The last Member of the Month of July left many exceptional nominations and AEGEE members that stood out – one of them, Laia Garcia Montufo, is currently President of AEGEE-Tarragona, member of the Pool of Representatives and Liaison Officer towards the United Nations.

Laia has been nominated due to her involvement in several youth platforms. Moreover, she is now fully absorbed in the Travel Summer University organised by AEGEE-Tarragona and AEGEE-Valencia, which is due to start on the 15th of August. And still, she is currently working on her thesis, as she has studied Architecture and Urban Planning with a minor in Sustainable Development.

Presenting a message from the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon at the   Autumn Agora Zaragoza

Like many other members in our Network, Laia joined AEGEE right after her post-Erasmus blues. “Erasmus is a lifestyle, which I suppose many AEGEEans know. During my exchanges I got to know a lot of people around the world, I made friends, I travelled and I learnt how to live on my own or with other nations in a foreign country”. But Erasmus also has a difficult side, as she says: “After returning, I was missing the international vibe so much that life back home seemed utterly boring. Soon I realized that in my city there were also a lot of Erasmus students, so I started looking for them and I found out about the existence of a group who helped foreign students. Of course, I joined it right away!”.

And it was not long until she got in touch with the European level of AEGEE. It was back in May 2012, at the final conference of the ‘Where Does Europe End?’ project in Utrecht. According to her, it might be the best event she has ever been to: “I remember thinking to myself: I am skipping a full week of classes before the finals… but after a while I just understood there are times when the benefits of skipping class are greater than the negatives as I was actually learning more than at the university! These trainers taught me how powerful Non Formal Education (NFE) can be and that learning experience triggered in me a strong desire to become active at European level”.

The Spanish Youth Council (CJE) and its situation

Laia has been very involved in the past year with the Spanish Youth Council (CJE in its acronym, from Consejo de la Juventud de España), mostly in the Structured Dialogue process, an instrument to ensure that the opinion of young people is taken into account when defining youth-related policies of the European Union by bringing together young people and the policy makers across the EU. She was involved at the national consultation in Palencia last January, and she was also chosen as Spanish National Youth Delegate to attend the EU Youth Conference in Thessaloniki in March.

On holidays!

“Unfortunately, the Senate has just given green light to its closing as it has definitively approved the text of the draft law concerning the Rationalization of Public Sector, which regulates the closing of the Spanish Youth Council with the support of the comfortable majority of the People’s Party and the abstention or the vote against from the rest of the opposition groups”. Laia explains about the situation concerning the CJE, which was threatened of being closed by the Spanish government. However, she adds, “at the very last moment, two amendments proposed by the People’s Party and endorsed by the rest of the parliamentary groups were passed, where two important points concerning the regulation of the CJE were modified, so the framework improved with regard to the initial proposal”.

She adds that, luckily, none of the more than 60 organisations that are involved in the CJE have given up: “A new framework must be found, but until the creation of the new organism that replaces the CJE, we must be careful not to have a period of time without a platform that canalizes the youth participation.”

The World Youth Conference in Sri Lanka

Moreover, last May Laia took part at the World Youth Conference in Sri Lanka, where young people from over 170 countries gathered together with Ministers of Youth from around the world, high-level officials from the UN and other civil society organisations and the private sector, around the topic of the next development agenda beyond the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire in 2015. The outcome of the conference was the Colombo Declaration on Youth.

According to Laia, for the first time youth representatives were included as equal stakeholders: “In my opinion, WCY 2014 was unique with regard to the degree of youth influence over official negotiations. Rather than youth meetings in advance of negotiations and producing separate outcome documents, this conference produced a “joint declaration” endorsed by both youth and governments. It was definitely a compromise between these two ends: but an important one at that, because now we have a commitment from governments to implement the recommendations enshrined in this declaration”.

She adds that, as a result, “the declaration has strong language on youth engagement: for example it calls for the establishment of a permanent youth department within the United Nations with representations in member countries to support and follow up local youth programs and also calls on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to establish a permanent forum on youth, for youth and governments to facilitate a sustained dialogue including on the Post- 2015 Development Agenda”.

3rd Council of Members of the Great Silk Way

The Great Silk Way organisation

If all of her activities and involvement have not been impressive enough, Laia recently became representative of the Great Silk Way International Youth Union, an organisation established in 2012 in Azerbaijan which connects more than 30 youth-led organisations from Asia, Europe and North Africa based on and designed for strengthening intercultural dialogue, cross-border cooperation and increasing role of youth in these issues on a global level.

She was elected as the focal point of GSW in Spain. These focal points are youth organizations or active young individuals “who coordinate the activities of GSW in that particular country. This means we ensure participation of local young people in international projects organized by GSW, make sure to disseminate information on opportunities (youth exchanges, volunteering, internships etc.) that can be useful for young people”, Laia explains. “In addition to this, the focal point has the right to initiate and coordinate national or regional level projects and events with the support of GSW. Basically we become the voice of GSW in our country at the same time feedbacking on the needs of local young people to be then reflected in decisions taken by the organization on high level”.

…and still, time to devote for AEGEE!

AEGEE-Tarragona members at the Agora

Laia’s involvement in youth platforms doesn’t stop her from being very active in AEGEE. As president of AEGEE-Tarragona, she is currently very busy organising the Travel Summer University in cooperation with AEGEE-Valencia. She has done a big task by promoting the European level in her antenna, since there are some AEGEE-Tarragona members that have become active in bodies such as the Language Working Group, the Eastern Partnership Project and the Action Agenda Coordination Committee. “I try my best to minimize the gap between my local and the European level. Therefore, I keep the members updated about all the relevant information on the many opportunities our association offers throughout our local meetings and social networks”.

According to her, AEGEE-Tarragona has around 30 members, “but the core team of the most active ones is smaller, so it is easy for me to be in contact with them and try to motivate everyone to contribute. Also, the fact that I am active on the European Level  makes things a bit easier when it comes to promotion as interested members can always come to me and ask for personal advice. And you know what? Some people just need a little push!”

When asked about her future plans, Laia says she is currently finishing her tasks as Liaison Officer towards the UN and the Pool of Representatives, but she plans to keep involved both in the local and in the European level. “Wait, I forgot something!”, she adds. “I do know one of my next steps in AEGEE! After having organized two Summer Universities and one Summer Event… I think next year will be about time to apply for my first Summer University as a participant!”.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

As part of the new action called GO GREEN, organized by the Environmental Working Group (EnWG), several locals all over Europe took part in the AEGEE Bike Week. The AEGEEan spoke to Elise Bessieres (AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles), HR responsible of the EnWG and therefore one of the initiators of the Bike Week, to find out more about the story behind this event and the specific actions performed by the antennae.

The main goal was easy: to raise awareness of sustainable methods of urban transportation. And, in the best case, to combine it with sports and fun for the locals, of course. Instead of giving long speeches about the disadvantages of travelling by car, AEGEEans were therefore asked by the EnWG to set a good example and hop on their bikes.

The time frame was set for the end of June, a month in which the focus within GO GREEN was set on green transportation anyway. It fitted perfectly, being “an easy and fun activity during summer, where a lot of people are outside and travel”, Elise tells us. To activate more members, especially taking into consideration that June is quite often in the middle of the exams period, the AEGEE Bike Week actually lasted for two week, giving the locals more time to organize their activities.

In general, the locals were quite free in their choices concerning what exactly they were going to organize. Ideas given by the EnWG ranged from smaller events just for the members of the locals to bigger events that might even involve the public. Encouraging members to use their bikes to go to university, bike trips to nice landscapes, exchanges with other antennae by bicycle or “free rent AEGEE bikes”, meaning that locals offer people the possibility to rent their bikes for free instead of driving, were just some of the inspirations given by the EnWG. As long as the events centered around this sustainable method of traveling, everything was allowed and new ideas were welcome!

In the end, many locals indeed became quite creative. For instance, AEGEE-Kastoria co-organized a bicycle trip around lake Orestiada on 15th of June together with other voluntary groups to raise awareness of violence against women. Many other locals arranged trips with their members and a lot of pictures of cycling AEGEEans popped up on social media within the last weeks. The precise number of participating antennae is not known, but every single event surely earns the Network’s respect.

All in all, the AEGEE Bike Week was quite a success, Elise tells us. “Especially because we organized a picture competition. It was a nice way to also promote the locals who participated as we posted their pictures on Facebook”. These photos are the best proof to show that promoting a sustainable way of transportation does not have to be boring, but can offer lots of fun.

It is not definite yet if the AEGEE Bike Week will become an annual event, but Elise assures us that the current board of the EnWG will definitely suggest the idea to renew the event during every summer to the next board.

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen

The locals that cooperated: AEGEE-Bakı, AEGEE-Bologna, AEGEE-Gdansk, AEGEE-Gliwice, AEGEE-Kastoria

A few months ago, the Environmental Working Group (EnWG) launched their new action, called GO GREEN, with asking for environmental issues as its main goal. To do this, the EnWG organises a social Skype meeting about a determined theme. In the meeting they share advices and ideas, which locals can use to organise their own workshops, discussions or seminars or any other activity fitting with the monthly topic. The AEGEEan talked to Dasha Onohova (PR Responsible) to find out more.

For the months May & June the working group wants to focus on the topic of ‘Green Transportation’, so they launched the idea of a Bike Week. “Sustainable transport options make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities they serve”, Dasha says. “The most pleasant and healthy way of green transportation is actually bicycling!” For this reason, all AEGEEans are encouraged to go to work or university by bicycle instead of bus, car or train from the 16^th until the 30^th of June.

“It’s a fun activity for a social members meeting, that will also help out the environment”, Dasha points out. “Getting together and advertising your antenna with your flag and/or mascot in the streets sounds like a good time to us!” To join in on the good time, locals are encouraged to follow the example of AEGEE-Kyiv and AEGEE-Voronezh by organising a bike tour in their city. The working group has created posters and badges for those who want to join and let the rest know too, which can be found here. Pictures you take during the event can be shared with the EnWG by sending them an e-mail with two or three pictures!

For the locals who want to do more to contribute to a greener world, the EnWG has thought of more ideas to do in June: showing members what blablacar and carpooling are about, organising a hitchhike competition, doing a treasure hunt in public transport or watching a video on green transport together. “We want to encourage AEGEE members from all over the Network to go green”, Dasha says. “A greener you, is a greener world!”

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

What is it that you expect from an AEGEE Summer University (SU)? Lots of fun? New people? Party till sunrise? If it includes traveling, then in addition to all before mentioned there also come crazy bus rides and amazing railroad crossings. This, however, was not your typical Summer University. It is true, we had it all, but not quite as you would imagine. The “I BIKE” SU by AEGEE -Koln  and AEGEE-Düsseldorf had a German biking twist to it.

For me AEGEE is about trying new things, trying to be someone new and falling in love with things you would never have tried otherwise. When planning this event, the organisers just had a simple idea – “Let’s do a bike tour!”. Even though none of them had ever done a biking tour themselves, they surely were brave enough to not only do it themselves, but to inspire 19 other people to join them and hopefully survive.

Amazingly enough, we all made it back home alive and well with memories and emotions overflowing while dancing on our bikes to the music of the passing boat. Let’s keep in mind that we all did travel through Germany, so one should not be surprised that we did our best to be as eco-friendly as possible. Sustainability! That’s what we were aiming at. This meant crossing fields and fields of solar panels, seeing the human size of the wind turbines, visiting a water plant and helping out in the community garden.  Special thanks to the workshop from the Environmental Working Group.

Apart from all of that, we biked, biked, biked and biked some more. At times we did have to arrive already way past sundown, but at least our rumbling tummies were always extremely well fed. After going over 90 km by bike you are ready to eat everything, but it comes as such a nice surprise when you are offered a delicious meal. The delicious dinners were the perfect icing on the exhausting climbs uphill and the dream-like and seemingly short rides downhill.

After dinner there were two options: either fall down, pass out and sleep or be one of the ones ready for extreme sports of biking all day after partying all night. Yes, we did have some mad men among us. Of course there was also an option of showering sooner rather than later and many (especially girls) were surprised at their ability to take a shower in only 4 minutes. Oh, the things AEGEE makes you do… However, regardless of how you decided to spend the night, the first 30 minutes on bike were always the same – “How in the world will I survive the day if I can barely move now?!?!”

Three countries (Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium) and countless small and big towns did we pass on our bikes. Every new boarder was a victory, but you can imagine just how many victories we had when we ended up crossing from one country to the other up to 20 times within a single day!

After a week of biking and more than 530 km behind us we were ready to enjoy partying, sightseeing and even swimming. However, nobody had expected crazy Russian dances to Balkan music in Germany. Nevertheless, we all got to improve ourselves together with Fabian Brüggemann, who obviously just enjoyed having us as his puppets for a couple of hours.

As warned beforehand we all did come back with buffed legs and aching bottoms. Surprisingly enough none had imagined that after a week of biking, hitting a rock while walking in the city would leave a bigger scar and leave a person limping than crashing into the bushes while going downhill on a bike. We will all have something to remember from this SU. Some will have their scars, but most will have memories, friendships and emotions that one just can’t brush away. 

A big thank you to the photographers: Christian Bussar from AEGEE-Aachen, David Martin-Gonzalez from AEGEE-Las Palmas and Danilo Pesenti Barili from AEGEE-Bergamo. 

Written by Olga Volovyk, AEGEE-Kyiv

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGEE-Torino should beware!

Written by Martina Zanero, AEGEE-Torino.

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

In AEGEE, April is one of the hardest months of the year. You not only have to decide what to wear, drink and for whom to vote at the upcoming Agora, but also for which Summer University (SU) you want to apply. In 2012, 82 teams of SU organizers are fighting for your attention. They have already been planning for up to half a year now and have created Summer Universities with a large diversity of topics, settings and themes, from tv show adaptations through funny pUnS in titles to educational courses.

All the same, a small group of SUs tries to combine a fun and adventurous program with interesting and creative activities by focusing on sustainability and environment. We would like to present to you this year’s Green Summer Universities, or 14 ways how to spend your summer.

In 2012, 14 organizer teams have decided to cooperate with the Environmental Working Group. To help them plan their activities and create an event sustainable in every way, a team of 7 motivated Green SU Assistants: Anja (AEGEE-Heidelberg), Annika (AEGEE-Tallinn), Athina (AEGEE-Thessaloniki), Hape (AEGEE-Aachen), Hector (AEGEE-Las Palmas) and Turgut (AEGEE-Ankara), led by Miguel (AEGEE-Alicante), is supporting them.

Even though all these Summer Universities share the same ideas: having fun on a green event, organizers came up with lots of different ways to realize them. Eight of these Summer Universities are Travelling Summer Universities (TSUs), which are trying to raise your compassion for nature and environment by showing you some of the most beautiful natural sites in Europe like the Canary Islands, the North of Spain, Italy or Central Europe. Two of them, the SU of AEGEE-Eindhoven and AEGEE-Tilburg and the SU of AEGEE-Düsseldorf and AEGEE-Köln, go a step further and, to be as sustainable as possible, do most of their travelling through the BeNeLux countries by bike.

Others concentrate on their local treasures and invite the participants to their surroundings and beautiful countrysides with their nature reserves around Pécs, Porto or Santander to show them why their regions are worth saving.

All Summer Universities incorporate workshops and courses in their program focusing on different green topics, such as water, food, and energy in Tenerife, recycling and using sustainable materials in Torino or tackling the issue of environment and pollution in a metropolitan area of Paris.

So, if you’re still not sure how to spend your summer, check more detailed descriptions at the website of the SU project at aegee.org/su.

Written by Hans-Peter Bretz, AEGEE-Aachen

Photographs from the SU 2012 booklet

The Environmental Working Group (EnWG) is one of the six Working Groups in AEGEE, all of which are giving important and valuable input to the Network and build an essential part of it. Nonetheless the EnWG does believe that there are reasons why they should win the AEGEEan Award for Best Working Group 2012 and you can find them right here:

What makes the EnWG special from other WGs?

When The AEGEEan asked the EnWG why they should win this award the answer was: “Environmental topics play an important part in nowadays’ politics and economics. Big projects like Rio+20 show the integral role of sustainability but also be sustainable itself. There we did and continuously do try to raise awareness for it and make our actions, activities and events sustainable themselves.”

They promoted and supported green events and activities all over the Network, from workshops at training courses to Summer Universities up to statutory events. The idea of transforming an event into a green event has spread and most thematic Summer Universities focus on environmental topics.

This Working Group increased the number of active members and there are also a lot of enthusiastic members outside the board who take the initiative on organising activities like EDE 2012 or workshops on their favorite environmental topic. The EnWG also increased their active communication in order to get in touch with the members and all other AEGEEans who might be interested in joining the WG.

The EnWG of 2011

The previous mentioned increase in active communication was made in initiatives such as introducing the monthly social meeting. At this Skype meeting all members and interested AEGEEans are invited to discuss current topics and share ideas. The numbers of participants have increased constantly since it was introduced and it has become a good starting point for interested AEGEE members.

Externally the EnWG was working hard on their project too. One of their main goals is to spread green ideas across the Network and help locals and members to realise their ideas. After a total of 20 Summer Universities last year, 13 out of 26 SUs which collaborate with a project team or a Working Group decided to go green in 2012 and work together with the EnWG. They are supported with a team of seven EnWG members who help them with their program and organise workshops and thematic activities.

Additionally the EnWG support the Agora organisers to have a green Agora and spread green topics through workshops at various e.g. Network Meetings in Amsterdam and Tallinn or training courses. Here a lot of the input is given by members of the WG, as many of them study environmental topics and eager to share their knowledge.

What was so special about the EnWG last year?

When asked this question the answer from the EnWG is pure and simple: “We improved the communication with our members and managed to involve a lot of non-board members in our activities as workshop leaders, green SU assistants, the EDE and so on to have a flourishing Working Group and not only a few active members in the board.”  

What is going on in the EnWG these days?

In 2012 the EnWG has continued the hard work of last year. The biggest upcoming project will be the EDE, coordinated by two of their members and involve large parts of the Network to work on different environmental topics. Thus the idea of sustainability and green topics spread further and the EnWG has a high visibility through the Network.

Last but not least it is also important to mention that the EnWG also started collaborating with Prof. James Skelly, who has been a speaker at EBM Izmir and who made his course on Global Conversation available for AEGEE members.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København