Imagine you live in an EU country, yet far far away from the heart of the continent – say, on remote Canary islands. How can you foster the sense of belonging to Europe and to Brussels, where decision directly concerning your life are made every day? AEGEE-Las Palmas knows the answer. Natalia Klimenko spoke to Isabel Romay, the vice-President of AEGEE-Las Palmas, to find out more.

Natalia: Isabel, on the 6th of March, you organised an outstanding event – you took participants from AEGEE-Las Palmas for a study trip to Brussels! How would you describe this trip in three words?

Isabel: Purest AEGEE-event!

What has helped you with the organisation? Has the booklet “All Roads lead to Brussels” issued by European Citizenship Working Group provided some useful information?

I wasn’t aware of this booklet during the preparation [she laughs, ed], good title by the way! Actually this goes back to my internship at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, two years ago, in 2016. It was one of the best experience in my life and I met a lot of interesting people. So, last summer, during a Team Building, our lovely president, Silvia Herrera, asked me: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could arrange a visit to the Parliament for our members?”. She didn’t have to say it twice, so I contacted Beatriz Becerra, an MEP of ALDE who I had the pleasure to meet not only during my intern, but also here in Gran Canaria during the Day of Europe three years ago during a local event from AEGEE Las Palmas.

How many organisers and participants did you have? Were any non-AEGEEans on board as well?

We were a group of 30 people, 28 members from AEGEE Las Palmas, the president of AEGEE-Pisa and one participant from AEGEE-Chisinau. It was important for us that is event was limited to AEGEEan. The month before the visit, suddenly we started having lots of new members [she laughs, ed], which was awesome because most of them are now active and really motivated.

What were the main challenges you faced before and during the trip? How did you solve them?

It would have been literally impossible for me to coordinate it by myself: I had to defend the final paper of my master and I had my final exam three days before the visit in Madrid. I am very grateful to my dear friend, Daniel Cervera. He coordinated the group from the beginning, the flights, the hostel, and helped me with all the documents we had to sent before the visit. After the visit, you also have to justify all the expenses, which is not easy with a group of 30 people, but our awesome treasurer, Raúl Hernández, did his little magic with the Excel [she laughs, ed].

What institutions did you visit? Did you have a chance to meet any EU decision-makers?

We visited the European Parliament in Brussels with Beatriz Becerra, MEP from ALDE, one of the political group representing the Parliament. I hope next time we can also visit the Parliament in Strasbourg during the plenary session!

What did participants like most about this trip?

Hard to tell, they should answer this themselves [she laughs, ed]. I hope they liked everything! The guided visit, the presentation of the book we were invited to after the visit, the city and of course the Belgian beer [she laughs, ed].

As far as we know, you managed to get your expenses fully covered by the EU – this is a big achievement, congratulations! How long did it take you to prepare the application for the grant and what tips could you give those who will apply for EU funding?

Thank you! We are so glad we did it. Well, the trip was not fully covered, but of course it was a huge help. Actually, the political groups have a specific amount of funds to encourage group visits by covering part of the expenses, allowing citizens to get closer to one of the most important European institutions of our democracy. All you have to do is establish contact with an MEP’s and have a little luck!

What is the purpose of such trips to Brussels, in your opinion? Can they make one feel more European?

AEGEE is always trying to promote active citizenship and democracy, but how can we do that, when especially we here in the Canaries, feel so far away from Europe and our representatives? And then, how should one do that when most of us don’t even really know how the EU-institutions work? How do our representatives make important decisions that concern us and our everyday life? The aim of this trip was to show that it is actually possible and not difficult to feel like a real European citizen, interacting with MEPs about or concerns and their work. This is a must-do event. I hope we can organise it next year again.

European Citizenship Working Group seeks to foster “Europeanness” across the young people from the whole continent, including non-EU citizens. One means to promote awareness of what Europe does is to visit EU institutions and museums in Brussels, EU’s de-facto capital city. In December, ECWG offered the network the amazing booklet “All Roads Lead to Brussels” where your antenna can find useful tips for a study trip to Brussels. We hope there will be more and more trips like the one AEGEE-Las Palmas organized! You can always reach us at ecwg@aegee.org with questions and ideas.

Written by Natalia Klimenko, AEGEE-Moskva on behalf of European Citizenship Working Group 2017/18

As summer is generally perceived as the favourite season of the year, there is always a lot expected from it.  One of the best ways to fulfill these expectations is the Summer University (SU) program by AEGEE. It is almost impossible to have a bad time in an SU, and each year the expectation, the wanderlust and willingness to meet, brings a bunch of people together somewhere in Europe to live in person this unique experience. And this year, for me and 41 other participants it was Las Palmas.

Flying from middle Europe, the heat on the airport was quite a shock, but fortunately the Canarians built their biggest city in the north of the island, where clouds were protecting us most of the time from being completely sunburn.

And there it was, ride to the city, walk to the hostel and from the start it could be felt that the atmosphere here is different: more relaxed, warmer, Canarian.

Ahead of us there were two weeks, so intense that I still need the booklet to remember everything we did. As it normally is, the first days were very interesting, with a lot of expectations, uncertainty and other mixed feelings while waiting for other participants to arrive at our paradise to be. We had an easy start to the SU, with a late wake up call, workshop on cultural communication and a lovely afternoon at the famous Las Canteras beach. But there was much more in the bag for us, starting with the next day when we hit the trail to Roque Nublo rock, the trademark of Gran Canaria, situated in an amazing natural park; the landscape seemed to me like it’s taken out of some unrealistic picture.

However while we were still getting used to different perception of time here (because 10 German minutes is not same as 10 Spanish minutes, let alone 10 Canarian minutes) there was no mercy when it came to waking up in the early morning. Because despite the effort of our organizers, who were compassionate enough to gently wake us up (once including live guitar solo), it’s not easy after we were “on duty” most of the nights.

Our day activities were full of education: we acquired a lot of cultural and historical knowledge as well as new sport skills. And as hard workers at day, we also had to balance that out at night. And trust me when I say, Canarian parties are great. Whether we partied with sixty thousand people in the  traditional la Rama festival in Agaete or we learned some salsa moves at a club, it was nice because we did this together with the people we came to like more and more as the days passed by.

The thematic of the SU was healthy living, so we also had a range of sport activities. Besides hiking we also did kayaking, biking, volleyball and most important surfing. I think all AEGEEans are by default adventurers, but still it was not difficult to adapt to surfers lifestyle. No rush, watching the sun traveling across the sky and then hit the waves, trying to stand up on the surfboard. But the board doesn’t wait, it moves constantly, just as we did. And with our super organizers it was not difficult to keep the balance in these days, when they were guiding us over the small continent of Gran Canaria. The island definitely deserves this nickname because of its versatility. After the high peak of las Nieves (1949m), sand and even more sand was waiting for us. Known as the Dunes of Maspalomas this area can really make you feel like a traveler in the middle of the Sahara desert. But of course it was not difficult for us to quickly find a way to have our feet in the air and our head on the ground (piece of advice: if you ever roll down the sandy dune keep your mouth closed).

Unfortunately, also in paradise, days are passing by not asking anyone’s permission and so did our SU. It was amazing and a big round of applause for our organizer team for all the work they have done.

I’ll skip saying the goodbye part, because I think everyone reading this knows how it is and how comforting the famous saying “See you, sometime,.. somewhere.. in Europe. can be”

And back home when people ask me, how was your summer holiday? I just say great and smile while I remember my fellow participants, amazing organizers and great time we had together. I will miss it and maybe, just maybe I will also miss the always present shout “Guuuys c’mooonnnn”.

Written by Bor Žlender, AEGEE-Ljubljana

Photos by: Javier Ramírez Quintana, AEGEE-Las Palmas

Three Spanish and two Polish locals compete for the award to the Best Thematic Event of The AEGEEan’s Choice Awards. All of them have cooperated with several projects and organisations in order to bring a thematical taste to their events, which have proven to be a great success. You will hear the final result in Agora Patra – meanwhile, we invite you to get to know the nominees!

To start with, AEGEE-Las Palmas was awarded as the Local of the Month the past November for the YVote2014 Convention on the EU Democratic Gap. The Canarians have shown that, despite being a small antenna, they can bring high-quality events to their city and have a big impact not only in the AEGEE network, but also on their local media. The AEGEEan has interviewed Carmen Martín, main coordinator of the event.

The AEGEEan: Could you tell us briefly what was the event about, and which were the main activities?

Carmen: The event was about the YVote2014 Project in general and specially about “Bridging the EU Democratic Gap”, which means to try to fill in the existent gap between Brussels and peripheral areas as Canary Islands, whose inhabitants don’t feel sometimes really European, because of the distance between our island and the rest of Europe.

You cooperated with the YVote project, how was the collaboration with them?

It was great, actually really fluid, with a lot of Skype meetings in which most of people in charge were present and with an open communication. AEGEE-Las Palmas team did not know all the members of YVote team, but that was not a barrier; we worked easily and efficiently all together.

Which were the biggest challenges of organizing the event, and how did you solve them?

Actually there was only one challenge, and it was related to Youth in Action grant, which arrived to AEGEE-Las Palmas bank account during the event (and we really had to make magic and ask for money to pay what we had to pay in advance). Everything else was really easy; the cooperation inside AEGEE-Las Palmas team and between us and YVote team, the great and motivated participants that we had, the organizational staff related to the hotel and sponsors… I would organize this event again thousands of times!

And which were according to you the best things of organizing this event?

The best things for me were, first of all, my team; they really made everything way easier to me, and we grew up as a team, seeing that everything was possible with open communication, a good mood and people who understand you and appreciate you. Second; our relationship with our University, City Council and other sponsors improved a lot (they could see that we are also able to organize other more ‘serious’ events, rather than just fun Summer Universities). Third: We got a lot of visibility in our city; we were on the news one of the days and in three different radio interviews. Furthermore, we got to know people from other associations and Europe Direct, with whom we made a great net of contacts for future events.

Why do you think you should win the Award to the Best Thematic Event?

Well, I am sure many other antennae organized great thematic events, but from my point of view, I will try to explain why I think AEGEE-Las Palmas should win this Award: Because even if we are a young (five years old!) and small (31 members) antenna, we manage to motivate our members to stay active both at the local and European level, to organize important and serious events as this one and because the event was just perfect from all the points of view: I’ve been told this from organizers’ side, participants’ side and YVote team’s side, so what else could I add? If we all agree on this, I think the rest of the Network should know about it!

On the other hand, AEGEE-Kraków organised last year the AEGEE Model of United Nations, which consists of a simulation of the discussions and procedures taken within the UN, as if they were delegates of their Member States. Katarzyna Michalska, main organizer of the event, explained to The AEGEEan how the MUN was.

Could you tell us briefly what was the event about, and which were the main activities?

AEGEE Model of United Nations was an international United Nations simulation conference during which participants played the role of UN Member States delegates generating a common approach on major issues of international politics. During the three days of meetings, divided into a few sessions, the participants discussed, following the official procedure, the different ways of solving one of the actual international conflicts in order to create a resolution which would be compatible with the ideas of Human Rights and Peaceful Conflict Resolution. As delegates of the UN Members States or Observer States, they did their best to defend the position of the state which were representing. The project consisted of two simulations of United Nations meetings: one on the conflict in Mali and one on the issue of the rights of North African refugees in Europe.

Which were the biggest challenges of organizing the event, and how did you solve them?

First of all, we decided to organize an international event in which we had no experience. It was difficult to create something totally new and unknown for us but, as we love trying new things, we took on this challenge with no fear. Fortunately we managed to find our experts – people experienced in the field of United Nations simulations who were available for any questions and concerns we had during preparation and also conducted our conference making it as professional as other prestigious events this type. Another challenge we had to face was the lack of funding sources. We had limited budget but we were so determined that even until less than week before the project we were struggling to get funds from many sponsors and finally got enough money! Moreover we had some difficulties in finding suitable place for the project but luckily we had a huge support from the university authorities who gave us an opportunity to organize it in one of their institutes.

And which were according to you the best things of organizing this event?

For me one of the best things of organizing this event was the great pleasure of doing it! Working with inspiring people who were truly motivated and dedicated to the project gave me a lot of energy and made me enjoy every single moment of organizing the project as well as the event itself. Beside the amazing team, I’d mention all of our small achievements which contributed to our final success, such as establishing valuable partnerships, getting funds or finally finding out about the surprising number of applications for our event!

Why do you think you should win the Award to the Best Thematic Event?

I can proudly say that thanks to hard work and determination of my team all the goals we set before organizing this event were achieved. We wanted to create a unique interactive learning experience which young people could enjoy and benefit from at the same time. What is worth mentioning, our project distinguishes itself by its up-to-date topic. It aimed at spreading and sharing knowledge about the problems of the modern world and the role of the United Nations in solving them as well as giving the participants opportunity to develop their diplomatic skills of compromise, negotiation, understanding of foreign affairs. Our goal was to encourage to study and discuss the issues of global importance. The positive feedback we got from the satisfied and happy participants eager to take part in the next edition of the project strengthened our belief that our event was a big success that we should be proud of.

AEGEE-Zaragoza is also nominated in this category. This time, by hosting the EuroSD – European Structured Dialogue conference, which gathered several International Youth Organizations in order to draft a joint statement to be sent to the European Commission. It was the first time that this consultation process was taken at a European level, as Beatriz Nasarre, former president of AEGEE-Zaragoza, explains.

Could you tell us briefly what was the event about, and which were the main activities?

The event was a European conference about the Structured Dialogue (It is a process of consultations launched by the European Commission and the European Youth Forum in order to pinpoint the needs and concerns of young people from all over the European Union), that gathered over a dozen International Youth NGOs. Besides writing the recommendations and a joint statement, we organized city tours around the city, and also a press conference where we transmitted that we would like the voice of young people to be heard.

You cooperated with other student organisations and AEGEE-Europe, how was the collaboration with them?

It is always very positive to strengthen the cooperation with other youth associations from outside AEGEE, whether they have a similar profile as us or not. It makes us see the things from another point of view, and it is always very rewarding. The people attending events like this one are always interesting and gratifying to work with!

Which were the biggest challenges of organizing the event, and how did you solve them?

The most difficult thing was to organise everything in a very complicated date, the beginning of July, with lots of previous work to do and during the exams season. The application of the Youth in Action grant was also another issue, also because we had many people around the Summer Universities. But in the end, with hard work we can achieve everything and afterwards we all left to our SU’s, and that was a very well-deserved vacation…

And which were according to you the best things of organizing this event?

Feeling part of such an interesting project, being “the first ones” of organising such an event, and especially feeling proud of the work we did. As always, with lots of works and nerves from the organisers, the feeling when the participants congratulate you because they have really enjoyed the event has left us speechleess. And, of course, proud of being able to wear such an awesome t-shirt designed by our Uncle Joni!

Why do you think you should win the Award to the Best Thematic Event?

Well, first of all because… have you ever seen such an awesome logo and t-shirt!? The event was a whole success and the thematics of the event were really interesting – with this European Structured Dialogue consultation we can really make an impact in the European Commission. Besides, the organisers devoted an important amount of their summertime, so we should definitely win – anyway, thanks to The AEGEEan for nominating us and we wish the best luck to the other nominees!

And finally, AEGEE-Alicante was also nominated for one of the most outstanding pre-events of Spring Agora Zaragoza, the MEDITERRANEANLY! event in cooperation with the Health4Youth Project. The antenna told The AEGEEan about the secrets of their success…

Could you tell us briefly what was the event about, and which were the main activities?

We wanted to show to our participants how beneficial, easy and fun can be having a healthy lifestyle and how to achieve it with some little changes in their day-to-day habits. That’s why we tried to make them used to a Mediterranean diet and to keep a daily routine of exercise.

The main sports activities we organised were a yoga and a zumba class, both early in the morning at the beach with professional trainers, as well as a walk on the sand, and some outdoor games. We also had the chance to hold a first aids workshop and to visit a ecological vegetable garden run by local farmers.

You cooperated with the Health4Youth Project, how was the collaboration with them?

They are very kind, three of their members (Maria Arends, Sygrit Andringa and Elmar Guliyev) came to the pre-event to give a hand with the programme by conducting some very successful workshops, such as the one about the effects of the consumption of alcohol on your body, and the one about the effects of not sleeping properly well.

Which were the biggest challenges of organizing the event, and how did you solve them?

We programmed to spend the last day and night on a camping site hoping that the sun will stay out the whole event (we are in Alicante, it never rains, but when it does, the whole sky falls down!); so just in case we were aware of the weather cast, which unfortunately turned out to show lots of cats and dogs planning to rain that day. We had to reschedule the programme, and that means: not camping and staying in the hostel (luckily for us not booked), cancelling a bbq and the goodbye party in the countryside, and replanned the whole last day at the very last moment just the day before. We contacted an ukulele teacher who improvised an amusing lesson for beginners, then, we went up to visit the Santa Barbara’s castle and in the evening we participate in an international beer pong contest. So it actually went pretty well taking into account that none of this was planned.

The other big challenge was to cook every meal and make it with a huge presence of vegetables. A wide range of tasteful dishes, from couscous to guacamole, including paella and vegan burgers, to name but a few. After the event took place, we collected all the recipes in a cookbook which can be download from here http://goo.gl/mw6wio Readers, feel free to use it and to send us comments afterwards!

And which were according to you the best things of organizing this pre-event?

Maria Teresa: Everything! I love the cooperation between the organisers and with the H4Y team. The organisational capacity that we had. It was my first event as organiser, and I learned a lot about AEGEE, and about my antenna. I’m very proud to have been part of that effort.

Isa: Choosing participants is usually a bit like playing the lottery, and definitely that time we hit the jackpot: we got such a great group of pleasant participants! Moreover this event was also useful for the antenna to activate some new local members and I am personally interested on the main topic of the event, so it was great that we carried it out, and even more, as a pre-event of ZarAgora!

Melissa: I didn’t know anything about AEGEE and I didn’t know anyone, so when I knew about this event, at first, I was attracted by its programme, and then, I had the opportunity to go as helper and I tried to do my best. We showed to all the participants the best things of our Mediterranean lifestyle in a great atmosphere and everything went perfect! For me, it was an incredible experience and the perfect chance to know and realize how amazing AEGEE is. After this, I felt in love with the AEGEE spirit and now I can’t imagine my life without it!

 Why do you think you should win the Award to the Best Thematic Event?

Even if it was a small one (in days and in number of participants), it was one of those events in which once it’s over you can feel that, despite of the unexpected changes, everything went well. After the last dinner, still sitting on the table, some participants started to thank us spontaneously for the atmosphere, the organisation and the activities of the event, they said that they really felt like they were at home. Once they went back home, they kept sending us lovely messages and Elmar (AEGEE-Bakı and Fundraiser of the H4Y Project) even made a cute video http://youtu.be/im9xOYW5eM8! They made us feel that this event was not only a H4Y event, but also an event about friendship, fellowship, teamwork, solidarity, and lots of AEGEE love.

 AEGEE-Poznan was also nominated, in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Project, by their I’m for East! Festival. The AEGEEan has contacted them in order to know more about their event – so stay stuned in order to hear their responses! And remember, you still have a few time to vote: it is YOUR choice!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona/Leuven

]]> ../../../2014/04/10/the-stories-behind-the-the-aegeeans-choice-awards-best-video-nominees/ Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:50:03 +0000 ../../../?p=22206 Two Summer Universities, two New Years Event and one Youth Rights video are amongst the nominees for The AEGEEan’s Choice Awards “Best Video” category. The AEGEEan interviewed three of the nominees about the process of creating the movies and discovered how a precious AEGEE flag was almost destroyed in the process. The AEGEEan talked with Ksenia Lupanova about the nominated… Read more →

Will there ever be a statutory event in Las Palmas? That question was asked to the President of the antenna, Carmen Martín, when giving her the great news that the YVote 2014 event-organizing antenna has been chosen as Local of the Month of November. 

YVote 2014 in Las Palmas

The AEGEEan interviewed Carmen to get a deeper inside into the antenna and also talked a bit with the current President of AEGEE-Europe, Luis Alvarado Martínez, as well as the former President  of the Audit Commission, Esperanza Rodríguez, about the antenna.

What is the history behind AEGEE-Las Palmas?

Carmen: AEGEE-Las Palmas was re-founded in 2008 by Hektor Oliva and Rocío Gragera. It existed in the 90’s, but disappeared because of lack of motivated members. At the moment we have 30 members of which 10 of them are active. The experienced members are planning to implement a hopefully effective HR strategy to recruit new members and motivate them, to assure the future of our beloved antenna.

European School 1 in Las Palmas

What is special about AEGEE-Las Palmas?

Carmen: I think that the most important thing is that so far, we’ve always been friends in the teams and usually most of our participants say that it’s noticeable we really love each other. I remember that in the European School 1, that we organised in 2010, they usually asked us ‘How can you be so charming?’ which surprised us and made us happy.

Esperanza: Las Palmas is really far away. There are a lot of people there that don’t feel connected with Europe or even with Spain. Canarians are quite open-minded, since we are used to having tourists and foreigners, and also we have been emigrants at different points in time. But the distance can also create the feeling of isolation or make it hard for us to travel. And yet, there you can see a motivated group of European citizens, willing not only to experience what being European means, but also trying to show the world out there to others. And I can tell you, AEGEE-Las Palmas members are truly citizens of Europe and of the world. We have had (and keep having) members playing important roles in AEGEE, and we also have many other members spreading the AEGEE spirit everywhere! Even when I’m away (even as far as Miami)!

What does it mean to your antenna that you are located quite far away from cities across the Network?

It’s not that bad, we always complain about being far away and not being able to be in other cities by bus or train, but if we really want to go to events, in the end we manage. To travel to other cities in Spain, we always have a discount (50% of the flight tickets for being residents of Canary Islands), and on the bright side this also is something good. Everyone is always willing to come to this exotic place, even if the tickets are not that cheap.

TSU Far Far Away Kingdom III by AEGEE-Las Palmas and AEGEE-Tenerife

Do you have any special collaboration between the antennae in the Canary Islands?

Carmen: Unfortunately the only one we have now is AEGEE-Tenerife (since AEGEE-Lanzarote was downgraded in Agora Zaragoza). Our relationship with AEGEE-Tenerife is very good. Every time we organise a Local Training Course (LTC) we invite them to come. Their first European event was a Travel Summer University (TSU) with us in 2011 and it was great to organise a TSU with our neighbours and try to teach them as much as we knew. Personally, every time I meet them in other events, like Agorae or Network Meetings (NWMs) and they tell me how they’re doing, I feel really proud, since I saw their ‘birth’ and I’m really happy to see how they’re growing and doing a lot of things.

People like the President of AEGEE-Europe, Luis Alvarado, and the former President of the Audit Commission, Esperanza Rodríguez, are from Las Palmas. How do you promote the European Level of AEGEE to your members?

Carmen: I think that their motivation is more internal than external, but of course we always promote the European Level of AEGEE in our antenna. We always let our members know that they can do whatever they like and that also counts for the European Level because of all the Working Groups (WGs), projects, Committees, etc. that we have in our association!

After being twins with AEGEE-Riga would you consider taking part of the twin antenna project again, or maybe become mentor of any other antenna in part of the mentorship program?

Carmen: Sure! It was a really good experience for all of us and we want to repeat it for sure. Some of our members are very interested in the Eastern Partnership Project and maybe a good way to contribute to the Bridging Europe focus area of our Strategic Plan would be to have an Eastern Europe twin antenna.

Personally, I really believe in the mentorship program, I think we could help another antenna grow and become stronger, but it would have to be with an antenna which is close, maybe AEGEE-Sevilla would be a good option.

There has been projects like “Tienes un dia? Involúcrate!” (Got a free day? Take action!) in Las Palmas. How do you strive to contribute to the thematics of AEGEE these days?

Carmen: Right now we are more focused on recruiting and motivating members. Of course, if our HR strategy works and suddenly we have more motivated members, I’d personally like to go on with this project. To contribute to the thematics of AEGEE, we usually try to organise events related to the Strategic Plan, since we’re very interested in them. For us it’s not just something compulsory, but something we’re interested in and would really like to contribute to.

Are you continuing with the European Voluntary Service project in Las Palmas?

Carmen: Yes, we’ll have another EVS volunteer from February to July and one of our active members will be her mentor and will help her.  It is a big help for our antenna because she has a lot of skills related to Graphic design and video editing which can help improve our PR. Furthermore, every Tuesday she’ll go to a different faculty of our university to give flyers about AEGEE. We are really aware that she’ll be here to help with PR, HR, FR and IT but not to do our work.

YVote Las Palmas

You recently organised a YVote 2014 event, why did you decide to take up that particular challenge?

Carmen: When I convinced the rest of my team, the main arguments were to organize something big, something different than a SU and something that could really have an impact in our city and in AEGEE.  Moreover, we were all interested in the project and think it’s important that young people vote in the European Parliament Elections. Organising it was surprisingly easy. We had a lot of support from our University, City Council, we also a Youth in Action (YiA) subvention and some sponsors like Red Bull and Canary important brands. With a great team of six people (plus our media responsible and graphic designer) we had everything done three days before the event, meaning we were not stressed or exhausted (something that usually happens to us, we get tired and stressed right before the events). We were really happy because everything went great and the participants were really interested in the topic. Moreover, the communication and relationship with the YVote team was awesome from the beginning to the end.

How will you work in AEGEE-Las Palmas with the outcome of the event?

Carmen: In April/May we’ll start reminding people about the European Parliament Elections, going again to the radios and trying to organize some local actions, as well as promotion through social networks for people to be aware that the elections will be soon and they really have to take part in them.

Summer University organizers from AEGEE-Barcelona and AEGEE-Las Palmas

You also had a very popular Summer University this year. How was it organising a SU with AEGEE-Barcelona? 

Carmen: It was a really good experience. It was of course stressful sometimes, but really gratifying too. The organisers from Barcelona and Las Palmas were learning from each other all the time! I liked the process of working together mostly online at first; with Skype meetings, Google Drive, etc. and then to meet in person and keep on working together the whole event. In the end we’ve become really close friends  thanks to organising the event together, so I strongly recommend other antennae to do so. In terms of SU 2014 we have some offers with other Spanish antennae but nothing is decided yet so we will keep our cards close a little bit longer.

What local activities do you organise to keep members motivated?

Carmen: Besides using sports, we also have a linguistic tandem every Thursday in a coffee shop with offers for us. After that, we usually go together for some ‘tapas’ and we get to know exchange and local students thanks to these activities. In the future we would like to have weekly meetings followed by dinners or social drinks only for members. It would be great to organize barbecues or days on the beach once per month to have some team building for the new motivated members. 

Do you think it would ever be possible to organize Agora/EBM Las Palmas?

Luis: Oh yes, very possible. I think its just a matter of alignment of factors: human resources of the antenna, institutional will and support and so on. But yes, let me tell you that it is not such a crazy idea. One day, you might all just be surprised!

Carmen: Apart from that, our University insists on the idea of organising an Agora in Las Palmas. We would love to, but we really have to think about it and have the support of all the active members. I think it’s not realistic to do it now, but maybe Spring or Fall Agora 2015, who knows? An EBM would be easier, I think, but we have to think about it and make sure that our University really supports us.

Esperanza – Former Audit Commission President

What will your antenna be working on in the near future? Any special plans for 2014?

Carmen: Besides the HR strategy and another TSU, we don’t dismiss the possibility of organizing a Winter University with another Spanish antenna. The Europen Level also gives exciting opportunities for events with the EuroArab project or related to the Sports Working Group. Let’s see what happens, but I really hope this antenna to keep growing and doing a lot of things!

Ending the interview The AEGEEan asked Esperanza and Luis about how they have seen AEGEE-Las Palmas grow in the time they have been members  of the antenna…

Luis: When I started in AEGEE-Las Palmas, the antenna had just been refounded, so in these years I have literally seen the antenna grow very much from the start. It still amazes me how these people manage to keep motivating themselves, and each time go for something a bit more ambitious. This was one of the clear examples of the Y Vote 2014 Convention in Las Palmas. AEGEE-Las Palmas has jumped from the Summer University type of antenna, to the one who looks for something more, seeks influencing and changing somehow things around. Making a positive impact.

Esperanza: When I joined, AEGEE-Las Palmas was two years old and a small team. However, they were really involved not only at the local level. The members were attending all sorts of European events, joining projects, Working Groups… But in Las Palmas, still most people have no clue who we were. Then, an amazing team, with lots of new active members was formed and we really started to gain recognition! And the fact that the older members had been so active at European level from the beginning, made it very easy for the newbies to follow the same path. We all say that AEGEE-Las Palmas is our baby, and it’s been amazing to see all the progress that it has made in such a short time!

It is indeed amazing all the things that AEGEE-Las Palmas dedicate themselves to and it will be interesting to see the development of the antenna and its projects.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Y Vote 2014

The second Y Vote Convention took place in Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, Spain. The topic was EU democratic gap. What is EU democratic gap (or democratic deficit)? It is the distance between the EU institutions and the European citizens, who feel that the decision-making is too complex and that the EU is too far away to impact their lives. Why is it an issue? Because European Parliament (EP) elections are coming and, firstly abstention is predicted to be historically high, secondly because polls show that people will vote significantly for far right parties. AEGEE-Europe’s “Y Vote 2014 – it’s up to You(th) !” project thus aims to raise awareness on the EU in order to encourage participation in the EP elections. The team’s first meeting took place in January 2013.

Empowering participants

The convention was greatly orientated towards turning participants into actors of their experience. Indeed, many sessions took the form of workshops where participants were putting their ideas together, discussing in groups about the issues the EU faces.

The aim of each convention is for all participants to issue recommendations to Members of the European Parliament (MEP) at the end of the conference. In Las Palmas, participants discussed three EU issues in small groups and proposed recommendations to the whole group at the end.

These examples show one of the features that made this convention a success: empowering participants, treating them not as people who need to learn something from “experts” but as people being able to discuss about the EU democratic gap and proposing solution based on their perspective and experience.

Following this path, the rest of the article allows space for participants and organizers’ voice.

Voices from participants and organizers:

Leo Büsch (participant, AEGEE-Aachen) talks about his experience: “I feel more European when I know that I’m not the only one out there and we are many people to participate and actively construct the European integration.”

Ola Kluczka (Y Vote team, AEGEE-Krakow) also enjoyed exchanging ideas with other young people from all across Europe, and she was very happy with the group of participants who were “really active, willing to contribute to the discussions and daring to ask challenging questions”.

Highly experienced Menchu Martín Ceballos (local organiser, AEGEE-Las Palmas) was one of the main organizers of the convention. Thanks to her and her team, the convention was a great success. She too was happy that participants were so eager to get involved, contributing to making the convention interesting.

Javier Castillo Fajardo (not in AEGEE…yet) was helping with the PR video material and says that he gained “friends, knowledge, work, interests, possibilities, responsibility, union feeling, European feeling… the feeling of being part of something bigger: Europe.”

All their points of view converge towards the same ideas: the EU convention was a success and contributed to foster and/or reinforce the European feeling, the cornerstone of AEGEEan spirit.

Impacting EP elections through Y Vote

“I think voting is not just filling a blank space, but having knowledge of how politics work and make the proper decisions.” (Javier Castillo Fajardo)

Leo Büsch felt the conference had an impact on the participants but as he recalls “most of the task is up to the participants now as they need to raise awareness about the EU and the upcoming elections. Only then will we be able to measure the actual impact of the convention.”

Ola Kluczka stresses out: “The presence of guests (notably President of the Cabildo of Canaries Islands: José Miguel Bravo de Laguna Bermúdez; Secretary General of the International Union of Socialist Youth Beatriz Talegon, and MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar) and the media coverage (Canary TV, etc.) for sure raised the visibility of our project, but more importantly, the message we are trying to spread. Moreover, we also had outdoor activities in order to have some interaction with the local people (…) However, the most important outcome of the convention was drafting recommendations on the topic of EU democratic deficit. The participants came up with great ideas, which altogether with the recommendations from other Y Vote conventions will be incorporated into the Students Agenda for Europe. We hope this document to be a set of guidelines for the EP candidates and later on to the newly elected MEPs, reminding them, which vision for Europe the students expect.”

Factors behind EU democratic gap

For Menchu Martín Ceballos, the democratic gap is even more present between Brussels and the peripheral regions: “that’s why we wanted this event to focus on this, because living in a peripheral area allows you to be aware of these factors.” A distance that is not only physical but in people’s mind as well: “My experience as a person from Canary Islands (peripheral region) is that people think we’re so far away that we’re not really even from Europe, or they know we are but they don’t feel the same way as we (AEGEEans) do.”

Menchu Martín Ceballos’s highlights show how pertinent was the choice to host this very convention in Las Palmas.

Tackling EU democratic gap

For Ola Kluczka, solutions can be taken at the institutional level: “I’d like to see Commissioners being chosen by the European citizens in direct elections. Also, giving the European Parliament the legislative initiative, as well as more transparency in European Council’s decisions, would be milestones in order to diminish the democratic gap.”

Leo Büsch highlights another tool to fight democratic gap. For him “information, information, information” is the key. This was also mentioned by the rest of the participants during the convention. Sometimes, mistrust in Europe results from the lack of knowledge about what the EU actually does. That is why, providing the public with information will allow them to foster their own and informed thoughts about the EU and the 2014 elections.

For Menchu Martín Ceballos, AEGEE members have a key role to play: “we should spread this European feeling that we all share, we should just inform people and make them realise that we’re in Europe (…) now we need to teach younger generations what Europe is, inform them of all the advantages that being European has, make them love that continent that our grandparents dreamed unified.”

Javier Castillo Fajardo believes the solution lies is changing the way politicians deal with Europe: “Politicians need to take responsibility of their own decisions and acts.” For us, members of AEGEE and youngsters in general, Javier Castillo Fajardo says: “making noise is the proper way to get heard.”

The Y Vote team is composed of:

Léa Charlet – Project Manager, AEGEE-Paris

Javier Mendoza Jiménez – Content Manager / Responsible for the Voting Guide, AEGEE-Tenerife

Aleksandra Kluczka – Content Manager / Responsible for the Youth Agenda, AEGEE-Kraków

Katarzyna Białożyt – Content Manager / Responsible for local activities, AEGEE-Poznań

Esperanza Rodríguez – Financial Manager, AEGEE-Las Palmas

Alma Mozgovaja – Quality Assessment Manager, AEGEE-Riga

Lucille Rieux – Capacity Building Manager / Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe

Miguel Gallardo – EU Political Manager / Projects Director of AEGEE-Europe

Luis Alvarado Martínez – EU Political Manager / President of AEGEE-Europe

Upcoming Y Vote conventions:

Berlin (Germany): Austerity vs solidarity – saving the eurozone? 28/01- 2/2

Barcelona (Spain): Sustainability 5 – 9/2

Paris (France): Gender equality 18 – 23/2

Alicante (Spain): Internet Governance 26/2 – 2/3

Krakow (Poland): Education, research and mobility 4 – 9 /3

Wien (Austria): Model and role of the EU in the world 14 – 18 /3

Cluj-Napoca (Romania): Pluralism on the media 25 – 30/ 3

More info at:

www.aegee.org/yvote2014

Don’t forget to vote

EU elections – 22 and 25 May 2014

Written by Léa Hannaoui-Saulais, AEGEE-Lille

Picture credit : YVote Conference ‘EU Democratic Gap’ AEGEE-Las Palmas Facebook Page

Many people frequently ask what the advantages of AEGEE are, and why they should join. Others stress the fact that it is beneficial to gain experience and to add something special to their CV. This is often said, but the final outcome of this is not so frequently shared.

When writing her thesis about AEGEE in Denmark and Spain, Patricia Anthony interviewed several members from Spain asking whether the high activity rate in Spain was due to the large (youth) unemployment in the country. In most of the cases, the answer was “no” or “I don’t think so” proving that AEGEE members are young people with different skills and talents. As a result, it seems that AEGEE members have an advantage in this economy.

David Martín is from Las Palmas where he studied Mechanical Engineering. He is now 23 years old and when he finished his degree he moved to Barcelona to continue his studies there, now with a Master in Energy Engineering. He has been working for Hewlet-Packard since November 2012, where he is now in the TBO department (take back operations), carrying out issues regarding packaging, batteries, electric and electronic devices when they are in their off-life cycle. He joined AEGEE two years ago in Las Palmas. As soon as he moved to Barcelona, he became very active in AEGEE-Barcelona, where he is events responsible in the board.
As many other AEGEE members, he also loves to travel, do sports, learn languages, playing the guitar and get to know people from all parts of Europe. What captures our attention though, is that David got his job because of his AEGEE experience. The AEGEEan interviewed him to get some more information about his story. 

The AEGEEan: When did you join AEGEE?

David: I joined two years ago because I had many friends in the antenna who had been trying to convince me to join it for already too many years then. I was the type of person who  keeps repeating that AEGEE is a sect. However, Luis (Alvarado Martinéz) was always so insistent that I decided to reward his persistence by giving AEGEE a chance. It was a decision I will never regret.

What was the final drop that convinced you to join AEGEE?

Apart from having a lot of friends telling me to join, I heard stories about people going to Budapest for a weekend at a very cheap price, or other people saying “My summer university was the best travel I have ever done!” All these kind of things along with seeing my friends all the time in Las Palmas with a lot of exchange students doing interesting activities, talking in English, and traveling for cheap prices made me decide to give a try to this association.

What is it that you like about AEGEE?

My main reason behind being in AEGEE is that I love to travel, but it is also because language and cultural exchange are important for me. Moreover, I believe that AEGEE teaches you skills that you cannot develop in the university. I also like getting acquainted with people from different parts of Europe, and so it was also because of AEGEE that I could make some really important friendships.

What have you done in AEGEE?

At the beginning, I got involved in AEGEE by participating in the local events of AEGEE-Las Palmas – events created for the Erasmus world. Suddenly, I became very active in the antenna and my first actual participation was in a Youth in Action project that we carried out  in November 2011 (From the roots to the fruits). That was where I learned some of the most important AEGEE basics like volunteering. Later, I attended several events, involving Network Meetings, a Travel Summer University and I also visited the CD house in Brussels. Once I finished my degree, I moved to Barcelona in order to do my master, and I contributed to the organisation of their TSU. Now, I am one of the board members of AEGEE-Barcelona.

The AEGEEan: I have been told that you’ve got a job due to your AEGEE experience, can you tell me the story?

Of course!  Well, I started my master studies in last February and I thought about working at the same time, so I began looking for jobs looking interesting for me. This was when I received an offer from Hewlet-Packard. It seemed very interesting for me, so I applied and they called me in order to arrange an interview. The interview was done in English because the department I was to work for was full of people from different countries. That was the  first chance I got due to AEGEE because since I joined the association, my English improved a lot! After talking about my CV and my experience, I spoke about AEGEE, saying all the things that we do and all the skills that I have obtained through it, like how to coordinate events, working groups, workshops and to learn languages in the meantime. They realized that I was a really active person full of inquietudes demonstrating that nowadays, a lot of corporations show a raising interest in the power of non-formal education. It appeared that they really liked all the things that I told them. I am not sure why they decided to give me the job but what I do know is that for me, AEGEE served as an important plus which others did not have.

If you were to encourage others to use their AEGEE experience when applying for a job, what would you say to them?

For me, the most important thing is not to hesitate to add AEGEE experience, which you can explain later on during the  job interviews, to your CV . Knowing how to take advantage of it and how to explain all the necessary information about it, could be decisive to get a job. It is normal to have a lot of experience but if you don’t know how to sell all this information in an interesting way, then it won’t be appreciated. So be brave and share the knowledge you have learned through AEGEE, it will be worth it.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København