over Europe to become a wanted destination for AEGEE events.

How many years has it been an AEGEE antenna? How many active members does it have?

AEGEE-Tartu was founded in 1994, so we have already been around for a while, but this doesn’t mean we are old and tired. We have around 20 members who are active all year, but depending on the period, there are about 10 more members who are active.

What was the overall impression of the Network Meeting organised by AEGEE-Tartu?

The overall impression was really good, the participants were happy and never hungry (that is always a good sign). The organisers and trainers were in a good spirit, so it was a very motivating and fun Network Meeting!

Did you encounter any challenges while organising the event? How did you manage to overcome them?

We are so proud that the organising process went very smoothly. We did not encounter any serious problems, but there are always little things to improve.

What are the future plans of AEGEE-Tartu? Will there also be an EPM (European Planning  Meeting) taking place in Tartu in the future, or maybe even an Agora?

Our future plans are very exciting. We can officially say that we are hosting the European School I next year in April. We have a surprise for the SU next year considering that we will organise it with a very awesome antenna (we will announce it soon!). Furthermore, we have some plans for different projects in Tartu for international AEGEE members. In our daily local life we are creating new traditions, for example a monthly cultural night introducing the country’s traditions and cuisine (last month we had Poland, after the holidays we will have Albania). 2016 will be even more awesome than 2015! The members of AEGEE-Tartu are always aiming higher and proving we can do anything, so you’ll never know, maybe even an EPM or Agora in the future [she winks, ed.]

Do you have a Twin Antenna? If not, which local would you like to be your Twin antenna and why?

We don’t have a Twin Antenna, but we are open to all proposals. As we are from Estonia and we don’t get to see the sun as much as we want, we would love our Twin Antenna to be from somewhere warmer [she smiles ed.]. The most important thing is that the antenna would be interested in educating themselves and accept our crazy sense of humour.

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București