The Environmental Working Group (EnWG) is one of the six Working Groups in AEGEE, all of which are giving important and valuable input to the Network and build an essential part of it. Nonetheless the EnWG does believe that there are reasons why they should win the AEGEEan Award for Best Working Group 2012 and you can find them right here:

What makes the EnWG special from other WGs?

When The AEGEEan asked the EnWG why they should win this award the answer was: “Environmental topics play an important part in nowadays’ politics and economics. Big projects like Rio+20 show the integral role of sustainability but also be sustainable itself. There we did and continuously do try to raise awareness for it and make our actions, activities and events sustainable themselves.”

They promoted and supported green events and activities all over the Network, from workshops at training courses to Summer Universities up to statutory events. The idea of transforming an event into a green event has spread and most thematic Summer Universities focus on environmental topics.

This Working Group increased the number of active members and there are also a lot of enthusiastic members outside the board who take the initiative on organising activities like EDE 2012 or workshops on their favorite environmental topic. The EnWG also increased their active communication in order to get in touch with the members and all other AEGEEans who might be interested in joining the WG.

The EnWG of 2011

The previous mentioned increase in active communication was made in initiatives such as introducing the monthly social meeting. At this Skype meeting all members and interested AEGEEans are invited to discuss current topics and share ideas. The numbers of participants have increased constantly since it was introduced and it has become a good starting point for interested AEGEE members.

Externally the EnWG was working hard on their project too. One of their main goals is to spread green ideas across the Network and help locals and members to realise their ideas. After a total of 20 Summer Universities last year, 13 out of 26 SUs which collaborate with a project team or a Working Group decided to go green in 2012 and work together with the EnWG. They are supported with a team of seven EnWG members who help them with their program and organise workshops and thematic activities.

Additionally the EnWG support the Agora organisers to have a green Agora and spread green topics through workshops at various e.g. Network Meetings in Amsterdam and Tallinn or training courses. Here a lot of the input is given by members of the WG, as many of them study environmental topics and eager to share their knowledge.

What was so special about the EnWG last year?

When asked this question the answer from the EnWG is pure and simple: “We improved the communication with our members and managed to involve a lot of non-board members in our activities as workshop leaders, green SU assistants, the EDE and so on to have a flourishing Working Group and not only a few active members in the board.”  

What is going on in the EnWG these days?

In 2012 the EnWG has continued the hard work of last year. The biggest upcoming project will be the EDE, coordinated by two of their members and involve large parts of the Network to work on different environmental topics. Thus the idea of sustainability and green topics spread further and the EnWG has a high visibility through the Network.

Last but not least it is also important to mention that the EnWG also started collaborating with Prof. James Skelly, who has been a speaker at EBM Izmir and who made his course on Global Conversation available for AEGEE members.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Different antennae in our network have different ways to promote themselves and do fundraising. Mostly used is AEGEE t-shirts of which there exist numerous different versions. Last week we heard the story about one of the most popular t-shirts, the AEGEE-Zaragoza “I love Jamón”, and this week The AEGEEan is focusing on the three other nominees of the best merchandise category for The AEGEEans Choice Awards 2012.

Yellow Spirit at Agora Alicante

Who has not seen the yellow sweatshirt that AEGEE-Alicante members wear with pride wherever they go? The famous “yellow spirit” sweatshirt and t-shirt were designed for last year’s Agora Alicante and made it into the top five of best merchandise.

The design was created by Rakel, member of AEGEE-Alicante and one of the most active designers of the PRC. Actually, she designed the whole visual identity of Agora Alicante, proving that she is an extraordinary artist through all her hard work for the Agora. The choice of yellow was made because it is a colour that indeed catches the eye, and thereby it would be easier for the Agora participants to find an organiser. The name “Yellow Spirit” derived after the Agora when a person used it to symbolise the great connection between the organisers and their eager to always be disposable to do whatever that would make Agora Alicane the greates experience ever for the participants. The original t-shirt was limited edition, only meant for the organizers of the Agora, however due to the big success the yellow colour has since made its way into the designs of AEGEE-Alicante.

The reason why not all “Yellow Spirit” t-shirt owners are Spanish is because each organiser had various t-shirts for the event and in the event lucky friends of the antenna recieved a t-shirt to bring home as a memory. However, that only counts for the t-shirt. The sweatshirts only belong to the organisers, and some members of the Chair team.

Sexy Sofia

During the Summer University “Shake the summer and catch it in a shot,” which took place in Sofia last year somebody stole the flag of the hosting antenna. That somebody was Luc Van den Elzen from AEGEE-Eindhoven but he did not invent a punishment till the very last minute.

During the goodbye night he read a letter in which he asked AEGEE-Sofia to make a sexy calendar where we are with bikini, sexy night dresses and pyjamas. The only condition was for it to be made in PDF and then had it sent to everybody. Liliya Buyukliyska from AEGEE-Sofia explains the process;”We found professional photographers, who of course are friends of the antenna, and then made real photo sessions which turned out to be one of the funniest and best teambuilding moments in the antenna. Then I came up with the idea that if we make something – we make it good. So we printed the calendar and decided to sell it at Agora Skopje. Unfortunately we did not manage to sell as much as we wanted but still the idea worked because the product is unique, made with style and made us feel as superstars.”

AEGEE-Sofia produced 80 calendars because around 40 of them were for the members of the local. The calendars were also promoted during the 20^th anniversary party of the antenna, so now there are around 15 calendars left. Liliya is not in the board anymore, and does not have the power to decide whether or not there will be an AEGEE-Sofia calendar 2013. Had it not been for Luc then there would not have been a calendar in the first place but it is for sure that the active members of AEGEE-Sofia got a great experience out of it and are now full of creative ideas for new AEGEE-Sofia material, mostly thanks to Luc.

Classy Enschede

AEGEE-Enschede is one of the antennae in AEGEE that produces the most merchandise so it comes to no surprise that they have been nominated for the best merchandise award. The bowtie was produced for their 23rd ‘Dies Natalis’, or anniversary on April 2nd 2011.  The committee which organised all the events decided to have ties, chokers (womens ties), suspenders and bowties of the same fabric made. Only 15 bowties were produced, but maybe AEGEE-Enschede should consider producing more because it has alongside the AEGEE-Enschede tie made it to the top five merchandise of AEGEE. The tie has been around for quite some years now, and the estimation of sales is around 200. It is purple because AEGEE-Enschede originally used it as its official color 25 years ago.  Furthermore, the ties have been sold at Agorae to the rest of the Network because it uses the Key to Europe-logo without the name of a local. At the moment AEGEE-Enschede only have about 40 ties left and they are not planning to produce any more of the same design so Spring Agora Enschede will be the last chance to buy them.

AEGEE-Alicante, AEGEE-Enschede and AEGEE-Sofia are alongside AEGEE-Zaragoza and the AEGEE Passport nominated for the AEGEEans Choice Awards 2012 category “Best Merchandise”.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

“Nossa, Nossa assim voce me mataaa, ai se eu te pego, ai ai se eu te pego,”

If you do not know this song, then you must be living under a rock because it has been playing all over clubs and radios for some time now. And for sure, the same words uttered by Michel Telo’ may have come to many guys’ mind when they were confronted with so many gorgeous female AEGEEans making their way to the suit-up party at the EBM Izmir.

The AEGEEan has chosen to put a focus on the AEGEEans that set a high standard for the formal parties at the statutory events of our organization. After introducing you to the five guys that drew our attention at the EBM Izmir Suit-up party, now it is time to shift our focus on the ladies that made some heads turn in Turkey. The nominees are:

Denise:  This Dutch lady is 24years old, born in a city close to Enschede, and has been a member of AEGEE-Groningen since 2009. She is also a very active AEGEE member on the international level where she is one of the sub commissioners of the Juridical Commission. Three words to describe her? Ambitious, motivated and love (for AEGEE)

Mariella Rapa (first from the right): Representative from AEGEE-Valleta, this beautiful lady is 23 years old, and secretary general of AEGEE-Valleta and Vice-Chair. She has been a member of AEGEE for two years, and uses ABC to describe herself: Adventurous, bubbly, caring.

Maryana Semenyak: If you attended the EBM then you for sure saw this beautiful president of AEGEE-Lviv. She is 24 years old, and has been a member of AEGEE since October 2007. What three words describe her? That would have to be vivid, extraordinary, and amiable.

Müge Etcibasi (second from right): She has been member of  AEGEE-Izmir since for 1,5 years, 21 years old and currently secretary assistant of AEGEE-İzmir. A description in three words? Energetic, sincere, outgoing.

Sila (first one from the right): Another representative from AEGEE-Izmir. She is 23 years old and have been member of AEGEE for three years. She is not a board member but president of the supervisory of AEGEE-Izmir. Three words to describe Sila? Outgoing, smart, and self-confident. 

Which one of these lovely ladies deserves to win the “Best Dressed Girl Award” 2012?

Voting starts April 2nd, stay tuned!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

It is no secret that because of the revolution of Facebook we sometimes stumble upon seeing friends congratulating another person because of his/her birthday. This is normal, but what might seem less normal is when the same people post a “happy birthday” message on the wall of a stuffed animal. However, that is exactly what is happening on more and more occasions.

AEGEE-København has Gorm Junior, AEGEE-Lund has Pippi Longstocking, AEGEE-Madrid has Retirito, and the list goes on. They have Facebook profiles, they have birthdays, and they are hosting AEGEE events! It has become more and more common for antennae to have a mascot that they bring to different AEGEE events.

Other antennae have real animals as mascots. It might seem that this is due to the cute AEGEE-Izmir dog spreading love around the gym during EBM. This dog, which is named Arzu Lu, is however not the AEGEE-Izmir mascot but “only” belongs to AEGEE-Izmir member Simge Gizem. Actually AEGEE-Izmir does not have any mascot at all and for sure there are some people that think that they should have a stuffed look-a-like dog named Arzu II to represent them. Antennae that actually do have a real-life mascot are, e.g., AEGEE-Düsseldorf (a dog named Luna) and AEGEE-Piliscsaba (a cat named Cicus Pazmaneus whose story is elaborated further down in the article).

Development of AEGEE Awards 2012

The AEGEEan is working hard on organizing AEGEE Awards 2012 and the idea of rewarding the antenna with the best mascot came up. For this reason, The AEGEEan made a poll on our Facebook page last month in which we asked which ist he cutest mascot. Many AEGEE members pitched in and five particular mascots became the nominees for “Cutest mascot 2012.” And the nominees are:

The famous badger

If you have attended an event with AEGEE-Eskisehir you will most likely recognize their mascot on the picture to the left. It is featured on the sweaters from the local and their stickers too. Stickers which they, as any other antenna, put everywhere! Its name is Masagor which is a combination of MAScot and AGORa because it was designed for the Autumn Agora Eskisehir 2007. The European badger, whose birthday is October 1st 2007, was chosen as a symbol for the antenna because Eskisehir has a river in the city center which is very famous in Turkey. This river is called Porsuk which is the Turkish word for “badger”. “Also important to mention is that badgers are lovable and brave animals,” says Engin Ergezer, president of AEGEE- Eskisehir. The mascot itself is not a stuffed nor a real life animal, but a costume ready to wear.

Leoncio and all his brothers

Leoncio celebrating Christmas in Italy

It is to no huge surprise that Leoncio, the mascot of AEGEE-León, was amongst the popular mascots in The AEGEEans poll since he is one of the most famous mascots out there. There is a Leoncio in Denmark, a Leoncio in Italy, and of course a Leoncio in León but most likely other European places, too. The original Leoncio, although no one knows where he is today, was “born” in 2008. As some of you might guess, the name derives from the name of the city, which also the reason why it is a lion. León means “a lion” in Spanish and moreover it is the symbol of their city.  AEGEE-León is very generous and shows its appreciation to people whom the local cherishes (and who value AEGEE-León) by giving them a Leoncio. It started as a way of promoting the local when the antenna was small and members wanted to gain fame in Europe. “In all manners, Leoncio is like the precious ring from The Lords of the rings, it always comes back to its owner. Leoncio always has sad eyes, he is only happy whenever he is in León,” fundraiser for the Youth Unemployment project David García Rodriguez says about the mascot of AEGEE-León.

"Uca's" t-shirt

The notorious Spanish cow with her own t-shirt

Another Spanish mascot in the race to win the award is Uca, the mascot of AEGEE-Santander. She was born a little after the antenna was founded back in the summer of 2008 in connection with their first Summer University. According to her Facebook profile the birthday has been set to be the 23^rd of August. She was named Uca because UCA is the Cantabrian way of ending words. All Cantabrian words always ends with –uco or –uca. The choice of having a cow representing the antenna is because cows are amongst the characteristics that are part of the landscape of Santander. Uca ALWAYS comes along whenever AEGEE-Santander is travelling with Erasmus, going to a local training course (LTC) or a Network meeting (NWM). She also travelled to the Agora in Skopje etc. The T-Shirt of AEGEE-Santander will be launched soon and Uca is of course the main feature on it.

An addition to the Greek family

Sofoklis is one of the newest mascots in the network. He belongs to AEGEE-Thessaloniki and was added to their family just before their last NWM back in October 2011. He got his name from his godmother, the secretary of AEGEE-Thessaloniki, Konstantina Katrimpouza who named him Sofoklis because of its beautiful eyes that emit wisdom. The Greek antenna chose an elephant because it is the most faithful animal to its family. All members close to AEGEE-Thessaloniki treat each other as if they were blood-related so they could not have chosen a more appropriate mascot to add to their family. He is eager to travel, but always return to home. Sofoklis is too young to have T-Shirts, brothers, or legendary stories – but AEGEE-Thessaloniki cannot wait to release him in Europe and they are sure that he will gain interesting tales rather sooner than later.

The Hungarian university cat

His name is Cicus pazmaneus and belongs to AEGEE-Piliscsaba. The University of Piliscasaba is catholic and therefore all its buildings have Latin names, even the university bar got a Latin name invented by the students, so it was a no-brainer that the cat should have a Latin name too. He belongs to everybody and hangs around the university spending his time begging for food and listening to presentations. At night he is locked inside the building which causes trouble for the security guards who has to hurry to the university whenever the alarm system goes off only to find out that it was caused by Cicus Pazmaneus strolling around the building. In this case the mascot of AEGEE-Piliscasaba was not invented by the antenna itself. He rose to fame on Facebook, after a mysterious guy created a Facebook account for it, and the cat then became a real star. People tend to post photos on his page where he is in funny situations e.g. in a flower pot or in front of a computer in the computer room.

“We chose him as our mascot because we wanted a real showman cat who is the most likely to bring us luck,” Kata Szabó says about making Cicus Pazmaneus mascot of AEGEE-Piliscasaba. However, the Hungarian antenna has realized that they cannot bring him for AEGEE events around Europe. The solution to this is that they are right now are looking for a stuffed look-a-like cat, not to replace him but so that they can bring his spirit whereever they go.

The final voting for the “cutest mascot” award will begin, alongside with the voting for the other categories, Monday 2^nd of April 2012.

The final voting for the “cutest mascot” award will begin, alongside with the voting for the other categories, Monday 2^nd of April 2012.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Thanks to Anil Kacan, Kata Szabó, Engin Ergezer, Ilenia Gurnale & Eleni Buni for contributing with pictures for the article.

Over the years the flag stealing game in AEGEE has developed to a battle in between locals in stealing not only flags, but also mascots and toilet paper belonging to other locals or their members.

Pre-Agora Skopje 2011 participants with the stolen AEGEE-Sofia flag

If you ever consider taking the risk of stealing a flag or another valuable item from another antenna, there are a few things to consider at first. The base of the game is that the aim is to steal a flag or an icon from another local in order to bring the locals closer together, but it is not as simple as it sounds, there are rules.

The basic rules of the game

You can steal everything from the presidential hammer, flags and receptions books till mascots, things with logos etc. when it is publically exposed. It does not count if you take it from personal belongings or in the house of your host which happened when AEGEE-Madrid mascot Retirito was stolen. It had to be given back, without any punishment, because the game has to be done in fair-play.

Faruk is trying to steal AEGEE-Lund/AEGEE-København flag

Now you have the possibility to identify what you can steal, the next step is to know how. First of all, one of the main rules is that you have to steal the item unnoticed/leaving the room without getting caught or you will have to give it back. This is the part where you analyse your opponent and the nearest exit.

During EBM Izmir 2012 Faruk Sayin, President of AEGEE-Canakkale, seemed to have analysed the exit but forgot to analyse his opponent Ilker Bildircin when he tried to steal the twin-flag of AEGEE-København and AEGEE-Lund. Faruk started running towards the nearest exit but Ilker caught up with him and tackled him in true American football style, which is exactly what Ilker practices in his spare time.

A good excuse to enjoy some beers

If you actually do manage to escape with the flag, it is time to come up with an idea for the punishment. The rule is that you are allowed to come up with a punishment that the local has to do in order to get the flag back, as long as the antenna agree to do it.

AEGEE-Budapest in flag-stealing action

This is what happend when AEGEE-Budapest  representative Gábor Pető stole AEGEE-Passau flag during an AEGEE conference with social business as a theme in Passau.  During the event AEGEE-Passau put the flag up everywhere in order to promote AEGEE, but Gábor had something else in his mind. It was an event full of new AEGEE people who were unaware of the flag stealing game, so Gábor found a co-partner in crime from Passau with whom he managed to steal the flag after one session.

Gábor explains the story saying:  “We stole the flag after a session on the last day, but it was quite adventurous. That day it was put in the biggest conference room and it was always crowded. When we almost took down the flag a girl came up to us asking whether we liked the program of the event etc. Later we found out that she was the president of the local, but she did not notice that we are about to steal her flag, which was quite funny because the flag was literally in our hands.”

The flag was returned at the Agora Skopje in which a beer-drinking competion was held between AEGEE-Budapest and AEGEE-Passau because of the interest in Bavarian beers. This all proves that it actually do bring the locals together.

A flag about to be returned to its owner after being away from home for many years

Another succesfull story contains AEGEE-Izmir legendary members Berat Ezel and Ufuk Bal who stole the AEGEE-Europe flag one month before Agora Izmir in 2005. AEGEE-Praha had organized AEGEE’s 20th year celebration event “The Happening.” The flag was stolen in the Czech Senato Building where the workshops and the plenary meetings of the event took place.

AEGEE-Izmir’s member  Tunca Ayyilidiz tells the story with a smile: “The way they stole the flag makes the whole story even funnier, because the two guys recognized that the flag was on the table in the plenary hall and there was only one person from AEGEE-Europe next to the flag, doing some things

AEGEE-Izmir revealing the punishment for the CD house during EBM Izmir

on the table. They asked him for a “scissor” and the guy was so helpful that he gave it to them. But the thing is that they asked for this scissor to cut the strings which attached the flag to the table. So in a blink of an eye, while he was not looking, they took the flag and ran out of the plenary hall.” The flag has yet to be returned to the CD house and the punishment was actually given during EBM Izmir ’12 which requires the CD to send a historic and symbolic item from the CD house in Brussels to AEGEE-Izmir and then the flag will be returned.

AEGEE-Peiraias looking forward soft accomodation during Agora Enschede ’12

These are only two examples of numerous “crimes” that have taken place in our organization, and the creativity regarding the punishment task is indeed wide. AEGEE-Oviedo’s representative Juan Sordo Barriero had to speak negatively about Asturias in a duration of five minutes during the Network Meeting (NWM) in Porto after the WDEE flag got stolen.

Others are more experience flag-stealers such as AEGEE-Peiraias representative Manos Valasis who was responsible of two punishmnets during Agora Skopje. He managed to steal the AEGEE-Enschede flag when it was left ungarded before the opening plenary which required AEGEE-Enschede to sign an agreement that they will provide lucky AEGEE-Peiraias members with up to 12 members

Proof of AEGEE-Enschede's signature on agreeing to provide 12 beds for AEGEE-Peiraias

with beds during the upcomming Agora, in order to get it back. Another flag that Manos had managed to steal during a visit to the CD house in Brussels belongs to AEGEE-Zagreb. CD member Marko and other representatives from AEGEE-Zagreb had to entertain the Agora participatns with performing “I just had sex”, which they succesfully managed to do and got their flag back.

The last case includes Chair team members Yvonne Antonovic and Percin Imrek who entertained a full plenary room during Agora Skopje with their cover version of the Danish pop plague “Barbie Girl” after the Where Does Europe End flag was stolen.

In the end, do not be scared to bring mascots and flags to AEGEE events but hold on tight, especially during Agora’s and EBM’s.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Main Photo courtesy of Tunca Ayyildiz, AEGEE-Izmir

Thanks to Tunca Ayyildiz, Dasha Panther, Deby Gabisson, Hara Kogkou and  Gábor Pető for providing pictures.