Because Svenja van der Tol, former Secretary of the Agora, was elected as Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe, the Chair Team opened applications for the Secretary of the Agora for the upcoming Autumn Agora Kyïv. Jeanine Ossentjuk from AEGEE-Groningen was selected as new Secretary of the Agora. Let’s find out who the new girl on stage is!

The AEGEEan: For those who don’t know you, can you please introduce yourself?
Jeanine: Hi! My name is Jeanine, I’m 21 years old and I study Human Resource Management. Last year I was Secretary and PR-responsible in the board of AEGEE-Groningen and this year I am in the advisory board and in the travel committee of my local.

Why did you decide to apply for Secretary of the Agora?
AgorAsturias was my first Agora and I really loved it. At the end of the Agora I was determined to become active in AEGEE-Europe. I knew that there had to be an interim Secretary of the Agora since Svenja got elected for CD, and since I really liked my tasks as Secretary in the board of AEGEE-Groningen, it was the perfect opportunity for me to take this experience to the next level!

Not everyone might know what your work looks like. How would you define your work as Secretary of the Agora? 

My main responsibility is taking minutes during the plenaries and some of the prytania at the Agora. Another important part of my work is coordinating my secretary assistants. I’m very lucky to have five amazing assistants for the upcoming Agora. They will take minutes during the prytania and it’s my job to assign them to the prytania and prepare them for their work so they will know what they are expected to do. But apart from these specific ‘secretary’ tasks, I’m also a member of the Chair Team which means supporting Tom Simons and Andrea Ugrinoska wherever I can, for example with drafting the agenda, selecting participants, sending emails, keeping track of everything that is discussed and doing some random small things that come up.

What is your favorite part of your work? 
I love to get a look ‘behind the scenes’ of the Agora. Being part of the Chair Team means that you’re very involved in the whole process of Agora preparation and it’s interesting to see all the things that have to be taken care of. Also, working together with the other members of the Chair Team and with Svenja is awesome. We’re a super-efficient team and we get along really well, which obviously makes working a lot more fun.

Do you have any specific aims for the upcoming Agora?

Since my tasks mainly take place during the Agora, I’m very excited to finally really start ‘working’! I’m also looking forward to visit Kyïv and of course to meet a lot of new people.  I don’t have any specific aims, but I just hope everything will go well and that this Agora will be the best!

Is there anything you want to add?

The three things I like most in life are travelling, Spanish music and doing shots. So if you want to make me happy during the Agora, try playing some Spanish music or offer me a delicious Ukrainian shot [she laughs, ed.] Looking forward to meeting many of you!

Written by Wietske Jousma, AEGEE-Enschede

At Autumn Agora Kyiv we are going to vote for the European Planning Meeting (EPM) topic and we can choose from five. Joanna Pankowska from AEGEE-Warszawa had a bold idea and proposed the topic “No topic, strong focus (on Focus Areas/Action Agenda)”. If this topic will be chosen, at the EPM Leiden 2016 we will discuss our focus area, instead of a very new topic. We send her some questions to understand her proposal better.

The AEGEEan: “No topic, strong focus (on Focus Areas/Action Agenda)”, this is a very unusual topic. Tell us more about that.

Joanna: As much as we agree on the importance of discussing current European affairs in AEGEE, we believe that the European Planning Meeting is not the proper place to do so. We would like to avoid adding an extra thematic part to the EPM, and instead we propose to concentrate on our Focus Areas. What is important, is that it will not stop us from discussing important issues during the EPM. Quite the opposite! We just want to make sure that, when we discuss, we give it a specific angle thought our four topics, so in the future we can truly say we are focusing on our focus areas in AEGEE.

Why did you come up with this idea?

It wasn’t me who came up with the idea, but I was the one to collect signals. What are the signals? First of all the result of Progress Meeting which took please in Asturias.  We concluded the session with an idea to propose such a topic, in opposition to making a proposal, so we might first try the new format. I also went through archives of EBM-REFORM-L mailing list and the ideas that are there (from the years 2011-12) are very much in line with “No topic, strong focus”. Also the survey, the results of which you can see in the pictures, indicates that there is something wrong with the current format. Last but not least, the direction AEGEE-Europe is heading in the last months, namely the new Working Groups format and bigger thematic focus are also a signal that it might be a way to go.

Why do you think we should discuss it during EPM?

The focus areas, namely Civic Education, Mobility, Employment and Europtimism, have been here already for some time, but can we really say we had a structured discussion on them during those year? Can we say we, as a European Students’ Forum, have an opinion on then? It is high time to focus and be consistent for once.

Would you take on the role of Content Manager?

Civic Education Working Group would like to take this responsibility and  possibly share it with other Working Groups.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Just like we did for the past Agorae, for Autumn Agora Kyïv we want to provide you again with a short and easy summary of the proposals submitted. In this third round, we will be explaining three proposals that focus on changing some financial rules when it comes to travel, namely ‘Reimbursement for Honorary Members of AEGEE-Europe’, ‘Travel costs’ and ‘Bookkeeping update’.

The Charter of Honorary Members was voted at Spring Agora Patra 2014 and since then, it was changed just to fix some mistakes at Spring Agora Asturias 2015.

The proposal ‘Reimbursement for Honorary Members of AEGEE-Europe’ was written by Damien Latacz and Philipp Blum on behalf of AEGEE-Aachen and Ander Guerrero Ruiz on behalf of the Comité Directeur. The proposers want to clarify how the travel reimbursement for nominee of the Honorary membership will work. Right now, all the nominees are entitled of full reimbursement of the travel costs to reach the Agora. The proposers fear that such phrasing may lead to a huge number of nominations with the only purpose to receive reimbursement or to propose unaffordable travel costs. What will change with this proposal is that the reimbursements will be granted only to nominees who are ratified as Honorary Members.

Also, the last Honorary Member of AEGEE-Europe (Christophe Leclerq) was elected before the Charter took action, since in AEGEE modifications of statutes have no a retroactive effect.

You can read the full proposal here.

The second proposal involves also the travel costs. Proposed by Ander Guerrero Ruiz on behalf of the Comité Directeur, the proposal aims to clarify in which terms travels of bodies of AEGEE-Europe are reimbursed. Right now, no reimbursements are allowed without a receipt. Ander added the word “original”, in order to have the original physical and digital receipt from the travels. It also adds the fact that all the travel costs need to be announced to the Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe before booking the travels.

You can read the full proposal here.

The third proposal is the one of ‘Bookkeeping update’ also by Ander Guerrero Ruiz on behalf of the Comité Directeur. With the new system implemented by the previous Comité Directeur, bookkeeping can be outsourced and this change needs to be written also in the CIA. In the section ‘General Financial Rules’, the Article 13 Accounting has been modified with the external accounting added. Ander also added the fact that any external company needs to sign a data privacy contract. Of course, all the data provided by the external company will be checked by the Financial Director.

You can read the full proposal here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

He attended many European events and is currently a trainer, being also a member of the Human Resources Committee (HRC), as part of the Learning and Training Task Force. Luca was also Vice-President of AEGEE-Pisa between 2013-2014 and now wants to take it to the next level and is running for Network Commissioner. We asked him a few questions about his motivation and program.

The AEGEEan: Let us begin by telling us three words that describe you and why you chose them. 

Luca: Curious: I am thrilled by the new and always eager to experiment new ways of getting things to work. Hopefully without blasting anything off.

Cautious: I tend to listen, take in and think trice before taking an important steps.

Patient: Rome was not built in a day. Some solutions require time before they come into effect.

Why do you want to run for Network Commissioner?

Because I believe that as Network Commissioner I can better help others to improve, both themselves and within AEGEE. With my work, I think I can be closer to the locals in need, and their members, and offer a helpful support for their issues.

How would you explain the role of the Network Commissioner within AEGEE to a 10 year old?

I am the guy who can help you do your homework even better and while having more fun.

What do you think it is the main problem with the Network Commission?

Rather than a main problem with the Network Commission, I believe it is possible to distinguish between internal and external issues, to be dealt with before nasty consequences start hitting the locals. More specifically, internal issues would be related to not having a full synergy between the work of the members of the Network Commission, while external issues would be generated by a disharmonious course of action and communication between the Network Commission and the Comité Directeur, for instance, or other commissions.

How do you plan to solve it? 

For both, the solution would come from putting effort toward a more genuine and constructive dialogue between all the involved members of each team, so to better define the common goals and the necessary strategies and tactics on how to achieve them. I also strongly believe that playing as a team has a double importance: avoid disruption in the work of the group, and allow it to operate and bring assistance to locals at its utmost.

What is the main contribution you bring to the Network Commission?

My baggage of knowledge from the events I attended (notably, three European Schools and the Training for Trainers), and the belief that by sharing it with the locals and supporting them in doing the same, there will be no problem too hard to overcome.

How much time do you think you can invest in this position? (approximate hours per day)

At least two hours per day, plus some bonus time during those random days where the professor deletes the lesson without notice.

Could you elaborate on what you meant to say by “proactive contact founding” in your application regarding the program?

Being in the front line with a selected task force to accomplish the delicate process of spreading the existence of AEGEE into other universities. Organising and implementing meeting days in other cities can be a challenging, yet rewarding experience for anyone. It can be seen like a special training for public speaking, event planning, fund raising (dealing with universities, potential partners and such) that anyone can attend and gain from. In the best scenarios, a new contact might rise, in the worst, my team will gain valuable experience from all implemented activities. There will always be a prise.

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

You can read his full candidature here.

She has a lot of European experience with various positions and attended many European events. Some of the positions she has had were Vice-Speaker of Information Technology Committee (ITC), Secretary of Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Network Commissioner, and more recently, the PR Responsible of Democracy in Practice Project and currently the Project Manager of Democracy in Practice Project. Lia Tuska doesn’t want to rest, she is running the second time for Secretary of the Agora. We asked her a few questions about her motivation and program. 

The AEGEEan: Let us begin by telling us three words that describe you and why you chose them.  

Lia: Laugh: one of the most important things for me is laughing. I like seeing people laugh and I do the same. I laugh a lot and I really like making others laugh. The world is better when you are laughing, and I believe that when you smile the universe returns good things to you, so if you are reading this please smile.

Inspire: from a young age, I liked inspiring people. When I became trainer at the Youth Trainers Academy, I had to randomly pick a wooden cube with a word written on it. The word I received was “Inspire” and so far, I have inspired some participants as a trainer. When you can inspire others, you feel like the happiest person in the world.

Authentic: it is impossible for me to lie, I am too honest. Actually, more honest than I should be. I have this principle “treat people the way you want to be treated”. I am true to them and I expect the same from them.

Why do you want to run the second time for Secretary of the Agora?

First Plenary as Secretary’s Assistant

First of all, it’s not a secret, I love being Secretary. The first article I wrote for the AEGEEan was Being the Secretary of the Agora. Writing it motivated me to apply as Secretary Assistant at Agora Zaragoza. Of course, the support I got from Elena Antova, Secretary of Agora Zaragoza, kept my motivation high. That’s the reason I ran the first time. Not been elected didn’t affect my motivation, and that’s why I was Svenja’s assistant at AgorAsturias and after it, I helped Danae with the Agora Cagliari minutes. The recordings had really bad quality and we were working on them many hours every day. Both of us believe that it was better to write down everything it was said and it was really hard to achieve that. When the Open Call for Interim Secretary of the Agora was issued, the idea of applying passed my mind, but in the end, I decided to not do it.

Answering your question, I think it’s a pity that nobody applied for Secretary of the Agora. Unfortunately, this position (except last year) usually has one or no applicants. I understand that it is considered a hard, tiresome and maybe boring position, but there should be someone to do this job. I don’t mind doing it. After all, it’s a dream and I never stopped believing that I will make it come true. It’s also another challenge for me to dare to do it. I am looking forward to work as Secretary of the Agora for a full term.

How would you explain the role of the Secretary of the AGORA to a 10 year old?  

With Danae Matakou, Secretary of Agora Cagliari

I have already done it for my 9 and 11 year old cousins last year. There are those important meetings, Agorae that happen two times per year and they last four or five days. Everything that is said in those meetings needs to be kept. A secretary’s job is to write down what people say. The Secretary of the Agora is an important person, who needs to be very patient. Most of the time he/she is on stage, not talking, listening carefully to everything that everyone says, trying to not miss something and typing. Thankfully, there are recordings so the Secretary will hear them afterwards to fill in parts that are missing. That’s the “boring” part. The cool part is that the Secretary can skip the really long queues for meals and has internet access (most of the time).

According to you, what would be the best characteristic of a Secretary of the Agora?

I believe that it cannot be just one characteristic that makes you a good Secretary of the Agora, but if I have to choose one, I would say good listening skills. Firstly, you hear different accents and secondly, you cannot always be sure about the quality of the recordings.

How fast can you write? (approximate words per minute)

Last time I tested my speed, my score was 47 words per minute.

According to you, when does a Secretary have to publish the minutes of an Agora?

First Prytanium as Secretary’s Assistant

As a perfectionist, I would say that the ideal time for the minutes to be published is one month after the Agora. People are back to their normal life, they can check their mails and what happened at the Agora is still fresh in their memory. After my experience with the Agora Cagliari minutes, and hearing stories from older Agorae, I say that it depends. The minutes should be published when the Secretary is 100% sure that they don’t need any more improvements from their side. Lastly, in case of any issues appearing, the Secretary should inform the Network about the status of their work.

Can you elaborate on “create a team of Secretary Assistants”  in your candidature regarding the program? What did you mean exactly by that and what would be their role? 

With Elena Antova, Secretary of Agora Zaragoza

The Secretary of the Agora cannot (yet) clone themselves to attend all the parallel Prytania, so they need to appoint Secretary’s Assistants. Before every Agora an Open Call for Secretary’s Assistants is issued. Those assistants are helping the Secretary by taking minutes during parallel sessions and after the Agora, they receive the recording(s) of their session(s) and they are given a deadline to send their part of the minutes. I want to create a team which hopefully I will keep to both Agorae. I will be there for the team to support them. As I said, there is a lack of applications for Secretary of the Agora, and this is a problem that should be solved. My goal is to motivate at least one of my assistants to go for it and dare to apply for such a responsible position.

With Svenja van der Tol, Secretary of AgorAsturias

How much time can you invest in helping the Chair Team?

I have a lot of free time since I finished my studies and I work as virtual assistant, which means I spent a lot of time online and I check my mails frequently. My working hours are very flexible, and I can assist the Chair Team anytime if they ask me to.

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

You can read her full candidature here.

Lucia Gavulová is a 25 years old Slovakian born, now living in Aachen. President of AEGEE-Bratislava, she joined AEGEE more than three years ago becoming an active member (as well as board member) very quickly. She has a master in Molecular Biology, but now she is working for one of the biggest IT companies in the world (she still enjoys travelling, food and AEGEE). She decided to run for the position of Project Manager (PM) of the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT). We asked her some questions to learn more about her plans within the project.

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run for the position of Project Manager of SUCT?

Lucia: First of all, I wanted to be part of SUCT since I learnt about this project, because I think Summer University has really big potential to become an even bigger project (e.g. to win Charlemagne Youth Prize), but so far it was unused. Secondly, with my experiences and my type of organised personality, I think I would be suitable mainly for Project Manager.

You are the only PM candidate to mention fundraising (FR). How do you think it can be implemented?

Well, there are two directions of where to make some changes and implementations – SUCT and local level. As SUCT, we can try to fundraise support from companies present in all the European countries and later give it to locals – e.g. by issuing some cool competitions to visit headquarters of these companies, to get their products, to have them as sponsor of specific Summer Universities etc. We have what to offer, since SUs have around 5000 people participating ever year.

For locals we can also create a simple booklet, based on previous experiences, and provide each of them with specific examples of how and what to fundraise. I know many locals struggles with FR and often it is a reason no to organise any Summer University. With both means of FR I would like to also motivate those locals to organise SU, where it wasn’t possible because of budget.

Among your idea of promotion, you want to organise “SU nights”. What exactly are they? How will they work?

“SU nights”, as I unofficially called them, are very simple evenings organised by locals in their city (university or just in a pub), directly after recruitment (before SU deadline), to explain all newbies and interested people what a SU is, help them to find SU tailored for them, help with writing motivation letters and advise what to expect, how to pack and mainly to keep them active after they return (post-SU meeting). Of course, recruitment process beforehand is essential and is also part of my program.

Deadlines are one of the worst enemy in AEGEE since we set them, but nobody really respects them. How would you ensure they are going to be met?

Yes, I am aware of the fact that this is a really challenging point of my program, and it might fail to be fulfilled. But I really do respect deadlines, and I always demanded all my team members to do the same. I could simply say – if you don’t respect the deadline, you are not in!

To motivate those participants who apply on time, we can make a simple change in the application algorithm which prefers them over those applying later. Of course, there are always technical issues which we cannot predict and individual requests can be always solved. If not completely ensuring deadline following, I at least want to show the network that we mean it. And I can be really strict, when it comes to deadlines.

How would you encourage members to apply for, or organise a Summer University?

As I already stated above, my FR ideas are one of the means of motivating locals to organise one. I would motivate members to apply by providing them more info about SUs than are provided now and also by clearly stating what can you gain after leaving home.

Right now it is not really clear what does a specific SU offer, and this is another thing included in my program, which directly motivates more people to apply – e.g. if I want to learn a language, I don’t apply for party SUs, but if I need to relax after graduation, I can find party/relax SU and everybody will benefit: organisers will have party people and participants will get what they were looking for.

You are currently working. How would you fit the work of PM of SUCT with your daily job?

I am always online. That’s one of my features. You can reach me basically anytime and also during my work I reply to all e-mails, messages and calls. Besides, my work is very flexible and I can dedicate time to my free time activities as much as I need.

Why do you think people should vote for you?

Because I have been Min Organiser of SU twice and Vice-Coordinator once, which provided me with loads of experience and knowledge about SUs. Because I want to play an honest game, and I expect this from locals as well – to state what kind of SU they are going to have. Because I suffer from “organiser complex” and it makes me to not give up on tasks. Because I want to share my knowledge and make it possible for all locals to organise a SU. Because I am worth it.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

You can read her full candidature here.

Tom Simons, a 23 years old Dutch student of Industrial design, is one of the candidates for a position as Chairperson (Vice-Chairperson) of the Agora/ European Planing Meeting (EPM). Member since 2010, Tom covered several positions in his local (AEGEE-Enschede) and was a member of the Mediation Commission. At Autumn Agora Cagliari he was elected as Chairperson of the Agora and now he aims to run for a second term.

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run again for the position of Chairperson?

Tom: Being part of the Chair Team last year has been one of the best experiences I had in AEGEE since joining in 2010. It was a big challenge and a great learning experience. I think I can still contribute a lot to improve our statutory events and at the same time keep developing myself by being part of the Chair Team for another year. I think that now I have experience with the basic tasks of the Chair Team, a second term will allow me to go more in depth in implementing possible improvements to our statutory events.

You stated that you still think that there is room to improve statutory events. What did your team do in this sense?

The Agora is our most important decision making body, and thus it should have the most space for discussions in order to come to a fair and representative decision. In the last year we increased this possibility by having as much discussions as possible in Prytania. AT Spring Agora Asturias position papers were presented during Prytania, and at the upcoming Agora the EPM topics and the activity plans of Working Groups will be also presented during Prytania. Besides this, the important topic of finances was also moved from a Progress Meeting to a Prytanium for two reasons. Firstly to increase the influence of the locals in the budgeting process, and secondly to provide the possibility for all locals to send a delegate to this meeting, which wasn’t always possible before when the progress meeting was during a Prytanium slot. Although I am very happy with these changes, I think there is still more that can be improved.

Looking back at what you have done with your current team, do you think you reached all the points you had in your program in 2014?

One of the points in my program last year was to improve the discussion aspect and other content of the Agora, which I think was reached by the points described above. Besides this, a point from my program was to change the role of the Chair in the EPM. Although we had some minor changes, such as chairing two panel discussions, this was still early in our term, and we were still growing in our roles as Chair Team, so I think more can be gained here.
Choosing participants always raised a lot of controversies, what went wrong this time, and how would you ease the process?

I think the main problem this time was that people were unaware of the selection procedure we adhered to. In my opinion we made it as fair as possible for everyone, for all statutory events in the past year, but there will always be people who disagree with us. In the future the main thing I would change is to explicitly explain to the network which steps we will follow in the selection procedure. This way, people will be aware how their application will be processed.

One point of you candidature states: continue helping participants to be prepared for the statutory events. What have you done during your term and what do you think needs to be improved?

Before EPM Burgos, the manual of the EPM for newbies was created in order to help participants gain an understanding of the EPM and everything discussed at this event. Besides this, we updated the Agora for newbies presentation and we continued with the delegate quiz as done by the previous Chair Teams. We also presented a summary of all relevant procedures at the beginning of the Agora, and in the upcoming Agora we will have a short Agora for newbies presentation in the opening plenary. For the next Agora, AEGEE will pilot with a new online system to submit proposals, comment on them etc. I think this is an excellent opportunity to involve participants more in the decision making process.

Having attended Agorae both as delegate and envoy, and now as Chairperson, what do you think is the major point that needs to be improved?

Having 800 people together is such an amazing opportunity, but discussing in this large group poses a difficulty. I would like to see as much content being discussed in smaller groups (Prytania/Progress Meetings) to allocate more time and allow more people to participate in the discussions. I think last year we made some big steps, but there is still more to be gained in this respect. Besides these changes that I think would benefit the Agora, I think the Chair Team should also implement changes the network wants. During the last Agora there was a Progress Meeting on Agora reform, and there will be one during the upcoming Agora as well. This is an excellent opportunity to gather input from the network on improving the Agora, which can then be implemented by the Chair Team.

Would you change something from this past year?

We all make mistakes and I always try to learn from mine and improve my skills so as to not make the same mistake twice. If I would have to name an example, I would say increasing the transparency. As I said earlier, the transparency of the visitor selection procedure would be one thing in particular I would inform the network about beforehand.

Why should people vote for you?

I think people should vote for the candidate they think is most suited for the job, so I’m not going to ask people to vote for me. Instead I encourage everyone to read all applications and listen to the presentations during the Agora, and make a decision based on that.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

You can read his full candidature here.

Just like we did for the last Agorae, for Autumn Agora Kyïv again we want to provide you with a short and easy summary of the proposals submitted for the Agora. In this second round, we will be explaining you three proposals that focus on improving our biggest project to date: the Summer University project. These proposals are called ‘Improving SU (I)’, ‘improving SU (II)’ and ‘SC+ criteria reform’.

 
The Summer University project was established in 1988 and has been involving more than 2000 young people every summer ever since. Students from all over Europe spend on average two weeks together in different places, learning new cultures and languages and sharing great experiences. Since its establishment, the Summer University project has been one of the most successful projects and it has been shown how much AEGEEans cares about it. The Summer University Coordination Team is the body that runs the project, of which the members are elected during the Autumn Agora.

The first proposal is called ‘Improving SU (I)’ and was proposed by Ander Guerrero Ruiz (Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe) on behalf of the Comité Directeur. This proposal aims to ensure a better use of the finances of the SUCT, which are currently administrated by one of the four members who composes the team. Right now, the SUCT is free to use their budget in a way they find most suitable for the project and the team itself, but the first change the proposal wants to make is that they will need the approval of the Financial Director, who will give advice on drafting the budget. Also, a new role will be added to the ones already existing (Project Manager, IT responsible, PR responsible, Treasurer and Publication Responsible): the Fundraiser. Another thing that will be added is that during the Autumn Agora, where the SUCT will present their report, also a report about expenses and trips must be presented. Moreover, if a member of SUCT is attending the Spring Agora, an interim report, a presentation of the budget and an update of the status of the SU project has to be presented as well. Lastly, big expenses need to be announced one month prior to the Financial Director who can reject them on a mutual decision with Comité Directeur.

Here you can read the full proposal.
‘Improving SU (II)’ is also proposed by Ander Guerrero Ruiz (Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe) on behalf of the Comité Directeur. It aims to raise the daily fee for the SU Course/SU Course+. Currently, Summer Universites are divided in three categories: SU Course, SU Course+ and Travel Summer Universities and the fees are divided in two categories: 12 euros for SU Course and 14 euros for SU Course+ and TSUs. According to the proposer, in fact, organising a SC is not cheaper than organising a SC+ or TSU and maybe this discourages small locals to organise a Summer University. This may be the reason why the amount of locals organising a SU has been rapidly decreasing in the last few years. By unifying the costs of the fee, we can see if  this decrease is because of financial problems of the locals or there are other reasons to be detected.
Here you can read the full proposal.
The last one is ‘SC+ criteria reform’, which is proposed by Matthijs Overhaal and Jorge Miguel Vielva on behalf of the AEGEE-Academy. This proposal aims to change the approach towards the SU Course +. Currently SC+ has a duration between 14 and 28 nights with at least 20 hours of tuition per week and a minimum of 15 participants. The proposers believe that the potential of this type of Summer University is not exploited to the fullest, so they would like to decrease the minimum of nights to 11 and have at least 36 hours of tuition in total. One of the requirement to organise a SC+ is to have the support of the university where the Summer University is taking place and lessons must be thought by professional teachers. The proposer are adding The AEGEE-Academy to the academic support to foster Non-Formal Education with their qualified trainers, which can allow more flexibility and, according to Matthijs and Jorge Miguel, might encourage more locals to decide to organise a SC+.

Here you can read the full proposal.

You can read the CIA here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

From the 14th to the 18th of October, one of AEGEE’s most important events, the Autumn Agora, will be held in Kyïv and as any seasoned AEGEE member knows: an Agora seldom comes alone. The main event is always accompanied by several pre-events that are organised  especially by dedicated antennae. This years participants had the opportunity to choose from five creative events in four different countries and a thematic conference that addresses the recent political and economic events in Ukraine.
Follow the AEGEEan on a quick tour through Eastern Europe’s most interesting locations and best autumn events.

Our first stop is “AEGEE-Warszawa: Tear Down this Wall”, where a group of lucky participants will be able to pledge freedom and transparency by tearing down past and present walls. As they find themselves travelling through time, the participants will discover the historic roots of Warszawa, full of charming places, Polish dreams and unique cultures. Back in present time, where modern youth spirit meets old traditions, the organisers are planning to take everybody on a stroll through old Warszawa in search of the most potent shot bars.
With no walls left to stop our journey, the next halt is with AEGEE-Lublin in a city that participants are definitely going to fall in love with. The organising team of “LUBLINove LOVE – Fall in Love in Lublin” is hoping to make everybody feel the magical atmosphere of the city where different people, cultures and religions mix into a unique style of living. A highlight of the event will be the Slavic night with traditional music, dances and a fiery bonfire that will warm up the coldest hearts.

Tea sceptics within AEGEE will definitely acquire a taste for the diverse drink after participating in AEGEE-Moskva’s pre-event “Moscow Tea Time: A Hidden Part of the Russian Soul”. In a traditional Russian tea ceremony with legends to spice things up, participants might awaken their hidden Russian soul within their bodies. AEGEE-Moscow will then introduce the attendants to traditional Russian culture, crazy spirits and other strong drinks in a city that never sleeps. The organisers are particularly proud to offer a workshop on lifehacks for surviving in a Russian train. A course that no AEGEE member should miss.
The event by AEGEE-Chișinău “Taste the Moldavian Hospitality” is going to be a definite treat for neglected taste buds. According to the organisers the participants will experience the tastiest pre-event of Autumn Agora Kyïv that will lead them on a discovery trail through Moldavian culinary culture by tasting delicious wine and traditional food such as Placinte. On a visit to the Orheiul Vechi monastery AEGEE members might trace back ancient civilisations.
Before arriving in the heart of Ukraine, Kyïv, let us make a last stop in the soul of Ukraine with “Oops! We Lviv it again!” organised by AEGEE-Lviv. As the cultural capital of Ukraine, Lviv has a lot to offer its visitors. From the local musicians to its unique streets and cozy coffee houses, with this event the participants have a chance to experience the true spirit of the city and to get to know the Ukrainian culture through its language, cuisine and traditions.
For members who just cannot get enough, AEGEE-Kyïv has planned a special thematic conference on October the 13th, just a day before the start of Agora Kyïv 2015. “The #YoungUA Conference: Defending, Acting, Investing” marks the successful conclusion of the project “reBuilding Democracy” that was launched by AEGEE-Kyïv six months ago and encourages participants to dicuss the political, economic and social future of Ukraine within Europe. The event is divided into three panels with high-profile speakers discussing European values, economic investments and youth participation within transformation movements in Ukraine.
The conference aims to boost cooperation on youth policy matters between the Ukrainian and youth organisations by creating a memorandum at the end of the conference that will be sent to important stakeholders in Ukraine as well as abroad. According to main organisers Alla Resheten and Armenak Minasyants, the conference is a perfect opportunity for AEGEE members to get engaged in an explicit thematic context that has been missing during Agoras.

Which pre-event will you be visiting?
Written by Alev Özdemir, AEGEE-Frankfurt

Just like we did for the last Agorae, for Autumn Agora Kyïv again we want to provide you with a short and easy summary of the proposals submitted for the Agora. In this first round, we will be explaining you three proposals that are aimed at improving the CIA and the work of Juridical Commission, namely ‘Improving the CIA one step at the time (8): Fixing mistakes’, ‘Clarifying the role of the Juridical Commission at the elections at the Agora’ and ‘Removing the appointed Comité Directeur member as observer and advisor of the Juridical Commission’.

Now you may wonder: “What is this CIA you are talking about? Is AEGEE-Europe secretly American?” Simply said, the CIA (Corpus Iuridicum Aegeense) is a document with over a hundred pages containing all the rules which govern AEGEE-Europe. It is therefore considered as the legal framework of the Association, and all members are obliged to follow its provisions. Although no secret agents are involved in it, it is one of the most important documents. In the CIA, which you can read here, you can find for example the Statutes of AEGEE-Europe, the Working Formats of the different bodies and all kind of rules (General Rules, Rules of the Network Commission, Antennae Criteria, etc.).

Now that we know what the changes are about, we can continue to see which ones they actually are. ‘Improving the CIA one step at the time (8)’ was submitted by Glòria Llopart on behalf of the Juridical Commission and aims – as the name already suggest – to improve the CIA by correcting small mistakes that can occure during the years. The proposal contains three points.

The first change is to delete the Parisian address of our Headoffice mentioned and add the address in Brussels instead. As you might know, AEGEE-Europe has an house and a office where the Comité Directeur is living and working, located in Brussels at Rue du Noyer/ Notelaarsstraat 55. The second change aims to replace the word ‘dissolution’ with ‘deletion’ in the part dedicated to the Convention d’Adhésion (CdA) signed between Locals and AEGEE-Europe. Right now the CIA states that “Notice of termination from the Convention d’Adhésion by one or the other party will bring about the immediate dissolution of the AEGEE local in question”. This has to be change, because AEGEE-Europe can only attribute or change the status of a locals according to the criteria it has to respect. Only the local Agora can decide to dissolve the organisation, while AEGEE-Europe can only delete the antenna for not having respected the CdA. The third change is made to the General Rules, specifically article 2: Strategic Plan. In this article, the Main Fields of Action are mentioned, which were removed in 2013. This proposal therefore aims to take out the Main Fields of Action.

You can read the full proposal here.

The second poposal is ‘Clarifying the role of the Juridical Commission at the elections at the Agora’ and is submitted by Glòria Llopart on behalf of the Juridical Commission. During elections, the role of the JC right now is ambiguoos, since it is not clear if the Chairperson (who presides over the Agora) is in charge of the elections or just has to announce them, because the word “supervised” left margins in the interpretation. By changing the respective articles in the Working Format of the Agora and the Statutes of AEGEE-Europe, the Juridical Commission will be in charge of the entire process of elections, from preparing the ballots to counting the votes.

You can read the full proposal here.

The third proposal is ‘Removing the appointed Comité Directeur member as observer and advisor of the Juridical Commission’, submitted by Claudio Gennaro, Glòria Llopart and Salvatore Maraventano on behalf of the Juridical Commission. Right now, the JC of composed by three commissioner and an observer from Comité Directeur (which is at the moment Pablo Hernández Rodríguez, External Relation Director of AEGEE-Europe), and eventually JC subcommissioners. The main issue the proposers are pointing out is that there are some trouble in terms of communication. In fact, in case a question concerning legal advice in a case involving CD, the JC can’t use the mailing list freely as an observer from Comité Directeur is there and this could result in an unfair procedure. This forces JC to discuss those kind of matters (like the discussion of this proposal) with their private accounts, where subcommissioners can’t participate in the discussion. According to this proposal, removing the observer could grant the absolute impartiality of the work of JC and ensure that the communications would stay within the mailing list, which is the official communication channel.

You can read the full proposal here.
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona