Like every year, The AEGEEan is giving a platform to candidates for a position in the European Level boards and commissions of our association to answer to some questions in order to present themselves. This year, we established a cooperation with the Golden Times and, together with his Editor Gunnar Erth, former and current journalists of our magazine will interview the candidates for the upcoming Agora in Krakow. Today we present you with the candidature of  five members, all running for the four positions available for the members of the Comité Directeur: Alejandra Piot (AEGEE-A Coruña), Elena Efremova (AEGEE-Grodno), Evrim Emiroğlu (AEGEE-Eskişehir), Marco Daniele (AEGEE-Torino), Müge Güner (AEGEE-Muğla).

Alejandra Piot from AEGEE-A Coruña knows her strengths lie in the areas of network, communication and training, thanks to her experiences in AEGEE and in her academic life. The former NetCom Speaker and Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe is willing to give locals efficiency and transparency.

Check her interview here.

You can read Alejandra’s candidature here.

Elena Efremova from AEGEE-Grodno has been involved in several European Bodies, such as the Youth Mobility Working Group, ACT, Chair Team and now she is a member of the Network Commission. Running for CD, the history student would like to apply her mindset to her work, collecting data and researching what has been done in the past, to not reinvent the wheel.

You can read Elena’s full candidature here.

Find her interview here.

Evrim Emiroğlu is Vice-Speaker of the Network Commission and has been part of our organisation for six years. The 24-year old member of AEGEE-Eskişehir sees it as natural to take a step further and runs for the Comité Directeur at Agora Kraków, ideally for Network Director, but with a strong focus on restructuring the EPM.

Take a look at her interview here.

You can read Evrim’s full candidature here.

Two years in the Comité Directeur: not many people make that. Marco Daniele from AEGEE-Torino has been Network Director since last summer. Now he wants to run again – but this time he prefers to focus on switch to external relations and projects. “Since this year, thematics are again in the middle of the AEGEE interest. What we need now is a better usage of our resources”, Marco pointed out in his candidate interview.

Check his interview here.

You can read Marco’s full candidature here.

Müge Güner is one of the very few members, who actually founded a new antennae in recent years. Now she wants to apply her experience as founder and president of AEGEE-Muğla as CD member. She is one of five candidates for four places.

Check her interview here.

You can read Müge’s full candidature here.

Few days are missing to Autumn Agora Catania, and one of the most important decisions we will make, is to choose the best people for the Network Commission. Alin Georgescu has already worked as a NetCommie for one year and would like to dare again and commit himself to the Network. 

The AEGEEan: Who are you? For what do we know you?

Alin: Hard question. We don’t usually ask ourselves who we are, and if we do, we come with some cliché answers. I can say I let my actions say who I am (See? Cliché!) and I’m not concerned about this question to be honest. I can be consider a traveller, I like to explore places, people, thoughts, ideas, buildings, everything. So yeah, I can define myself as traveller.

You have already been a NetCom for one year, how would you comment your year as a NetCommie?

Challenging. I didn’t expect it to be so damn challenging, honestly. I hate bureaucracy, and as a NetComm you have a lot. But I don’t mind, we are a team and I’ve always found support when I needed. But overall it’s good, I say it is ‘cause my term is not over yet, I still have until December. I want to continue, I feel I didn’t finish with this. So if something makes you wish for more, that’s good, no?

What did you achieve in your year as a NetCommie? Why would you like to run again?

I was able to come closer to AEGEEans and European Bodies. But most importantly, closer to the members from many locals. I would like to run again because I need more time. I came to that point when I’ve met the difficulties that locals are facing, I want to change the way we see the Network Meetings as training courses. In NWM Debrecen I did it differently, it was a meeting between members, a space for reflection and connecting, learning and sharing. I want more of these events. I will do it in Cluj Napoca and hopefully two more times. I want to prove that it is possible this way and there can be an amazing outcome from it.

You wrote in your programme that you would like to stabilise the current state of the locals you’re responsible for, did you notice something else that might need your commitment after one year in the NetCom?

Isn’t it enough? The engine of our organisation is at local level. No matter how many new, awesome and life changing ideas or initiatives we have, we start at local level. We are a big organisation and we have an impact at European level because we have many locals. Unfortunately we forget that a big number is made by small numbers, our members and locals. We have to focus more on their REAL needs, strengthen their activities, management and resources. This is what I want to work on, for me this is top priority: the local level.

How is the Antenna Criteria Reform, approved during Agora Enschede, working?

Less bureaucracy, but there’s space for improvement.

In the Network Status Update email that the Network received there were many locals in danger, would you like to comment this and how you will work to change this situation?

Unfortunately this is the real state of the Network that we didn’t want to see for a long time. I will continue what I’ve done so far, building a good relationship between locals, trying to improve their activities, their recruitment process and members. Network Meeting will help. Also more thematic projects funded from different grants would do the work. Currently I’m gaining more and more knowledge on this and I’m planning to work closely with locals on applying for Erasmus+ funds. Also criteria should, and they will, suffer some changes, many locals are suffering and are on that list just because of bureaucracy.

Would you prefer a Network of few strong locals or one of many common ones?

Definitely more locals, we have to create the opportunity for as many young people as possible to join our organisation and our goals. A “natural” selection will always exist but we have to open our network for everyone. Maybe one member from a weak local can be the next President of AEGEE Europe, who can deny it?

Describe the features of “the perfect NetCommie”. 

There is no such a thing as perfect. There is just the will to constantly learn, improve yourself and never give up.

In your motivation we can read “During last months I came to the conclusion, there is more work that I have to do from this position so I want to continue”. Can you be more specific about what kind of work would you like to carry out if you are elected?

In my motivation I wrote this for the simple reason that almost no one is reading it. Yeah, some people can accuse me I’m too honest, but this is reality, jut few people are reading 70% of what we write in AEGEE. I will mention again the Network Meeting, the way I see it differently than what we do it now, a mix of trainings after which we get almost nothing, you are just tired and hungover probably. I need this time to proof that we can do way more and really use this events to strengthen our Network. I would also apply for grants, which needs time, and I will focus on planning and a good management. The locals that I’m responsible for need better strategy for recruitment, activities and managing their members. Some of them are even writing that “we need some magic to make the youth do something”. The lack of motivation is still a big issue in our Network and if you combine this with some bureaucracy (I think I used it too many times), you have locals endangered.

Why would we need to vote for you?

Because I can bring something new in AEGEE. Because I’m not perfect but I’m working on it. Because I constantly learn, reflect and share. Because I’m committed to this job.

Question from the Network:

You’re running for your second term in Net.Com. In your current experience as Netcommie what you consider the best goal you achieved and which you in the top urgent to solve or complete? (Consider your personal experience and your assigned locals)

Network Meeting Debrecen is the biggest achievement. Network Meeting Cluj Napoca is the next.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Lisa Gregis, AEGEE-Bergamo

After candidating for Spring Agora Enschede and spending these past months working for the Mediation Commission, Daniël Amesz from AEGEE-Leiden is ready to committ for a full term. We reached out to him to discover more about his experience and plans.

The AEGEEan: In Enschede you promised you would reapply for the MedCom and here you are. Did the job live up to your expectations?

Daniël: If anything, it exceeded my expectations. Before applying, you only know which tasks the CIA dictates to the body, but the experience is always much more complicated. During this short term we have been through a lot of different things and I think we’ve been able to help people and that is just the best feeling in the world. Sometimes the situations that you are faced with are emotionally challenging or difficult, but at the end of the day you are there to improve the situation and it are also these moments that let you learn so much.

How would you describe an active day of your life in the MedCom?

One of the interesting things with this commission is that you have no clue what tomorrow will bring. We work on a call to action basis, which means that you can’t plan a lot of the work that you get. It’s kind of like the fire brigade, trying to put out fires all over the network whenever they come up. Of course, I cannot go into details of any cases we’ve been involved in. But it definitely happened that you have a skype meeting until around 1:30 at night with one group and then have the other side of the story scheduled for 09:00 the next morning. Furthermore I’ve been skyping, e-mailing and chatting pretty much everyday of my travels this summer. So yeah, it’s a busy life, but I really like it.

In your previous interview with us, you said “I hope to learn more on (inter)cultural conflict resolution”. Did your work for the MedCom help you in this so far?

Yes, it has. I’ve never had the chance to work so intensively with so many cultures before and you can definitely spot differences. Some are small and don’t require any change in approach, whilst others benefit from using a different tactic or choosing different wordings. Of course, I’d love to be able to get some more experience in this field. [he laughs, ed.]

You mention that there’s “speed to be gained” in the activities of the MedCom. Could you give us an example of how you envision your suggestions put into practice? How would they speed up the processes?

As I mentioned in my application, I think it would be good to immediately appoint a case officer within the commission that takes responsibility for any email that reaches us. That way we can be more organised, prevent doing double work or miscommunication on who would do what. I do not want to cut into investigation time, nor do I want to decrease discussions within the team, as being able to properly look into all sides of a case and using the different points of view within the group is vital to the work we do.

A big point in your application is data privacy policy. One of the problems there, as you mention, is that “people are simply not aware about the rules or ignore them”. What would you suggest to counteract this?

I don’t think there will be easy answers or quick fixes for this problem. It is something that has to grow, but we can definitely help that process. First of all, we should look into the registration forms that people sign to become a member of an AEGEE local. This document should contain the proper disclaimers and statements regarding the data that members provide. Streamlining these forms should already help a lot when it comes to increasing the implementation. Furthermore, it could help the awareness, as everyone should read about the existence of the Data Privacy Policy Statement when they sign up and boards will learn about it when they alter the registration forms. Furthermore, data privacy has been the subject of NWM workshops and that is something that can continue, even by people that are not in the MedCom. Besides that, the Board Knowledge Transfer Template makes no mention of privacy anywhere. These are things we could put more effort on in the upcoming year.

In your previous interview you mentioned the creation of trainings in communication for conflict avoidance, and in your candidature you say that you are working on those. How is the work going? Will they be available soon? 

Last week, I tested out some of the materials during a presentation about the MedCom for the new members of AEGEE-Leiden to see what would and wouldn’t work. That provided some useful insights and I am now working on getting to a stage where the workshop could be given by anyone, not just me. This is, however, a lot of work and probably requires another test some time. I hope to have the materials ready before the spring NWM’s, but it greatly depends on how many cases we get as MedCom whether or not I’ll make it on time.

Lastly, why should Agora vote for you?

The MedCom is a tricky position and something where experience is really important. I am extremely grateful for the help and mentoring that Petra and Damien have provided for Suzan and me these past few months. Without their presence, we would have surely made quite some mistakes. It is this experience that I will take with me to next year and which would help the MedCom have a healthy continuation. Besides that I am still very motivated and would love to be able to keep on doing the work. I’m glad to have been able to learn what I have, but it would be sad to say goodbye to this commission so soon. It is definitely something you need to grow into and it feels like I’ve only just done that. It would be great to do it another year, so I hope the Agora will place its trust in me again in Catania. [he smiles, ed.]

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Federica Soro, AEGEE-Cagliari

Iuliia AgaKulieva found out about AEGEE two years ago. She was president of AEGEE-Tyumen, where she worked hard to upgrade the contact to a contact antenna and she succeed. Her next challenge is running for member of the Mediation Commission. The AEGEEan talked with her to learn more about her and her plans.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us more about yourself?

Iuliia: I am Iuliia, I’m from Siberia, Russia. I have a masters’ degree of law and now I am a PhD student. The topic of my thesis is “An administrative responsibility of judicial persons for offences in the area of oil and gas.”
In the past I worked in a court as an assistant to the judge. One year and a half ago, my friend offered me a good job in Saint-Petersburg. I decided that it was my chance to be part of the best work team in my life. Now I’m a Court receiver. We are focused on human rights protection, bankruptcy, economical disputes. Although I have such a serious job I’m curious and have many different hobbies such as cheerleading, snowboarding, surfing and working with children. I knew about AEGEE in April 2015, I took part in my first Summer University in Czech Republic and fell in love with the big AGEEE-family. I was the President of our small Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Tyumen one year later. I’ve done everything to upgrade our Contact to Contact-Antenna on Agora Enschede and it is not the limit for us! AEGEE, new people and travelling inspire me to be myself!

What motivated you to apply for member of the Mediation Commission?

I want to be a member of the Mediation Commission because my life is connected with law, justice and tolerance. People don’t only have rights, also they have responsibilities. AEGEE is a really big organisation, geography of new locals is expanding from year to year. The distance between the most western local (Las Palmas) and the most eastern local (Tyumen) is more than 8.000 km. We have more than 13.000 members throughout AEGEE and all of them have their own identity. Actually, I’m from Asia (Tyumen), I would like to share my view in solving cases and bring some fresh ideas. I want to help members to follow the rules and follow the order.

What do you think it’s the main job of the MedCom?
Mediation Commission is an independent body who makes decisions in different issues from time to time. In my opinion, the main aim of MedCom is a discussion with locals, bodies and other commissions and making lists of advice or prevention letters before they will get an official request with a case. It is better to prevent a problem than to solve its consequences.

If you have to explain to a 10 years old child what the MedCom is doing, what would you say?

AEGEE is like a big big big Kingdom with lots of small cities. Sometimes their citizens have fights between each other. The Mediation Commission is like a Department of fairies. They come and solve all problems and conflicts between citizens.

According to you, what do you think is the most important quality to be in the MedCom and why do you have it?

Justice is one of fundamental principles which I am guided by in life. Circumstances can be different, but taking also objective causes into consideration we can find the real reason of the dispute. An independent approach to the situation will allow to make a true decision.

You can read her full candidature here.

Written by Lia Touska, AEGEE-Brussel/AEGEE-Sofia

Today we introduce you to Oğuzhan Ayhan, the only candidate for the Audit Commission. He has already been Audit Commissioner since Agora Enschede. The AEGEEan asked him some questions to learn more about his plans.

The AEGEEan: Please describe yourself in three words and tell us why you chose them.
Oğuzhan: I’m a patient, hardworking and dedicated person. I chose them because I think I have such qualities.

Why did you decide to run for a position in the Audit Commission again?
In the future I want to work in finances and working as Audit Commission gives a great experience. My first term was a short period of time and I learnt what to do and how to do so, and this time I will work for a longer time with better knowledge.

According to you, what do you think is the most important quality to be in Audit Commission and why do you have it?
I think the most important thing is financial knowledge because without that being in the Audit Commission is meaningless. I have been in the Audit Commission for about a year as a subcommissioner and a commissioner and also other than that I was treasurer of some projects so, because of these I think I have enough knowledge about finances.

If you had to choose, what would be the main point of your programme and why?
I think the most important point of my programme is maintaining a local approach with treasurers. To do so, I want to continue with subcommissioners again because as I see some treasurers are not good at English and with the help of people who can speak their language they can get the help they need more easily.

Questions from the Network

What would you rather keep and what would you rather change with respect to the current Audit Commission?
I want to change the communication with locals. We need to improve that to be better and to do it we need a big team and this is what I want to keep. Without a big team of Audit Commission (subcommissioners and treasurers) to do this is impossible.

How do you envision to have more understanding from locals about your technical work? Do you have some ideas in mind?
Well, we already have the Fiscal Law Database, a new Template, a new Toolkit, Podio, InterTemporal Register and 30 minutes of webinar about financial reports. In any case, I’m always open to questions.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Lia Touska, AEGEE-Brussel/AEGEE-Sofia

One year as Projects and Communication Director at the AEGEE House in Brussels, and Joanna Pankowska from AEGEE-Warszawa has no intention to pause. During busy preparations for Spring Agora Enschede we talked to a very energetic and inspiring candidate for Civic Education Working Group Coordinator.

The AEGEEan: Joanna, after being in the Comité Directeur, members often take some time for themselves, but this is not your case. What keeps you motivated to lead a working group?

Joanna: Being a member of the Comité Directeur is a very different experience than working in European Bodies for one simple reason – next to the tasks that you are passioned about there is also plenty of tasks that are not necessarily the things you came to AEGEE for. Don’t get me wrong: I am thankful for the experience and I definitely learnt a lot while being in Brussels, but my true passion was and still is civic education, and that is why it feels natural to continue the work I started while being member of the Working Group in 2015/16 and continued as CD appointed responsible towards the education portfolio.

Why do you think civic education has a fundamental impact on society?

Quoting the words of Barack Obama: “The most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen“. Every office requires preparation and civic education is supposed to prepare us for the role of citizens. Currently, we are witnessing insufficient and incoherent teaching throughout Europe of essential civic competences, i.e. the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed to act as a responsible, active and democratic citizen. I believe that we need to address this issue first before we can move forward with any other social issue.

CEWG has two big aims: non-formal and formal civic education. What projects have you been working on in these fields?

My interest in the topic precedes my membership in AEGEE. As a scout and a volunteer in numerous Polish NGOs, I have always focused on the topic of inclusiveness and civic education. I took part in a Youth in Action study session, learning about the Swedish education system, and I coordinated a working group under The Polish Student Parliament on the proposals of changing the Polish educational system and many other similar initiatives. When joining AEGEE, I focused similarly on civic education, firstly by joining the Working Group on Civic Education in 2015/16 and being a driving force behind the European Citizens’ Initiative “More than Education”. Being part of the Comité Directeur, I continue contributing to our internal and external affairs on the topic of civic education, and education more generally. Throughout the whole year I have been working closely with the Lifelong Learning Platform, which is one of the most important education oriented organisations in Brussels. Lately, I have also been selected as a member of the expert group on education within the European Youth Forum.

What are the usual task of the CEWG? Describe a typical busy day of CEWG or a live meeting.

It depends on the new team and how we divide the roles. Two years ago, we have been a relatively small team, so the collaboration was smooth, but also the workload was quite extensive. This year, I observe that the whole team of the CEWG (9 people) worked very hard and they also managed to create a very flat and cooperative structure for the team that allows people to work in smaller subteams, which means that for every member the work looks a bit different. Live meetings are there to set up long terms plans and responsibilities. Depending on the capacity of the team, the minimum plan is to fulfill the objectives of the Action Agenda and if the team wants to do more – the sky is the limit. If Agora approves the current objectives proposals, it seems we will be focusing on differences between political systems, visits to high schools, critical thinking and ECI follow-up.

You were among the promoters of the European Citizens’ Initiative “More than Education”. What do you think is its biggest strenght and its biggest weakness?

The weakness is quite obvious – we did not do a classic campaign for it because we never found proper human and financial resources to run a campaign. None of the people in the team was interested in doing so and also several open calls and Erasmus+ openings did not attract people to run it. I myself few times regret that due to my Comité Directeur responsibilities, I could not take a more active role in it. This reflects in the numbers of signatures. Nevertheless, I believe the ECI does bring a lot of value to AEGEE. It is the theme of Europe on Track, which is proving to be a very successful edition, it has been reflected in the Budapest conference, the hitchhiking competition “Thumbs Up for Civic Education” preparation is going very well. It was the main topic of our activities at YO!Fest, University on Youth and Development in Mollina and European Ideas Lab – Greens. We established many contacts that are valuable not only for the ECI itself but also for future collaborations on the topic of civic education (Animafac, European Civic Forum, European Humanist Federation, Association for Teacher Education in Europe, Network European Citizenship Education, Vote&Vous, Bosch Foundation and many more). María Ballesteros Melero (AEGEE-Madrid) was a speaker on behalf of the ECI at the “1st European Conference on Education and Democracy” organised by Fundación Cives in Spain. Thanks to the ECI we have established very close relations with the European Economic and Social Committee. I was invited to speak at the ECI ad hoc group meeting as well as at the ECI day. We are also collaborating with EESC on the upcoming roundtable event: ‘Mind the gap – how to strengthen civic education for all throughout Europe’. Are we reaching one million signatures? No. Do we put civic education on political agenda? I think so.

Can you tell us something more about your cooperation with the Lifelong Learning Platform?

I have been a link between the Platform and AEGEE. I have attended numerous meetings and events but also I have been in touch directly with the Director of LLLP, discussing the possibility of the creation of a new working group within the LLLP on the topic of civic education, which will be led by AEGEE. This conversation has not been finalised yet, but right after Agora I will be attending the General Assembly of LLLP, where it should happen. We are also discussing the possibility of co-organising an event at the European Parliament together with Lifelong Learning Platform and other partners in autumn. LLLP is one of the important partners for AEGEE, not only because it is the most relevant stakeholder in European civil society when it comes to education, but also because AEGEE has been one of its founding organisations and it is important to maintain our active role within the platform. Contribution to the processes and consultations within the Platform allows us to be part of bigger European discussion at the tables that we might not be invited on our own. Taking into consideration all the knowledge and experience I have gained this year, I hope I can continue to be the link between AEGEE and LLLP as a Working Group Coordinator.

How would you pursue cooperation with other Working Groups? Do you already have ideas in mind?

I have numerous ideas but those have to be of course agreed with all of the Working Groups. The general though is to coordinate actions when it comes to AEGEE calendar, so to have months dedicated to each of the focus areas (the idea was born during the drafting part of EPM and does not belong to me). Another idea would be to collaborate on communication towards the Network – for example sending open calls for members of WGs in a coordinated matter or putting together all of the publications and materials from WG that locals can use and have common promotion of them. Last but not least – active communication between groups, sharing best practices, co-creating events and much more – depending on the capacity of all of the groups. I imagine all of the working group coordinators to meet before the summer to discuss a collaboration strategy for the whole year.

You can read her full candidature here.

Written by Aliona Sytnyk, AEGEE-Berlin

Elena Panagopoulou is not new to the AEGEE world, she has a lot of experience both at the European and local level. She now decided to start a new adventure candidating for the Network Commission. Here are a few questions for her.

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce yourself.

Elena: I am Elena, born and raised in Athens, subsequently being a member of AEGEE-Athina for two full years. I got involved in AEGEE unexpectedly when, as I have said multiple times, I needed it the most. AEGEE has been giving me inspiration and a whole playground of possibilities and dreams, where I can unfold my creativity and passion for making the Network and the world a better place to be part of. Besides the dreamland called AEGEE, I am trying to finish my studies in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture, keep writing and exploring life and people. I am a neophiliac, a person who is craving for novelty, adapts in extreme situations and works constantly into bringing a change, shedding new light.

What is your previous AEGEE Experience?

During my very first moments in AEGEE I joined the Democracy in Practice project, since human rights education and raising of awareness of young people on hot topics related to their rights and how to act upon them, was something which has always moved and inspired me as a person. AEGEE is a wonderful platform for educating and creating active European citizens. In this sense, I was also part of HR of the Language Interest Group, which is creating guidelines and activities on the language perspective. Most AEGEEans are multilingual, isn’t it awesome? The field of human resources is kind of my specialty, as I have served my local from this position and simultaneously being a proud member of the Human Resources Committee. Effective HR is a solution on multiple “common problems” locals are facing and I have the experience to make them realise and work towards the solutions of their problems.

What would you like to do if you get elected ?

A change!! I want my locals to live and breathe for their Identity, AEGEE Identity, to work always answering their inner “why”. So many times in AEGEE we forget the “why”, why we are doing what we are doing. Keeping that in mind, my most significant goal is to make my locals realise their potential and explore various ways of solving their problems and opportunities. I am always a person who runs against the stream, and that is what I want to bring.

In your programme you’ve marked the importance of trainings, Can you tell us something more about that?

Many people join our brilliant association, because they want to improve themselves. To be the best version of themselves, and to learn in a different way from which they are accustomed to within the frame of their academic life. Learning with non-formal education tools is what AEGEE is doing for more than 30 years now, and this through its trainings and events. But we need to improve our trainings and give our members better chances of joining them. There’s an interesting idea that we can recruit the AEGEEans of the future, simply by pinpointing out the learning possibilities through our trainings. As a part of HRC, I’ve started working with the Network Commission and the Academy into figuring the best platform and interface of making the “training culture” more vivid and fully adopted. We are still at the very beggining, but I am really optimistic for the future. I am very happy that the new Focus Area of Youth Development will start its three-year journey this summer. For me this a clear indicator that AEGEEans have realised how much we need the trainings.

Question from the Network: What is the area of the Network you would like to work with?

I want to be elected because Agora will believe in me and my programme, because people will feel touched by what I want to accomplish and be willing to be on board with me. On that regard, I could work with any local, from the so called Nordic Stars or British to Greek, Turkish- speaking or even some Italian ones. Or maybe German, Balkanic, Russian. I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter, since actually I am really intrigued into working with any single antenna, because each one has its own uniqueness and need to be served, and I cannot wait to embrace the challenge. As you can see in my programme, I will focus into creating an Identity culture within my locals, a connection with AEGEE’s values and collaboration with local communities, in order to bring a better and more efficient impact.

You can read her full candidature here.

Written by Paola Letizia Murru, AEGEE-Cagliari

Even if you are not from AEGEE-Cagliari, you might have already come across the name ‘Claudio Gennaro’; albeit from either policy proposals or one of the handful of Summer Universities that he already organised. With his involvement in a lot of SUs, it comes to no surprise that he is now running for the highest organ coordinating them.

The AEGEEan: Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Claudio: I am Claudio Gennaro, you might remember me from movies like “Three years in the JC” or “Let’s change all the commas in the CIA”. I am 24, a law student for some more months and AEGEEan since 2011. I live in Agrigento, Sicily, and I am member of AEGEE-Cagliari, Sardinia.

Why did you decide to run for member of the SUCT?

Thoreau would say “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life”; this would easily represent my relationship with AEGEE and its educational possibilities. Moreover, it would be an amazing opportunity to repay AEGEE with and for the skills I gained from it.

What is your past experience with organising or coordinating Summer Universities?

I have been main organiser, co-main organiser and member of the core team of five SUs. I have also been (the best) participant in one (wonderful Break Bad in Madrid) in 2014. Since 2012, I cannot imagine calling this season of the year only “summer” without “university”.

What are your plans to improve or maintain the quality of the SUCT and of Summer Universities?

For what it would concern my tasks, I will focus on a clear communication with local organisers. My previous AEGEE experience taught me how to clearly explain a set of rules contained in the CIA to people who approach it for the first time. Constant availability will also be a priority.

Do you already have plans of cooperating with other bodies of AEGEE as the SUCT?

Cooperation with other bodies of AEGEE is surely crucial to improve the content of SUs (such as better PowerPoint presentations or material for trainers), and I will do my best to strengthen the relationship of the SUCT with them, being proactive with new ideas. Anyway, realistically, I would not only rely on that. This will have to be discussed by the entire new team to come up with a common strategy.

What would you encourage locals to incorporate into their Summer University Programme?

Life changing experiences. Undoubtedly SUs represent our main source of new members and must be appealing to catch as many of them as possible, but we also need to differentiate them from “normal” holidays to maintain their special status of “life changing” events. I would encourage local organisers to let their participants meet the diversities of their cities: a day spent listening to the story of a refugee or a young entrepreneur counts more than a day spent at the beach. Make it count!

How would you propose to make the less applied for Summer Universities become more appealing?

I believe it is impossible to determine a common path for ALL the locals. We need to consider their dimension as association, city, budget, HR and many other variables. Our locals are extremely heterogeneous and it would be a terrible mistake to consider them all in the same way. Being a member of two locals of different shape and having organised SUs with both of them, I believe myself to be in a position of understanding better the functioning of different locals. I would focus on knowing better each local organiser who needs particular help for the preparation of their SU and on how to boost the content of their programme according to their strengths and weaknesses. PR will definitely play a key role for them (but I am the wrong candidate to answer that).

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

When it comes to being a member of the Network Commission, good communication is the key. Mareike Ritter of AEGEE-Heidelberg has already proven herself as a member of her own board, and as a SubCommie. Now she is more than ready to take her skills to the next level, to maintain and improve communication, to facilitate NWMs, LTCs and RTCs; in one word, to become a Network Commissioner.

The AEGEEan: Could you introduce yourself?

Mareike: My name is Mareike, I have been a member of AEGEE Heidelberg since June last year, and I started my one-year term as part of the local board shortly afterwards. I am currently doing my Bachelors in Studies of Religion in Heidelberg, but from October on I will continue in Leipzig. When I am not writing papers on the connection between feminism and Neopagan witchcraft, studying Arabic or reading books on ethnicity in the ancient Mediterranean, I love being outside, going for a walk with my dog or taking pictures, or just drinking a cup of coffee with my friends. And of course the biggest chunk of my time is devoted to AEGEE. Especially during the past weeks, I have been so busy organising the Summer University in Heidelberg that all the other things had to step back – and obviously I cannot get enough of it.

What makes you a perfect member of the Network Commission?

I have a lot of respect towards the job of NetCommie; I have a concrete idea of what my tasks will be and how I would like to tackle them – especially as I already gained insights into the job as SubCommie. I learned a lot about teamwork and the importance of good communication during the past year as part of the board and organizer of a Summer University – so I guess I am ready for the challenge. Plus: I would be the third Mareike in the NetCom in a row, so you do not even have to learn a new name – how convenient (she winks).

What have you done in the past that prepared you for the work that you will have to do in the NetCom?

Since February, I have been supporting Mareike Wegener as SubCommie, and through that work I got to learn about the different ways in which antennae work and what difficulties they might face – and of course what possibilities are there to solve them. Also, through being part of the local board in Heidelberg and organising a Summer University, I learned a lot about project management, organisation and teamwork – experiences that I would love to use and share with others. But of course, this is a job where you are constantly learning – that is why you are in a team where you can learn from and support each other.

What made you want to run for Member of the Network Commission?

Being an AEGEE member, you often have to deal with many different kinds of issues. Bureaucracy, recruitment and too much work can easily take over the fun part. The only cure against these struggles is to be shown again what AEGEE is about: to gain skills, exchange ideas, make them concrete while connecting with people from all around Europe. I believe that the Network Commission plays a crucial role in that: Network meetings, LTCs and RTCs, Skype meetings and exchanges – these are the occasions during which one grasps the power of our borderless cooperation. As a NetCommie you are not only taking part in these activities, but actually facilitating them. And you are able to connect the locals, show them that their issues might be shared – and have already been solved! – by others, too. So, I would like to give my best in this important job in order to strengthen and support AEGEE.

What would you like to do as a NetCommie?

As I said above, I think that exchange and cooperation – even if only via Skype – are very important to strengthen the network among antennae. And as our organisation is currently facing a lack of skilled trainers, I consider it one of the goals during my term to promote LTCs and RTCs in order to create a pool of high-quality workshops that can be used among the network. I am also looking forward to organising the two Network meetings during my term, where people can meet, exchange their experiences and collect new ideas together. Besides that, I will try my best to help locals with their issues while being there for new contacts and contact antennae.

How do you want to achieve your goals as a member of the Netcom?

Keeping in touch with each other and a good communication are everything. So I would like to continue with the frequent Skype meetings within the NetCom and SubCom team and with my locals. I would like to use these occasions, as well as the network meetings, to promote LTCs and RTCs, and encourage locals to take part in the twin antennae or mentoring programmes – close relationships that both the local members and our organisation as a whole profit from.

As a member of the NetCom you will have to communicate a lot with different locals, how will you resolve conflicting issues that some of the locals under your care might have?

As I already said, communication is super important. So I want to maintain the regular Skype meetings with locals in order to be informed about such issues. It should be clear that it is my job to help them through, and sometimes it can already help to have someone looking at the issue from outside.
So that is the first step. Second would be that there is no problem that another local has not faced yet. There is a data base – consisting of forms like the monthly activity reports or board activity reports, that a lot of people consider pure bureaucracy – with which we might find a solution or get together with a local that has already been through such an issue. Then, there are workshops for the board or the entire local that might be helpful. And, worst case scenario, there is the Mediation Commission, and an entire organisation with skilled and experienced people – so no need to worry [she smiles, ed].

You can read her full candidature here. 

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen