AEGEE-Torino is situated in the North-West of Italy and was founded 25 years ago, organising an Agora in 2004. Currently consisting in around 100 members (40 of whom are active), the local has being blooming in the past three years, organising more and more (thematic) activities. From the 4th to the 8th of May they hosted Spring NWM Not a Waste of Money, which allowed them to stand out of the crowd and earn the title of Local of the Month of May, just months after receiving the nomination for ACTive local of the Month. We spoke with current president Giulia Melis, who aswered our questions.

The AEGEEan: Present your local.  

Giulia: We have around one hundred members among which forty are really active! Of course, that’s thanks to our sex appeal, but above all thanks to our local activities which are not only an occasion to socialise and to have fun but also an opportunity for recruiting. Each month we organise several events, and  the biggest one is the Aperitivo linguistico: USE YOUR TONGUE! with around eight hundred participants each time. Among others I can mention Mix&Match and DrunKaraoke which, together with the two Welcome Weeks (one in September and one in February) are the events dedicated to international students. Last but not least the Buddy Program with EPOG students (Economic POlicies in the age of Globalisation – Erasmus Mundus Master’s course), it is at its third edition, and the inspirational Europe Café.
This year was really productive also at the European level thanks to the organisation of the Spring NWM, to the new adventure with our twin AEGEE-Ioannina and the involvement of some of our members in Committees, Commissions as Subcommissioners, Working Groups and Interest Groups.

You have been elected as LoM of May. How does it feel to receive this recognition?

We are really glad to receive this recognition. When you work hard it’s always rewarding to know that someone appreciates your efforts. In addition it’s a stimulation to try to do our best day by day, especially for the new members.

One of the reasons of your nomination was the organisation of the NWM: not a waste of Money. How did you come with the idea to organise a NWM and managed to succeed in it?

The idea was in the air already with previous boards and this year we put it into practice. One of the reasons was to test us, our organisational skills and our ability to work as a team. It was also an opportunity to understand the proper role for each member of the team. Someone said: “Give yourself a new challenge every day and try to overcome it”, that is the philosophy behind our choice. Furthermore, we were aware of our strong local dimension, so we wanted to bring to Torino the AEGEE spirit for those members who never had the possibility to try it.

How did we managed to succeed in it? Passion, hard work and cooperation. Every member put in this event his contribution and we managed to reach the right equilibrium and work as a really good team.

One of your famous activity is the Aperitivo linguistico (Linguistic Happy Hour). What is the concept behind it? Why do you think it’s so successful?

The Aperitivo Linguistico is perfect place to socialise, through it we are trying each month to create a familiar, comfortable and suggestive atmosphere where students from all over the world and young people in general can meet, talk, know each other, practise languages, share and mix their stories having fun. People have the opportunity to live the AEGEE spirit with AEGEE-Torino mood  for one night.

The format of the event is simple: take your half card, find your other half and Use your tongue, finally do it over and over again! More cards, more known people, more new friends! Before I joined AEGEE, I was always at the Aperitivo as a participant, I went alone, with friends or with people met in the previous one. In this way I also met AEGEE-Torino from which I can’t be away now. Why am I saying this to you? Because the Aperitivo Linguistico isn’t only a good experience for who participates, but it’s also an important opportunity for our local. In one event we can do fundraising, promotion, recruiting, training of new members and team building.

About its success, it’s a complicated question! I’ll try to be clear and concise. The Aperitivo linguistico has a really long history, the first one was done in 2010, but it started to grow only in the last three years. The idea and the passion were necessary, but not sufficient to get to this point. Good organisation and strategy are also fundamental. In 2014 the board focused on weaknesses of the event and worked hard to find good solutions. They perfectly answered to the “5W” questions for organise a great event, i.e. Why? What? Who? When? & Where?, and found the key for the turning point. Since then we’re working hard in order to improve even more and to maintain the experience unforgettable. So I think it’s so successful for three reasons: its authenticity, our determination, and a bit of luck which never hurt!

During the Agora you have been mentioned during the Action Agenda interim fulfilment for your European Cafè. How did you have the idea? How did you develop it?

Yes, we are really proud of the Europe Cafè. Thanks to it we were also chosen from the Action Agenda Coordination Committee as ACTive Local of March. The idea born in the philosophical mind of one of our old presidents, Sergio Genovesi. In his own words:

“EC aims at leading international youth present on the local territory to discuss relevant issues concerning European politics and culture. Therefore, the EC provides the opportunity to compare their ideas about European problems with different approaches and points of view to both local and international youth.”

During the current year, the board decided to invest more energy on it because we felt the need to have an open space of discussion. Every month Stefano and Roberto, responsible for this event, prepared a small presentation about the topic chosen. It will be the opening of the Europe Cafè, after that the discussion is open and anyone can share his/her opinion. The topic is chosen taking into account current processes in Europe and participants requests.

Europe Cafè is a simple event with an amazing impact on participants. If you are curious check the article about it!

How is AEGEE affecting your community?

Torino is a big city and it is not easy to measure our impact on the community. For sure, we are able to create spaces for sharing and discussing and probably a lot of new friendships, relationships and collaborations started during our events. I think that helping young people who move to Torino to find their new dimension is already a great thing.

In addition, this year we started to collaborate with external partners like start-ups, other associations and the municipality of Torino with which we’re planning some activities with the purpose to involve more young people in the social dynamics of the city and to promote active citizenship.

What is your motto? Can you describe your local in one sentence?

To be always ourself, because differences are awesome!

What are your upcoming activities?

This year was really full, but we’re not tired. Now all our efforts are on the Summer University W.I.N.E. – Water Isn’t Nutritious Enough which will be in collaboration with the Civic Education Working Group and Drink-Wise. It is another project to whom we all feel attached. This will be the second edition of that fantastic immersion in the Torino and Piedmont atmosphere: Italian style, superb food, the best wines in the world and the madness of AEGEE-Torino. After that, holidays to recharge our batteries in order to get ready for September!

What is the future holding for AEGEE-Torino?

You are so curious! For three years AEGEE-Torino has been improving itself, we found a common vision of our local and we’re working to ensure that each of our members feels part of a big project. New elections are close and the aim of current board is to be strongly supportive for the new one in order to turn all AEGEE-Torino plans into reality.

Because yes, we have plans, or better, we have dreams! We’re working on collaborations and projects and starting to plan new ones, our intention is increasing our holding in the future and our hope is that you hear about us for handsome reasons. I love mystery, so no spoilers! You will discover them!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Last March, AEGEE-Torino organised Europe Café about Populism. For this reason, they has been chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Roberto, Gulia and Luca to find out more!

ACT: Which emotions did you have when you know that AEGEE-Torino has been chosen as ACTive local of March?  

Roberto: We were very excited and honored by knowing that our Antenna was chosen for this recognition. We put a steady effort on this activity and I am glad to see that it has been recognized as useful to the objectives our organisation!

Why did you decide to organise that activity?  

Roberto: Actually, this activity as such dates back to some years ago from an idea of Sergio Genovesi. Despite the activity was a little bit neglected, this year, when we had to decide whether to stop it or not, we just gave it another chance and revitalised it because we thought it was worth having also a cultural side in our local!   

What was the result of your activity?

Roberto: We organise the Europe Café on a monthly basis with an average attendance of 15-20 people coming from various parts of Europe (France, Germany, Romania, Poland, to name a few). As mentioned, it is a talk in English open to all those who want to discuss in an international environment. We deal every month with the “hot” topic of the moment: just to give a few examples, we talked about Brexit, the crisis of Schengen, the rise of populist movements,  the impact of terrorism on everyday life. In addition, each time we also have a little focus on the electoral moments in the European countries (General Elections, Referenda, and so on).  We had many good feedbacks: making available a space for relaxed and thoughtful talking gives a real opportunity for free expression to the international (but also Italian) students in our city.

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

Giulia: We’re keeping them updated about every activity/news regarding the AA or the SP through our social channels, during our weekly meetings and LTCs.  We are also quite lucky because we can boast the presence of three ACTies in our local, Gabriele Scollo was in ACT in 2015/2016, Marco Daniele will finish his term at the end of July when I will start with mine for the next year.   

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

Giulia: As Roberto said the Europe Café isn’t a sporadic activity, but is a regular spot that every month changes its topic taking into account news reports and participants’ interests. This means that a new challenge is waiting for us each month and this is the strength of the event: its flexibility and constant innovation. Besides, this year’s experience increased and stimulated the interest of our members about thematic activities, so maybe we have something on our plate for the next year!  You will see!

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

Roberto: The Strategic Plan is sometimes read as a sort of top-down set of orders and, even worst, generally organising activities related to the Action Agenda is too often seen as a constraint. We need to change that! We should take the Strategic Plan as an inspiration for our activities and the AA as an instrument which can help us to put into practice our ideas and to measure their impact. We have the chance to make a real and measurable impact on society, no matter how little or big, and it shouldn’t be wasted. This is the reason why we should all organise this kind of activities.   

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?  

Three fast tips!

First: KEEP IT SIMPLE. If you overdo with the organisation, you will probably not be able to carry out all the details and be disappointed. If you start from the little things however, you will have a lot of room for improvement and development. After all, Europe Café is simply a nice talk with some international friends and it works because it is simple.  

Second: INVOLVE PEOPLE. It is really important to have people involved, not only for the impact itself, but because when people are with you, they help you and your job becomes far easier and effective. In Europe Café, the participants are those who make the discussion great for everybody, our job is just to make it work.

Third: YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN YOUR PROJECT. Always think on why you want to organise your activity and make your cause your landmark. Organising something only because you have to is just not worth it.

In any case, feel free to contact us if you want help and tips about how to organise a Europe Café in your local, we will be glad to help you! You can contact us on our Facebook page or send us an email! (aegeetoboard@gmail.com  or  giulia.melis@aegee.org)

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

Giulia: AEGEE-Torino was founded in 1992, so this year we celebrate our 25th birthday. We have a long history behind us and among all moments coming from the past we cannot forget 2004, with the Autumn Agora and one of our members, Nicola Rega, as AEGEE-Europe’s President.  Now AEGEE-Torino can count on around one hundred members, forty of them really active. Since three years we’re working hard with the aim of growing up, starting from the local level and now focusing on the European one.  Our efforts led to two strong and stable local events, the “Europe Cafè” and of course the great “Aperitivo linguistico: USE YOUR TONGUE” that attracts each month almost eight hundred students and Erasmus people. In addition six of us are currently involved in European bodies, committees, commissions, interest and working groups.  

Are we tired? Absolutely not! We still have a lot of new ideas and projects in progress. To be continued…

Characterise your local in one sentence.   

Luca: Organised mess brings great results and happy people!

Written by Elena Efremova behalf of Action Agenda Committee.

Spring is right in front of us and Spring Network Meetings follow closely. The Network is once again presented with ten amazing opportunities to grow stronger together, create fruitful alliances and share best practices. Here you can find AEGEE-Bamberg, AEGEE-Gdansk, AEGEE-Novi Sad, AEGEE-Torino and AEGEE-Yerevan. For the previous five, click here. 

NWM Bamberg: We’ll be Royals [upgrade yourself]!

Royals – Lorde AEGEE-Bamberg

And we’ll never be royals.

It don’t run in our blood,

That kind of lux just ain’t is for us.

We crave a different royal kind of buzz.

Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen  Sir Heinrich II

And baby I’ll rule (I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule)

Let me live that fantasy.

My AEGEE friends,

Your majesty Sir Heinrich II invites his imperial followership to an accolade and induction of his most faithful supporters to receive a knighthood in his beautiful city of residence, Bamberg!

“Upgrade yourself by attending this gathering of 25 members of the noble AEGEE-family that will take place between the 20th and 23rd of April. You will not only be offered inspiring workshops, discussion panels and debates in a royal city flair, but plenty of extras that will constitute the royal flair of this event!”

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/735094903322354/

NWM Gdansk: The Greatest ones Do Now! 

Yo, did you miss Agora? The event when dozens of people have a time of their lives? If the answer is “yes”, or “maybe”, or even “no”, just think for a while if you want to improve yourself and learn something essential by the beautiful Baltic Sea. Baltic Sea, huh, doesn’t it sound exciting? NWM Gdansk is your best option! Or at least, organisers think so! Now imagine: 100 amazing AEGEEans will come together to discover different areas, share their ideas and present themselves! Fantastic trainers from AEGEE and BEST! It is going to be something new, stunning, fabulous, something that AEGEE has not seen before… Well, there are a lot of catchy phrases, so to check all of them out – just apply until the 6th of March! It is your occasion to be the Greatest! #GDN

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/632077763643140/

NWM Novi Sad: European by birth. AEGEEan by choice. In Novi Sad on purpouse. 

The second largest city of Serbia, the industrial and financial center often considered as the co-capital of Belgrade, the European Capital of culture of 2021, European Youth Capital for 2019, the Youthful musical city where the Best Major European award-winning festival EXIT happens ever since 2000- the new era of a new age and… is there more? Oh, there is more. YOU can add more by getting more! And if you are thinking “When would be the right time to go? Does Spring 2017 seem like a good time?”, it is certainly the right time! Visit the Balkans, especially if for the first time. Afterwards, you will always want to come back. Right next to the warm and welcoming spirit of the city together with a lot of rich cultural learning, the total catch is simply to come and see- new FA, AEGEE (huge!) achievements: we know how and where, we know why, we are just missing with whom. Networking and strengthening, blending the joint visions into common missions, it is all about getting better. Acknowledge your European self and… Get to learn, get to lead!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/209560836180310/

NWM Torino: Not a Waste of Money! 

AEGEE-Torino is a crazy antenna and their events always have to be huuuge. That is why we decided to have 60 participants in our NWM. The sessions are going to be held in an amazing location in the middle of a park, a few minutes away from the main square and on the Po river bank. The programme will be fun and interactive, the social programme will be tremendous (participants will have the opportunity to take part in the famous “use your tongue” aperitif) and it will be also the best season to visit our great city. It is going to be absolutely fantastic and you are going to pay for it (but we promise it will be No Waste of Money). Save the dates!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1835333460083036/

NWM Yerevan: HAY power! 

NWM Yerevan: HAY power. You are probably wondering what does these 3 letters mean. Sorry, but I am not going to tell you that right now. All I can say is that if you come to Yerevan in May 2017 you will not regret it. Intensive sessions during the afternoon, national dances and music in the evening, an international team and hospitable local organisers, delicious cuisine and a wonderful city, a place for discussion and motivation to be born. Forget about borders in your head and distance on the map. Come and get inspired!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1439540256344976/

This is part two of a two-parts article. For part one, click here.

Written by the Network Commission of AEGEE-Europe

Day 3 and 4 – Torino (16th-17th February)

In order to get in time to Torino, all of us had a long journey to take: Zvonimir from León, Réka from Toulouse, and me from Lille. Thus our programme first started in late afternoon with an interview with Giulia Melis, President of AEGEE-Torino, then a meeting with the Board and the members of AEGEE-Torino. The three of us all spoke about our experiences in AEGEE (what we did before CD and why did we decide to run for a position in the Comité Directeur), what motivates us to contribute more to the organisation, and we also gave an overview on the structure of AEGEE and what our European Bodies are doing. We also asked AEGEE-Torino members why did they join and why did they stay in the organisation.

We all agreed that the keywords are people and the community: most of us joined because their friends or acquaintances recommended AEGEE, and everyone said that they stayed because of the people they met and the friends they made inside the organisation. The same applies for motivation: most of us want to help in order to support others – being them Erasmus students, newly acquired members or students in our city, etc. We also saw a remarkable interest towards some of the thematic topics AEGEE is having now (such as the new Focus Areas of the Interest Groups).

In the evening we closed the day with the Aperitivo of AEGEE-Torino, where we could meet the rest of AEGEE-Torino members, and also the Erasmus students and other students and people from Torino who are regular participants of these events.

The next day before our departure, we got a nice (and fast) city tour of Torino – it is amazing how rich the cultural heritage is in the city – and a lunch together with some of the active members of AEGEE-Torino where we also had time to discuss some other topics concerning AEGEE. We again parted for three different routes: Zvonimir to Firenze, Réka to Bergamo and me to Milano.

Here the interview with AEGEE-Torino President Giulia Melis:

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Network Director 

The Italians are believed not to be fluent English speakers. However, the AEGEE-Torino crew is breaking all the stereotypes! They came up with an idea to motivate the Rainbow network to practise languages and work harder on a teambuilding, promotion and fundraising at the same time. The AEGEEan talked with the Event Responsible and main organiser of the Linguistic happy hours: Lorenzo Li Veli.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us something about the Linguistic happy hours (L’Aperitivo Linguistico)? What was the main aim of the event? Is there any program you followed? What games were included? 

Lorenzo Li Veli: L’Aperitivo Linguistico is an event that has characterized our antenna since the first day.  It is something typically Italian: it is neither a proper dinner nor an afternoon break. People come to get some food and a drink and have fun together. Our L’Aperitivo Linguistico is mainly divided into two parts: the first one where people eat and socialize thanks to our ice-breaking games, the second one where we reward the winners of the different games and we introduce AEGEE. After this, everyone is free to continue their own night with us or on their own. The main aim is to get everyone to socialize, and as it is very multicultural, we like the idea of students of different nationalities getting in touch. And of course, the economic issue is important: it is our main way to fundraise.

How did you come up with this interesting idea? Did the success of your Summer University Use your Tongue inspire you to continue with the same thought?

L’Aperitivo Linguistico is an event that our antenna has always organised. Unfortunately, last year was a slack period for it; only few people were involved and it was a semi-disaster. This year we decided to completely renew the formula and we changed everything: the structure, location and frequency. The team was reformed and I wanted everyone to be “AEGEE-mates” before the event. We worked a lot on the PR and the success came along!

Did you contact the Language Working Group and ask them for support? Who were the trainers/teachers and what languages were covered by the program?

We contacted LWG only for the European Day of Language, but it does not have any role in our Aperitivo. We do not involve any specific trainers. All the Aperitivo-knowledge I have now comes from the past experiences I have had either in AEGEE or in other associations. We still have a lot to learn to improve our Aperitivo. Right now, we cover the five main European languages: Italian, Spanish, English, French and German. But we’re thinking to add two more: Arab and Chinese. We will see at the next Aperitivo.

Was there any cooperation with the Erasmus students?

Without Erasmus students, L’Aperitivo Linguistico could not live. The more students there are, the better it is. As we want to spread the spirit of a borderless Europe, having many students of different nations is the perfect recipe for our L’Aperitivo!

Is the event open for everyone or just for the members of AEGEE-Torino?

It’s open to anyone who wants to have a great time, meet a lot of new people and speak different languages. We have a lot of Erasmus students coming, as well as many students who live in Turin. At the latest L’Aperitivo of 2014 there were more than four hundred participants. It was an incredible night!

How many times have you organised it so far and has it already become traditional? 

For the season 2014/2015 we started in October, and we had one in November and in December too. After the winter break, we’re starting in March and continue with one Aperitivo a month until June. It’s always on the first Tuesday of the month.

Last year it was a weekly meeting, but this year we decided to concentrate all our resources and efforts on a monthly meeting. It has been a good choice so far.

Would you advise other antennas to have a similar type of activity? Why?

Of course I would. It is a great way to improve the notoriety of a single local. And it is a great fundraising move, too. I can say that it is our main economic income, right now. We are also planning to make “L’AperitivoLinguistico – Use your tongue” a brand to be advertised in all of Italy and, why not, in Europe as well. We have already extended it to Verona, Brescia and Genova.

What about the future plans of AEGEE-Torino? We have heard that the exchange with AEGEE-Novi Sad is coming. Can you please tell us something more about the plans of the current board? 

We have a lot of projects for the future! First of all, we will continue with one Aperitivo Linguistico a month, until June. Then we have this beautiful exchange with Novi Sad between April and May and we are also planning an Local Training Course this spring. Last but not least, the event we’re most proud of: our Summer University in July and August. It’s going to be an awesome 2015 for AEGEE-Torino!

Would you like to share one inspiring quote, or a motivational line that you follow? 

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela It perfectly describes our spirit. Never give up!

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers?

Come to Torino and enjoy the beautiful spirit of AEGEE during our Aperitivo Linguistico. You won’t regret it, I can assure it. And I want to give a special thanks to the beautiful team that works with me for the perfect success of the event: everyone is important!

Written by Ivana Mijanac, AEGEE-Beograd

Author’s remark: to my great shame, out of my three years of AEGEE experience, I had never made it to the Summer University. But “the final chapter has not been written”, the best gift is the long-awaited one, here we go!

The summer of every single AEGEEan ought to special. Some decide to take a plunge into culture of a host country, travel around or wander about the city, learn something new and feed their inner culture-vulture or the other way round – immerse in a whirlpool of activities and parties to escape the world-weary mood. And those who like to have it all, fifty “birds of a feather” from numerous European counties flocked this summer to Torino Summer University Use your TOngue 2.0.

This intriguing name was indeed very promising and, yes, it meant a great journey into Italian culture and language (for what else do you need your tongue). The venue of the event was chosen to tailor the needs of this marvelous cultural plunge and the event took place in the walls of the dance school.

The rainy weather in Turin (Torino) didn’t have any compassion for our festive and lively moods but organizers knew the way to lift it up. So on the first day, the participants were taken the a somber room where they were surprised with a sudden gala concert with an actual piano player and a professional singer with a deep and beautiful voice. And the music touched our ears…

We should pay tribute to the maestro because starting from this point –“live Italy” became the creed for the two coming weeks. Early morning classes of Italian brushed up participants’ knowledge from wobbly phrases like “Non parlo Italiano” to  more refined expressions which later became handy while presenting a drama on stage.

The Roman deity of dance and music haunted the event few times and provided the participants with the dance lessons of traditional Piedmontese dances and more laid-back American boogie-woogie. And once under the cover of night, a group of aces-to-be gathered in a park to unleash their dance talents and practice the earlier acquired skills.

Great and playful city tours full of helpful tips gave a great overview of the city and its history, moreover, during it participants were able to encounter locals  and exchange a couple of words with them and even boil eggs in coffee cups. The sex(y) city rally provided closer ties and tighter contact with Turin’s residents which was quite easy and exciting for both sides…

As a part of the program all group members were taken to one of the oldest Egyptian museums in the world to discover the history of mummies, the former graveyards, bygone gods, divine and eerie creatures. Pursuing this path, we also found ourselves in an utterly entertaining and vibrant environment of the National Cinema museum, where we were able go through the landmarks of cinema and cinematography from time immemorial to the recent years. The atmosphere was really terrific and everyone could chill on cozy sofas or rummage in old posters or ails chock-a-block with stage props of the American and European movies and even garments and gowns from Oscar ceremonies! Then the participants hopped inside a see-through elevator to be taken to the breath-taking heights of Mole Antonelliana. The view from this tower was the perfect opportunity to see the city and feel Turin’s vibes.

The young travelers hadn’t quenched their thirst for adventures and ascended the Italian Alps during one of the outside-the-city excursions. The road to the pinnacle was steep and bumpy (and the abrupt turns in front of the cliff felt like the last one, God gracious!) but they were bent on taking this height. And it was definitely worth it: picture-perfect views of the mountainous slopes, deep lakes, green lawns and brownish cows. The ten bravest participants got separated from the group and proudly followed one of the organizers, Francesco the king of hiking, to conquer the top of the small but still quite high mountain. The trip was at the same time arduous and enriching as it boosted and bolstered up the participants’ feeling of togetherness and made the group a really tight-knit team overflowing with AEGEE spirit.

Then the group hit the road for the second time. This time the adventurers were taken to Genova to embark on a steamboat. Flowing on the waves of a foamy sea, the vessel anchored in the sea where the participants had plenty of time to relax and take a sunbathe on the San Fruttoso’ s beach and take multiple swims in a beautiful bay encircled by mountains with bushy woods. After some hours the group proceeded to Portofino renowned for its bewildering beauty and colourful buildings.

On one of last days we were divided into multiple groups of four or five people in each to perform on stage (mostly in Italian). The performances’ styles varied from drama, musical, humorous and truly explicit sketches to the Freudian talks and the gathering of anonymous sex and porn addicts.

Apart from extended daytime program, we were able to enjoy the wonderful nightlife and dress-up parties. The group traveled through various times: roaring twenties with its gangsters and posh style, turned into boisterous and resentful hippie times. The venues were different all the time ranging from a local city hall, pub, club to a jazz club, nevertheless the place is less important than the unique and fantastic people surrounding you.

The group had it all, parties until dawn, nice chit-chats, good relationship and eternal summer warmth of the sweet memories…We were the ones in bad and good times and we stood by each others side offering a helping hand (and a bitter-sweet video to the victims of pickpockets, thank you our small Oscar-to-be-given-to group of  actors).

As for me, I was again convinced that what differentiates us from each other and blinds us in understanding other nations can be always bridged by whatever tool you choose: language, kind and positive attitude or fun shared together.

Keep your inner summer glowing!

Written by Alexandra Belanova, AEGEE-Moskva

After doing a lot of work for his local, AEGEE-Torino (including being the superhero of their Summer University), Luca Lombardo decided to take the next step and contribute to the European level too, by running for member of the Audit Commission. During the upcoming Agora in Cagliari you will have the chance to ask him all your questions, but before that The AEGEEan asked him some questions too! Read on to get to know all about this guy from Italy, his motivation and his plans!

The AEGEEan: First of all, the most important question: why did you decide to run for Member of the Audit Commission?

Luca: As soon as I got comfortable with the work of my local I always wanted to do something on the European level of AEGEE, too. One of my dreams is working in the Comité Directeur: I cannot think of anything more fulfilling than giving it all for AEGEE every day. Between the roles of the CD I fancy the idea of being the Financial Director, I do not really know if I will ever have the right circumstances in my life to try though, as right now I am trying to build my career in the game development business. All of the previous notions brought me to think about the Audit Commission: I would train my existing but not fully developed financial know-how by doing, I will work for AEGEE, and I could still pursue my current work. Did I mention that I love numbers?

What relevant experience do you have for the position you are applying for?

For the theory I studied Math for Engineering and, even if I have interrupted my studies for now, I had many exams (125 credits, which is more or less two years). All of them involved Math and one was on general economics, including balance sheets. In practice, I have been covering various financial responsibilities for my antenna when needed: budgeting, bank management, writing balance sheets, etc. Also, when I joined AEGEE-Torino the antenna was very small, but now it is growing fast. We lacked knowledge about associations and AEGEE-Europe’s structure, but we were holding up thanks to a few hard-working people. I believe this to be crucial, because from the Agorae I attended I got the feeling that most of the Network resembles this reality and I therefore believe I can help those antennae with my experience, before, during and after the Audit Commission.

What makes you the perfect Member of the Audit Commission?

I could use a lot of words on how I do things but I think the best way to judge candidates is upon how much their interest coincides with the Network. What are the main reasons for an AEGEE member to run for Audit Commission? Helping AEGEE, liking the Audit work or filling their curriculum? I got all those but on top of it I really want to sharpen my financial know-how because I will be covering that role in the future too in a business of my own which is an even stronger motivation to do a good job and give it all.

What are your plans for the Audit Commission if you get elected?

The obvious focus is the smooth running of the Audit’s responsibilities: checking the financial reports within the prescribed time limits, effectively communicate with the other AEGEE bodies, search for sub-commissioners and mentor them, and proactively assist the local treasurers in their reports (when needed).

How do you plan to assist local treasurers in their reports?

I plan on contacting them well in advance and have them tell me what I can do to help, I plan on being very proactive on this because I know how weird it may feel for a small antenna’s treasurer. Often you cannot even phrase what your needs exactly are.

Last but not least, since you wrote you want to look for ways to improve the current system: what should be improved, and how will you deal with it?

Mostly I believe it is the accessibility of helpful material that is the weakest spot: we have a lot of tools but not nearly enough people use them. I believe the Members’ Portal is very handy but not enough used and I plan on manually going through the Network to make sure that all boards know what tools they have access to. With manually I mean as direct as possible: writing to an antenna’s mail or Facebook page is not direct enough most of the time, I will obviously do that too but when possible I want to get to the people directly through common friends. This cures the symptom, though, not the disease, I do not have a clear idea of how to solve the root of the problem yet, but I will work on it.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

“Use your Tongue… Eat and Speak!” this year AEGEE-Torino’s Summer University (SU) was such an amazing event that I feel the need to share it. But I don’t want to bore you with how cool it was being there, I want to tell you which where the key elements that let a small antenna make such a good SU.

Photo by Pablo Palazon from AEGEE-Alicante.

Preparation

Before talking about the SU though, I should tell you how AEGEE-Torino selected its amazing participants. Every member rated from one to five the motivation letters based on seven criteria (the SU theme was Italian language and cuisine):
-Desire of learning Italian and Italian culture
-Curiousity towards Turin
-Curiousity towards other cultures
-Curiousity towards Italian cuisine
-Level of English (to be sure it wasn’t zero)
-Will to party
-Is there a person behind this motivation or is it just filled with what we want to hear?

Reading carefully and rating 62 motivation letters took a while, but it was not over because the 25 participants that came up where highly unbalanced both by nationalities and by gender. Therefore a discussion on all the “close cases” was needed: a Facebook group with all the likely candidates was created and e-mails were sent to those who where not in it, this way the board managed to get to know them better and finish the selection.

The whole process took from three to five weeks, but I assure you that the group that emerged from it was the best one I’ve ever seen in any international exchange: there were all type of nationalities and personalities, but during the SU we all became a “big family”.

The SU opened on an evening with a speech by Vittorio La Monica (AEGEE-Torino vice-president) introducing AEGEE-Torino, all the organizers and giving a brief overview of their work. This was a key point to let the new AEGEE members understand where they were, what they should have expected and prevent the mistaking of AEGEE for a travel agency. The mood was set.

Photo by Alev d’Or AEGEE-Frankfurt

Help them bond

The first evening was all about the classical ice-breaking and name games, than the organizers carefully switched day activities between activities with the whole group and activities in small groups (the small groups were decided by the organizers themselves and were always changing). This helped everybody bond easier in smaller groups, while never losing the community feeling. The majority of the parties where held at the house, or at least where only participants and organisers could go. This relative exclusiness helped creating a space-time distortion in which only the SU and us existed, a space-time we as group “owned” and felt at home in.

The Italian course

Among the participants there were all different kinds of levels of Italian and we all know how difficult it is to learn stuff when you lack sleep. In order to cope with this difficulties the language course was made to be as dynamic and active as possible: there were dialog to reproduce, songs to learn and sing together, guessing games to distinguish false and true word “friends”, hangman game to get a feel of the abundance of letters in Italian and other things.

I personally found the first mini-lesson a stroke of genius and I totally want to share it: the participants were divided in three groups and made to work together in order to find Italian acronyms (if they didn’t knew any Italian words they could say something that sounded Italian to them and the teacher would help find a similar Italian word). By doing this, they had quite a pool of new words from which to pick and we made them choose which one they would be the Godfather of. The Godfathers of a world had to teach it to the others by using it as much as possible during the whole SU. People were shouting “Madonna!” (“Holy Mother!” it’s an exclamation) or “Bambola!” (a funny way to say “Babe!”) all SU! The course also included the making of pizza and some cultural lessons such as Turin’s architecture and Italian Television history.

Parties, Excursions and Stuff

Obviously there were also parties and a lot of excursions. We had film-character costumes contest, karaoke, white T-shirt party, aperitivo and disco in front of an artificial lake, chill out all night in Valentino’s park (close to the river), night view over Turin from Europa park (a high-ground one). We did both bike and on foot tours of Turin and for the optional activity we went to San Fruttuoso (the fantastic place in Alev’s photo). After the SU we kept writing to each other and lots of us started travelling to meet up, our Facebook private group is filled weekly with new photos of participants/organizers hanging out in some city around Europe.

So to end this I’ll sum the message up: activities are important and you should invest time in them, but remember that they are just the surface. What really matters is the group you’re building and the message of European community you’re giving.

Written by Luca Lombardo, AEGEE-Torino

Featured Picture by David Meckelburg, AEGEE-Maastricht

Are you going to visit this amazing city and you don’t know where to start from? Well, keep reading for some help.

Turin is the fourth Italian largest  city after Rome, Milan and Naples. It’s a multicultural city as well as a very important university city. You can admire the beautiful buildings, most of which were built by the Italian kings, as the city was the first capital of the Reign of Italy. This is why the city is famous for its baroque aspects. Palazzo Madama is an obvious consequence of the kings’ style , but also Palazzo Carignano with its undulated  facade.

The two largest squares are piazza Castello and piazza San Carlo where concerts or manifestations are held. Another huge space ,but green this time, is Valentino’s Park, near Po river. It’s a huge park space where the Castle of Valentino found place, which  now hosts the Faculty of Architecture. Young people call it Hogwarts for the likeness with Harry Potter’s school.

The symbol of the city is la Mole Antonelliana, the most imposing building of the city. You can get on the top of the building thanks to a lift and admire the panoramic view. Inside the building you can visit the National Museum of Cinema. Besides, if you like museums, you will enjoy the Egyptian Museum as well.

For those who are passionate about soccer, you can visit Juventus Stadium or the stadium of the other team of the city, Torino F.C. An interesting museum is the National Museum  of the Automobiles, owned by Agnelli, the possessor of the well-known Fiat factories.

Another major attraction is the Duomo, where you can visit the Holy Shroud. Near the Duomo, there is Porta Palatina, which was one of the main entrances in the ancient city during the times of the Roman Empire. In the surrounding there is a very interesting archaeological area.

A typical aspect of the city is its arcades that cover 18 km of the city’s streets. What is  the reason? Well, the king had to have the opportunity to go for a walk and not to get wet in case of rain. So if you visit the city and it suddenly starts to rain, you won’t get wet even though you don’t have an umbrella and even though you are not a king.

Outside the city, you can visit the royal residences. There are many, but the most famous are the Stupinigi (where you can get by bicycle) and Venaria Reale, both protected by UNESCO.

Last but not least, if you visit Turin, you have to try gianduiotto, typical chocolate with a glass of piedmontese wine.

Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino

What do Mickey Mouse, Lara Croft, a Polish warrior, a vampire and a Scot do at seven in the morning in the streets of Alpignano, a small village near Turin, Italy? Simply, what every normal person would do at that time… have breakfast! What makes them unique is that they are the participants and organisers of the Summer University (SU) of AEGEE-Torino!

As the title of the SU was inspired by a movie, Gran Torino, a movie party (with included breakfast after-party mentioned above) was mandatory. But the extra element was the environmental aspect, making Gran Torino, Gran GREEN Torino. Bike tours, cycling workshops, environmental discussions over hot coffee in the mountains and horse-riding are among the activities made to connect fun with respect for the nature. A superb wine-tasting in the Langhe area with a tour in the vineyards and local food from the producers completed the picture.

The Summer University did not stop just in the city, but extended to a bigger area, including Venaria, seat of the famous Reggia, former royal country house; Avigliana, where the team could refresh in the lake and sunbathe; Alba, the Roman city where ice-cream was the key mission due to the hot temperature; and Bardonecchia, famous ski destination on the border with France.

But the SU life was not limited to the daytime: the nights have been spiced up by drinks offered by the organisers, music from DJs who fell in love with our association, Pálinka water gun, alcoholic sugar cubes, female clothes on boys and vice versa… and much more, everything reported in the notorious Gossip Box.

It is impossible to talk about an SU in Italy without talking about food: pizza until you cannot stand anymore, barbecue, tiramisù workshop and meals garnished with love from the organisers, who prepared them everyday, made this experience unforgettable for the palate.

Something else that the participants will not easily forget is that “Showers are ready”: all gathered with an excuse under the windows, they have been victims of the organizers’ water attack from the top with buckets and from the side with water pump… nobody excluded! Revenge is a dish served cold is the saying, maybe the participants’ revenge will come at Agora Budapest??

AEGEE-Torino should beware!

Written by Martina Zanero, AEGEE-Torino.

Photos are courtesy of Andrea Nagy & Istvàn Juhàsz, AEGEE-Budapest