AEGEE-Eskişehir was our Local of the Month of December, and the Turkish antenna is in full swing organising local events, but also international ones. It signed the Convention d’Adhesion in 2001 during Autumn Agora Ankara, organising the Balkans Regional Meeting one year later. Their activities are local projects, thematic events, Summer Universities, Network Meetings and weekly meetings on every Wednesday with a focus on thematic topics, and they also organised Autumn Agora Eskişehir in 2007. That is not all: from the 3rd to the 10th of April they will host the Fund Raising European School (FRES), in cooperation with AEGEE-Europe and AEGEE-Academy. We spoke with the president of the Antenna Toygar Öter and the Speaker of the Academy Antonis Triantafyllakis to know something more about the event. Remember, the deadline is on the 2nd of March!

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to organise the FRES?

Toygar: To be honest, the former board applied for FRES, but I was on that board too and I wanted to have this event very much.  After our General Assembly, where I became President,  the new team adopted this event easily because there was not a European School event in AEGEE-Eskişehir history. Fundraising is a very attractive topic, every member of AEGEE-Eskişehir wants to do fundraising talks because it contributes to the development of the person and I think it is really entertaining. Most of the locals are facing with money and sponsorship issues. Fortunately, Eskişehir is a student city, most of the company knows us. In short, we trust ourselves in raising funds and we want to share our experiences.  When we found such an opportunity, we did not want to miss it.

Who are going to be the trainers of the event?

Antonis: We are lucky to have a team of trainers with diverse backgrounds and knowledge to offer to the event, ensuring an amazing learning experience for the participants of FRES Eskişehir: Daria Andreieva from BEST, Vladislav Andrijako from Euroavia, Antonis Triantafyllakis from AEGEE-Academy and Réka Salamon from AEGEE-Europe.

Can you give us a sneak peek of the program? What will the sessions be?

Antonis: Participants will enjoy an overall coverage of both institutional and corporate fundraising, including all you need to know about grants such as Erasmus+ and how to apply for them, corporate sponsors, how to approach them and maintain a long-term relationship with them, the psychology of marketing and how to apply it on fundraising, how to manage your funds and pretty much all you need to know in order to successfully carry on a strategic fundraising plan for the projects of your local. The main structure will be the familiar one from all AEGEE-Academy European Schools, with the theory given in the morning sessions in an interactive manner and practice being done in the afternoon based on working groups, fully incorporating the group dynamics into the learning process, as you would expect from an AEGEE-Academy training. Most importantly, we will put the FUN into fundraising!

What do you have in store for participants?

Toygar: We provide to participants seven days lodging in a villa (unfortunately we will have no pool), three meals per day, local transportation, sessions in Anadolu University, which is one of the most active universities in Turkey, city tour, parties, lots of fun and surprises!  And you may not believe but it is just for 75€!

What are your experience and your strategy with fundraising?
Toygar:  As I mentioned before Eskişehir is a small and student city. AEGEE-Eskişehir is a very known organisation in university and in the city. Almost every new board goes to meet with the university administration, mayors of municipalities and governor of Eskişehir. They support us as much as possible. On the other hand, we have lots of events in a year and we search different companies for each event.  For example, we carry out our common meetings every Wednesday and we have a tradition which after every common meeting we go to dinner together. We try to go to different places every week. All of this is making us very known in Eskişehir and making things easier in order to get supports. In my opinion, as AEGEE-Eskişehir we have a long history and traditions. Summing up, we take care of our work as a professional also we know how to live it up! Alumni, experienced members or new ones, we are a huge family!

What is the involvement of the Academy?

Antonis: FRES is a European School, so it is kind of a…child of AEGEE-Academy. Like all European Schools, the structure is fully based on non-formal education methodologies, so it is interactive, tailored to the needs of the learners, held in a participatory, learning by doing manner and, above all, fun! AEGEE-Academy coordinates the project, from design to implementation and evaluation, ensures the quality of the content, the harmonious collaboration between the trainers’ team and the local organisers. AEGEE-Academy also guarantees the positive impact of the event.

How is the cooperation with AEGEE-Eskişehir going?

Antonis: AEGEE-Eskişehir is full of absolutely lovable people who are also reliable organisers, so we are very happy to work with them and eager to meet them in the beautiful city of Eskişehir!

How is cooperation with the Academy going?

Toygar: We want to thank them for electing us to organise this event as AEGEE-Eskişehir. They are supporting us as much as they can.

What is the most amazing thing about your local and your city?

Toygar: Eskişehir is a small city, however, it is the best for students in Turkey. Even though it is a small city, it has two big universities. A city with all the opportunities for a student. If you are studying here, you know that you are very lucky!
Apply now here and here by the 2nd of March

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Non-formal education is really important in our organisation and hundreds of trainings are delivered to our members every year. Trainers are those who share their skills and their knowledge with participants. A group of 13 trainers from different AEGEE locals gathered in Wrocław from the 13th until the 15th of January for the 2017 edition of the Trainers’ Forum. Along with 100 other young trainers from other NGOs, they spent three valuable days discussing, practising and sharing their experiences with training and non-formal education. 

What is the Trainers’ Forum?

Antonis: Officially, the Trainers’ Forum (TsF) is an international conference for trainers and facilitators with various backgrounds. Unofficially, it is an opportunity for any trainer or facilitator, regardless of experience, to get a glimpse into the magic world of trainers, see new topics and approaches in non-formal education, get inspired by the work of other trainers and even form alliances that will have an impact on society.

Zsofia: Trainers’ Forum started out a few years ago, as an informal gathering for youth trainers and, by 2017, it has become an official conference for more than 100 youth trainers from NGOs of many disciplines. It is a great event for trainers to share best practices, reflect on the current trends in non-formal education and build their professional network.

When and where did it take place?

Petra:  TsF took place in a lovely Polish city, Wrocław, in the second week of chilly January from the 13th until the 15th. During these dates, the temperature was low, but coffee and tea breaks and hunting the famous 350 Wrocław dwarfs kept us warm. There were several of them near the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, where we had our sessions, and nearby the dormitories, where we stayed in bedrooms for two and three people.

Who were in the AEGEE “Delegation” ?

Balázs: There were 13 people from all over the Network, namely Anna Ziętkiewicz (AEGEE-Wrocław), Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Academy/AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca), Balázs Kovács (AEGEE-Debrecen), Emanuel Knodt (AEGEE-Bamberg), Jorge Miguel Vielva (AEGEE-Valladolid), Jorge Sánchez Hernández (AEGEE-Dresden), Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tartu), Noémi Lőwy (AEGEE-Debrecen), Paolo Ghisleni (AEGEE-Bergamo), Paweł Cieślak (AEGEE-Warszawa), Petra Buruzs (AEGEE-Budapest), Urša Svetelj (AEGEE-Ljubljana) and Zsófia Komáromi (AEGEE-Budapest).

Zsofia: It was great that this edition of TsF brought together trainers from several generations and many different locals. This also allowed us to learn from each other and discuss the current projects and challenges in AEGEE.

How was the experience?

Paolo: It was cool! More than a hundred trainers from very diverse backgrounds were a wonderful playground for all of us. We had the chance to experience trainings from both trainer and trainee side. We experimented, discussed, challenged each other. I could not really ask for more.

Mayri: The experience was one of a kind, especially with so many people from a wide range of countries and organisations. When talking to someone new, you never know what their story is, you only know that everybody who was there was a trainer. The days were rather long and intense, but filled with interesting content and discussions. The event gave me a lot, and, as Paolo said, I could not have asked for more.

Jorge: It was an amazing experience. I had the great opportunity to learn and be inspired by different trainers, coming from everywhere in the world. The schedule was quite intense, but we could still find some time to get to know some of the awesome people who were around. It was a great group of folks to talk to. I would love to come back to another edition [he smiles, ed.].

Noemi: It was my first time attending this international event. I was quite happy and proud to see so many familiar faces from AEGEE. I really enjoyed it, as the participants were coming from all over the world and having various backgrounds (students, representatives of youth organisations, professional trainers) made this experience quite a unique one. We had very good discussions and creatively inspiring training sessions in the modern buildings of Wrocław university. I was very happy to have a chance to take part in the Forum, where everyone was open and eager to spread knowledge and learn from each other.

Petra: Being part of the big trainers’ world was fascinating, impressive and inspirational at the same time. Everyone was hungry to learn new methods, tricks and practices. Sometimes I felt that training the trainer is like healing a doctor, a pretty hard, but not impossible task. I strongly recommend attending TsF at least once, it is a milestone in a trainer’s life.

How was its structure? Which sessions took place, what kind of skills were required, what was the outcome?

Jorge Miguel: The event lasted for two days and a half, plus an extra day prior to TsF, dedicated to an Open Training Day (OTD). During the OTD, on Thursday, many trainers delivered training sessions on different topics for local students, as well as other trainers participating in TsF, who wanted to attend those sessions. TsF started on Friday morning with an opening ceremony and team building activities, where the trainers participating in TsF reflected on their personal goals for TsF and set their mindset for the event. Then, for most of the remaining part of TsF, there were nine training sessions or workshops in parallel, among which the more than 110 trainers participating in TsF were distributed. There were more than 100 sessions in total, on a lot of different training-related fields. On Sunday, there was an Open Space where people could suggest new sessions to discuss, on topics they still felt necessary to address. Finally there was the closing of the event, with hopes that new editions of TsF will take place soon. In general, TsF was very diverse, with sessions of all kinds in parallel, trainers coming from different fields and organisations and with very different experiences. Some of them had thousands of hours of experience as trainers, while others were taking their first steps as trainers. Because of that, the outcomes are also very different, depending on each person, but for most, it was a boost of energy and ideas and an opportunity to develop trainers’ skills, discuss training-related topics, create connections with other trainers and think about future projects.

How important is non-formal education in a youth organisation?

Balázs: Everything we carry out in AEGEE is, at its core, based on non-formal education (NFE). We can learn a lot by doing. We can improve ourselves through the experiences we gain, in the form of developing our skills, competences and attitudes. Ideally, we also gain in-depth awareness about these processes and become capable of explaining why NFE, and especially informal learning, matters these days. You can read more about the topic in the “NFE Book” of AEGEE by clicking here or by directly approaching the AEGEE-Academy, our association’s pool of trainers.

Paolo: I am firmly convinced that non-formal education will be a big trend in the future and it will represent the avantgarde of learning processes and educational models. We have the chance to try, experiment and fail, in a way that a formal environment will never allow, and this gives NGOs like AEGEE a unique opportunity. I really hope that we will not miss it.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

In the heart of Romania, in Cluj-Napoca, an educational event called TNT or Training new Trainers was organised from the 7th to the 14th of December 2016, in collaboration with AEGEE-Academy. For this article, we talked to organisers Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Cluj Napoca) and Marina Muşetescu (president of AEGEE-Cluj Napoca), trainers Antonis Triantafyllakis (The AEGEE-Academy) and Danny Memarpour (IFMSA-International Federation of Medical Students Associations) and participants Alejandra Piot (AEGEE-A Coruña), Anna Ziętkiewicz  (AEGEE-Wrocław) Petra Buruzs (AEGEE-Budapest), Markella Moraki and Melissa Carreres (AEGEE-Alicante). Cluj-Napoca really fascinated all of them.

The Training New Trainers (TNT) was an amazing event for young Europeans, through which they learned all the necessary qualities for holding a training in front of an audience. It fulfills the needs of our network: having good and highly motivated trainers who will help our members develop themselves and their skills.

The main aim of the event was to develop the necessary skills of the participants in order for them to be successful trainers in the future, proficient in using non-formal education methodologies to make their sessions memorable, fun and interactive. Since active participation is at the very core of non-formal education, organisers tried to involve the participants through learning-by-doing, one of the pillars of The Academy.

The organisers wanted to bring non-formal education in a students city like Cluj-Napoca, and it was also a good start for the newbies to see how it is to organise an AEGEE event.

In the streets of Cluj-Napoca

The sessions were meant to develop the skills of the participants, or better put, future trainers and some topics were: Non-Formal Education, Training Design and Delivery, Learning Styles, Group Dynamics, Public Speaking, Self Sense, Facilitation, Giving and Receiving Feedback and Evaluation.

Thanks to the help offered by the University of Babes-Bolyai, some meals were served in the canteen, while others (mostly traditional Romanian meals) were home-cooked by the organisers, new and old members of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca. On its side, AEGEE-Academy was responsible for the sessions, the educational part of the event.

At the University cafeteria

There were also some leisure activities like the city tour, a visit to “Samsara Teahouse” and a Medieval show with local dances and sword fights, although participants did not have a lot of free time.  “It was really nice to have two trainers from outside our AEGEE world; the trainers were there for us, whenever we needed them. The programme was full, the timetable was more or less  strict, but we were there to learn, so mostly we did not mind staying there till 2am and work” says Petra, from AEGEE-Budapest. Some words that can describe the session time, according to the participants, could be: inspiration, creativity, methodologies, brainstorming, sharing and “bullshiting”.

Medieval show

The highlights, also according to attendees, were various: the TNTx session,  to see themselves as trainers and reach their own limits, to handle their expectations and fears and share, give feedback, go with the flow.

Participants learnt a lot of new methods, techniques and theories as a trainer, new ways of approaching future students, to raise their creativity skills but also developed themselves as people. They fell in love with the concept of training, and they discovered that everyone of them has so many things to teach, in every type of learning and every aspect of life. They found a place where they can open their hearts and share their fears, thoughts, happiness.

The trainers were two AEGEE members from AEGEE-Academy, Antonis Triantafyllakis and Ioana Duca, and two from other NGOs, Danny Memarpour from IFMSA (The International Federation of Medical Students Associations) and Zeynep Bostan from EFPSA (European Federation of Psychology Students’ Associations).

Outside the University

The goal of the trainers was to equip the participants with enough knowledge, skills and attitudes for their future as trainers in non-formal education, but also to keep practicing, to learn from new co-Trainers and participants. According to Daniel and Antonis, the greatest thing about being a trainer is observing the self-development of others in real-time and feeling you are somehow contributing to that.

After TNT, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca adquired more active members. These kinds of events are perfect for newbies to understand what AEGEE is all about and how much you can learn -no matter if it is a soft skill or a hard one. Also they had the opportunity to experience a European event in their home town. As a specific outcome for the Romanian local, most of the organisers are now part of the core team for AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca’s Summer University 2017.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Whether you are a delegate, a visitor or an envoy, you are definitely going to love the workshops planned for the upcoming Spring Agora Bergamo! They are new, they are fresh and interactive, aimed for new members coming as visitors, some of them being for the first time at an Agora, eager to learn valuable things, AEGEE related or not,  from trainers and members with experience. Three of them will briefly be presented in this article and are the following: “Be water, my friend!”, “I was killed by PowerPoint” and last, but not least, “Peace it Up!”. Read more to find out about each one of them and don’t forget to join one during Agora Bergamo! See you there!

Workshop I-A: Be water, my friend!

Held by the Speaker and Vice-Speaker of the Public Relations Committee (PRC), Gerardo Garcia Diaz (AEGEE-Oviedo) and former Comité Directeur (CD) member, Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tallin), the workshop will take place on Thursday, 19th May at 12:45 and will end at 14:15. This workshop encourages you to refresh yourself and teaches you how to adapt to different situations, to be like water, as the name suggests, through improvisation theater and role-playing. Although this workshop will be a lot of fun,  a decent level of English is required, so if you are having trouble with that, start revising!

Workshop I-B: I was killed by PowerPoint

As the name suggests, we are all sick and tired of PowerPoint presentations and dull speeches. The means used to spread education & knowledge have changed a lot, the best example for that being TEDx, with events taking place all over, featuring worldwide known trainers, experts and great leaders that inspire us with their speech and stage act. Why shouldn’t you try to be like them? Through tips and tricks presented during this workshop, you will learn how to keep the participant’s attention, leave them speechless and falling in love with your presentation. The workshop will be held by Academy trainer, Ana Potocnik (AEGEE-Ljubljana) and will take place on Thursday, 19th May between 12:45 and 14:15.

Workshop I-C: Peace it Up!

So far, the year of 2016 wasn’t too great when it comes to democracy and peace-making, considering all the terrorist attacks that happened in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul and Ankara. However, it definitely brought us together and motivated us to take our own actions to contribute to a better and more peaceful Europe. The collaboration between the “Democracy in Practice” and the “Your Vision for EUrope”
project has resulted in an interactive and meaningful workshop called “Peace it Up!”, which will offer you this great opportunity to come, share and support your thoughts and feelings about the current situation. It will be held by Noemi Lowy (AEGEE-Debrecen) on behalf of the “Democracy in Practice” project and Adonis Meggos (AEGEE-Peiraias) from the “Your Vision for EUrope” project and it will take place on Thursday, 19th May from 12:45 until 14:15.

For more information you can download the Agora Agenda and the Workshops and Progress Meetings booklet.

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

“It is more or less common ground that one of the weakest points of AEGEE is its internal education. In all levels of the association, active members are expected to bring results virtually without any training at all”. Although this might sound familiar to many AEGEEans, these words were taken from AEGEE’s draft project on internal education back in 1999.

Given that our internal education system has been a long-term issue and a struggle for our association, the picture looks much better now, after introducing the brand new Strategy for Learning and Training at Spring AgorAsturias 2015, and the approval of the proposals that will from now on regulate the definitions of trainings and the brand new compulsory antenna criterion for each AEGEE local to host at least one Local Training Course (LTC).

A new way to manage the internal knowledge in AEGEE

Let’s first review the different tools of internal education available for AEGEEans: firstly the on-line toolkits, which give guidelines to the members in a wide range of topics (ranging from fundraising, to policy and advocacy, public relations and budgeting). However, the initiative is still quite unknown to the network, which seldom uses such tool. LTCs and RTCs (Regional Training Courses) lacked any kind of general framework and objective until now, which were completely free for each local to organise and select its content. Finally, European Schools are a one-of-a-kind experience to gain knowledge and a deeper insight in certain topics, but they are very few taking place throughout the network, on specific dates and with a limited amount of participants – therefore, not reachable for the biggest part of our network.

According to the new Strategy for Learning and Training document, one of the strong features of formal education institutions is “the hierarchy of different levels of education. According to this hierarchy, it is then possible to define the level of knowledge required for the entry”. Therefore, this strategy aims to create a similar structure, which will provide the basis of the purpose of each training and its entry requirements, as well as the outcomes. It looks as follows:

From now on, Local Training Courses will be divided between two levels. The first level, the LTC 1, aims to integrate new members in a local antenna. According to the new proposal approved by the Agora, 50% of the content of an LTC 1 should be devoted to the following sessions: AEGEE identity introduction, AEGEE history introduction, AEGEE’s structure, local antenna introduction and its main activities, and event management.

The remaining content of the LTC1 can be decided by the locals themselves according to their own needs. The LTC 2, aimed at learning the basic knowledge about AEGEE and the skills needed in order to stay active in the antenna or a European body, follows a similar system and has communication channels in AEGEE, training opportunities, thematic projects of AEGEE, project management and communication inside the team as its own compulsory sessions.

The next level of trainings in the association, the Regional Training Courses, are defined as a support for members of local antennae who aim to become board members and, additionally, to promote the cooperation among antennae in the region and building stronger bonds among neighbouring locals. Compulsory sessions include: Management of local antenna (namely, the antenna criteria, membership management, financial reports,  etc.) and the opportunity to choose among leadership skills or strategic planning.

Last, but not least, the Strategy remarks the roles of European Schools, aimed at providing knowledge and a full-week training in a specific field (Human Resources, Public Relations, IT, Self-Development, Fundraising…). On the other hand, the Training for Trainers, aims to strengthen the pool of trainers of AEGEE-Europe. Both training courses have their learning outcomes defined by the AEGEE Academy.

A full package to organise Local Training Courses is already available in our Members’ Portal. Moreover, stay tuned, as the Strategy for Learning and Training includes references to the on-line trainings that will be soon released for testing. This means that, other than toolkits and publications, AEGEE members will have yet another tool accessible to everyone for self-development!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

You have been an active AEGEEan for quite some time, you have organised several events, been involved in projects, and taken up responsibility and duties inside the organisation. However, you notice something is missing. The motivational spark is starting to fade out…

The first edition of SES took place in 2013

Do you identify yourself with these lines? If so, you better save the dates from 22^nd to 28^th of March, which are the days the Self-Development European School 2015 (SES) will take place. The AEGEE Academy and AEGEE-Utrecht are partnering for the second time in order to bring you an inspiring event, where you will get to know yourself better, set goals to keep improving yourself, and light the spark again.

The first edition of SES took place back in 2013 in Utrecht, at a time where The Academy decided to introduce a new thematic to the European Schools. Despite being a pilot project, many participants described it as a “life-changing” event. Now, the Self-Development European School comes back to where it started. “The previous SES was a huge success for participants, trainers and organisers, and there were no doubts to apply again!”, Martijn Weekenstroo, main organiser of AEGEE-Utrecht told The AEGEEan.

Twenty lucky participants will embark in a week-long journey through self-development, with several workshops and sessions ranging from self-awareness, emotional intelligence, effective goal setting, stress management and self-leadership among others, under the management of Paweł Cieślak, experienced member of The Academy.

AEGEE-Utrecht has been preparing for this challenge for a long time, from designing the visual identity and PR materials of SES and settling the logistics to organising teambuilding activities for the organisers. They revealed some of the activities that will be taking place during the social program: “The social program will be a bit quieter than regular AEGEE events. You can think of activities like storytelling with a bonfire and playing some games”. And a European Night, of course! What’s more, we have been told that participants “will sleep in luxurious bungalows just outside of Utrecht”.

According to the organisers, Utrecht “is a thrilling student city with lots of young creative people. The city centre is not too large which makes it very cosy; it has a lot of bars and restaurants alongside the water”. The participants of SES will also get to visit the Dom tower and Dom church, which was destroyed by a tornado, and there will be an option to climb the tower and see the surroundings, and to visit the famous “boat” where AEGEE-Utrecht has its weekly social drinks!

Appealing, right? Get to know yourself, boost your confidence, set motivational goals and embark to an inspiring journey by the channels of this stunning Dutch city. But don’t miss the deadline – you can apply until February 1st. If you want to make “that” change happen this 2015, Self-Development European School is the event for you!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

AEGEE-Barcelona is one busy antenna! They have meetings every Saturday where they meet, socialize and discuss the future of their antenna. In one of those meetings a while ago, they decided to host Fundraising European School (FRES) and it is that particular event that has made them become the Local of the Month of October. The AEGEEan interviewed Clàudia Nogués, who is the newly elected President, as well as Anna Gumbau, the Vice-President and co-main organiser of FRES.

The AEGEEan: How does it feel to be selected Local of the Month?

AEGEE-Barcelona: First of all, we did not expect to be elected as Local of the Month, so it was a great surprise for the antenna. Moreover, after organizing a good and hard-working FRES (Fundraising European School) it was the way to recognize our effort. In the name of all members of the antenna we want to thank you so much for this honor that The AEGEEan has awarded us with!

How do you keep your members active in your antenna?

We try to do many activities with different topics: ranging from our traditional weekly meetings and different lunch meetings such as barbecues or paellas for the members and friends (it is a strategy to get new members, too!) to excursions to discover Catalonia. Furthermore, we encourage all of them to apply for the hundreds of events happening around Europe, from Agorae until New Year’s Eve, and get steeped in AEGEE spirit.

You have elected a new board in October. What have been the highlight(s) of the past board year?

We are very happy with the activities and events that we have organized during this year, and the goals that we have reached. For example we prepared Agoraphobia, the pre-event for Autumn Agora Zaragoza, with lot of success. Also we have done our usual Travel Summer University, in this case with AEGEE-Valladolid.

In order to put an end to a great year, we wanted to organize a serious and formal event as Fundraising European School. But AEGEE-Barcelona doesn’t focus only on organizing events! We work everyday to maintain our members happy and help them with all they need. Also, we try to be present in different universities and make AEGEE more visible. So now we wish for the new board of AEGEE-Barcelona a bright future during this year and to keep working with our aims.

How was the organization of FRES?

Organising the Fundraising European School was a really big adventure: we had to prepare the budget, the social programme and all the logistic arrangements in a very short period of time, practically during only one month, since the event was right after the summer holidays and most of our corporate and institutional partners were out for vacation. Moreover, it is very demanding to stay full of energy, during almost ten days, for such an exhausting event… But yay, we managed!

Really, initially we organised the FRES because even though AEGEE-Barcelona has organised several events, most of them have been purely fun/leisure, with neither any learning content behind it nor any contribution to the Strategic Plan and the Action Agenda. Therefore it was a great way to step out from our comfort zone and try something new. The result, seeing that participants were having fun and enjoying the event, was really rewarding.

What did you learn from the experience?

On the thematic aspect, we got to learn how a training event is from the inside. Moreover, when we had some spare time, we always sat next to the participants during training sessions and took notes of what the trainers were saying, so we actually learnt some things regarding fundraising! On the purely organisational aspect, we learnt a lot regarding time management, and especially the importance of having a strong team, which is coordinated and has the same vision on the event.

What was the best thing about organizing the event?

Teamwork, without any doubt. When some locals organise such big events and the organisers spend so many hours working together, sometimes in very stressful situations, they always run the risk of fighting with each other, having arguments, facing misunderstandings… This was not the case in AEGEE-Barcelona, instead we always worked as a team, rowed in the same direction, got to know each other’s strengths better, and it made our friendship grow stronger. Moreover, we had many new and motivated members who learnt a lot about event management by taking active steps and we had kind of a knowledge transfer “on the spot” and while the event was taking place. Just because of this, all the effort was worth it.

Would you do it again?

Alright, the event is still too close to consider doing it again! Well, probably not FRES, and probably not even another European School, but since we have really learnt many valuable lessons in event management, we will surely come up with some other thematic event some time soon. The 30th Anniversary of AEGEE, the two upcoming Statutory Events in Spain… These are both some good excuses in order to challenge ourselves once again.

What plans does AEGEE-Barcelona have in the near future?

The new board has started with extra-motivation, with a team ranging from “oldies” to a new generation. Our main goal for this year is to keep doing things as good as the previous board. We want to organize, for example, pre-events for the EPM in Burgos and AgorAsturias. Also, we have started to think about the next Summer University. Furthermore, we are happy to have exchanges with some antennae, a part from the usual visits that we have during the year from other Spanish antennae with their Erasmus in Barcelona; moreover, we are also planning to get engaged again with the Catalan Youth Council. To finish, we would like to create a twin antenna for the next two years!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza

Next week from September 27th until October 5th AEGEE-Barcelona will be hosting Fundraising European School for 18 participants – the best way to say goodbye to summer holidays and stay motivated in AEGEE. And hopefully it will still be sunny and warm!

AEGEE-Barcelona is a large antenna of around 80 members and depending with the level of activity and the academic period, there are usually 10 or 15 people present in the meetings. Moreover, in their Summer University they managed to gather new members who are active, motivated and are ready to rock at the Fundraising European School (FRES). The AEGEEan interviewed the organizing team behind FRES who pointed out from the start of the interview that “the strange thing about our antenna is that many of our active members and even current board members have been working or studying abroad, which made planning things and events a bit more difficult, but with several Skype meetings and fluid communication we managed to get things going”.

The AEGEEan: Barcelona is a very touristic destination, but what do you believe is special about the city?

AEGEE-Barcelona: Yes, it is indeed a very touristic destination and this has its “cons” when you organise such a big event. However, we think that what makes it special is the fact that it has such a rich architecture and cultural legacy. It is colorful and has a truly lively atmosphere. But it also has some places which are less known by the average tourist, and we would love our participants to get to know better “the other side” of the city.

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to host the FRES?

AEGEE-Barcelona: We have applied for the FRES because we have hosted several events lately (pre-events, Summer Universities…), but these were mostly “fun” events with few learning and training content behind. We had a first attempt of making a more “serious” event, since we planned to host one of the Y Vote 2014 conventions last February, but unfortunately we did not get the Youth in Action funds. Now, the possibility of organising the FRES came up by some of our most active members, and we decided to take a step forward and host a training event that would give an added value to our antenna and can be beneficial for the Network as well. Besides, we have some experience with fundraising but we would like to go more into deep and see which strategies and good practices we can adopt, so the members of AEGEE-Barcelona can also benefit from it.

The AEGEEan: What experience does your antenna have in hosting events?

AEGEE-Barcelona: We have organised every year a Summer University, usually in cooperation with other antennae, and our antenna has usually hosted pre-events for the Autumn Agora in Zaragoza 2013, and also the one in Alicante in Spring 2011.

The AEGEEAn: Are you currently organizing other events as well?

AEGEE-Barcelona: Not so far. We finished our Travel Summer University  this summer with AEGEE-Valladolid and now it will be up to the upcoming board to think whether we will organise a pre-event either for the EPM in Burgos or the Agora in Asturias, as well as thinking of further local events or maybe a Local/Regional Training Course.

The AEGEEan:  What plans do you have for FRES?

AEGEE-Barcelona: Well, we will be mainly taking care of the logistics and the social programme, but what we can advance is that we will be lodged in a hostel right in the city center of Barcelona, and that we plan a very diverse social programme. We will of course get to know the city, included a city tour by bike and places that are mainly spotted only by locals. We will also have a ‘spooky’ city tour by night where AEGEEans will get to know one of our most famous -and scary- local legends. Also the food will be good, of course – hopefully you will manage to taste our widely-famous paella!

The AEGEEan: Will you have any funding for the event?

AEGEE-Barcelona: We are keeping our fingers crossed for that, since due to the economic crisis and especially the budgetary cuts it is not easy to receive financial funding, but we are trying our best. Our main sources will come from in-kind fundraising though, which our local is making a big effort for and we are starting to get the fruits.

The AEGEEan: How will you cooperate with the AEGEE-Academy?

AEGEE-Barcelona: We are already cooperating with the Academy – and we are continuously asked for feedback when it comes to trainer’s selection and the trainings. We are mailing each other quite often, so the communication so far has been fluent, and it is very cool that they are involving us in the training aspects as well instead of only leaving us the local organisation’s aspects. It’s been good so far, we had previously a get-to-know meeting with the Training Manager, Lyda Michopoulou, and we have been doing our best to meet the trainers’ needs. I now some of the trainers coming from the Academy and I am totally convinced that they will share a very valuable knowledge with our participants.

The AEGEEan: The event is just here, how is everything going with the organization?

AEGEE-Barcelona: Well, these days left are being especially tough because we are trying our best for this event to be perfect, to fit participants’ and trainers’ needs and, at the same time, providing a rich social program. It is sometimes not easy to organise this kind of events in Barcelona, which is a bit more expensive than the average… Luckily we have a very strong and motivated team of organisers who are giving their best for this event to be successful, they are taking care of every single detail, and we also have some “newbies” who are learning first-hand how such an event is organised. I think for all of us it is (and it is going to be) a very enriching experience, for each one of us individually and for the local, since it has been a long time since AEGEE-Barcelona has not organised an event like FRES.

The AEGEEan: Where are the participants from? You are have members who aren’t AEGEEans, right?

AEGEE-Barcelona: We luckily have a wide variety of nationalities, and especially, as you have pointed, we have many members who are not AEGEEans. The Academy has now opened their trainings to non-AEGEE members so we have participants from plenty of other organisations, ranging from BEST, IAAS or FDE. Some of our trainers are also from outside AEGEE. We are very positive about it, since sometimes it is good to be out from the “AEGEE bubble” and strengthen relations with other organisations.

The AEGEEan: What will the participants do during the program?

AEGEE-Barcelona: Well, the trainings program is still a secret for participants! But the Academy will of course deal with FR basics, with persuasive communication, public speaking and much more. When it comes to social program, it has not been easy to arrange, since the trainings require lots of hours. But I am pretty sure that the participants will enjoy the Horror City Tour at the Gothic Quartier, biking around the city, and discover a bit of Barcelona.

The AEGEEan: Any interesting matters you can reveal to us about the event? 

AEGEE-Barcelona: A light joke: in AEGEE-Barcelona we are getting quite crazy lately regarding the organisation of the event and words that contain the letters “FRES” have been coming quite many times into our minds lately. We even called our Whatsapp group as “OktoberFRESt”…

Moreover, this is very special for us because, in fact, the Academy was founded in Agora Barcelona 1999, so exactly 15 years ago. Could it be any better way to celebrate it than having it in here?

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

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

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

Maartje Natrop, speaker of the Academy

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

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

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

Which have been the greatest achievements of the previous board?

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

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

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

The Academy’s brand new logo

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

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

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

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

Which other plans do you expect to achieve this term?

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

T4T in Warszawa

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona