On the picturesque banks of the Mediterranean, on the island of Sicily, lies the beautiful city of Catania. It is the home to a very energetic local that has the distinct honour of organising the Autumn Agora 2017. We had the pleasure of interviewing Daniele Ricevuto, current Treasurer of AEGEE-Catania and Main Organiser of Autumn Agora Catania.

Why did you apply to host the Autumn Agora 2017?

After experiencing Spring Agora Bergamo, I was so inspired, that it felt like it was my antenna’s turn to manage the organisation of the next Autumn Agora. I, along with the Board of AEGEE-Catania, had a vision, a dream and we are looking forward to show you what it is made of.

How would you describe AEGEE-Catania?

I would describe AEGEE-Catania as a part of my life. It used to be an association, but now it is a family, my family. We call ourselves “The Burning Heart of Europe” and I guess that it could not be more true. They are the most warm-hearted people I have ever met and that is something that all of us are able to show to all the people who join our events.

Who will be the main organisers of Autumn Agora Catania?

The Main Organiser of Autumn Agora 2017 is going to be me, Daniele Ricevuto, treasurer of AEGEE-Catania, treasurer and organiser of five Summer Universities and several other events organised by AEGEE-Catania. I’m an expert in complex electronics, but most of all, I’m an AEGEEan with a dream: to organise the Agora in Catania.

Does AEGEE-Catania have any past experience in organising an event similar to the Agora?

We organised so many events, like incredibly successful Summer Universities, Winter Events, Gastronomic Events, European School of Entrepreneurship, SUPS, 30th Anniversary Night of Seven Antennae and NWMs. We have never organised an event as impressive as an Agora before, but we are ready and determined to do so.

What will be your biggest challenges in hosting the Agora?

That’s an easy question, that requests a complicated answer: when you organise an event like the Agora with so many details that you have to think about, and consider throughout, the entire organising process is a challenge; both before, during and after the event. Human resources, fundraising, accommodation for the participants, the location where the plenaries and prytania will take place, the transportation, etcetera. The challenges are countless, and that is just what motivates me to give the best I can do.

What makes Catania an attractive city to visit?

Catania is attractive for so many things! We live close to the most active volcano in Europe, our beloved Etna. We have beaches close to the city centre. You can find a mix of architectural styles that can just make people fall in love with it. Our culinary traditions make us so proud of our food, which is more than pizza, pasta, and so on. It is a city that is culturally very active and has a magic atmosphere. Catania is definitely the pearl of the Mediterranean Sea.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

The Summer University Project School is going to take place this year in Catania from the 7th until the13th of March. The participants will learn all they need to know in order to organize the perfect Summer University. We asked Ioana Duca, Main Organizer of SUPS 2016 and Roberto Patanè, president of AEGEE-Catania and SUPS Responsible, about the event, so now you have no excuse not to apply for it.

The AEGEEan: Ioana, you have a rich history in AEGEE. Why Main Organizer for Summer University Project School?

Ioana Duca: It is true, but in AEGEE is never too late to do something. Unfortunately, during my term in the Comité Directeur I didn’t have the opportunity to do as much as I wanted, as there is too much bureaucracy and too many other things to do, but now I’m still trying to do some things. Plus it is my favorite topic in AEGEE: Summer University and how to organize an SU.

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-Catania, winner of the best Summer University in the past years, are the local organizers. How do you think that this will influence the participants of SUPS?

Ioana: I’m happy that AEGEE-Catania will organize SUPS this year. I think we will all have the chance to see the secret behind winning best SU several times in a row. And more important for the participants, they will be able to see, observe and learn from AEGEE-Catania, a very experienced and highly prepared local. And what way is the best in order to learn? To see them in action!

The AEGEEan: Your local has been organizing great Summer Universities for the past years. Why did you choose to organize a Summer University Project School only now?

Roberto: I was the main coordinator of the best SU 2015 and an organizer in 2013 and 2014. So I just took part in the latest best three SUs out of four and as everyone knows, three is the perfect number [he smiles, ed.]. Jokes apart, this year as president I decided, together with some board members, that it is time to organize a memorable SUPS.

The AEGEEan: What is the theme for this year SUPS and why did you choose it?

Ioana: The inspirational theme of this SUPS is South Park. Personally, I’m not very familiar with this TV show. It was a proposal from SUCT (Philipp) and we all agreed that it is a nice idea that can fit with the place and the event; we have students, buses, a school and I think it is a nice and attractive idea.

The AEGEEan: How many participants will there be? Are you looking for someone special, some kind of skills and knowledge from a participant?

Ioana: We will have 25 participants. We are looking for motivated people that really want to learn how to organize the best Summer University, to learn and discover new things and to make some new friends. Skills and knowledge will be gained during this event, they just need to be open and ready to learn and experience.

The AEGEEan: Why do you think that AEGEE members should apply for your event?

Roberto: AEGEEans should apply because everyone can improve their skill such as: Event management, Fund Raising, Team building, Creativity, and so on. Also, they can discover all these along with some experienced trainers and surrounded by the wonderful Sicilian landscapes, in the most awarded as best SU city.

The AEGEEan: Did you already choose the trainers? Who are they?

Ioana: Yes, and it was one of the most difficult decisions ever. We had a lot of applications, around 20, and almost all applications were really good, motivated and experienced members and for this reason, it was very difficult to decide. Unfortunately, we couldn’t select all applicants.

The trainers team of SUPS 2016 is composed by: Lucia Gavulova –  SUCT, Paolo Furia – AEGEE Catania, Ander Guerrero – CD, Carolina Alfano – SUCT and Mateusz Muszalski – AEGEE-Kraków/Audit Commission; best team of trainers!

The AEGEEan: How are the preparations going so far for this event?

Roberto: We are still working in order to organize the accommodations, meals, social program for the participants, and make everything prepared to host the trainers for some high level sessions.

The AEGEEan: What are your expectations for this event?

Ioana: I expect to have the best organized SUPS ever, as we are in Catania! Trainers to be not only amazing (as they already are), but to share their amazingness! Last but not least, participants to be active, motivated and by the end of SUPS, to go home with a bigger luggage, full of knowledge, experience, motivation and friendship (they should pay more for their return luggage). And to show once again that the cooperation between the Academy, SUCT and AEGEE-Catania is perfect.

Here you can find the Facebook event for SUPS and you can apply here.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

AEGEE-Catania got the prize for the best Summer University four times in the last four years. We talked about it with Roberto Patané, Main Coordinator SU Catania 2015 and Elisa Tabbì, AEGEE-Catania’s former president. We asked them to explain us how they experienced being the Specialists in the creation of the Summer Universities. Located in Sicily, in AEGEE-Catania, people are all friends with each other: this is the secret.

The AEGEEan: For the fourth time in a row AEGEE-Catania achieved the Best Summer University prize. Which is the secret?

AEGEE Catania: Would you like to know our secret? You can take part in one of our SU and we will reveal it! Joking apart, our secret is made up of our Organisers group. Before being Organisers, we are a group of friends and like a big family, we put a lot of effort in the organisation to have the participants happy and have a good time with them, by building just a close group.
Which University Courses do AEGEE-Catania members attend to?
Our members attend to several courses from informatics to law, from humanities to engineering, from medicine to foreign languages.

We always talk about AEGEE Spirit. What is AEGEE-Catania’s Spirit?
We often go out together as friends, we regard us as a big family with the intention to have fun together, without exclusion.
What is the Linguistic Aperitif? Do you often organize any events with the Erasmus students?
The Linguistic Aperitif is one of the AEGEE-Catania main events organised not only for the Erasmus Students, but also for our members and everyone who might be interested in the association. We make use of some games, so that you enjoy the possibility to have relations with European students and learn other languages or improve your favourite one. On the local level, there is a Working Group which deals with all the events for Erasmus students such as sightseeing trips, dancing parties, Cuban Salsa lessons, cooking workshops, and so on. In particular, Anfitrione project, in collaboration with Catania University, is about the appointing of some Catania students as tutors for Erasmus students who arrive in our town: for example, Sicilian students help the Erasmus ones to look for a house to rent or do other stuff.

When was your Antenna born? Could you tell us any local and international events before AEGEE-Catania becomes the Antenna specialist in SU?
Our Antenna was born in October 2004. Since that date, AEGEE-Catania organised many European events, like some NWM, a European School of Entrepreneurs, a Winter University and a lot of Summer events. On the local level, in every semester we prepare lots of events for both Erasmus and Italian students, such as the Erasmus Welcome Week, Anfitrione project and the International Dinner.

For the New Year’s eve you are preparing the Winter University. Would you like to give us any indiscretions?
It will be an event full of attractions. We had already organised a WU in 2013 and we are improving it a lot. People who did not participate in our SU will have the opportunity to try all activities and spend a NYE close to the sea, with a New Year’s Eve big party.
Which are the future projects of AEGEE-Catania?
We hope to host the next SUPS and to organise many events like last year, with a NWM and the 30th Anniversary Antenna.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE- Cagliari 

AEGEE-Catania’s Summer University (SU) was elected as the best SU during Autumn Agora Cagliari, but that, for sure, does not mean this Sicilian antenna’s work is done. Not at all actually, because the local is on fire with a Network Meeting (NWM), another Summer University and contribution to the upcoming Night of the Seven Antennae. We spoke to Alfio Koshimanu Bonaccorsi, Main Organiser of the NWM, to find out more about the secrets of this local and their upcoming events.

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to organize the NWM? When did the idea start?

Alfio: Well, we applied for the previous Autumn NWM, but the network was asking for a meeting in North Italy after many in the south, so we had to wait for Spring 2015 to host this event. We applied because we are proud to be part of the Rainbow and to give its members a great event of reunion. Plus, everyone was asking for an event in Catania, aside from a SU, so here it is!

Who will be responsible for the organisation?

I will be the Main Organiser, but I have a great team of twenty people, including the former and present presidents, Antonio and Elisa.

When will the NWM take place and how many participants will be there?

From the 12^th until the 15^th of March. We started with 45 places, but we extended it to 50 due to the high number of applications.

Do you already have plans for the NWM?

The sessions are fixed by the Network Commission (NetCom), but in the free time we will show some of the icebreaking games and activities that make our SU events so unforgettable. Plus, the participants will have a special dinner, they do not know about yet! And of course, European Night!

You are also organising a Summer University again. What is the plan for your SU, and how do you manage to combine the SU with the preparation for the NWM?

This year we are going to take a risk. We are going to change our winning theme and challenge ourselves again. We are going for a Mythology theme, because Sicily is an island full of myths and legends. The coordination will be difficult, but the team is already active for the SU and we will have our first meeting on the 1^st of February!

What are your secret plans to become the best SU for the fourth time?

Changing the theme and the content of our SU is a risky decision, but it will also give the old and experienced members new energy and enthusiasm. Furthermore, every year we improve something based on our participants feedback, and this year will be no exception.

Next to the NWM and SU, you also signed up to organise the Night of the Seven Antennae. How do you plan to combine these big events?

Fortunately, the NWM and 30^th Anniversary both take place in a weekend and both have sessions that will be hosted in university halls. We are creating a great team to manage both of them, keeping some things similar (lodging, meals, session rooms) to make things easier.

Why should people come to Catania for one of your events?

The applications for the NWM have already closed, but you can apply for the Night of the Seven Antennae event soon. It is a good chance to visit us, to discover this magic city among the volcano and the sea and find out why we organise such unforgettable events. I think it is a great combination of European timing and organisation (every detail is very important), and Sicilian warmth and friendliness. Oh, and we will sleep in a bed and breakfast, so we have real beds, that is important, too!

Do you have any other big events coming up that AEGEEans should not miss?

The Night of the Seven Antennae from 17^th until 19^th of April, the Summer University from the 7^th until the 18^th of August and another secret project for next autumn! Catania is thinking big. We are very optimistic about the present and future.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

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

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

AEGEE-Aachen

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Bergamo

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Catania

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

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

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

AEGEE-Kyiv

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Leiden

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Sofia

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Eskişehir 

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

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

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Being awarded the best Summer University is never an easy task, due to the big amount of contenders. Being awarded twice with such a distinction is something to be proud of. Well… in Autumn Agora Cagliari, AEGEE-Catania received this award for the third time in a row! We were wondering what the secret of the organisers of AEGEE-Catania is to organise what some might consider the perfect Summer University. The AEGEEan interviewed the members of the antenna located in Sicily, and discovered some of the ingredients for a wonderful SU!

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations! How did you feel when the awards were announced and you were up on stage in Cagliari?
AEGEE-Catania: Well, actually we were optimistic regarding the result, and this is not a matter of presumption, but of good feelings, even if we knew it would not be a piece of cake this year. We were there, all together, sixteen members of AEGEE Catania and around fifteen partycipants, fingers crossed and ready to celebrate… The proclamation was an explosion of joy and happiness and up on the stage we felt so proud: the dream came true once again!

Can you tell us briefly about the main activities you had during your Summer University?
We planned a series of activities, fun games and interesting workshops (theater, sand castles, city tour, photography, body painting) and neverending parties, from early in the morning until late in the night, related to the winning theme of the Pirates. We carefully divided our 45 piratecipants in six crews and let them live a fairytale in the treasure island (our beloved Sicily) thanks to an exciting tournament.
We had the chance to bring our participants on top of the volcano Etna during a wonderful eruption, and we found a restaurant which perfectly matched with the theme of our SU for a special dinner.

How many organisers and helpers did you have?
Actually there were many organisers and helpers this year, around 25 in total. We decided for this big group in order to involve new members of AEGEE-Catania, let them understand our philosoply and teach the new generation of orgasmisers.

And which are, according to you, the ingredients for the perfect Summer University?
The perfect Summer University has to be planned at least three months in advance, and needs a group of friends organising it rather than a team of organisers; in Catania we use to define ourselves as “the family”! Regarding the magic ingredients: passion, love for the own country, willingness to let the participants live a fairytale, integration among the participants and between participants and organisers are the key.

What about AEGEE-Catania, how many members do you have, and which are your main activities every year?
AEGEE-Catania was born in 2003. In 2004 it organized its first Summer Event. From 2005 untill 2014 our Antenna has been organising Summer Universities that have become famous for their high quality (according to the evaluations of participants) and we recently achieved the third Best Summer University prize in a row! The success of these events depends, in our opinion, on the perfect mix between shared experiences and strong motivation which characterizes our antenna.

Next to Summer University, AEGEE-Catania has also organised a NWM and European and local events. Our antenna is active in local activities connected to the Erasmus project; from 2004 up to this semester we have been organising the so-called Anfitrione Project. Trusted members and students that we involve in this project give logistic support to Erasmus students and participate in organising several activities (such as trips, courses, meetings, linguistic aperitif and parties).

AEGEE-Catania consists of 80 members, who form a close-knit group that has being working hard on a lot of activities and initiatives for eleven years. This way, it has earned the esteem of many associations and institutions in Catania.

How do you motivate members to be active?
Every year, AEGEE Catania organises Local Training Courses for its members and weekly meetings to spread the knowledge of AEGEE among young students and motivate them to join our intercultural activities. But I am sure that the Erasmus activities are the main attraction for new members.

And what about AEGEE-Catania’s future plans – any foreseen events soon?
We applied for the next Spring NWM and we also applied for AEGEE’s 30th Anniversary. We hope to be able to organise both events!

Do you have any ideas already for next year’s SU?
There are some members that want to organize the best crazy TSU ever, but it’s a secret and we can’t reveal it yet. However, we can say that there will be three different antennae in two different countries involved!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

This year, a total of 3312 SU applicants made their choice amongst the 80 available Summer Universities. Among those, five of them stood out, having far more than 100 applications. It won’t be a surprise that we are talking about AEGEE-Cagliari & AEGEE-Napoli’s ‘La vita è bella: Mediterranean coast to coast’ managed to gather 184 applications, but AEGEE-Peiraias’ ‘Sea Wars: The Port strikes again!’, AEGEE-Catania’s ‘The treasure island vol. III – The origins of the crew’, AEGEE-Helsinki & AEGEE-Tartu’s ‘FinEst Way to Push your Limits’ and last but not least AEGEE-Tarragona & AEGEE-Valencia’s ‘Touch the Sky Under the Mediterranean Fire’ did a great job too! The AEGEEan spoke to the organising teams of this Fantastic Five to find out more about their methods.

Of course, the first thing we were wondering is how these Summer Universities managed to attract so many participants. The Fantastic Five agree that it’s thanks to the unique program they offer, for example exploring the Nordic antennas, Greek islands or the Italian culture, but another important aspect is formed by the good ratings given in earlier years. As AEGEE-Cagliari and AEGEE-Napoli summarize: “We think it’s probably due to what we can offer during the event: wonderful cities full of history and art that appeal millions of tourists each year, fantastic seasides and last but not least our typical folk spirit, that fascinates all people.” AEGEE-Peiraias adds to this: “Our positive thinking and belief that we could make it, along with the dedication and hard work we put in this project resulted in this positive outcome.”

Also, a good use of promotion never hurts, which is a tool the Fantastic Five used extensively. Pictures are a popular tool, but most of the Summer Universities also made a promotional video to share with their applicants what they could expect. AEGEE-Catania showed off their earlier held treasure hunt, while AEGEE-Helsinki & AEGEE-Tartu made a series of videos, AEGEE-Peiraias used video too to promote their SU and AEGEE-Cagliari and AEGEE-Napoli filmed a short summary of what to expect. Next to this, another popular method was the creation of a Facebook page, where regular updates about the Summer University were given.

After the successful promotion, it was time for a hard task: deciding on your participants, while having more than hundred applications waiting. How did the teams deal with this? “We first looked at the motivation letter, since our goal was to select participants who really wanted to be here and who would take part in every activity and opportunity to offer”, AEGEE-Helsinki and AEGEE-Tartu tell us. “Since most of them were pretty awesome, we also decided based on the country of residence to have cultural diversity and we also selected participants by gender, to have an equal amount of boys and girls.” The other three use a similar method, also AEGEE-Catania adds that an original and funny motivation letter together with pictures and a video is the way to get through their preliminary selection.

Asked about their tips for organising teams next year, the Fantastic Five have different tips ready. “We just recommend them, first of all, to be a group of very good friends. Having a strong friendship, with confidence in the people you are working with, is the best weapon for facing a challenge like this one. Apart from that, the team has to be motivated and ready to work during some months, with patience, but also enthusiasm.” AEGEE-Helsinki and AEGEE-Tartu add to this that it’s mostly important to imagine yourself being a participant in your SU. As AEGEE-Peiraias summarizes: “Together we stand, divided we fall. Our good cooperation and the respect and love we show for each other are the main ingredients of our team.”

Since three out of five Summer Universities were done in cooperation, we were also curious what the benefits of joining forces are. “We think it’s a good idea, because it brings the possibility to know the people from another antenna better, learn to work with another group of people who can teach you new things for your antenna and also to spend some days in another city”, AEGEE-Tarragona and AEGEE-Valencia says. Another important reason is having a good chemistry between different teams, which happened to AEGEE-Cagliari and AEGEE-Napoli. Still, a Summer University can also be organized by just one local, as AEGEE-Catania and AEGEE-Peiraias proved us.

Either way, whether you do it alone or together, organising a popular Summer University seems to be a mixture of good and extensive promotion, an awesome team, great plans and a lot of enthusiasm to make it happen. For this summer the plans have already been made, but let’s create magic again next summer!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

By now you should know who Ermanno Napolitano is. He was presented in the magazine as the new Juridical Commission President last year, and then he ran for a position in the Members Commission (MemCom) in Agora Enschede and was elected. In the meantime MemCom became MedCom (Mediation Commission), and that is the European level body that Ermanno is focused on this day going for a re-election in Agora Budapest. So The AEGEEan felt the need to interview Ermanno, once again, to get some more details on his candidature.

You have been for a long time the only candidate for the Mediation Commission (MedCom), why do you think that is the case?

MedCom is a very delicate body and usually people prefer to present a candidature for something more attractive. Just take into account that, apart from the data privacy issue, we also manage the antennae’ problems, so some people are just not into that. However, I’m pretty sure somebody else will candidate.

The AEGEEan: Why do you think that none of the other current MedCom have chosen to re-candidate?

Ermanno: Well let’s start with Alla Resheten, for instance. Alla is running for position of the Chairperson of the Agora, something she has always wanted to do, ever since I know her. All of us pushed her to do so, and I’m sure she will be a very good asset for our General Assemblies. I guess Alberto Cuesta will be busy at work; and Robert Martínez-Carrasco, well, he gave his full availability to the Chair Team when he was elected Comite Directeur Assistant for the organisation of Agora Budapest, but then after the reaction of the JC he prefers (and I perfectly understand him) to  take some (temporary) rest from AEGEE.

Are you trying to convince anybody else to join you?

Actually, I have talked to some outstanding AEGEE members about it, including Maurits Korse and Olimpia Parje. I think there are a lot of capable members who can do it, but it’s always up to them. For sure my well intention words alone will not make someone candidate, even if I would love to! The term for our commission will be one year, so the members applying should be very motivated and full of AEGEE spirit right from the very beginning!

You have been extremely active since Agora Istanbul touching upon almost every area of AEGEE, what keeps you going? 

Well, thanks for the compliment.  Actually I find my motivation in many things. First of all, I’m glad to give my contribution to the Network, and I always try to do my very best. I’ve been elected three times already and I hope that is because my work was appreciated. However I also do it for personal satisfaction. AEGEE offers you the possibility to improve your knowledge in many areas. Ever since I started doing things on the European level I grew, both professionally and personally. Throughout all this time I’ve met loads of interesting people working who I have been glad to share team with. To be honest I also saw that, for this Agora, there were not so many candidates and some positions were still open, so I decided to step for the Network one more time. If my appeal may be worth something, I would like to invite those who are motivated to apply, since working for AEGEE is a truly rewarding opportunity

We know that you can’t talk openly about the cases that you get in the MedCom, but can you try to elaborate a bit on what work you have been doing the MedCom since Agora Enschede?

The only thing I can say, because we always have to respect the parties involved and keep everything on a low profile, is that a lot of work has been done this year. We have had to discuss quite a lot of things and consider many possible actions, consequences, and decisions. In any case, we also worked to achieve and guarantee the best and fairest solution for the antenna(e) in question, and of course for the Network.

You mention that you want to improve communication with Network Commission (NetCom) and Comité Directur, why and how do you think it can be improved?

Actually, as I said in my previous interview, the MedCom has changed. At present we act already on the first stages of any possible problem helping AEGEE members right from the very beginning, before any case is open. In order to do that we need a closer cooperation with the Network Commission, because normally it is them who are contacted first should antennas have any internal problem.

Consequently, also the Comité Directeur has to regard the Mediation Commission as an organ with mediation powers and not a body who is activated upon request, something we managed to change during Agora Enschede.

I personally think that, in general, the whole association does still not know what the Mediation Commission does, and there is still some confusion on our everyday activities. What I can say, and on this particular topic I think I can talk on behalf of the whole Commission, is that the new functions, duties and powers of the MedCom have not been fully understood yet by our members. The current MedCom has already started working on in, opening some constructive discussion internally. One of my goals within my term, if I happen to be elected, will be improving that.

The AEGEEan wishes Ermanno good luck with his candidature!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

European School of Entrepreneurship

5-12 December 2011

Catania, Sicily

I’m a billionaire, sang Travie McCoy. So will we. Meet the young entrepreneurs of AEGEE!

The European School of Entrepreneurship (ESE) was a real pioneer in every sense among all the AEGEE trainings. It was not just the first edition of ESE, but also the topic was uttermost interesting since it did not deal with internal issues as other European Schools. The entrepreneurship and self-employment are also ones of those subject areas which gained more importance in the past years, as it was stated that these can be one of those solutions in one’s life which can help to get out of the crisis.  

Discovering European School of Entrepreneurship

The first time I heard about the European School of Entrepreneurship was in Alicante and I found it an amazingly good idea at the very first moment. Being the part of the biggest interdisciplinary youth association of Europe, I felt the need of different possibilities of self-development, and this European School was perfect to fill the gap.

Everyone wants to be a part of ESE

ESE was a result of a great cooperation: the host local, AEGEE-Catania coordinated the work perfectly, what has been done by the main coordinator, Peppe Gianni was really impressive. The trainers came from AEGEE-Academy, the Youth Unemployment Project, Network Commission and the YoutHub Catania Student Incubator. AEGEE-Catania invited several external speakers which spiced up the entire week and according to the evaluations, the participants found it motivating and incredibly useful.

Important lesson learned