After the most romantic city in the world, Firenze, it was time to visit the next city on my route, a city with the oldest university in Europe and the birth place of the current education system, the beautiful Bologna.  Thanks to Interrail I had a chance to take the famous Red Arrow high-speed train, which I could not enjoy more because it was a  35 minutes journey. When I arrived in cold but sun-bathed Bologna, I met with the President of AEGEE-Bologna Kabir. As the meeting with members was planned for the evening, he took me on a city tour and showed me part of the seven secrets of Bologna. If you want to find out what the secrets are, I am inviting you to apply to AEGEE-Bologna’s next events.

Kabir explained to me that AEGEE-Bologna was re-established in 2012, signed the Convention d’Adhésion in 2013 and then they gather around 50 members yearly. Even as a student organisation, AEGEE-Bologna is still not recognised by the University of Bologna, due to the strict rules that organisation need to reach in order to get acknowledgement. The institution that is supporting the local is the municipality, which is offering them support for local activities and logistical support. The Antenna is also a member of one bigger umbrella organisation that is offering additional individual benefits on the base of the membership.

The strongest activity of AEGEE-Bologna is the University Tandem-Language Exchange. They are organising it very often and it is slowly turning into a trademark of the local. In cooperation with the municipality, AEGEE-Bologna will start to organise tandems from the other members of the community. Tandems will happen ten times and every time they will have a different topic to discuss in order to get people active and interested in the project. This year, the local is also organising a Summer University with four more Italian locals, which will give them a new experience.

As for the problems that the local is facing, we discussed the lack of active members and some advice was shared with Kabir. So stay tuned, members of AEGEE-Bologna, as more activities are coming. We also discussed the monthly reports that need to be filled in for the Network Commission. The general opinion is that the form could be simpler, less demanding and that it would be good to receive some concrete feedback from the respective Netcommie. We concluded the day with the social programme with several members of AEGEE-Bologna. I am inviting you to check the interview with Kabir, and check what message he has for you, dear members. My next stop is AEGEE-Udine, so expect the article from there soon.

Hosting an Agora is as much excitement as it is a challenge for any local. In an ideal case, it builds generations together, by offering the chance for a fresh new team to take over the management of the local, and to a team of more experienced members to organise one of the biggest statutory events in AEGEE history. Excitement and challenge it is, but AEGEE-Bergamo managed to face this challenge and has been growing stronger, combining both a strong local presence, Erasmus activities and trust of city officials, and also the opening of the local to hosting thematic projects, international context, a new twin antenna and lots of great ideas.

Even during the too short visit, there was a chance to get a glimpse into AEGEE-Bergamo’s work with Erasmus students during a getaway to the mountains, to remember the spirit of the Erasmus programme and the celebration of 30 years of Erasmus in 2017, and the group was great!

In the following meetings with the board, we discussed the relations between the European level and the local level of AEGEE, and how to increase the number of active members in the local for the realisation of all the great ideas. Great ideas like a career fair, like the new project with high school students and like the Erasmus buddy system. With a new office, an old-new team of hard-working people and lots of great ideas – you will surely hear more from AEGEE-Bergamo, and you should not miss the chance to visit this wonderful city!

Written by Zvonimir Canjuga, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, and Réka Salamon, President of AEGEE-Europe

AEGEE-Bologna decided to have an alternative Valentine’s day by organising a three-day event about blood donation involving youngster in their city, but also in Messina, Catania and Niš. We spoke with Luca Faccani (President), Guido Kabir Troisi (Secretary), and board members Fabrizio Racca and Federica Di Rado, who explained why they started the initiative. But that’s not all, AEGEE-Bologna is looking for a new exchange partner.

 
The AEGEEan: Describe your initiative.

Luca: “Love Suits You” or, in Italian, “L’Amore Ti Dona”, was a three-day event aiming to bring our fellow Italian and European citizens to donate blood. The event started on February 14th, Valentine’s day, and lasted until February 16th .

We firstly contacted AVIS, Italian Association for Blood Donation, and we asked them about the procedure and the requirements to become blood donors. Secondly, we promoted the event at a local level with flyers, posters and on AEGEE-Bologna’s Facebook page. We decided not to limit the initiative to our members, but to extend the invitation to anyone who wanted to become a donor. For this reason, we contacted other student associations in Bologna to join us, but we managed the event and took care of the applications.

From February 14th to February 16th, our AEGEE staff worked in the AVIS headquarters to welcome and assist the participants. During these days, the potential donors did the preliminary medical consultations, which determines whether or not the candidate is suitable. In 45 days, the aspiring donors will receive the results and we will take those who are suitable to do the donation at another event. From the beginning, we decided to share the initiative with the Network and the antennae that joined us were AEGEE-Messina and AEGEE-Catania (from Italy) and AEGEE-Niš (from Serbia). I want to publicly thank them for the fantastic effort they did in the name of a good cause.

How did you come up with the idea?

Guido Kabir: Our president, Luca, said that the idea came to him while he was studying, but he doesn’t really remember why, but it was something he had wanted to do for a long time and he realised that he just needed an opportunity, an event. When he told us about this idea we thought that this could be a common “problem”, and maybe a lot of people do not donate simply because they do not have time to look for information or because they keep on postponing it. This was something that AEGEE could manage

 
How many people attended? Was it well received?

Fabrizio: The initiative was generally very well received by all who were involved. There were twenty participants here in Bologna, which is a good amount considering that the requirements for becoming a donor are very strict. Moreover, many students in Bologna come from other parts of Italy, so they choose to donate blood in their home city’s hospitals. Then, we should add that there are another eighty people from Messina and thirty from Niš, while many others will join us from Catania, where the initiative will take place on February 28th.

We are planning a second edition of “L’Amore Ti Dona” next year, hoping to raise the number of participants not only from Bologna but also from the entire Network. It would be fantastic to make it an yearly AEGEE event.

Why is it important to donate blood?

Federica: Donating blood is important because a little help can make a big difference. By donating blood you can help save lives. It’s important to remember that human blood cannot be manufactured, and so donations are essential. Donating life is the greatest act of solidarity and altruism. It is not only important for the recipient, however; after the donation, the donor will feel useful, important, and happy. Furthermore, she/he will be motivated to implement a healthy lifestyle and the continuous visits will allow her/him to keep tabs on her/his health.

What are the upcoming plans of AEGEE-Bologna?

Luca: As a young, ambitious and expanding antenna, founded only in March 2013, we are proceeding step by step developing our skills in different fields, ranging from group-building to managing different kind of events. We are already planning a public speaking seminar that will start in April, which will focus on breathing techniques, elocution and speaking skills. Next, we would like to organise our second antenna exchange, so if any antennae would like to visit our ancient and beautiful city, simply send us an e-mail! One other important event for us will be the first Local Training Course outside Bologna. We would like to rent a farmhouse for a two-day experience. This would improve our new members’ knowledge of all the opportunities that the AEGEE world offers, and also provide us with experience that will allow us to hold bigger events in the next future.

Our motto is “every big thing started being small”. It may sound common, but for us it is the base for achieving something special, a Summer University, an European Planning Meeting, an Agora.

 
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

As part of the new action called GO GREEN, organized by the Environmental Working Group (EnWG), several locals all over Europe took part in the AEGEE Bike Week. The AEGEEan spoke to Elise Bessieres (AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles), HR responsible of the EnWG and therefore one of the initiators of the Bike Week, to find out more about the story behind this event and the specific actions performed by the antennae.

The main goal was easy: to raise awareness of sustainable methods of urban transportation. And, in the best case, to combine it with sports and fun for the locals, of course. Instead of giving long speeches about the disadvantages of travelling by car, AEGEEans were therefore asked by the EnWG to set a good example and hop on their bikes.

The time frame was set for the end of June, a month in which the focus within GO GREEN was set on green transportation anyway. It fitted perfectly, being “an easy and fun activity during summer, where a lot of people are outside and travel”, Elise tells us. To activate more members, especially taking into consideration that June is quite often in the middle of the exams period, the AEGEE Bike Week actually lasted for two week, giving the locals more time to organize their activities.

In general, the locals were quite free in their choices concerning what exactly they were going to organize. Ideas given by the EnWG ranged from smaller events just for the members of the locals to bigger events that might even involve the public. Encouraging members to use their bikes to go to university, bike trips to nice landscapes, exchanges with other antennae by bicycle or “free rent AEGEE bikes”, meaning that locals offer people the possibility to rent their bikes for free instead of driving, were just some of the inspirations given by the EnWG. As long as the events centered around this sustainable method of traveling, everything was allowed and new ideas were welcome!

In the end, many locals indeed became quite creative. For instance, AEGEE-Kastoria co-organized a bicycle trip around lake Orestiada on 15th of June together with other voluntary groups to raise awareness of violence against women. Many other locals arranged trips with their members and a lot of pictures of cycling AEGEEans popped up on social media within the last weeks. The precise number of participating antennae is not known, but every single event surely earns the Network’s respect.

All in all, the AEGEE Bike Week was quite a success, Elise tells us. “Especially because we organized a picture competition. It was a nice way to also promote the locals who participated as we posted their pictures on Facebook”. These photos are the best proof to show that promoting a sustainable way of transportation does not have to be boring, but can offer lots of fun.

It is not definite yet if the AEGEE Bike Week will become an annual event, but Elise assures us that the current board of the EnWG will definitely suggest the idea to renew the event during every summer to the next board.

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen

The locals that cooperated: AEGEE-Bakı, AEGEE-Bologna, AEGEE-Gdansk, AEGEE-Gliwice, AEGEE-Kastoria