It is often said that what makes a Summer University a successful event is the group of participants more than the program and organization. Well, this is true, but what if 26 awesome people were gathered and guided through an unforgettable adventure that would tour some of the most attractive spots of northern Europe? The answer is that it already happened.

Organised by AEGEE-Tartu and AEGEE-Helsinki, “FinEst Way To Push Your Limits” is a SU that didn’t get its name by chance. As a starter, ropes and heights were the protagonists at the adventure park in Tartu, followed by a refreshing day in the extreme park where everyone tried something new: wake boarding

Pushing limits, and pushing limits again… not only in a physical way. City rallies and pub crawls were the perfect test for the participants’ imagination and social skills, who, eager to squeeze every drop of this summer cocktail, did their best dealing with the elaborated tasks the organisers had prepared. A pure example of “limits pusher” was Oleh Hladchenko from AEGEE-Kharkiv, whose injured shoulder seemed to be an extra motivation  rather than a handicap to be the most active and energetic when it came to face any activity or task. Also, “evxaristó polí malaka” to Panos Mousketas from AEGEE-Peiraias for the improvised Greek language workshop he gave.

After the amazing Estonian part, which included Tartu, Pärnu (a spa-session recharged everyone’s batteries here) and the stunning Tallinn (where the tough guys Tambet Lepp and Hendrik Roland Helm, both from AEGEE-Tartu, gave a bearable military workshop), what was coming next wasn’t less exciting: partying on boats for two nights in a row.

The first boat brought the group to Stockholm. Here, a grey sky didn’t bring too much rain, so it was possible to walk and photograph this incredibly classy city, which unfortunately has no AEGEE antenna. Only half of the event had passed when the second boat arrived to Finland, where all the tired and “slightly-affected-by-a-lot-of-party” people received a salmon soup that felt better than a mushroom for Mario Bros.

Walking through Helsinki and discovering the beautiful island of Suomenlinna (where games and improvisation workshops took place under a shining sun) was really nice, although it had to end… but for some reason people were not sad at all. Could it be because the next stage consisted of three days in paradise? A cottage was waiting in the middle of the forest, touching the lakeshore: Märkiö, the place to be.

Sports, games, parties, swimming in the lake… no one else around, and everything surrounded by a natural landscape. A musical touch was added by María Ibañez from AEGEE-Valencia, Juanlo Alonso from AEGEE-Helsinki and this writer, who, with guitar and ukelele, played the music for anyone willing to join the improvised singing sessions.

Even the parties happened to be really special there, since they usually ended going to the sauna as a group, naked, and then running to the cool and cold lake, and then to the sauna again and so on…

It is hard to imagine a better ending to such amazing days. Even for those who were staying after the SU time, AEGEE-Helsinki did not stop taking care of them with the same interest. Here comes a special mention to the Finnish organiser Seppo Hälikkä (AEGEE-Helsinki), who, besides becoming the great DJ of the SU, demonstrated being a remarkable chef whose banana pancakes gave life back to more than one person.

After those unforgettable days it could be said that this SU was amazing, perfect, the best… yet it had one big problem: the only limit that could not be pushed anymore: the end.

Written by Ander Fernández, AEGEE-Bilbao

Photos by Ander Fernández, AEGEE-Bilbao

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

The Member of the Month of November is Alin-Florin Calin.  He is an AEGEE member that was born in Western Romania and grew up in Eastern Austria, currently studying international law and history in Vienna. He got involved with AEGEE through local board activities in Vienna, the first experience that awoke his passion for AEGEE, followed by his first Agora in Alicante and the involvement in Juridical Commission – all this within one year.

He knew from the very beginning that the European level of AEGEE was the perfect place for him. He explains that the path became clearer when he got a better insight of the full structure of AEGEE. That made him aware of the fact that he wants to focus on the external relations body of AEGEE, the Liaison Office (LO), and deal more with international relations. He has just finished his term representing our Network in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and at the same time joined the team which represents AEGEE in the United Nations (UN). Since the last activities were very close to international relations, he also decided to join the International Politics Working Group (IPWG) board while doing his UN-related work.

Alin joined AEGEE because of his desire to be involved in an international environment and the possibility to join the Summer University Transsiberian Dream Volume 3 of AEGEE-Moskva . This was an old adventure dream of his – going mostly by train and bus from Saint Petersburg all the way through Asia to Dubai in seven weeks. The reason why he became more and more involved in AEGEE was an event in his first active months where he had a lot of fun and met the first interesting friends in AEGEE. What followed was the first AEGEE love affair, the first Agora, the first European level task and now he is interviewed as Member of the Month, having been chosen from among 13.000 members.

Before starting the interview one of the questions asked to Alin was what has been his favorite task so far and he jokes with a smile saying that by far the funniest part has been counting ballots while being part of the Juridical Commission (JC).  Joke aside, his favorite experience is not so far from counting ballots, since Alin really enjoys what he is dealing with now: observing the counting procedure. “I think it is what I am doing now, dealing with international relations, especially in conferences. But in general, there is satisfaction when you see the results of your efforts.”

The AEGEEan: You are very active on the European Level of AEGEE, what motivates you to take part in so many different projects?

It is a way of working that is totally different from local activities. You are working in international teams on international politics. I love the chance to have an impact on AEGEE’s way which is related to my interests and abilities. This gives me the feeling that I do something relevant for the Network, and for me in terms of developing new skills. I try to achieve all my aims in a short term, which is very demanding but I do need the challenge.

You take part in many conferences in general, how do you find time for it?

It is all about time management – which I still need to improve. Often I simply take the time to attend the events because I just enjoy this experience. It is a very good way to learn a lot in many ways like thematic, cultural and social. But quite frankly, it is a lot of fun!

You have recently joined the IPWG board, what made you interested in joining that WG and what will you focus on there?

What made me do this is my interest for international politics, the potential to establish with my IPWG board new projects and to have an impact on these topics in AEGEE. Moreover I will keep a close eye on making some changes because I do see the need to reform a few things. Our Action Agenda is not finished yet.

You have also launched a new project related to election observation. What is that about?

Election observations in AEGEE were inspired by my involvement in OSCE activities and my previous terms in JC. After attending the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of OSCE this October as a part of AEGEE delegation, we decided to create internal election observations in AEGEE because the Network is the right place to train young persons to support democracy and peace. Our vision is to establish observations in various elections on European and local level, as well as in and outside of AEGEE in the long term, hopefully.

Were there many people interested in it at the Agora in Zaragoza?

We had on the spot a team of 20 members and we are now developing the project in order to have our first activities in 2014. Interested members are always welcome, people who are ready to take initiative and to put their ideas into practice. I am a person who likes to have things done but cannot do everything by myself – so I do appreciate team work and own initiatives a lot. I am extremely glad to have Thomas Leszke on board because he is a very experienced person. We have already a strong team but are still looking for more members to join us.

You took part in the second best Summer University (SU) this past summer: “Scandinavian Dream”. What do you think about the SU? What made you apply to go there?

What made me apply is the concept of Travelling Summer Universities, the cities we visited and all the party people I know from Copenhagen and Helsinki. I just wanted to spend my summer in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries with those friends. It ended with three Summer Universities – as participant, helper and visitor. I had one of the best summers I can imagine. The Scandinavian Dream team did an extremely good job and if the main organizer of the best-ranked SU (Catania) was not a participant and inspired by our time together beforehand in the second-ranked SU Scandinavian Dream, they would not have made it as the best SU, for sure. So it was team work again.

In terms of the future Alin is very mysterious. His goal is to simply keeping up permanent involvement, and a trip to Greece; and he tells The AEGEEan that he might event submit a candidature for Comité Directeur. AEGEE has been the ignition for many paths he has beaten. Only time will tell what the future holds for this very active Member of the Month. Congratulations! 

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Last summer the Scandinavian locals, AEGEE-København and AEGEE-Helsinki, organized the Summer University ‘Scandinavian Dream’ that turned out to be the most popular Summer University in 2013, having 242 applications. This is a good reason to get to know these locals in the north of Europe and find out how they managed to have such a successful Summer University, but also to broaden our horizon and learn more about other locals of AEGEE-Europe. Patricia Anthony, president of AEGEE-København, member of the Network Commossion and Incoming Responsible for the Summer University, and Seppo Hälikä, PR-Responsible at AEGEE-Helsinki, let us in on the details about their locals.   

Seppo (AEGEE-Helsinki)

The most important question here would be: how do you gather 242 applications for your Summer University? Good cooperation and a lot of original promotion without turning it into spam are the main reasons according to Patricia. Next to that, the fact that this SU was the cheapest option to visit big cities in the north of Europe (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Nurmijärvi and Tallin) had an important role too. Seppo says it was an unique chance that turned out to be appreciated by AEGEE members. A good new start for the organizing locals, because a Summer University in Sweden or Denmark had not been organized in years. Nevertheless both Seppo and Patricia agreed that they expected their Summer University to be a popular one, having 200 to 250 applications. Mission accomplished!

Just like the Summer University, the cooperation between the two organizing locals turned out to be a success too, even with a 800 km distance between the two cities. Locals in the north of Europe aren’t close to each other and spread over quite a big area, which doesn’t make cooperation easy, but AEGEE-København and AEGEE–Helsinki made it work. The successful example, of their collaboration, will hopefully be followed by other locals in the future, so that there will be more cooperation between our Scandinavian locals.

Patricia (AEGEE-København)

It looks like ‘Scandinavian Dream’ became so popular because of a good cooperation between the two locals, a fantastic program and original ways of promoting it to members. This way, Patricia and Niklas Vaalgamaa (AEGEE-Helsinki) turned the dream they had, while studying in Madrid, a reality in the world of AEGEE. All this was possible even without having a local in Stockholm to make the program, Copenhagen having only a small amount of members and having to deal with a distance of 800 km between both cities. AEGEE clearly made the impossible possible.

Next to making cooperation happen, Summer Universities are also a good chance to travel and meet other people from all over Europe. A fact that members of both locals knew about. AEGEE-København had ten members going on Summer University, whereas AEGEE-Helsinki saw fourtythree of their members travelling around Europe. Both Patricia and Seppo didn’t go on a Summer University, but did explore Europe by doing an internship in Valladolid, Spain (Patricia) or working in Ibiza (Seppo).

Luckily local members who don’t go on a Summer University have enough opportunities to meet new people and have fun in their own town. AEGEE-Helsinki organizes “Masterchef” events on a regular basis, having two teams compete with each other. Next to that they will participate in the Restaurant Day project in November and open a temporary AEGEE-Helsinki restaurant. Also the local organizes social drinks and travels to Stockholm, Tallinn and other cities. Because the local has around forty active members, there are enough people to set up these activities and promote the local. Seppo even sees the possibility to organize a second EBM in a few years.

Board Members of AEGEE-København

AEGEE-København is a far smaller local, having less than ten active members, but that doesn’t mean they are inactive. On a regular basis there are language cafes organized, just as other activities to get to know each other. Next to that the local has plans to organize activities with the Enviromental Working Group (EnWG), because Copenhagen will be the green capital of Europe in 2014. A theme that the local would like to work with. Even though there are already activities organized, Patricia would like to see AEGEE-København have more active members, so they will do their best to promote AEGEE in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark. The chance that the local will organize an Agora or EBM is still very small though, because it’s hard to find a sleeping place in Copenhagen and it’s forbidden to sleep in gyms (thé place to sleep at Agorae.)

Although both locals organize other activities next to their popular Summer University, the question remains what makes them unique within AEGEE-Europe, an organization spread over more than 150 cities? Seppo says AEGEE-Helsinki is unique because it’s the only local in Finland and they are crazy enough to survive, while AEGEE–København is unique not only because it’s the only local in Denmark, but also because of the many international members they have. Members from AEGEE-København come from Estonia, Italy, Latvia and even China, so the local tries to put a focus on the importance of cultural exchange that AEGEE-Europe stands for.

Both locals and their members are clearly different when it comes to the place of origin, amount of members and activities, but got (and will be) connected by a united goal of promoting AEGEE in their countries and showing other members more of Scandinavian countries. Both Patricia and Seppo also want to see more of Europe, whether it is the Balkan region (Patricia) or London, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Belgium or Malta (Seppo). AEGEE-Europe clearly unites, no matter where you are from or where you are going.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

A small group of AEGEE members gathered in the capital of Finland for a Network Meeting (NWM) with the theme of strengthening the cooperation between the antennae who have Karolina Mazetyte as their Network Commissioner.

AEGEE-Sankt-Petersburg and AEGEE-Helsinki could say ‘present’ with capital P in NWM Helsinki, which evolved into a NWM strengthening the cooperation between those two antennae. Besides the two antennae who had many members in the NWM there was also one Turkish Exchange student from AEGEE-Tallinn, a girl from AEGEE-Bilbao and ACT subcommissioner Patricia Anthony who was in charge of the NWM organisation together with Comité Directeur representative Anna Gots.

Questions like “What is a NWM?” “What is the Comité Directeur?” “What is the Action Agenda?” “What do you do at EBM and Agora?” proved to both girls that there is a need for more exchanges and regional training courses in this Network area. Most of the questions were answered through presentations by Patricia on the current Action Agenda, which was followed by drafting activities for the Action Agenda produced in EBM Valletta. Anna’s presentations about the European level of AEGEE and the many proposals that are going to be discussed in Agora Rhein-Neckar answered most of the remaining questions.

Throughout the NWM the participants were actively participating, especially in the workshops with the topic of European identity and immigration/migration provided by International Politics Working Groups representative Anastasia Petrushkova. In the end it appeared that the participants returned with both more information about our organisation, as well as motivation to create great events and activities. AEGEE-Helsinki might even be able to pass on the torch to AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg who is considering hosting the next Network Meeting in the near future.

Patricia returned to Copenhagen from the Network Meeting with a lot of food for thought and creative ideas for activities like creating local Action Agenda Working Groups in antennae; organising a European Day of Minorities; sharing stories about members from minority groups online; and more activities that can be used not only in the Northern part but in the whole Network.

As for the social program, the participants got a very big surprise on European Night in the form of a visit from Santa Claus himself. In that way the European Night in Helsinki became a bit cultural. Maybe Santa should consider applying for other events around Europe contributing to the Cultural European Night of more events?…

It was impressive to see how much food, sweets and drinks that AEGEE-Helsinki had gotten sponsored for the NWM. Seppo Hälikkä from AEGEE-Helsinki seemed to be using “dirty tricks” in the run for “best organiser” because he was one of the organisers that was using a lot of effort on cooking high class meals, and ensuring that the participants were never hungry. In general all the organisers did an excellent job and it is certain that participants left the ice cold snowy Helsinki with the desire to return soon!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Some of you might have seen promotion of the T-shirt on Facebook or during Autumn Agora Budapest and now you’ll hear the story behind.

First of all, I have to thank the person behind AEGEE-Zaragoza’s “I <3 Jamón” T-Shirt. For me, it’s the most brilliant idea to gain visibility for your antenna which I have seen in AEGEE. Without that shirt I wouldn’t even be thinking of doing something different from the mainstream.

In the beginning of 2012 an idea of a new T-shirt slowly came to our minds in Helsinki. We still had some old dark blue t-shirts with our logo left in our storage. Somehow, it hnd not been that popular among our members lately and we wanted to do something different, something that you can also wear outside of AEGEE events.  We wanted it to be something that Erasmus students would like to buy, as a souvenir from Finland and other AEGEE members would be interested in as well.

In summer 2012 during the Travelling Summer University (TSU) FinEst Design we were in Tallinn and after a nice dinner we were trying to find our way to the party with some participants. I had a map in my hands and I tried to figure out where we are and where we should go. Then some participant yelled, “We are in Helsinki bitch, oh no, we are in Tallinn.” In that moment the idea of this T-shirt came to my mind. I asked the participants if they would be interested in this kind of T-shirt. Their answer was yes and in that moment I promised to do my best to figure out if there were more demand for it.

Luckily, we know well Leander Voets (feature picture) from AEGEE-Amsterdam. He was in our TSU 2011 and we know that he has some pretty good skills in designing T-shirts. So I told him my idea and together, we threw ideas to each other and after that session he made a few different designs. I posted those to our TSU 2012 group and asked what they think about it and the feedback was good. I kept on asking people and still, it looked good for us.

After all the research we talked about this subject with our board and we decided to give it a try. This way we were able to get these T-shirts ready before Autumn Agora Budapest and we would have some visibility there during the event and even more during the European Night.

First thing after our board meeting what I did was a Facebook group for the T-Shirt. This way we would have some idea how many people would be interested in this T-Shirt and how much we should order. Also that page has info how to order a T-shirt.

At the moment the demand is higher than we expected, so we will have to order more T-shirts to keep people happy and smiling with an AEGEE-Helsinki T-shirt.

In the end, I want to say that also behind this T-Shirt, there is an ideology of being against  the idea of every antenna looking similar and being without personality. Every step in that direction will kill people’s abstract thinking and the opportunity to be something great. It would be very boring if we all would be just a grey mass. I hope AEGEE will not go too far in that direction, but only the future will tell us. Best compliment I have heard so far was that this T-shirt gave inspiration for another antenna to design something new. Anything more I couldn’t ask.

Written by Seppo Hälikkä Vice President & PR-Responsible of AEGEE-Helsinki

This summer, Helsinki, the capital of Finland and World Design Capital for 2012, invites to explore and build design. The three northern cities of Helsinki, Tallinn and Pärnu enjoyed an unforgettable Summer University filled with creativity, laughter, Nordic heat and group spirit.

FinEst Design

A STREET VIEW OF TALLINN

Design was at the heart of the Summer University organised by AEGEE-Helsinki, AEGEE-Tallinn and AEGEE-Tartu. It appeared in creative workshops and inspiring presentations as well as on visits to different houses of art and design. Art was created in every day of the experience, it was drawn on sand and written on fridge door.
There would have been no design without 26 European students from different fields of education. They created in groups a product of innovation and presented it on video. They painted chocolate into beautiful figures on paper and on faces. They showed Helsinki, the World Design Capital for 2012, in photographs full of life and colour.

Innovative work, inspired unwinding

Sauna and the chilly Baltic Sea called for the group as soon as they arrived in the first lodging place. A few brave participants swam already on the first night. Some took a dip also in the beautiful but windy Fortress of Finland, Suomenlinna. The fortress was built starting from 1747 and is nowadays listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It offers a cosy garden-like place for a picnic and a nap.
Aalto University offered Design Factory as a platform for the motivating talk held by Jarkko Tiainen (Wish Bros) and the related workshops. Thomas Hutton (ThingLink) also inspired the group to think creatively. After long days of attentive work the group headed for memorable nights in urban Helsinki. In Kallio they experienced some genuine Finnish pub life with its sudden nudity. Equally odd although less confusing were the legendary Finnish shots called Salmari. The next two nights were spent in somewhat finer bars with a lot of dancing and black dresses.

The Finnish Style

CANOEING AT MÄRKIÖ COTTAGE

Four days into the Summer University the organisers took the group to an idyllic Finnish cottage in Märkiö. There they got to compete in the Finnish Olympics. Competitors carried a knife, kicked a rubber boot and rowed a canoe. To top the odd Finnish sports they ate traditional Finnish food which made some faces grow long.

Most of the time on the cottage was dedicated to sauna and lake hopping. The landscape was phenomenal, a fine example of Finland. Design was still carried along with a fashion show where people made their clothes. Some Milan style innovations were seen as one group made fancy dresses out of plastic bags, household fabrics and recycled paper. The following night it was time for a long gone Finnish president called Kekkonen to join forces with Santa Claus. He opened the European night with Finland´s national anthem.

Tallinn tells its tale

COSTUMES FOR THE DESIGN FASHION SHOW

After a relaxing evening of fire places and marshmallows the group took a cruise boat to Tallinn. Some Finnish organisers who had planned to go home got sudden withdrawal symptoms. As a result, some stayed in Tallinn without a change of clothes and others appeared out of nowhere in a bar at midnight. They were warmly welcomed, and AEGEE-Tallinn had use for help.
In Tallinn the group moved to a different time zone, from German time to that of Southern Europe. Therefore participants had more time for siesta and later mornings, which went well with widespread tiredness. However, while some people were sleeping, others played beach volley and swam with a view of a sail boat harbour. The rest found their way to the beach later, and in Pärnu they would get to swim in a part of the sea more like the Mediterranean.

During daytime in Tallinn the group visited many museums and exhibitions. Tallinn Seaplane Harbour was for instance fascinating with its sailboats, cannons and a huge submarine where one could go in. KUMU Art Museum was also enchanting as ever, and they even had their own guide there. The most enjoyable piece of art was still the city of Tallinn as seen with the eyes of AEGEE-Tallinn’s own experienced guides. They shared tales and ghost stories of Tallinn’s past while presenting the red rooftops of Lower Town. The medieval city is worth seeing with its beautiful old buildings and green park areas surrounding small ponds.

Beach time in Pärnu

WIFE CARRYING AT MÄRKIÖ COTTAGE

For the last two days the FinEst Designers headed for Pärnu, known as the Baltic Ibiza. As one would expect, most of the time was spent relaxing on a beach. The main beach of Pärnu is famous for its clear, warm water and hundreds of meters of sand. Also the weather favoured swimming as it was sunny and about ten degrees warmer than in Tallinn. One of the many activities on the beach was refreshing and delightful fountains under which dozens of people were pacing.
Apart from being on a beach, Pärnu offered lots of walking around the green city. The farewell party was interrupted by an impressive thunder storm which made its own design by turning some unfortunate beach goers into sand sculptures. However, no greater harm took place and it was a proper ending for the sunny Summer University.

To conclude, design was the idea that guided them but they were the ones who made the event memorable. They shared an amazing group spirit and experienced the Northern cultures with warmth. No sauna will be untouched by them.

Written by Sara Myllylä, AEGEE-Helsinki

The pictures used in the article are the courtesy of Tuomas A. J. Pollari, Annika Luure, Eleana Kaplani & Marko Raatikka

Many would categorize him as a “famous” AEGEEan, others remember him as the former JC president with the Italian accent, some might know him for his current work for the Mediation Commission, and some may not know him at all. His name is Ermanno Napolitano, and he is one of the most active AEGEE members on the European level. The AEGEEan talked with him about everything that has happened from Agora Enschede to his another candidature at the Agora Budapest and more.

AEGEEan: The previous article focusing on you as the new Juridical Commission (JC) member was the most popular article in The AEGEEan for quite a while last year. How do you feel about that? Do you have any suggestions why that happened?

Ermano: It was very rewarding for me, I have seen much appreciation and many people have complimented me. I think it was the energy and enthusiasm that I put in the Juridical Commission, which awarded.

At the Agora Enschede you had a lot of work as JC member, how do you look back at your term as JC? What were the highlights? What could be improved?

Yes, Agora Enschede was one of the hardest Agorae for the JC.

The vote of confidence is  something which is very uncommon. Before the Agora, we as JC studied all possible solutions on the consequences and how to proceed if this was going to happen, but we were hoping until the end that some internal agreements of the CD could avoid it. However, looking back I am glad that I was in a team with Atanas Nachkov and Alma Mozgovaja and I am happy with the work we have done. Among the most important results was how everything was organised in order to allow the JC to collect minutes and amendments during the Agora and to prepare the new CIA without minutes by the Chair coming usually very late. That has been a big step forward having in mind what happened in the past years.

An important change was a result of my proposal, to give the responsibility of the vote counting to the JC. There are still many things that need to be improved in JC, but I think that it is moving towards the right direction now.

Another important result was to see that the subcommies stood as candidates, one Denise Zonnebeld is the current JC President and the others (Diana Tupichiienko and Alin) still work for the Commission.
If I could suggest any further improvements then it would be having a faster external communication, but this depends very much on the number of people working in the commission, and how many questions they receive.

An idea might be to open the JC to three members elected, a secretary and two commissioners, even though it is not that visible that there is much work to be done, especially before and after the Agora. However, it is also true that with a good team of subcommies it is possible to work around this requirement.

What is very important – to keep the archive updated, the CIA should be reformed, and in general its structure should be reviewed.

Quite a few votes were invalid, what do you think could be done to make the voting system easier?

Together with Wieke van Der Kroef (the current speaker of Network Commissions) I have reformed the rules for voting. There have been noticeable changes from Agora Skopje, but we are still far from a perfect voting system.
Surely, the best way is the famous electronic voting system, which would greatly reduce the number of invalid votes. However, we must always remember that some votes are invalidated consciously by the voter, for example we had ballot papers with smiley faces, drawings or comments on the ballot paper, and the only thing to improve this area is to put the trust in the common good sense of the delegates.

If you were to recommend anybody to candidate for JC, what would you say?

If you have legal knowledge DO IT! It is one of the most beautiful experience you can do in AEGEE and in your life. Furthermore, it is also very useful, it teaches you to work in groups, to speak in front of 1000 people (I remember I was shaking in Agora Alicante, but after then Agora Skopje and Agora Enschede were much easier), to make decisions and take responsibilities. In general it is an experience that makes you grow.

You are now in the Mediation Commission (MedCom) which changed its name at the Agora Enschede. How has it been to work with the MedCom, do you have any different recommendations (than for JC) for people interested in running for the MedCom?

I love working in the MedCom, especially because the potential of this commission has in my opinion changed with the new setting.
Before, as Members Commission, we worked only upon activation, and usually the problem was already serious and not solvable. I remember that one of the consequences was the imposition of sanctions for situations that were not taken in time.
Now we can be contacted directly by the antenna or by any body itself and help them to solve the problem before it becomes irreversible.

I take this opportunity to appeal to antennae to contact the Mediation Commission more, even for what may seem easy. We would always be happy to give our contribution.

Obviously, the MedCom is also responsible for other things, but I think this new element is the central core of the Commission.

Are you going to run for MedCom once again? What lies in the future of your AEGEE life?

I think that answer will be “yes” (smiles). I think that being in the MedCom for a one year opens the opportunity to implement many things. About my future AEGEE life after MedCom – who knows, let’s see if I am going to be re-elected here.

You chose to go to Helsinki & Tallinn Summer University this summer, which is a destination with less sun than in Italy and Spain. Why did you chose that SU and how was it?
I chose it because I like to try something different from my country, like fresh air, sun at 3 am lakes, sauna…everything is different there. And I must say: Wow! It was such a good SU, and I miss all the participants and organisers.

I was shocked from Helsinki organisation – very uncommon, they were providing us food all the hours of the day and night, many activities, lots of amazing places and also the residence in Mariko felt like pure heaven.

The organisation was perfect, they received a support of sponsors not only for food, but also the parties were always in amazing places. Furthermore, they gave a lot of attention to the participants, lots of cultural activities from museums to city activities and workshops. I am proud to be participant in this Summer University.

You also managed to steal the flag of AEGEE-Tallinn. How did you manage to steal it?

Yes, I stole it with Carlos (AEGEE-Santander), but I also have to thank Seppo Hälikkä (AEGEE-Helsinki) and Emanuele (AEGEE-Messina). It happened in Tallinn during the welcome party, where we stole the flag from the president while she was dancing. I remember that, after having stolen, we ran across the main square of Tallinn showing it, and since then we never left it alone. We slept with the flag and we kept it also during the shower!

What will be the punishment for them to get it back?

I still don’t know, I have to contact other thieves, but I will promise that the punishment will be funny… at least for us… AEGEE-Tallinn be ready!

The AEGEEan is looking forward to seeing what happens next with the AEGEE-Tallinn flag as well as the progress of the Mediation  Commission. The AEGEEan will of course report from the front row at Agora Budapest and keep you updated as much as possible.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København