AEGEE Sofia has been chosen as ACTive Local of the Month, because during August they organised an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange, and a SU that matters in collaboration with the Civic Education Working Group. We interviewed Elitsa Hadzhieva, president of AEGEE Sofia to know more about those wonderful activities and the local.

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you knew that AEGEE-Sofia was chosen as ACTive local of August?

Elitsa: Total and complete joy! It was a very hard working month for our very small and compact team, so you can only imagine how surprised we were that everything went very good with our events and we even got recognised for it. [she smiles, ed.]

Why did you decide to organise this activity?

We wanted to organise our own Erasmus+ exchange for some time and basically driven by the motivation of one of our members – Ivaylo Bogomilov, we decided to try with the deadline for project proposals in February and luckily it got approved. It was a project that his previous board wrote two years ago but then it was put on the waiting list and we improved it a little bit and applied again. About the Summer University, I have to say that we were very hooked up by the idea of making a SU that matters and from the start when we saw the booklets from SUCT about possible cooperations with some of the AEGEE bodies, we started thinking about doing something more special this summer. And we chose the topic and contacted the Civic Education Working Group because civic education has been a very hot topic in Bulgaria for the last few years. We as a local in Bulgaria feel that it’s a really important issue and of course we should get involved as much as possible, and also our board was very keen on the idea. After we decided the topic and that we would do it with CEWG we were like “Maybe we should make it a summer course+”. So, we took the challenge. We decide to have a meaningful topic, our SU to be an SC+ and at the same time to be a travelling one. It was a big challenge, but it was worth it.

What was the result of your activity? 

We had 50 participants from eight different countries in our Erasmus+ project, which is a big challenge because there are tons of different bureaucratic things you have to do. The topic was about healthy lifestyle and youth empowerment and I have to say that three months after the project our participants are still sharing their experience, like how they challenge themselves, what kind of events they participate to because they were motivated to do so after our project, etc. During our SU we had 25 participants and we did more than 20 workshops about civic education, active participation, European citizenship, politics and policy-making and about Structured Dialogue, which is my personal favourite, about how young people can get active in policy making on a national and European level. Also, we received feedback from some of our participants that have been active in AEGEE for the past few years, they said most of the workshops had very good content, diverse and different from what they had seen until then and they marked it as something positive.

How do you inform your members about the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We mainly use our LTCs as informative mediums, where we are telling our members what it is. We are planning to get better at this in the future.

Do you have any other activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

We will have a project about social inclusion of young people from marginalised groups. And also we have some ideas for organising some training sessions/workshops connected with the four focus areas for students and pupils (that are 17/18 years old).

Why should other locals organise activities related to the Action Agenda/Strategic Plan?

It’s easier to organise an event when you know that you have four focus areas and some guidelines with them that can help you with coming up with an idea that you would like to put into practice. Also, as cheesy as it may sound, it’s always better to have in mind the bigger picture of the whole network when you organise or execute a project.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?

People, just make our network great again! Joke aside, if you think that thematic activities are what your antenna or what you members need – do not hesitate to organise something. Also, the feeling of what you have accomplished can motivate your board and your members to do more and more activities not only related to the Action Agenda.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local? 

AEGEE-Sofia is not a big local, but it is like a family for most of its members. The antenna was established at the beginning of the 90s. In 1992 the local became part of the Network of AEGEE-Europe and ever since that moment, the number of members varies between 15 and 50 people. This mostly depends on the time of the year. Usually, the peak period in the past when most of the members were extremely active was just before the Summer Universities started. We have around five-six active members. Nevertheless, this year we managed to overcome a lot of challenges and we organised a few big events despite the lack of active people but in that way, we had the chance to work with some of the older members who were active two years ago and were our biggest help this year.

Written by Cristina de la Parte, Action Agenda Coordination Committee

The Charlemagne Youth Prize is a honorable prize that is awarded each year to youth projects in Europe for their added value to society. AEGEE is not a stranger to the prize, having been awarded several times before, for example for Europe on Track in 2013. AEGEE-Valletta won the national edition of the Charlemagne Youth Prize for their European Planning Meeting (EPM) the following year.AEGEE-Sofia presented the Night of Seven Antennae (N7A) this year and won the first step, the national one. We asked some questions to Ivaylo Bogomilov, the main organiser of the N7A in Sofia.

The AEGEEan: How did it feel to win the national competition of the Charlemagne Youth Prize?

Ivaylo: If I may tell you the truth, it was great stress till the last moment. Everything that you are expecting is really bad, you have this feeling of impatience, but this time it was even worse, because it was not just AEGEE-Sofia’s project, there were six more locals involved – Aachen, Bergamo, Catania, Eskişehir, Kyïv and Leiden. So after a long time of waiting (at least for us), on a Monday, AEGEE-Sofia got the email that we were the winners. It was really great! I was in Catania and I got the information first, so I called everyone to tell them that we won. It was really amazing, I cannot describe it with words. Maybe one of the best moments was when Kristalina Georgieva (Vice-President of the European Commission and the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources ) shared the news of winning the National Prize and said that she was proud that in Europe and in Bulgaria there are such youth organisations as AEGEE.

Describe the Night of Seven Antennae, the project you submitted.

The “Night of the Seven Antennae” project was a live streamed conference on the 18th of April 2015 that connected seven simultaneous events happening in seven different parts within and outside the European Union, providing the participants of the event with a five-hour-long live steam, where they could discuss and share relevant findings of their respective three-day conferences focusing on the topic: Europe in me – me in Europe.

The topic of the event in Sofia was “Europe needs youth!”. For three days, Sofia became the place where young people had the opportunity to explore their daily life habits and contributions to society. The event gathered a lot of Bulgarian youth organisations, young people from all around Europe, informal and youth groups, which had the chance to talk about the world, in which they live and of which they dream, and to share for which kind of Europe they would fight for. The event gave an opportunity for discussions with decision-makers, stakeholders, with leaders in youth and  the NGOs sector. The event not only shows structured dialogue in practice, but also shows the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle.

The Night of Seven Antenna was a precious initiative, what was the best moment of it?

For sure the N7A was an amazing event. As a main organiser from AEGEE-Sofia, I know how much effort all locals put in to realise the event. So, there were a lot of amazing moments; it will be really hard to mention just one. The most memorable moment for me was 10 minutes before the live stream, we had to do tests for sound and camera and everything – I remembered how my heart was beating. However, the worst was that our participants were still not at the place where the live stream would take place, because they were running late from the sports tournament. But three minutes before the live stream, everyone was there, so in the end everything went well. [He smiles, ed.]

Still the impact of the event was really great, so I hope that we will not stop expanding on its success. In the Europe, that we are living in now, we need more events like The Night of Seven Antennae, just to remember what Europe is all about.

When will be the final selection? Is someone going to Aachen?

It will be from 2nd till 5th of May and there will be a whole three-day-program in Aachen. I heard that on the last night the party will be organised by AEGEE-Aachen, because they are the best at this. The awarding ceremony will be on the 3rd of May, so be prepared to cross your fingers.

It is really a pity, but only one person can go as the official, representing Bulgaria. But I know that a lot of AEGEE people from all over Europe will come for the award ceremony.

What are the new projects of AEGEE-Sofia?

We have a lot of plans for new projects. For now we know that we will have an amazing Travel Summer University  (Bulgaria: Lost in Time and Space), also two Local Training Courses and we will again organise our local forum, “The Egg”. If you still did not hear about it, last year we won the award for best youth project in Bulgarian, given by the Ministry of Education and science. As for the other projects, we will keep them secret, at least for now [he winks, ed.].

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

April was a very busy month full of different events, from Agora Asturias to the N7A. This month’s winner for the the Most ACTive Local of the Month is AEGEE-Sofia! Sofia was one of the 7 antennas that has organized N7A and proved, yet again, that they are an awesome antenna. They have contributed to the two Focus Areas: Spreading Europtimism and Civic Education by organizing different discussions, one of them was “Why Europe needs youth?, to promotion of the healthy and sustainable lifestyle and active participation among young people. We spoke to Vesela Gerganska, Public Relations Responsible of AEGEE-Sofia to find out more about what they did and what are their plans!

First of all, congratulations! ​As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?
Vesela: AEGEE-Sofia is not a big local, but it is like a family to most of its members. The antenna was established in the beginning of the 1990s. In 1992 the local became part of the Network of AEGEE- Europe and ever since that moment, the number of members varies between 30 and 50 people. This mostly depends on the time of the year. Usually, the peak period, when most of the members are extremely active, is just before the Summer Universities start. We have around 10-15 active to members. I’m glad to say that in the past year and a half we got some new members who demonstrated their motivation and devotion to AEGEE since day one. It’s hard to define the exact number of activities that we organise every year. We have both local and European activities and events every year.

​You ​were one of the seven locals that ​​organised the Night of the Seven Antennae, which is also the reason you were chosen as ​the ACTive Local of the Month. Can you tell us a bit more about ​your event?

The event was held between the 16th and 19th of April. Our participants got to spend four amazing days in Sofia and share their thoughts, opinions and views with young Bulgarians. The programme of the event was divided into three parts and included various discussions on topics concerning the youth and its role in the changing processes in Europe, sport activities (football competition) and social events. The discussions were held at the National Student House and gave local young people, members of other Bulgarian non-governmental organisations, to interact with local decision makers, members of Sofia municipality and representatives from AEGEE-Europe and Association des Amis de Frank Biancheri. I’d say that the moment that everyone appreciated the most was the livestreaming and the talks with the other six antennae. The seven antennae were able to share their experience and findings from the event.

​Why did you decide to organize this activity​?
The decision to apply as one of the hosts of the celebration of the 30th Anniversary was initially made by the previous board members, but the execution of the project was done by the new one. One of the main reasons was the fact that AEGEE-Sofia wanted to organise something that would be important for the young people; something meaningful, something that could be inspiring, and different from the previous events and projects. The Night of the Seven Antennae was a great opportunity to promote the concepts and beliefs of AEGEE and to spread the AEGEE spirit among as many young people as possible. Not to mention that the main aim was to repeat the events from 1986 which led to historical changes.

What was the result of your activity?
The results of the event were quite impressive. Although the ratio between Bulgarian and international participants was in favor of the host country, all of the discussions were productive. During the World Café, where the participants were asked to interact with local people in the city centre, many ideas were generated. The final findings and conclusions are about to be summarised in a document.

​Why do you think the Action Agenda is important to the Network, and what would you say to another local that is thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?
We share the opinion that the Action Agenda is of a great importance for the development and future improvement of the work in the Network. Moreover, the Action Agenda supports the implementation of the Strategic Plan and makes the activities more structured and united in specific thematic groups according to the Strategic Plan. Consequently, the locals can find many useful ideas for their events or activities in the Action Agenda Guidelines.The previous good experience and the practices could be used as a benchmark or baseline for future projects.

Do you have any other big plans for the upcoming months​?
Many things have been planned for the upcoming months but the most important one is the Travel Summer University that we’re organising with AEGEE-Niš – Balkan Beats. Almost all of the active members are focused and working on this event.

AEGEE-Sofia has certainly shown to the Network that it can be an example to other locals. What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you? 
A couple of months ago, a guest speaker at my University gave a lecture about business and success. The lady, Sarah Hall, said many things but one sentence is still in my head and I think it’s completely relevant to the “awesomeness” that you mentioned. She said: “You become what you believe!” Therefore, I think every local can be as awesome as its members believe and want it to be. The key factor here is the team and its spirit. If you believe in something – you can do it! For sure there are many other awesome locals but they still don’t believe it.  Some advices that might be of a use…someday:

1. Push yourself further than your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.
2. If you need help – just ask. AEGEE is a family and family is always there to help!
3. Think big – the greatest ideas are usually outside of the familiar box.
4. If you have great ideas but, nobody takes you serious – try to deliver this idea like the others came up with it (never give up on your ideas!) Then you need just few people to support you and the idea can be turned into reality.
5. Communicate with your team! All the time! And say ‘thank you’.
6. Every experience can be useful and used as a baseline for future projects or events.
7. Don’t forget – you (the local) have the potential to make dreams come true!

Which sentence would describe your local and your event?
There is nothing impossible!

Written by Silvija Perić, AEGEE-Zagreb

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

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

AEGEE-Aachen

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Bergamo

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Catania

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

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

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

AEGEE-Kyiv

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Leiden

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Sofia

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Eskişehir 

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

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

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

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

What other things do you have planned for your participants?

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

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Whenever you do an internet search on ‘Lia Tuska’ and ‘Agora’, you will find a multitude of articles written by her. She
decided to step out of the fringe and into the limelight as she announced her candidature for Secretary of the Agora. The AEGEEan wondered, whether there is more to know about this honourable member of AEGEE-Sofia and decided to ask her a few questions.

The AEGEEan: People can be as diverse as there are pages in a book. To those who don’t know your story yet, Lia, who are you?

Lia: I am Lia Tuska, currently member of AEGEE-Sofia. I found out about AEGEE more than two years ago when with some other students in Kastoria, we established AEGEE-Kastoria. I already had experience with bureaucracy from other NGOs and I helped a lot there. I was member of the board for two years (IT in 2012 and secretary on 2013). Later, I joined Information Technology Committee and in June of 2013 I got elected Vice-Speaker. On October 2013, I got elected Secretary of Human Rights Working Group. At Agora Zaragoza, I got the chance to be Secretary’s Assistant. After that, I was Subcommissioner of Arsenis Tselengidis(AEGEE-Thessaloniki), responsible for AEGEE-Athina, AEGEE-Nicosia, AEGEE-Patra and AEGEE-Peiraias. That motivated me more to apply as a Network Commissioner myself and now I am responsible for the Dutch-speaking and (after Arsenis’ resignation) the Greek-speaking locals. Last but not least, my passion on Human Rights led me to join the core team of Democracy in Practice Project with the position of the PR Responsible.

People don’t drift coolly out of nowhere and apply for a position on the Agora. Lia, could you tell us something about your experiences with AEGEE?

I have experience of doing Secretary tasks inside and outside AEGEE. I am Secretary of a local cultural center in my hometown, Serres. I was Secretary of AEGEE-Kastoria. I was Secretary’s Assistant at Agora Zaragoza. I kept the minutes of the Prytanium “An Updated AEGEE Identity”. I am Secretary of Human Rights Working Group. I finished my six months internship as secretary’s assistant in a Lifelong Learning Center in May.

Of all the positions you could have chosen from, why did you decide to run for Secretary of the Agora/EPM?

For some people the Secretary’s position might seem boring and difficult, but I really love every moment of that. I was thinking of applying as Secretary of the Agora for a long time. After attending Peace Revolution European Fellowship, I spent a lot of time thinking of what am I going to do next in my life. The retreat helped me a lot to see things more clearly and decide what I really wanted to do. I love challenging myself. Someone told me to follow my dreams. So I decided to do it!

Of course you’re not the first member of AEGEE-Sofia to apply for the position of Secretary, Elena Antova has fulfilled the position of Secretary of the Agora in Mannheim in 2013. Have you two been in touch or exchanging tips?

Elena is one of the members that I admire in AEGEE. When she sent the open call for Secretary’s Assistants, I was really busy with exams so I missed it. The deadline for applying was extended, so I took the chance and I applied. I was so happy when Elena announced me a couple of months later that I was going to be her assistant. It was like a birthday gift (yes, it was on my birthday). She was really helpful preparing me before the Agora. During the Agora, we had some meetings and she gave me some advices. Later, when we met after the Agora, for AEGEE-Sofia’s Birthday Party, she told me that I was the best assistant she had so far.

And now a question from our readers: you are involved in many projects, you are a current Network Commissioner and, should you be elected as the Secretary of the Agora, your duties will extent past Statutory Events. How will you deal with such a big workload?

After Agora Cagliari, my only AEGEE activities are Network Commissioner and PR of Democracy in Practice Project. I have worked with Elena Antova as her assistant and we have discussed, with her and also with current Secretary of the Agora, Danae Matakou, about the workload before the Agora. They both agreed that the biggest workload of the Secretary of the Agora is after the Agora. I have managed to do many things in the same time and I have succeed. After Agora Asturias, my only activity will be being PR of Democracy in Practice and I am sure I can deal with it. After all, I’m not going to work alone. I’ll have my team of assistants.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

One does not need more than 12 days to fall in love with Bulgaria and enjoy its real taste. Keep on reading and find out what I mean …

Our journey started in София (Sofia), an ancient city where several cultures converge. This mixture of cultures makes Sofia a unique city and its visitors will be surprised at each corner. Although our lodging was located a bit far away from the city center, in the student area, we could experience how life was in a soviet building like in the old days. It was an adventure worth it.

During the first day, we had the opportunity to get to know each other better with a bunch of ice-breaking games. The best way to learn 30 different names, indeed! After that, our lovely organizers taught us about Bulgarian culture, its traditions and Cyrillic alphabet. This was quite interesting, so different from what we are used to and, somehow it even has some similarities. Still hungry for discovering more about Bulgaria, we took a spectacular city tour guided by Daniel Angelkoff. The best city tour ever so far: he managed to balance history, culture and funny facts all in one.

For the next day, the organizers prepared a challenge to prove how attentive we were during Daniel´s city tour. “Get lost in Sofia” got us to re-discover the city and have some good times. Divided in smaller groups, we got to know each other better and, we even made some new local friends from town! Some tasks dared us to try new Bulgarian drinks like Boza … Definitely, a life experience not suitable for every person!

They said “to become a true Balkan, one has to travel (and survive!) on Balkan trains”. On our third day, we found out what they meant: a boiling 3h ride to Plovdiv through astonishing Bulgarian landscapes. Some of us were playing games in the 8 persons train cabins, others -exhausted of the night before- were sleeping the whole ride … and others … well, others were enjoying the ride as never before. Open windows, open doors and long corridors gave us so much fun.

Finally we arrived to Plovdiv, the second biggest city in Bulgaria. After successfully filling our stomachs, we were ready to fall in p-LOVE-div with it.  The city preserves the ancient Roman halo and at the same time it opens to the modern times.

Pushing our limits, for the next entire day (our 4th) we visit Rila and its outstanding monastery hidden in the mountains. For those who love nature, mountains, art and culture this is a must stop in your journey. I can not really describe with words the beauty of the monastery, it just took our breath away. To recover after an intense day, we had a nice and chilled picnic next to the river in the middle of the mountains. Also, we had a workshop about Bulgarian history thanks to Ivaylo Bogomilov and his assistant, Tsvetislava Staykova. We learned all about Bulgarian history. Later, we played a crossword game to check how much we learned in the workshop. Some of us won candies and gifts when we knew the right answer!

After so many activities during daylight and parties at night, we took a day off to slowly enjoy the city of Sofia on our own. But do not fall behind because… the train is leaving to Burgas!

Next days at the Black Sea were one of a kind. The city of Burgas is a touristic family place full of  beautiful and crowded streets and nice parks along the seaside. We could enjoy the beach under the burning sun, take a swim in the Black Sea looking at the faraway horizon and have lunch at local beach bars with a good cold Kamenitza  and Burgasko beer in our hands. What else could make this better? …

… Maybe … a day trip to Nessebar and Sunny Beach? How about that?

Nessebar is often called as the “Pearl of the Black Sea” and it is meant to be. This old town has turned into a rich city-museum where one could walk in its streets through more than three millennia. A bit further, after a nice walk, we reached the famous seaside resort Sunny Beach: thousand of good looking and tanned locals and tourist around having a drink at the chill-out beach bar, sun bathing or riding a banana boat. Where do all the young people hang out and have fun… the summery place to be is Bulgaria!

One of the coolest activities we had was a day at the Action Aquapark. As you can imagine, “Slides, slides everywhere”: free fall, extreme, twister, turbulence slides and so on. Because if “there are colours for everyone” … there are slides too! It was a great day full of laughs (and why not, some fears on some slides!) surrounded by good friends.

Last but not least, we are proud to say that we ate Bulgarian food everyday. One not only discovers a country by its history , its people and its culture … but also by its gastronomy! Everyday, the meals provided by the organizers were typical and local. Tarator, Shopska salad, Banitsa, Kebapcheta and many other delicious dishes!

And as every good AEGEE event, it come to an end. I would like to thank the organizers for their hard work during this event (always with a big smile and willing to fulfill our desires), without them nothing of what I have described previously would have been possible.

All the good times, all the laughs, all the (mis)adventures, all the bus/train rides we did together, all the new places we visited, all the beers we drank together, all the songs we danced together, all the games we played together … all of these (and much more) will be part of us. It will remain deep inside our heads as a wonderful memory and in our hearts … because AEGEE friendships last for ever.

Written by Alba Laguna, AEGEE-Oviedo

This week a photo featuring a crying girl and a policeman during the protests in Sofia has gone viral on social media. Until that picture was shown, not many people had been aware of the protests. As today is already the 156th day of the protests, it is high time to show the world what is going on in Bulgaria. The AEGEEan asked Atanas Nachkov from AEGEE-Sofia about it.

Can you tell me the facts behind the protests that are going on in Bulgaria right now?  When did it all start?

Atanas: In May we got a new government after a temporary one, because the previous one had resigned in February after relatively big protests from mostly poor people, who were unable to pay their electricity bills for January. So, as a result of the earlier elections, they remained the biggest party in the Parliament, but couldn’t form a government due to the lack of majority. After that, all the trouble started.

The new government, led by Plamen Oresharski and consisting of some ministers who are not linked to a political party, was supported by the Socialist party (BSP), a movement for freedom and rights (DPS), and a xenophobic party called “Ataka” (attack). On June 14th, the leader of the socialist party proposed to the Parliament a media tycoon to be the chairperson of the State security agency (DANS). He is 33 and has never been active at all: his mother is the actual businessperson. That same day an open call for a protest was initiated on Facebook.

What happened then?

The protest was scheduled at 18:30, after working time. Basically, the candidature was withdrawn the day after that first rally, but the protests continued for every day at the same time. Most of the people who started to gather were young and middle-working-class people, chanting for transparency, accountability, responsibility and other democratic values, behind the word ‘ostavka’, which means ‘resignation’. The protests looked more like street performances, but the whole nation was following what was going on. The amount of people went from 500 to 30,000 only in Sofia, depending on the weekday, which is kind of a lot for here.

A lot of new democratic initiatives emerged, e.g. electronic discussion for bills. However, the government did not respond and some deputies brought out some arrogant words to the protesters. But, as I said before, even though these were huge protests for Bulgaria, the Parliament’s support still is less than 10%. By the way, a lot of stories like the one with the crying girl and policeman were true, like the one from people giving flowers to policewomen and water and food to all guards. The French and the German ambassadors made a common statement, where they declared that they supported the protestors. The Belgian and the Dutch made it only orally and on interviews. The British also responded against the appointment.

For how long did the protests go on?

In Summer it declined and eventually only a few people went to protest. But now, when the school year started a bunch of young students decided to occupy the biggest auditorium in the University of Sofia. A lot of other students supported them almost immediately, as well as some well-known lecturers. After one week, the one before the Agora, they occupied the whole university and this rushed a wave of occupations of other rooms in other universities. They formed an alliance altogether and have the support of the university of Sofia’s authority and some of the student councils. They have made their own parliament and make decisions how to continue with the protests. They demand more moral, less corrupted and transparent government as well as the ostavka of the current one. They protest during work hours till night time almost each day.

On Tuesday there was a protest, but there were a lot of policemen, I’ve never seen so many. But if it wasn’t for them, the deputies would never be able to go out from the Parliament safely. Some students got hurt, either because they were rioting too harshly or because the police was already too arrogant. On Wednesday there were protests against the violence from the police.

What are the reasons behind the protests? What are the Bulgarians fighting for?

Bulgaria is the poorest EU member, a semi-consolidated democracy, has a corrupted media and partially banking system, but most importantly – very insolent politicians. The last election results showed that the people’s trust in the political system is below zero. The economy is comparatively growing slowly, but the fiscal discipline is too harsh. We cover 4/5 of the Maastricht criteria, but we don’t expect to get in the Eurozone in the next 10 years.

You may compare us with Turkey’s GeziPark riots (striving for democratic values), but economy also plays a big role in our protests and we don’t have problems with secularism. Except that in the fact that here’s a strong frustration with their and Egypt’s protests, because the world news agencies, showed mostly them and wrote just a few posts about us during the summer. We felt neglected, because the lack of blood (something that we were proud of) and the vivid performances were skipped. Unfortunately, on Tuesday some people got harmed.

There is a strong need for further implementation of democratic principles in the political system, but people start to realise about it just now and that’s why they are fighting for them, with very vague labels. Ostavka means only resignation, but here and now it also means that there is something really wrong with us, it can’t go on like that and it’s high time we find a solution. After the fall of the communism, it is obvious that we still haven’t found the proper way to set a prosperous state and we’re making circles in the same place, which we call “transition”. We are still learning what is active citizenship and open-mindedness.

What is your opinion about the protests? Do you believe in a change? Are you doing anything yourself?

I support them. I’m active on Facebook and sometimes I go to the protests, but at the same time I have to study for the state exams. If you check closely the Agora Zaragoza pictures of the Chair Team, you’ll see #ostavka on my laptop.

Roger Waters playing “Another Brick in the Wall” in Sofia and displaying “ostavka” on the screen

I don’t think that our politicians will change their minds, we need a whole new generation to come on stage. Even if they resign, it’s likely that the same parties will be back on the floor and this will continue. I think this will last for long time. The police are actually really scared because they are in favour of the protestors, but they don’t want to lose their jobs.

I was thinking to write to the mailing list “AEGEE-L”, but later I thought that lighting a candle is not very attractive. Moreover, the EU institutions did not react as we presumed they would.

Find more background information and a chronology of the protests here, and Atanas’ favourite opinion article about the protests here.

Pictures on the courtesy of Atanas Nachkov

Written by Marije Arentze, AEGEE-Leiden

This month the Local of the Month is to be found in Bulgaria. Organising the Leadership Summer School (LSS) was a challenge for AEGEE-Sofia but how they managed to execute it makes them the Local of the Month. The AEGEEan interviewed the board to hear about the event as well as the antenna.

Can you tell us a bit about AEGEE-Sofia?

AEGEE-Sofia was established in 1991 as a non-governmental voluntary organization. Since 1992 it has been a part of the Network of AEGEE-Europe. Amongst priority topics of AEGEE-Sofia are non-formal education, ecology, and intercultural dialogue.  The organisation is taking action to emphasise the differences and similarities of people from geographically and culturally remote regions in order to foster mutual understanding and respect amongst our members. AEGEE-Sofia has 50 members and half of them came because of the great Summer University Project. Around 10-14 people come to weekly meetings regularly and there are around 10 very active members.

What is special about AEGEE-Sofia?

In AEGEE-Sofia, we make mistakes. We get rejected. We get satisfaction. We celebrate others’ success. We take action. We are fast learners. We create stories. We live in the moment. We turn off the TV. We live out loud. We get results. We develop. We love each other. We have fun. We love AEGEE.

Why did you choose to organise Leadership Summer School (LSS)?

Leadership Summer School is important for AEGEE-Sofia because it was a challenge and a chance for improving the members’ organising and management skills. It was one step forward for our local. We, as AEGEE-Sofia team felt the opportunities for all people involved in LSS – participants, trainers and organisers to find new friends, future partners and new motivation. It is indeed one big jump in the name of future worldwide networking.  LSS is the best place where organisers and participants meet people ready to empower their knowledge, experience, to realise each others’ stability and prosperity, to build a bridge between youngsters and to make a change in society. We know that Leadership Summer School broadens your horizons and it awakes the leader inside you!

How was the experience of organising such a big event?

Organising this project was perfect – it sounds nice but it is just too good to be true. The Organising Committee (OC) faced many difficulties during preparation and implementation of Leadership Summer School Sofia 2013 (LSS 2013). But they managed to find good solutions. Everybody from OC had specific tasks but there were times when they needed to help each other in writing an article for a media, writing letters to externals, preparing welcome packages, etc. Sometimes the work was flexible.

During the training days (July 21-30, 2013) there were around 25 people who had different tasks. There was a main team of eight people who were working all the time and four volunteers who brought lots of energy and smiles! AEGEE-Sofia had sent a call for volunteers through Timeheroes.org (a Bulgarian platform for volunteering) and Facebook.

One of the amazing things of LSS 2013 was that people were always on time – they were not late for training,lunch, games or parties!

Organising LSS 2013 was fun but it was also a job – with tasks to be done, deadlines to be met and a lot of coordination between participants, trainers and organisers. It was an inspiring project – with many interesting people, conversations and dancing! The time was not enough to have enough conversations with everybody but this is just a beginning of new friendships and new projects.

In your antenna you also have quite a few active European level members.
How do you promote the European level to your members?

In AEGEE-Sofia people believe that AEGEE gives many possibilities for development of new skills both on local and international level. So we have made many workshops about goals and activities of Working Groups, Commissions, Project Teams and other bodies of AEGEE-Europe during Local Training Courses organized in the last four years.

Moreover, the board of AEGEE-Sofia is regularly looking for information from lists and news from AEGEE-Europe about initiatives and projects on European level. We forward this information to the members’ mailing list and Facebook group. If some people show interest, they can either join a team working on the European level or they can organise activity of a European project on the local level. The last example of that is “Europe on Track – Capture the Future of Europe: Non-Formal Education” which took place on 17^th December 2012.

What lies in the future of AEGEE-Sofia?

In terms of activities we are planning, there will be a team-building weekend in autumn. We are thinking of making an exchange with another AEGEE local soon. We are also looking for calls for partnerships in projects funded by Youth in Action for the next deadline – 3rd October.

Then there will be a local Agora for election of a new board in December.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Koebenhavn

“Be aware! Leadership Summer School (LSS) may change your life! – and they are not even sorry…”–  says Helene Winnecke Jensen and this caught me on the hook. What is so unique about the LSS everybody is talking about? The AEGEEan is here to investigate for you.

Firstly I go to the website and find out that Leadership Summer School is an intensive learning and networking experience, aiming to increase quality and readiness of youth NGO leaders, sharing best practices and improving leadership skills among prominent members of each participating organisation. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

The enthusiastic OC

Second – it will take place from 21^st until 30^th of July and will be organised by AEGEE-Sofia together with Zero Generation. Sofia is a destination with many low-cost connectionS and there are more than 100 places, not only for AEGEE but for more than 25 students’ NGOs. Sounds really promising to me.

Third – I asked former participants what kind of experience it is. From David Čechlovský I hear ‘My past life (before LSS) was one huge grey color. But the LSS has influenced my perception and now I see colors everywhere! Love, passion, trust … everything seems so correct now!’, then Bogdan Burtescu is telling me ‘My world is a better place now’. Is this really happening? Is it really so cool? OK. Let’s check with the organisers: Herve Tunga from BEST, one of the establishers of LSS, currently member of the Supervisory Board and Trainer at the event and Cafer Saatchi from AEGEE-Sofia, Main Coordinator of LSS 2013. See what they told me…

The AEGEEan: Herve, what is your position towards LSS? You are part of the Supervisory board, trainer or a Main coordinator? Could you tell us more about this?

Inspiring trainers from LSS 2012, Budapest

Herve: When we were creating LSS, there was no position. I am working for the development of the project. Therefore I contribute on every level and as much as possible. I joined the project to develop the Training and Learning side. Then I continued to facilitate the organisation of LSS and to ensure it stays an event that delivers the best learning environment and experience  possible. Despite all the roles I use to take, I am fundamentally a Trainer at LSS.

And what is the role of the Supervisory board?

Herve: The role of Supervisory Board is to support the organisation of LSS, to monitor the progress of the team working on the LSS edition. The Supervisory Board is also expected to ensure that regular activity reports are produced and communicated to all stakeholders of the event (Zero Generation, partnering Organisations, Organisation Committee, Trainers, and Participants).

Cafer, why Leadership Summer School?

Cafer: We, in AEGEE-Sofia like to take up challenges. Such a challenge for us is to organise Leadership Summer School 2013. There were different reasons that led towards our decision. Among them was to provide the opportunity for 100 young people from all over the world, coming from more than 25 students’ organizations, to lead and learn from different trainings in a non-formal environment, shaping them to become the leaders of tomorrow. We are giving our best together with our partners from Zero Generation to organise one of the most significant annual trainings for the NGO world.

And why just not simple Summer University?

Cafer:I really appreciate what Summer Universities are providing to AEGEE and its members talking about cultural exchange and non-formal education. This is the reason this year AEGEE-Sofia is again taking part in the Summer University Project, organising “My AEGEE Balkan Beach Fairytale”. However, as I said earlier, we like to rise to challenges and we want to provide to AEGEE and the members of other NGOs a high-quality training.

What is an event without participants

Your antenna has organised SUs last three years. What is the difference in the organisation for the moment?

Cafer: There is a huge difference between organising a Leadership Summer School and a Summer University. The first is the size of the event. LSS will get together more than 100 people, which is three times bigger than any Summer University we organised so far, which means that we will need much more people involved in the organisation. Other difference is the concept of the event. The priorities of LSS are the trainings and the opportunity for exchanging ideas between the NGOs, compared with the Summer University where the social program is prior. Among our tasks is to provide the best training facilities for our participants.

Herve, How many Leadership Summer Schools have you organised so far?

Herve: Being present since the beginning, I can say I contributed to organise all  the LSS so far, which means 6.

What keeps motivating you?

Herve: LSS is an amazing concept. As a trainer, given opportunity to empower your participants, to facilitate their learning with innovative methods, to help creating a supportive environment is amazing. Being able to do that together with the most professional, skilled and caring trainers is a blessing. Sharing of best practices also contributes to each other’s development.

What could people expect this summer?

Herve: If we are able to improve the learning experience, to initiate and/or strengthen career paths and to empower every single LSS participants, then we all would have levelled up as group and as individuals.

Cafer, what is the biggest challenge for you?

Cafer and his devoted OC from AEGEE-Sofia

Cafer: To be honest, personally for me the biggest challenge is working and cooperating with partners from more than 25 students’ NGO at the same time. Though as part of AEGEE we have good experience and have been cooperating with different partners through the years. Therefore, I can say that I have a positive feeling towards the outcome of the event.

Tell us how is organised – you provide logistics, Supervisory Board provide content? How do you collaborate?

Cafer: The main task of AEGEE-Sofia is to provide logistics, good PR and FR of the event and the task of the Supervisory board is to help and lead us to the best outcome. The content part will be taken care of by the Trainers team and I can say that after really had selection (63 great applications) we will have the best possible trainers team this year. However, except the logistic part our local is engaging also a lot of emotions, sleepless nights and efforts to make this LSS the best so far.

Thank you, both I wish you success with this great event!

Keep in mind –  Application period will be open until 14^th of April!  For more information visit us on: http://leadershipsummerschool.org/2013/03/apply-to-participate-in-lss2013/ and on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipsummerschool

Written by Liliya Buyukliyska, AEGEE-Sofia. Prepared in cooperation with Elena Antova, AEGEE-Sofia.

Being at a same local with Elena let me know her and the way she works since almost the moment I joined AEGEE (already four years ago). But I got acquainted with her meticulous attention to detail at a Youth in Action event in Bratislava. Once you see her suitcase or her room you will know that you deal with an extremely organised person. The way she was dealing with the finances of the first Summer University (SU) by AEGEE-Sofia made us respect Elena’s bureaucracy in the most positive way. Moreover, she was always patient and kind, working easily with different people, always a team player and never leaving something in the middle. Due to all this reasons I was somehow not surprised when I found her candidature for a secretary of the Agora. Why she finds it charming and what is the normal speed she types with – read further and find out:

The AEGEEan: Elena, you have occupied many positions in AEGEE – Financial Director, Audit, Human Resource Committee member, etc. Why have you decided to run for secretary?

Elena: Every time I have ever decided to run for a certain position, I was looking at my inner motivation. I was making sure it is strong enough to defeat all obstacles on my way. I have been considering the position of secretary before and I can say that it is unfortunately rather underestimated by AEGEEans. But, in my opinion it is charming in its very own way. It provides you the unique opportunity to work together with the rest of the Chair team in collaboration with the local organisers on the next Agora, to keep constant connection with applicants and participants and at the same time you are entitled with the responsibility of preparing the minutes.

What is the most important feature for being a good secretary?

Well, I can’t say that there is a special ingredient you should possess in order to become a good secretary. It depends on the case and on your team. Still, there is something you should have in order not just to leave in the middle of the plenary, because you can’t take it anymore and this is called persistence.

Have you worked with Alla Resheten (Chair Team) before? Are you excited to work exactly with this team?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to work with any of the members of the current Chair team so far. However, I am really looking forward, if the Agora approves me for this position, to starting my work as a part of the Chair team. I would do my best to support and assist them with everything I can.

According to you, when is it normal for the secretary to publish the minutes of an Agora?

For me the best moment for publishing the minutes of the Agora is when the secretary is 100% sure that she did her best to fulfil her task and there is no other way she could further improve them. Of course, it is always better if the minutes are submitted on time as on them depends the work of different AEGEE bodies, however I think that we shouldn’t forget the quality factor as well.

Get a watch and write us as much words as possible for 15 sec.

Actually, I never tried to measure my typing speed for such a short time. I did it for one minute and it was between 50 and 55 words. So I guess for 15 seconds it will be around 12 – 14 words.

Well, really impressive. Thank you, Elena, and wish you luck in Mannheim!!!!

Written by Liliya Buyukliyska, AEGEE-Sofia