After a first sneak peek at Roma Autumn Agora Cagliari Pre-Event and the one organised by AEGEE-Milano, the next one will take place in the lovely southern city of Naples. AEGEE-Napoli, along with their twin local AEGEE-Lviv, will organize the WE WE – West east PreAgora event focusing mostly on architecture. We spoke with the main organizer Nicola Guida to discover more about the event and their relationship with AEGEE-Lviv.

Erika: WE WE. What is the secret behind the title?
Nicola: WE WE is a “connection of connections”, an idea to briefly represent our multicultural project. Firstly in English “WE” means us. All together, no barriers, no division, exactly the concept of a border-less Europe. Secondly, being an acronym it connects West with East with a special reference to the Napoli-Lviv twin project. Thirdly in Neapolitan language the exclamation “WE” (or UE) is used for many purposes: to greet, to show surprise, to catch the attention of another person and in general to set a positive connection between people. So there are plenty of hidden meanings as you can see!

When was the idea of a pre event born?
Well as soon as it was announced that Cagliari was going to host the autumn Agora 2014 we got carried away by the enthusiasm and decided we couldn’t miss this chance! We want to give AEGEE members a chance to get a taste of Italy even before arriving to Cagliari!

Your pre event will focus on architecture. What should participants expect?
Through the narrow streets of Napoli they will travel back in time, discovering concrete traces of many different civilizations. We will offer participants knowledge about our city trying to away out from the usual way education provides information. With us they will be able not only to see and learn from an external point of view, but also to get deep inside knowledge and really feel the city.

The event is organized also by AEGEE-Lviv, that is rather far away from Napoli. What is the contribution of the Ukranian local?
They’ll be our fantastic and beautiful helpers in Napoli, making participants have a virtual tour of their city and holding a workshop on their culture!

What is the thing that two cities like Napoli and Lviv share together?
Many things! They are both full of history and atmosphere with warm and welcoming inhabitants. They are also multicultural cities having hosted many different civilizations. They have been ruled by different countries, always being the capital of their region and center of attraction for culture and art. As an example of this important past, their historical centers are both UNESCO heritage sites.

The fee of the event will be 77 euros. Not a coincidence for AEGEE-Napoli, even if a lot of mistery surrouds this number. Why 77 is your lucky number?
It’s a secret from Neapolitan Smorfia, only those who will come to the event will dissolve the fog of mystery!

You set the number to 24 participants. Will you stick to this number or are you able (or willing) to host more?
Unluckily the hostel has only this number of beds and we’re already going to host in our homes the fellow organizers from Lviv.

AEGEE-Napoli and AEGEE-Lviv signed the twin antenna agreement in Agora Patra. How is the relationship going so far?
We can say that it’s quite stable, we were friends before and we are still friends now! No post marital syndrome yet!

Why did you and Lviv choosed each other?
Well, we could say it was destiny… And a lot of things in common. Members from our antennae met frequently in different events in the past and always enjoyed the mutual company. Then during the New Years’ Eve event in Napoli The curious case of AEGEE-Napoli in 2012, we decided to “legalize” our relationship.

What are your upcoming project with AEGEE-Lviv?
An event in Lviv. But shhh.. It is still a secret!

More information about the event can be found here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

Normally summer is a very quiet season for AEGEEans, but definitely not for AEGEE-Cagliari, more busy than ever in organizing the Agora. With the website of Autumn Agora Cagliari launched some days ago, the hype around the general assembly, the first one in Italy since 2006, couldn’t be higher. We spoke with some members of the Core Team, namely Simone Ruscica (Main Coordinator), Mattia Abis (Vice Coordinator), Damiano Deidda (President of AEGEE-Cagliari and Vice Incoming Responsible), Stefano Corsini (FR Responsible) and Enrico Caddeddu (PR Responsible) in order to see what they have instored for us.

The AEGEEan: In Agora Zaragoza everything took place in only one building, in Agora Patra participants were sleeping in one place, having plenaries in another one. What is the solution you chose for Agora Cagliari?

Simone: Actually, we booked the best touristic village by the seaside, it means we will have plenaries and parties on the beach [He laughs]. Trying to be serious, Agora Cagliari will take place in the Sardinia International Fair, in the very city center. We will be able to host around 900 participants. Sleeping place, plenaries and various rooms will be less then 100m from each other, so we won’t waste energy and time moving from place to place. We will move just for parties, and you will just have to wait see what parties we will prepare.

The AEGEEan: About HR, AEGEE-Cagliari is the biggest local in the Rainbow Area (Italian speaking locals, AEGEE-Valletta and Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Lugano ed.), but are you planning to issue an Open Call for helpers?

Simone: Good question with the right timing. We just issued the open call for Helpers “around the Rainbow” to give the possibility also to other locals to take part in the biggest and best event of the network. AEGEE-Cagliari will provide around 50 organizers, but we need some more for the best Agora ever.

The AEGEEan: We are currently facing an economic depression phase. Have you had any difficulties in finding sponsors and partners?

Stefano: The current economic depression generated skepticism and shyness, forcing companies to be more careful and cut their investments. Nevertheless, the Agora surely raised interest and curiosity because of its international nature, although sometimes it happed that companies looked at the event as too big or too small for their ranges and targets. About private sponsors, the only difficulties we had and still have is time running out and reaching directly managers or marketing responsible. About the support from public institutions, the candidature of Cagliari as European Capital of Culture 2019 certainly gives us more value and we indeed concluded very important partnerships with institutions and local governments, in particular with Sardinia Autonomous Region and Fondazione Banco di Sardegna that are strongly supporting our General Assembly.

The AEGEEan: Let’s speak about food. Sardinia is well know for the delicacies we can eat. Any spoiler about the menu yet?

Mattia: AEGEE-Cagliari gave me the responsibility regarding Agora meals since I am the most famous glutton in the city and this passion lead me to draft what we will eat around 4 months ago: I already have the complete menù of the Agora. If everything is fine with the budget, as we hope, every meal will will consist of two courses, a side dish plus some bread. Of course we are not going to eat porceddu or sa mrecca since we would have some logistical problems but we will have enough traditional food in the menu. Some spoilers? I will give you three: Millefoglie di Carasau con verdure e pecorino, Fregola Sarda con verdure and Maiale arrosto al profumo di mirto. If you don’t know what they are you can Google them [He laughs]. Maybe I am giving you too much info and now I am also scared that participants will kill me if food won’t be good enough.

The AEGEEan: It’s a constant that internet connection during Agoras creates a lot of problems for the Chair Team or the online voting process. Do you have any agreement to have separate lines for Chair Team and participants?

Simone: It will not be a problem during our Agora. The Sardinia International Fair is provided with  a strong internet connection system. Surely we will create a dedicated line for the Chair Team and CD. Everybody will have the possibility to call parents, boyfriends and girlfriends, cats and dogs on Skype [He laughs]. Or just upload pictures and selfies during Agora Cagliari.

 The AEGEEan: According to your website, among your partners you will have UnicaRadio, the student web radio. Apart from the live streaming, can we expect to be on air there?

Enrico: Live streaming will be implemented thanks to the help of Tiscali on Streamago-Tv, while Unica Radio, during the event, will likely have a desk from where they will broadcast their programs with a particular attention on the Agora.

The AEGEEan: Your T-shirt Keep calm and Say “Oliooo”! was worn during Agora Patra by a lot of people. Are you working on other merchandising items?

Enrico: Definitely yes! PR team is working to produce creative merchandising items, not only T-shirts. I don’t want to tell you too much in advance, but for sure we will print them aiming at  the most famous things in Cagliari, like flamingos.

 The AEGEEan: One of the most wanted events prior to the Agora are pre-events. Have you already been contacted by locals interested in hosting one?

Mattia: Well, we are trying to coordinate a bit the locals that crave to organize a pre-event for what concerns possible discounts or help them to reach Cagliari, and to give them visibility also through our channels. Next two weeks will be fundamental since we all would like to have  them public on intranet by the end of July: until that moment I’m not going to give you any spoiler about locals that are trying or will organize them, it’s top secret. What I can tell you is that, at this very moment, there are six Italian locals, from north to south of our peninsula, trying to organize a pre-event: let’s see if all of them will finalize their intentions. We really hope they will!

 The AEGEEan: Last Agora in Italy was organized in Napoli in 2006. Have you spoken with them?

Simone: We started to talk with them since we decided to run as hosting local for the Agora. They gave us a lot of advice and they supported us minute by minute. One week ago they also sent us a video and two letters telling us to be strong, never give up and that they were proud of us. What can I say, with AEGEE-Napoli people we are like brothers, that’s why we are also organizing the TSU together.

 The AEGEEan: You will organize a TSU with AEGEE-Napoli. Was it difficult to organize those two events more or less at the same time?

Damiano: Actually we can say that we hadn’t particular difficulties. Before starting organizing both events, we divided ourselves in two different teams. The Agora preparations give us incredible energy and enthusiasm, and this is influencing also the Summer University organizers. In particular last months when the group of active members became for us a second “family”, a very strong group of enthusiastic and inspired people. This helps a lot to live months before every event in a positive way. Moreover, for us, the Summer University is also the perfect opportunity for team building and training for future Agora organizers, by giving to new active members tasks, responsibilities and the team awareness that the organization of  international events needs. So, we can say that it is not difficult, but also helps a lot to build a great group that you will have pleasure to see during Agora Cagliari.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

The results of the local that would host the upcoming Autumn Agora 2014 took a bit longer than usual to be announced – the deadline was extended after ZarAgora, and at that moment, AEGEE-Cagliari saw the chance to take up such a big challenge.

The support they got from many other locals, especially from the Rainbow network (Italian-speaking and Maltese locals) has been overwhelming, and Enrico Cadeddu, the president of AEGEE-Cagliari, has unveiled the first secrets from the upcoming Autumn Agora to The AEGEEan…

First of all, congratulations to AEGEE-Cagliari for being selected! This time has been especially hard to find a local to host the Agora and the deadline to present the applications was extended. What made you decide to take the step and apply for it?

Well, we were thinking about it since our board was elected. We have been talking about it for a year and day by day the idea started to become a reality without realizing it. Arriving in Zaragoza, we knew that there wasn’t any local that could host the event, so we began to think seriously about hosting it in Cagliari, giving us three days as a deadline to find an accommodation and plenary hall location. Back in Cagliari we couldn’t have imagined that in a simple 30-minute meeting we were going to get them, thanks to the municipality of Cagliari.

I think that hosting an Agora is a dream for any AEGEEan who is pretty active in his local, but the main reason that took us to apply has been the motivation of giving back the Agora in our part of the network after eight years of abstinence.

 We have heard you have received big support from locals, especially the ones from the Rainbow Region. What can you tell us about it?

When our Vice-President and now Netcommie, Mattia Abis, announced to the Rainbow Region that we had the strong intention to apply to host the Agora, almost all the antennae were delighted to hear this news.

AEGEE-Catania’s video of support

They inmediately offered us their support, signing an agreement to help us in terms of Human Resources in order to organize this Agora in the best way possible and make it unforgettable for all the AEGEEans. We received more than 20 letters of support just from Italy and several from all over Europe. I think that our candidature has generated a positive turmoil within these locals: some of them created even a support video while sending their Agreement letter (like AEGEE-Catania!)

Do you already have a team for the Agora? What have your first steps been?

Of course we do: only the Core Team is compounded by 16 people! Everyone is already taking care of an aspect of the event: Fundraising, Public Relations, Human Resources, Logistics, Food, Study Fair etc.

The coordinator of the team will be Simone Ruscica, although he’s still quite a young member, he’s really experienced in marketing, social media and event planning, even outside AEGEE. His experience led us to present the candidature, because we found in him the person that could complete the AEGEE world with perfect knowledge of our local level. He was the marketing assistant of the main Sardinian music festival “Mondo Ichnusa”, if you don’t know what I’m talking about have a look on Google or Youtube.

 What about the locations: do you have any idea where plenaries will be taking place?

Yes, of course! We already got, during the first meeting, the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari, it is in the City center and it is an awesome location for our plenaries. The other meetings, such as Prytania or Workshops will be at the University which is only 200 metres far from the theater!

And the accomodation?

The accommodation will be in the University Sport Centre of Cagliari. The participants will sleep in three gyms: two of them are in the same building and the third one is only 50 metres distance from the other two rooms. The sleeping place is only ten minutes walking distance from the Theatre but we are already planning to have buses for the laziest AEGEEans.

How many participants do you expect to have?

I don’t know, it depends on you! Considering that usually during Autumn Agora there are more participants than in the Spring one, I hope that we will accommodate 800 participants.

What makes the city of Cagliari so special?

It’s difficult to explain it and I think it would not be even fair since I’m living here, so I will use the words of a person that was capable to express what he felt when he arrived in Cagliari some years ago:

“And suddenly there is Cagliari: a naked town rising steep, golden-looking, piled naked to the sky from the plain at the head of the formless hollow bay. It is strange and rather wonderful, not a bit like Italy. It makes me think of Jerusalem: without trees, without cover, remote as if back in history, like a town in a monkish, illuminated missal. And it seems like Spain or Malta: not Italy…Lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere. Belonging to nowhere, never having belonged to anywhere. To Spain and the Arabs and the Phoenicians most. But as if it had never really had a fate. No fate. Left outside of time and history. And that is Cagliari.” (D.H.Lawrence)

If you want to know something more about Cagliari… just join the next Autumn Agora!

Is it going to be an easy city to reach for the members of our Network?

What I know about my local is that we have been always present, with a lot of members, to all of the Statutory Events since its foundation. So I can say yes! Maybe a lot of people don’t know that our Island is one of the most visited regions in Italy, the most visited even during summer. Cagliari has an international airport, one of the best connected by low cost companies (such as Ryanair and EasyJet).

Moreover, on the island there are another two airports (Alghero and Olbia) which are as well connected with many European cities. If your city is not directly connected to Sardinia you can easily reach it via other Italian airports in less than 50 minutes for all destinations!

And… don’t forget that there are ferry boats  from a lot of destinations: Barcelona, Marseille, Genova, Roma, Napoli, Palermo, Tunis etc etc. So if you want to come here in an original way, why shouldn’t you take one?

Have you received so far any support from the local institutions?

Yes, many institutions are supporting us: from the City Council that is offering us the theater and the transportation, even the university that is giving us support in terms of logistics (gyms and other facilities), passing through the Sardinian Region and Student Rights Office in financial terms.

We are even contacting other institutions and private firms but for the moment I won’t tell you anything else!

Can you tell us a bit more about AEGEE-Cagliari?

Youth European Participation event in Cagliari

We have a brilliant history: we hosted two Statutory Events (Presidents’ Meeting and Planning Meeting) and since this year we are coming of age we want to show you our maturity!

Now, AEGEE-Cagliari is the 9^th biggest local in the network, counting about 170 members. 80 of them applied for a Summer University in the last year and more than 40 of them are now active! We will try to take advantage of the possibility that an Agora offers us to get even more people active as far as it would be the perfect moment for them to meet the friends they have all over Europe.

We are really active on the local level with Seminars, Conferences, Promotional Days, Training courses, European Days, Youth in Action and of course social events like concerts and parties.

What are your next plans in the organization of the Agora?

Now, after celebrations, we don’t have so much time to organize the event (due to the fact that the deadline was extended) so we have to work harder, but we are already doing so!

We are having daily meetings with the core team, especially about Fundraising and PR Strategy, because we know we have the means to organize the best Agora ever.

Last but not least: most of the people who have been to any Statutory event will have heard your scream “OLIO!”. What can you tell to the future attendants of the Autumn Agora Cagliari about it?

… OLIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Sounds like AEGEE-Cagliari is already getting things started to organize a promising Agora… The AEGEEan wishes them the best of luck with it!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona