The Europe on Track conference “Smart Cities: Can you hear the ECO?” was the kick-off event for Europe on Track #5 and took place in the beautiful city of Thessaloniki from the 15th until the 18th of March 2018. Organised by Europe on Track in collaboration with AEGEE-Thessaloniki, this international conference touched upon many burning issues related to environmental sustainability, which is considered by AEGEE to be an essential part of civic education.

The opening ceremony
On the 15th of March, 120 people from all over the world – among them, participants, ambassadors, organisers and members of the project team – gathered in the city hall of Thessaloniki for the opening ceremony of the event and had a first taste of the topic of Smart Cities and Sustainability. Together with them, we joined the sessions and workshops that took place over the next three days where we gained a lot of insights about smart cities.

The workshops
On Friday the 16th we returned to the city hall, as an intensive day of learning and brainstorming was ahead of us. Starting off with an introduction to Smart Cities and three different workshops on how to apply the features of smart cities in real life, participants had the chance to dive into the concept of smart living and to further elaborate on their views regarding the topic. The next series of workshops enlightened us as to what smart economy, connectivity, digitization, and smart governance are and how they can change the way we act on a commercial, digital and administrative level.

The panel discussions
The panel discussion on urban planning in the context of climate change and growing urbanisation that followed brought local specialists such as university professors and members of the city council in contact with the participants. During this fruitful conversation we tried to study and familiarise ourselves with problems regarding the dysfunctional transportation system of Thessaloniki in particular, by comparing it to that of other cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam. It turned out that the attempt to make Thessaloniki itself a smart city is a big challenge but the young members of the conference seemed to be up for it. Jumping into the next panel discussion, we talked with Artemis Psaltoglou, researcher at URENIO on the concept of urban intelligence and Margarita Angelidou, a senior research consultant in European research projects, about the social implications of technological fixes, an issue that concerns the vast majority of young adults nowadays. During this conversation we asked ourselves: “Is it possible that technology promotes excuses? Do we consume more than normal with the alibi that we recycle?” The catchbox microphones were on fire while the passionate participants shared their thoughts on the matter of technology and ethics in today’s society.

The hackathon
With the help of Mr. Pernet, co-founder of Youth for Public Transport (Y4PT), a hackathon took place in the International Exhibition and Congress Centre of Thessaloniki. The participants worked hard in groups of 5 people for 8 straight hours on original projects aimed to help the population of Thessaloniki tackle problems such as transportation malfunctions, poor recycling methods and a lack of green space.
With limited time and the eyes on the prize, the productivity levels in the room were high. The attendees brainstormed, elaborated on ideas and joined forces to create together. With the help of Mr. Akylas, Consultant of Urban Resilience and Mr. Goniadis, an expert in sustainable development, the teams found answers to their questions and managed to finish their projects on time for the closing ceremony, where a winner would be announced.

The closing ceremony
The final day of the event was full of anticipation and emotional tension. As the teams were presenting their unique ideas it was clear that the jury would face a challenge in order to choose a winner between all those equally innovative projects. At last, the winning team was announced, whose project, “happy soil”, aimed to manage the organic waste in the city of Thessaloniki. The conference was wrapped up with the speeches of the project team and the organisers, who were thrilled to see their month-long efforts and dreams being realised. In retrospect, the conference was a characteristic example of youth in action in favour of humanity, because, as Mr. Akylas pointed out in his speech, in order to see change in the world, “we should think globally and act locally”.

Written by Maria Tiaka, AEGEE-Thessaloniki

On October 11, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) welcomed around 300 decision-makers and representatives of civil society, among which AEGEE, represented by the Policy Officer of the Equal Rights Working Group.

EIGE is an autonomous body of the European Union established to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality. During the morning’s panel discussions, the panellists presented the findings of the new Gender Equality Index 2017 and discussed possible solutions to gender inequalities during an event at the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

The Focus Area of Equal Rights has for aim to acknowledge and tackle discrimination based on gender identity, expression and sexual orientation, and promote equity from an intersectional perspective. To achieve this objective, it is absolutely necessary to have access to data revealing the situation of groups of people at the intersection of several grounds for discrimination. For the first time this year, the Gender Equality Index 2017 offers the possibility to compare gender equality between countries with an intersectional perspective.

The Gender Equality Index is a tool created four years ago to evaluate the progress of the EU and the member states and indicate how far (or close) we are from achieving gender equality. The Index measures gender gaps in six core domains – knowledge, time, power health, work and money – and provides comprehensive data in two other satellite domains, violence against women and intersectional inequalities.

The main conclusion of this year Gender Equality Index is the disappointingly slow progress towards Gender equality in Europe between 2005 and 2015, with important disparities between countries.

While gender equality in the domain of power (decision-making position across the political, economic and social sphere) is progressing slowly but steadily, gender inequalities in time use, referring to the allocation of time spent on care, domestic work and social activities are persisting and growing. Young women between ages 15-24 are for instance less likely to take part in leisure activities outside their home (39% of young women workers takes part in sporting, cultural or leisure activities outside of their home, at least daily or several times a week, against 56% of young men workers). They are also way more likely to care for children, elderly or people with disabilities everyday (15,4% of young women between 15-24 against 3,1% of young men).

The event also represented the opportunity to present the new key feature of this year’s Index, that is data on intersectional inequalities. The index provides data showing how gender intersects with age, education, family composition and parenthood, country of birth and disability. Due to the difficulty to gather data on certain types of discrimination, the Index however fails to cover intersections between, for instance, gender and sexual orientation or gender and religion.

These disaggregated data reveal some worrisome inequalities affecting people at the intersection of different identities. During the conference, Pirkko Mahlamäki (Executive committee member of the European disability forum) emphasised for instance the situation of women with disabilities, that are at risk of falling behind in the area of education and labour market, but also three to five times more likely to be victims of domestic abuses.

As underlined by MEP Ernest Urtasun, EU decision-makers have the duty to rely on those data to ensure that EU anti-discrimination policies do not leave groups of people without adequate protection.

To ensure that decision-makers implement evidence-based, inclusive legislations, the gathering of data needs to be strengthened considerably in most member states to obtain a clear picture of inequalities and intersecting discriminations. The Equal Rights Working Group is particularly pleased to see this emphasis on intersectionality and support EIGE’s call to stakeholders to improve the gathering of relevant data to ensure a complete and clear image of how different types of discrimination and inequalities intersect.

Get to know the situation of gender equality in your country, and let’s continue to strive for a more Equal Europe for all!

Written by Juliette Beaulaton, Policy Officer of Equal Right Working Group

She started her adventure with AEGEE in 2013 through Summer Universities, then actively participating in her antenna, AEGEE-Budapest. She was in her local board for two times, attended almost every local event and currently she is a member of the Mediation Commission. Recently, she was also main organiser of the conference “Education for the Present, Democracy for the Future”. She is Petra Buruzs, and she is our Member of the Month of April, with her work before and during her last – at least this is what she said – Agora being recognised with this nomination.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a few things about yourself?

Petra: I am Petra, from Budapest, and I do love my city but lately you can find me there, if Budapest is hosting an event. I love to organise, or coordinate or help and discover Budapest with participants but I am also addicted to travelling and I am aware of it. Nowadays I am still writing my thesis about AEGEE, and organising Erasmus+ projects.

When did you join AEGEE? Which projects do you work for?

Considering the fact that I kind of grew up in the voluntary and youth work field, it was just a matter of the time when I would be an AEGEE member. The magic moment came in 2013, when I met with Agnes Deme who was organising the SU in Budapest and after it I just went with the flow. My path in AEGEE was step by step: I started with active participation, later on HR mid-leader, then Vice-President of Internal Relations and Secretary as a board member, so basically I was there at almost all the local events and projects. Later on I started to open up more towards the European level as Sub-Com, and lived with the CD54 as CD assistant. Currently I am still a member of the Mediation Commission.

What kind of activities do you usually do in the Mediation Commission?

You cannot specify it, but there are several activities, according to the local’s need. For sure you have to be there and give suggestions, advice, NDAs and sometimes concrete decisions. In my term I would love to create a template which clarifies to members the difference between the advisory and the official cases.

What is your feedback as Main Organiser of the conference “Education for the Present- Democracy for the Future”?

That it was an honour to organise it; the Franck Biancheri award gave the huge opportunity to our local and the Network to organise, cooperate and participate to the conference. To experience that incredible amount of trust from the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri was already a huge excitement and to find out the learning points of the co-operation was also a nice experience. So I can just suggest to locals to apply for next year!

Can you tell us something about the content of the “AEGEE Alumni event- Back to Budapest”? Which was the aim of this event?

The aim was to gather three generations of AEGEEans and provide a safe space for sharing experiences, memories, points of view and to realise again and again that we can still learn from the past and implement it in future, in terms of structure, motivations, multicultural environment, and creative  co-operational ways as well. Also the General Assembly of the Les Anciens took place and celebrated the years of success that we already left behind us.

Tell me the thing you like the most in AEGEE and why. 

Unconditional trust. – In the way that you have that playground under your feet, you can find several AEGEEans for support if it is needed but at the same time you can realise your crazy ideas and feel the seriousness, even if you are open up for sponsors and externals. In the way that if you would like to visit a city and you are searching for a host, we are able to trust blindly and give our house key to a person, of whom I only know he or she is also an AEGEE member. In the way that after twenty years you could hear a story with perfect details, like it just happened yesterday, and our connections (or babies) keep us together, in touch, in friendship or relationships. In the way that personal conflict might happen, but you still say that you are or you were an AEGEE member and it is a lifelong learning experience. In the way that you know if there is an AEGEE sticker, that place will be cool even if it is on another continent.

Which skills did you develop in AEGEE?

Let me list up with some example:

– Creativity – To create a song together with AEGEE-Budapest for Heidelberg who just stole our flag (during EPM 2017) or drawing flip-charts with closed eyes according to some instruction (during TNT Cluj 2016) or explain to a very strickt russian train conductor that you have a ticket, but you just cannot prove it, because your friend Balint Caesar, who is still not there two minutes before the departure time, has it (during NWM-Moscow 2016);

– Problem solving skills – The police came for a one-by-one check up, since during the European Night we were too loud (during Barcelona-Utrecht-Budapest Exchange 2015) or the canoe flipped over in the middle of the Velence lake and also the police came to rescue our participants (during Funtastic4 Summer University 2016);

– General IT skills – design trainings in Budapest, use of several communication channels (like Slack and Telegram) and during my secretary work with Intranet, supporting the members of my antenna from the background;

– Selective listening – During every event when you are an organiser;

– Communication – Internal and external as well, even if you are little and your voice is really quiet.

And I believe that there are many other skills I have not even realised yet.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari 

From the 21st to the 23rd of April, AEGEE-Budapest hosted the conference “Education for the present, Democracy for the future”, which was the winner of the Franck Biancheri Award 2017. The event was organised together with Europe on Track and the Civic Education Working Group, with the support of the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri. We talked to Álvaro González Pérez, one of the participants, to get to know more about it. 

The AEGEEan: Why did AEGEE-Budapest decide to organise the conference? Which where the highlights of the event?

Álvaro: AEGEE-Budapest had been dreaming of organising another big thematic event since their popular Agora in 2012, so the opportunity to help bringing to life such an important conference as  “Education for the Present, Democracy for the Future” was something they did not want to miss. Furthermore, and as the participants of the conference had the opportunity to learn in detail, civic education and democracy are two topics very much discussed currently in Hungary.

Regarding the highlights, there are way too many for me to mention all of them, but on a personal level I would underline on one hand the fact that the conference fired the starting gun for the arch-popular Europe on Track 4 (since both teams departed from Budapest), and on the other one the lecture given by a Hungarian university professor and activist, Marie Heller, on the current political and educational situation in Hungary, which gave us the foreign visitors a greatly enriching and enlightening local perspective.

Did they collaborate or had a partnership with other organisations?

The content of the conference has been organised by the Europe on Track Project and the Civic Education Working Group, which did an amazing job. I cannot avoid mentioning the incredible job that María Ballesteros Melero did, who was close to being omnipresent.

Regarding the collaborations, the “Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri” (AAFB) supported the conference with its experienced speakers and trainers during the whole duration of the event, and the Central European University (CEU) provided us with the necessary space and material.

How many organisers were involved in the organisation of the conference? 

There was a content team led by María Ballesteros, and formed by Maria Maris, Nicola Guida, Sofia Lobakina, and Balint Toronyai. The sessions were given by several members of the AAFB, the Comité Directeur and the CEWG, as well as by several guests that are a part of the Hungarian civil society, such as the a forementioned professor or a high school student involved in early activism. The organisational side was handled by AEGEE-Budapest and Petra Buruzs as main organiser, who made an amazing job and could not have made our stay in Budapest more comfortable and enjoyable.

Can you tell us something about the programme?

As shown by the name of the conference, the core of the conference was civic education in Europe, and the whole programme was based on this topic, whereas the first day the sessions were more based on the legacy of Franck Biancheri, regarding his life and his more than relevant role in AEGEE. In this sense, both of these elements were combined in a way that we dealt with the past, present and future of AEGEE and Europe, with interesting workshops dealing with diverse topics such as the current state of civic education in Europe, the role of civil society in the shaping of active and responsible citizens or the possibility of the democratisation of the Eurozone. The dynamism of the conference made it impossible to get bored: we had several parallel sessions that we could choose depending on what we felt like would fit us the most, as well as a World Café.

Is there something that we did not ask that you would like to share?

Especially remarkable is the fact that the place where the conference was held, the CEU, is currently in danger of being closed by the Hungarian government, because of several reasons dealing directly with the topic of civic education. For this reason, not only this university was suitable for us from a practical point of view, but also from a symbolic one.

Finally, I want to underline once again how enriching the lecture by Marie Heller on education and politics in Hungary was, not only for me, but for numerous participants. Even though the results of the evaluation are not out yet, I am convinced it will be close to the top of the best evaluated sessions, and it will come with no surprise:  getting to know the culture, society and politics of a certain place in that very place and by locals with expertise on the topic gives an unmatchable and an extremely educational insight.

Written by Paola Letizia Murru, AEGEE-Cagliari

AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca proposed some local and international events during the year but their most successful one was a conference organised last May, shortly before Agora Bergamo. We collected some information about the topics discussed in the conference organised by the Romanian Antenna, whose Main organiser was Bianca Sabau. The content of this event was built by the Your Vision For Europe project team and the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri.

The Franck Biancheri Award Conference “Borderless Europe: Blessing or Burden?” was held in Cluj-Napoca, in the heart of Transylvania (Romania), between the sixth and ninth of May 2016, gathering around sixty organisers and participants from all over Europe and beyond. The event counted on the collaboration of the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri (AAFB), and its 45 participants made it highly “international” [Romania, twenty-one; Germany, ten; Italy, three; Macedonia, two; Hungary two; Croatia, two; Bulgaria, one; Pakistan, one; Nigeria, one; Greece, one; and the Netherlands, one].

Fifteen members of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca took care of the logistical aspects of the conference. Nine speakers shared their expertise and ideas during the panel discussions. Six delegates of the Your Vision For Europe project presented and delivered in Cluj-Napoca the content of the conference: Maarten De Groot, Aleksandra Mojsova, Leonie Riebesam, Tedi Martinescu, Cosmina Bisboaca and Roberto Orrù. Two members from the Comitè Directeur, Aleksandra Kluczka and Réka Salamon, coordinated and supervised the organisation of the conference, and Marie-Hélène Caillol, Marianne Ranke-Cormier and Georgeta Grama Moldovan were the representatives of the AAFB. The association financially supported the conference and shared the spiritual legacy of Franck Biancheri, the founder of AEGEE. As the Franck Biancheri Award 2016 was awarded to AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca, the conference was also an occasion to commemorate and discuss the life and cultural legacy of Franck Biancheri, who, during the 1980s, was a promoter of a transnational democratic Europe.

The meeting began with a presentation about Franck Biancheri’s life and decisive role for the birth of the ERASMUS Programme. Throughout his life, Franck strived for a more democratic and transnational Europe and, in 1988 and together with other AEGEE founding members, he created the first trans-European political party, called “Initiative pour une Démocratie Européenne” (IDE). Although formally dissolved after a few years, the spirit and ideas of IDE have been inherited by a new party founded by Franck and other fellows in 2005: the “Newropeans”. Today, Newropeans remains the only trans-European political party. Franck’s work and thoughts about the future of European governance and the role of Europe in the world continued with the creation of Europe2020, which afterwards became LEAP (Laboratoire européen d’Anticipation Politique).

The second part of the ceremony was dedicated to the history of AEGEE: from its birth in Paris on the 16th of April 1985, when it was still called EGEE, to when it changed its name to AEGEE in 1988, until the present. Its foundation started with the purpose of creating a platform, a forum for young Europeans to discuss about European matters, and where they could propose their ideas to both national and European institutions. In 1986, about fifty university antennae were present in Europe; today the AEGEE network is present in two-hundred cities, spread over forty countries in Europe, and counts 13,000 members.

During three days of workshops, panel discussions, and the screening of the “Great European Disaster Movie”, the participants discussed the current state of the European integration process, its political and moral crises, and how the EU is dealing with the current migration phenomenon. The major topic of the conference was “borders in Europe”; physical, socio-economic, cultural or political. This led to a debate regarding the current state of the Schengen agreement, the idea of a borderless Europe and how it can be transferred to social and institutional terms. Lastly, the participants proposed some solutions in order to break borders and stereotypes.

Participants of the conference were given the opportunity to help Maarten De Groot’s team measure the impact of the conference and the project. Participants were given a questionnaire before the start of the conference and another after its end, to see if their opinion had changed. Certain measures were repeated, giving the team the opportunity to check the changes brought about by their conference.

On  the 7^th of May, the Your Vision for Europe team and Aleksandra Kluczka held the workshop “Borderless Europe vs. Borders in Europe”. Having the complex, diverse notion of Europe and its borders, participants explored what Europe and the European Union mean for them, how they affect them personally and what it means to feel European in an interactive, non-committing manner. Furthermore, participants explored how the ideal of a borderless Europe materialised historically and which were the milestones of the European integration process, the most important moments of integration deepening and co-operation strengthening, and the moments of widening of the circle of member states.

This workshop was introductory and intended to actively engage participants in an accessible and informing way. The second one was called: “Our Image of Refugees: Change of Perspective?”, presented by Fabian Wagner (Federation of the Young European Greens) and Aleksandra Mojsova (YVfEU). During this workshop, participants and trainers critically explored the concept of a borderless Europe, and the different aspects it brings. Questioning the differences between experience and acquired information, they examined the process of how people’s attitudes are shaped and how this process is hugely influenced by the media. Very often, this leads to socio-cultural borders, most implicitly creating mental borders, unnoticeably shaping views for many people on multiculturalism, integration, social coexistence and social cohesion.

The next workshop, “Socio-Cultural Borders in Europe: the Borders That Define Us”, trainers Noemi Lowy (Democracy in Practice) and Roberto Orrù (YVfEU), started with a role-play game, in which the AEGEE members had to represent various political parties and associations of a fictitious multicultural city, such as a Muslim party, a youth association, a far-right party and many others. Together, they discussed and voted in favour or against the construction of a new mosque in the city.

By putting themselves in the shoes of “the other”, participants experienced different values, points of view and beliefs, after which they attempted to break socio-cultural borders and to challenge prejudices within the setting of a multicultural society. In the second part of the workshop, participants developed and shared ideas about the cultural, political, historical and geographical borders that define a social community and their positive and negative effects.

On the 8^th of May, the workshop “Issues Without Borders’ Petition: IWB for Refugees! Europe Needs New Legislation on Migration”, presented by Patricia Papuc (Issues Without Borders), was an open discussion about different aspects of the refugee crisis and the problems in the different countries the participants belonged to. Patricia Papuc gave a short introduction on the work of Issues Without Borders. Other aspects that were discussed are the practice of sanctions within the EU, their effectiveness and ideas for other methods that could control the actions of member states. The trainer talked briefly about the EU-Turkey deal as well as the quota system and whether or not the participants feel powerless about the refugee crisis. The general feeling was that the problem is so complex that citizens cannot do much, except for offering individual help to some refugees.

That same day, there was also the workshop: “Socio-Economic Borders in Europe and the Idea of a Universal Basic Income”, by Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE Mobility Working Group), which dealt with the idea of a basic income. Countries like Finland and Switzerland, for example, are considering to implement this within a few years. The major focus of the discussion was employment. Most of the participants admitted that, when choosing their field of studies, they also considered their chances of getting a job after obtaining their degree. Furthermore, participants talked about the fact that automation is changing the labour market and the kind of skills that a job-seeker needs to have. One thing is certain: automation generates less jobs than before. At the end of the workshop, a comparison has been made between the welfare systems in the participants’ countries.

The first panel discussion was called “Europe in crisis, Schengen in suspension”, and the first topic was the crisis that EU faces today, not only politically but also morally. The factors that caused this crisis might be found in the EU’s democratic deficit and in the failure to implement fundamental EU values, such as respect for human dignity and human rights. This failure appears clearly through the way the EU is dealing with the refugee crisis. The second topic discussed was the Schengen agreement and whether this agreement is necessary for the success of the European project. The group concluded that there is a need to maintain Schengen, since it is one of the biggest achievement of the EU. Schengen gives us a sense of community, it helps the EU to stay united and to act as a global player in the international arena.

During the panel discussion, “A Leap of Faith – Utopian Thinking and Acting in 21st Century Europe”, perspectives were exchanged on how the future of the European project should look like. The panellists pointed out a number of developments that should give us reasons to be hopeful, such as the possibilities that the Internet gives everybody, the idea of a Europe-wide Universal Basic Income and the recent introduction of the European Citizens’ Initiative. The idea that was discussed most extensively was the role of cities as drivers of societal change: it is in cities that all relevant stakeholders are gathered in one place – universities, businesses, NGOs, local authorities and communities. Moreover, AEGEE is the living example that you do not need to be organised at a state level in order to have an effective co-operation at the European level. The idea of a world parliament of mayors was coined as an ideal that is not all that far-fetched, if one reads Benjamin Barber’s If Mayors Ruled the World and follows the initiatives he carried out. Afterwards, the participants enjoyed The Great European Disaster Movie, directed by Annalisa Piras.

In the “Europe for all, all for Europe!” session (World café), the team of Roberto Orrù focused on what everyone can do to influence politics and to have an impact on a more borderless Europe. In order to influence politics we have to be active citizens: that is to actively participate in youth organisations; get in contact with politicians and stakeholders, and invite them for conferences and discussions; sign petitions and protest in the streets. Other ways to affect politics are using online tools such as social media to spread new ideas and to connect with other people; organising conferences and help others to be active citizens themselves; improving our communication skills and being good ‘storytellers’.

Only through an effective communication, we can transmit our messages. In order to reach a more borderless Europe, the participants proposed to: organise international cultural exchanges; improve and allocate more financial resources for the Erasmus + programme; advocate for the expansion of the Schengen area and for less visa regulations; improve English language classes in schools and universities; and raise awareness, both through informal talks with friends and by undertaking symbolic actions such as occupying borders and checkpoints. In the second part of the workshop, five different groups focused on cultural, political, external and socio-economic-borders.

The main issue identified within the political borders is the European citizens’ disinterest toward European politics and their lack of representation (democratic deficit). A proposed solution could be a sort of direct e-democracy tool, an online application through which citizens can have their say about a specific topic or question proposed by the European Parliament. The main issue found in external borders relates to how EU is dealing with refugees. In order to raise awareness about the refugees’ situation and fight stereotypes, this group proposed to contact refugees, interview them and share their stories. This project could be called “Faces of Refugees”.

One group dealt with cultural borders; the traditions, lifestyles and stereotypes that apparently prevent different cultures to communicate with each other. In order to promote respect and tolerance toward other cultures, this group proposed that through youth associations, NGOs, schools and universities we can enhance and develop cultural exchange initiatives. These initiatives might be festivals, food tasting sessions, film-nights and post-screening discussions. A second group that examined cultural borders focused on tackling prejudice by organising cultural exchanges through schools, universities and within the Erasmus programme; increasing foreign language courses and offering evening classes; expanding freedom of movement; raising awareness about other cultures through social media; and enhancing the role of NGOs.

Socio-economic borders have been tackled in a more general and philosophical way, by trying to reach a situation of well-being, meant as a status in which people live their lives with dignity and safety. Citizens might be trained about social and economic issues in many ways: education through formal and non-formal sessions in schools or universities; visiting local and national authorities, working with them on social issues and publishing the results through social media.

The end of the conference was a great occasion to celebrate the 25th anniversary of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca with a gala, to which they invited everyone who helped them to grow. They were granted diplomas and celebrated the anniversary with cake and a party. Bianca Sabau, the main organiser of the Borderless Europe Conference, told us the new Board is preparing the activity plan for the following period, so we’d better stay tuned.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

The 8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, with the title Transformative action: the potential for Europe, will take place from 27-29 April, in Bilbao, Basque Country.

The conference will be an ideal place for governments to share their ideas and experience on the topic of urban sustainability, but it also aims to explore several strategies to make our towns more sustainable, especially on the financial aspect given the fact that new economies are starting to develop. International policies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Urban Agenda for the EU, are often very far from citizens and local politicians. That’s why the conference is a place where both local governments and interested citizens can be engaged and informed about building new initiatives in the framework with a precious bottom up approach.

During the three day conference, over 100 speakers will contribute to the discussion, including Corina Creţu, Commissioner of the Regional Policy in the European Commission; Iñigo Urkullu, Lehendakari (President of the Basque Government) of the Basque Country; Jeb Brugmann, Expert in Urban Sustainability and Planning & Innovation; Ligia Noronha, Director, UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE). The program will consist plenary sessions, breakout sessions, panels, networking opportunities and mobile workshops, followed by a declaration on the current challenge for cities and towns and the needs to focus on and to be implemented on the local level.

More than 1000 participants are expected and, on the wake of the Cop 21, the conference places itself in a valuable position of bringing together local and regional government representatives, European and international institutions, multilateral organisations, members of the research community, business leaders, and civil society. Bilbao will host this flagship European conference after Aalborg (Denmark, 1994 and 2004), Lisbon (Portugal, 1996), Hannover (Germany, 2000), Seville (Spain, 2007), Dunkerque (France, 2010), and Geneva (Switzerland, 2013).

The conference is hosted by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Basque Government, Bizkaia County Council and Bilbao City Council, with the involvement of Udalsarea 21 – Basque Network of Municipalities for Sustainability, and the support of Araba County Council, Gipuzkoa County Council, Donostia/San Sebastián City Council and Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council.

Those interested in the conference can also win a free participation by the photo contest. In order to be eligible, participants must take a photo of their cities, showing how and why the city is to be considered a sustainability champion, then tweet it @sustain_cities using the hashtag #Basque2016.

You can follow the progress of the conference on their website, on their Facebook Page and on their Twitter account.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

At Autumn Agora Cagliari 2014 the Ukrainian local AEGEE-Kyïv was announced as the organiser of the Autumn Agora 2015. The dates have already been announced, the team is organisers is full of enthusiasm and soon AEGEEans will be able to apply, so it’s time to find out a bit more about this local and the upcoming Agora! We spoke to main organiser Anna Pykhtina, also known as Smailikova, to learn everything you want to know.

Main organiser Anna Pykhtina (Smailikova)

The AEGEEan: First of all, can you tell us a bit more about your local?

Anna: AEGEE- Kyïv was founded twenty years ago and celebrated its anniversary in February. We already organised an Autumn Agora in 2009 and at the moment we have 120 members. In my opinion, our super active and friendly members that always keep a positive attitude make us unique. AEGEE-Kyïv is for many a place where they can find something special. Not to forget the friendship of many generations of our members! People who were active 7-8 years ago not only stay friends while living in different parts of the world, but also advise the new generation on everything we ask for. I believe that human relations is one of the most important things in our life and that’s why AEGEE-Kyïv is special.

And can you tell us a bit more about yourself? Who are you, when did you join AEGEE and what is your role in the core team?

I’m AEGEE-Kyïv’s president and I joined AEGEE three years ago to go on a Summer University in Salerno (an awesome one). I became active in 2013 when I was chosen as the main organiser of Travel Summer University by AEGEE-Kyïv, and I think I’ve tried quite a lot of things in AEGEE, from organising events to writing articles. I’ve been board member, SUCT member, Academy trainer, SUPS organiser and the most difficult so far: Autumn Agora Kyïv’s main organiser.  My role is coordinating, supporting the teams and making sure that this event will happen.

Anna’s speech after the Agora host announcement at Autumn Agora Cagliari 2014

Why did AEGEE-Kyïv decide to organise an Agora?

It was and still is a challenging time for our country. Ukraine is young. We became independent only 23 years ago and the democratic and active civil society is still building. Everything that happened in Kyïv from November 2013 up to now is shaping a new generation of Ukrainians.

We felt that it is the right time to invite AEGEEans from all over the network and what’s more to unite with other locals situated in Ukraine, Russia and other neighbors countries. Moreover, it’s been a while since Agora took place in this part of Europe so there was no doubt that it’s the right idea.

What was your first reaction when you heard Kyïv was chosen to organise it?

Oh, I remember it perfectly. I read the e-mail, closed the laptop, opened it again, read the e-mail, closed the laptop and thought something like “You must be kidding me/Oh My God/No way/Is it a joke?” Better was to see the reaction of the Network when it was announced on stage in Autumn Agora Cagliari – that was a moment to remember!

How are the preparations for the Agora going so far?

It goes according to the plan. Until April, most of the work was done by the core team and in May the teams were formed. Now each team has work to do, strict deadlines and meetings. The busy time will start in August when everyone will come back from our TSU Across the UAniverse and the ones they attend as participants.

Apart from the Agora itself, AEGEE-Kyïv is organising a conference together with the Eastern Partnership project. It will take place one day before the Agora, on 13^th of October and will engage every attendee in a dynamic process, which will include a keynote address by specially invited speakers and three panel discussions to be followed afterwards. Democracy and Security, Economy and Business and Civil Society and Youth Organization are three dimensions that will be discussed. We are inviting not only AEGEEans but also Ukraine’s youth to take part. The team of the conference will update the Network with more information closer to the August when the application period will start, so save one day before the Agora!

How many organisers and helpers do you have right now?

Few of the organisers of Autumn Agora Kyïv 2015

The team is huge now! Thanks to our amazing HR-Responsible, Hanna Poli, we had more than 150 applicants who she personally talked to and together we divided them into teams according to their experience and preferences. Now we have around 100 people, all of them organizers, not helpers. Of course the number will change. The strongest and the most responsible will stay until the time of Agora, which is quite typical for any event, especially with volunteering work.

You have a very diverse team with people from different locals and even countries. Do you have a lot of support from other locals around the Network?

Yes, our team is super international and I love it! Moreover, some organizers are my good friends and I worked with them so it’s a lot easier. 40% of all organisers are not from AEGEE-Kyïv, but from AEGEE-Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odessa, Moskva, Voronezh, Minsk, Sankt-Petersburg, Dresden, Bergamo, Catania, Groningen, Zaragoza and Valencia. In my view, it makes this Agora very special as not only participants will learn more about the country, traditions, culture, and Ukrainians, but organisers too.

The location of the Agora

Can you tell us a bit more about the locations we will be using during the Agora?

After a successful cooperation with Taras Shevchenko Kyïv National University during the Night of 7 Antennae event in April it was decided that Agora will take place in the buildings of the university. The place for conference will be in the city center, 15 minutes walking from the Independence Square, and the Agora itself in Kyïv Institute of International Relations. The participants will sleep in the university gym and taken by bus every day to the plenaries.

What about your city? What makes Kyïv special?

Everything is special in Kyïv. It’s a big city with a population of more than 4.5 million people. It is a place you will easily fall in love with and that will break a lots of existing stereotypes! Especially if you have not been to this part of Europe before, it will be an absolutely new experience. It has two UNESCO heritage sites (St.Sofia Cathedral and Kyïv Pechersk Lavra Monastery). The architecture is eclectic and shows all the historical periods the country went through, there are a lot of unique places and of course, typical Ukrainian and Kyïv dishes – you just can’t miss the chance to visit it! I love the city I was born in and each time when participants are coming here it makes me feel proud! I advise everyone to not only come to the conference but also stay for more days for the post-event and visit all the famous Kyïv places!

The location of the conference taking place before the Agora

Why should AEGEEans join you in Kyïv for the Autumn Agora?

Autumn Agora Kyïv 2015 is not only a statutory event. It provides the chance to hundreds of AEGEEans to see and to show that things in Kyïv are fine, that Ukraine is not a war field. Together with the conference that takes place on the 13th of October, it will be a good starting point to making our Agorae something more meaningful than just a simple general assembly.

Some of the current organisers were helpers during Spring AgorAsturias. How did you experience this, and what lessons did you learn for your own Agora?

Yes, me, Viktoria (External Communication team) and Hanna Poli (HR-responsible) were helping in Asturias and it was a great experience, we have tried different types of work and saw Agora from another side. A good thing when you organise the next one! I guess the main lesson for me is that people will find something to complain about, not only during the Agora but at any kind of events, so the most important is to fulfill the basic needs.

You are doing a lot of challenges on your Facebook page. What challenges and other surprises do you have upcoming for AEGEEans following?

Yes, the PR-team is working really good together and promoting the event very good so far. I am proud of the way they are taking care of their tasks and the result we have. I cannot tell a lot since they prepare much more than challenges, so follow the page to get to know more!

One of the various succesful PR actions: the Kyïv t-shirt that spread all over Europe

Would you encourage other locals to apply for hosting the next Agora? Why? What should they first take care of?

Apart from the fact that the local will be hosting the biggest and for sure, the best event in AEGEE, which is a huge honor for all your members, it is a huge experience for the whole team that will change their life. It’s a challenge that is really difficult to accomplish but it’s worth it! And how else can you make all your friends to come to your city and country? (laughs)

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Thirty years ago, a dream was born. A dream conceived by a man who wanted to see a better Europe for its citizens: Franck Biancheri. With this aim in mind, and after a conference in Paris (EGEE 1) about overcoming Europe’s integration paralysis, the Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l’Europe (AEGEE) was created. Up to this day, it brings together more than 13000 students from all around Europe. This year, AEGEE-Paris, one of the founding antenna, wants to celebrate this fact by organising an event about it. With the cooperation of the Association des amis de Franck Biancheri, a promising event is presented. The AEGEEan asked Léa Charlet, main organiser of the event, about it.

The AEGEEan: What will the main topic of the event be?
Léa: Nowadays, the EU is going through the most serious crisis in its history, and it seems that if it fails to rebuild itself, helped by the European citizens, there is no way out of this situation. Just like Erasmus would not have been possible without AEGEE-Europe members, we believe that our democratic, influential and sustainable Europe, will not see the light of day without the Erasmus generations of which we, in AEGEE, are the representatives. Our event will therefore be an occasion to discuss the future of Europe as AEGEE, the Erasmus generation.

What can the participants expect from the event?
To discuss a lot on subjects of which we are not always talking about in AEGEE, but it doesn’t mean that as citizens we do not have an opinion. To get out of their comfort zone in terms of ideas and debate about essential subjects which might get us further in our emphasizing project. To meet a lot of people from all over Europe. And of course to celebrate the 30 years of our amazing association in the beautiful city of Paris!

Tackling the situation of the future of Europe is always a difficult point, how is it going to be presented?
The idea is to tackle the different problems by theme: Europe of jobs, Social Europe, Europe of the Media, Political Europe etc. We also want our participants to prepare their own recommendations on saturday (following the same good practice from Y Vote 2014). The recommendations will be presented to the whole assembly on Sunday during the final conference. A speaker will then give his arguments and we will have small debates. We do not pretend to redress Europe in one conference, but want to state that it’s time that politicians, journalists, european citizens, civil society and many more actors start working together.

What do you, as main organiser, expect the outcome of the event to be?
For people to enjoy the discussion and feel that they learned something during this weekend, to enjoy the whole event and Paris, and also to feel part of this big 30 year anniversary celebration!

AEGEE-Paris was one of the founding antennae of AEGEE. How do you feel to be part of this milestone, and how do you think it influences the members of AEGEE-Paris?

I personally always felt it was fun to be able to speak French during Agora(she laughs). More seriously, I don’t think it’s changing anything except that we can brag about it sometimes.

The Association des amis de Franck Biancheri is cooperating with you on organising the event. What is their role going to be?
First, in the framework of the Franck Biancheri year, we received a consequent financial help, without which this event could not happen. The help is mainly for the final conference: speakers, venues, content. They will also be present for a little while during the preliminary debate, in order to bring the ideas supported by Franck Biancheri to the debate.

Franck Biancheri was certainly a role model in most aspects regarding this AEGEE life, how is he going to be present during this event?
As I mentioned, some of the members of the association, who worked with him for twenty years, will be the representatives of his ideas saturday morning. He will also be part of the celebration retracing 30 years of AEGEE!

If you want to apply for it you still have time untill the 15th of February. For more information, check their event on Facebook!

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

AEGEE-Kastoria organised on the 25th of November 2014, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a lecture with the support of the Counseling Center for Women and Victims of Violence of Kastoria.  The main organiser, Panagiotis Emmanouilidis, President of AEGEE-Kastoria, reveals information about this and other humanitarian events organised by its local and about the future “full of surprises” of AEGEE-Kastoria.

Kalimera, Panagiotis! Congratulations on the event.  It’s fulfilling to see that young people are socially involved in important humanitarian events such as the elimination of violence against women.  What is your personal feeling on this matter?

Kalimera! Thank you for the good words. From my perspective, it is very important to be part of this event. The proposal came directly from the Counseling Center for Women and Victims of Violence of Kastoria. Honestly I couldn’t reject it. After a long brainstorming, the idea came from the Center, and we had speeches about casual sexism, stereotypes in movies and commercials, labor law (protection of women’s rights in the workplace) and a historical review.

Are there many cases of violence against women in Kastoria, or say in Greece?

If you make a research about this topic you will find a lot, but it will not be the absolute truth. I am telling you this because there are a lot of cases that will never emerge.

What was your target audience? Did you manage to reach it?

Our target audience were the citizens of Kastoria in general, but students in particular… We looked for a quality audience, rather than quantity. To answer your question: yes, we reached our goal.

Do you believe the lecture had an important impact on the participants?

Totally. Participants were very motivated. When the presentations finished, we had a workshop about our feelings and we made a video based on the importance of the day! The event went very well and I’m very motivated and happy about this.

Have you thought of implementing your event at the European level?

I will say only that I have already discussed it this with Counseling Center for Women and Victims of Violence of Kastoria. When we will share it, you will know it.

Have you done other humanitarian events in your local?

Yes, one of them was the “AEGEE-KastoriaA lights a candle for the people standing up for democracy in Turkey”, the second was the “Free hugs for world peace”. With the Counseling Center for Women and Victims of Violence of Kastoria we had already collaborated with the event “Bicycle ride, against violence against women”. The future will be full of surprises.

What is the history of AEGEE-Kastoria?

AEGEE-Kastoria is only 3 years old. Nikolas Varveris is the founder of AEGEE-Kastoria. He was a member of AEGEE-Thessaloniki and, when he came for studies to Kastoria, the miracle happened!

We have organised a big variety of events such as three European level evens (one of them was unofficial), social meetings, thematic parties, humanitarian events and two exchanges (one with AEGEE-Thessaloniki and AEGEE-Tenerife and one with AEGEE-Zaragoza and AEGEE-Ioanina). And, as I said before, more is coming.

What are AEGEE-Kastoria’s future plans at the local and European level?

I don’t like to speak about our future plans, but we are thinking about organising a lot of things this year. Our main goal is to become more famous in our local community, so more people will get involved in AEGEE. We are a very new antenna, but we are trying a lot.

How is the AEGEE spirit in Kastoria?

The AEGEE spirit in Kastoria is very strong. As I said before, we are a new antenna, but we have shown to the whole Network how much we are into AEGEE and how truly motivated we are. My feelings about AEGEE are very strong!

Written by Gabriela Cioată, AEGEE – București

The “Where Does Europe End” – project  (WDEE) has proved to be an AEGEE success story; there have been multiple events all over Europe throughout the last years. Participants have been exploring how the European youth perceive their continent; tried to find out into which direction Europe is heading (about enlargement for example); and also discussed the development of the European Union.

The final conference will be held in Utrecht from the 12th till the 18th of May 2012. The local organisers have been working hard for quite some time and their work is paying off – Youth in Action granted funding! 40 EU students will have the chance to stay in a nice hostel and take part in interesting workshops and listen to inspiring speakers. Documentaries will be shown, the living library will let you experience various topics, there will be debates challenging prejudices and stalemate opinions, an excursion to the Hague, a visit to the Dutch parliament, and -maybe the most important aspect- participants will have the chance to speak with policy makers from politics and influential NGO’s.
There are four topics that will be discussed: the enlargement of the European Union, the economic crisis, nationalism, and European borders.  There will be a group for each focus area and the participants will find out how European youth see this particular topic. The event offers you the chance to share your opinion with others, but also to see Europe through the eyes of someone else. How does someone from another country see the economic crisis and why is their view so different from yours?  What would you really like to say to policy makers?

The main coordinator of the event, Casper Wolf, is an AEGEE veteran, and is happy to have the wonderful opportunity to finish his AEGEE career with an interesting conference. He already worked in the local board for one year (full-time) and had left the WDEE one year ago. Under the influence of a beer, and maybe another beer, he could not resist: He and the dedicated ladies in his team want to give it their all to make this conference a success for the network. Thanks to the active support and expertise of the WDEE Team, this conference promises to offer the very best for its participants. Applications will open in February, so keep a watchful eye on the events calendar, come to Utrecht and enjoy the beautiful canals (and some warm stroopwafels at the market).

Written by Yvonne Antonovic, AEGEE-Utrecht