Last November, Hanna Alajõe, Hendrik Roland Helm and Carmen Küdorf reached out to all AEGEEans with a survey for which they needed nine hundred volunteers in total from European countries. The results for the survey will be used for their bachelor thesis, which deals with the subject of European youth’s perceptions of their body and attitude towards social nudity. The AEGEEan spoke to the three AEGEE-Tartu members, who all study Psychology, to find out more about the topic and their reasons to choose it as a subject for their bachelor thesis

Carmen second on the right, Hanna third and Hendrik fourth

When asked what made them choose European youth’s perceptions of their body and attitude towards social nudity as the subject for their bachelor thesis, the three explain that they got the idea during EBM Lublin. “We noticed that some people were showering with swimsuits and started to discuss it, because due to the sauna culture in Estonia we are comfortable with being naked in public showers. That’s how we got the idea to learn more about how other countries and cultures feel about social nudity (meaning being naked in places like public showers and saunas) and their bodies in general!”

By doing this research, the three hope to learn more about how different aspects of culture can affect our body image, values and attitudes. “We expect to find some differences between the countries and the different areas of Europe. There are many studies of values of different European countries, so we can compare the results and see if the way we look at our body and how we behave is influenced by our personal and our countries’ general values.” Ideally, the three hope to find out more about which cultures would like more privacy in public washing rooms and which don’t mind, giving organisers the chance to adjust the facilities according to the needs of their participants, if possible.

An example of the prize package that people who fill out the survey can win

To research the differences in culture, people from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the Netherlands are asked to fill out their survey, in order to make sure that the different European regions based on geographical and cultural criteria are covered. “We would like to get a hundred answers from every country, nine hundred in total. So far 505 people have started to fill out the survey, but only half of them answered it completely. We still have a long way to go and not a lot of time left, so please help us finish it!” Next to helping out the three AEGEEans by taking 10 – 15 minutes of your time, you will also be able to win a special Estonian prize package.

Do you want to help out Hanna, Hendrik and Carmen? You can find their survey here!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Ander Fernández, AEGEE-Bilbao

Photos by Ander Fernández, AEGEE-Bilbao

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen