Did you miss the European Planning Meeting this year? It was organised by AEGEE-Leiden and took place between the 25th and 29th of February. Thanks to their amazing work and team coordination, they managed to organise a great European Planning Meeting. Not suprisingly, AEGEE-Leiden was voted Local of the Month for February for this great accomplishment. So, we had a talk with Boudewijn Steenhof, Main Organiser, and also Casper Renting, Vice Main Organiser of the event to tell us a few details about the challenges the team encountered  and the antenna’s future plans.

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations for being voted Local of the Month for February! What are your future plans in AEGEE?

Casper: Thanks on behalf of everyone from -Leiden! I’m sure that all these active and intelligent members will continue to do great things for our local and the Network. For example, I’ve heard things about a NWM next year… Personally, the EPM feels like a transition from Leiden to Europe. I recently joined the LIG & HRC and started as SubCom for Loes.

Boudewijn: For me, organising the EPM was the last big thing I will do in AEGEE-Leiden. I’ve had five great years, learnt a lot and made quite a few good friends. But what AEGEE-Europe has in store for me, you never know…

What was your overall impression as a hosting local of the EPM?

Boudewijn: Apart from it being very tiring, it was amazing. To see all these participants enjoying all we have worked for in the last year was simply great. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we have learnt a lot from organising the EPM about ourselves, each other, and AEGEE! A hosting local receives a lot of attention during this time, which can be overwhelming. But I think we dealt with it well, and everyone knows AEGEE-Leiden for whole different reasons now!

What do you think you could have done better?

Casper: Oh, so many things! No seriously, we are really proud on what we have accomplished, but we also see room for improvement. Happily these were things mostly invisible for participants. For example, we lost quite a lot of stuff during the event. Apparently it’s not that hard to lose a big professional trolley, or 40 forks.

There were also quite a few participants who thought the food was a bit too ‘Dutch’, meaning, too many sandwiches. But I don’t think this is something we would have done differently, as trying different cuisines is part of exploring other cultures.

Do you plan to also organise an Agora at one point?

Casper: We already did! In 1987 (EGEE-III) and 2010 to be exact. But also if we hadn’t, I don’t think we would soon organise the Agora. It’s not like the EPM is a stepping stone to the bigger and maybe more prestigious Agora. Actually, it’s better to do something smaller really well, than something big so so, and because the city of Leiden arguably doesn’t have the facilities to host an event with this scale, I don’t think we should consider it. This is the sad reality I know other antenna deal with as well. They are very capable and would do great, but their city lacks the facilities.

What do you think was the biggest challenge in organising the EPM? 

Boudewijn: Definitely the logistics. Having the right locations, with the right stuff and the right people all come together to form a well-working machine has been a great challenge.

Casper: I’d add to that satisfying everyone’s needs. Obviously participants are very diverse in their preferences, but also in our team we had different ideas of what “EPM Leiden 2016” should be like. Combined with requests from the Content Team, Chair Team and Comité Directeur, all within our limited financial and logistical possiblities, this created a complex but interesting challenge.

After this experience, what piece of advice would you give to a local who has just decided to host an EPM?

Casper: Don’t ‘just decide’ it, haha. Make sure you have full support from your university and municipality, as you will very likely need them. Related to that, money is everything. Don’t even consider applying if you’re not sure you can get your funding sorted out. Lastly, you’re not going to organise it yourself. Make sure your whole antenna (especially if you’re small) supports the idea and is willing to put time and effort in it, and be aware that your local activities and plans will suffer. I’d say these are the three most important checks you should do before you can decide to host an event on this size.

What did you think of the theme (the refugees’crisis) for this EPM?

Casper: I think it’s a very important and relevant topic that deserves attention in the Network. From an organiser’s perspective, it was way easier to ‘sell’ an event with this topic to financial partners and media, than an EPM without a specific topic would have been. Combined, I’m proud we could facilitate a discussion about this topic. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to actually participate.

The AEGEEan: Thank you for your time!

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

Participants of EPM Leiden were chosen and the hype now is high. We asked some questions to the three lovely ladies chosen to be content managers this year, namely Romy Cartiere (AEGEE-Amsterdam, also the proposer), Daniela Poddesu (AEGEE-Cagliari) and Joanna Pankowska (AEGEE-Warszawa and AEGEE-Toruń). Together with them, in the preparation, also Communication Director Anna Gumbau.

 
The AEGEEan: You went to the CD house last month to organise the EPM. How did the meeting go?

Daniela: Yes, EPM Content Managers met in the CD house between 15th-17th December. The meeting went very well. We met each other for the first time in person, but our previuos skype meetings contributed to put us in the right working mood.

The meeting was really productive. At first, we started from different points of view. We have different backgrounds and this could have been a source of conflict, but we managed to combine them and draft a plan by which all our expectations were taken into account. Working together at the AEGEE house was great. It made us feel at home and Anna was really kind and helpful. All the other residents of the house were always really kind and friendly with “content manager bosses” as we use to refer to ourselves.

Just another last, but not least thing, during our meeting we had a soundtrack which was a kind of obsession. When someone didn’t understand something, to have an explanation, he has to sing “What do you mean?” as Justin Bieber does. This was a little bit weird because I really don’t like Justin Bieber, but I can’t imagine a content manager bosses’ conversation without his contribution!

Romy: It went very well. Although we had different ideas about the programme at first, we were able to compromise quickly and meet some important deadlines. I can’t wait for the next get-together!

Can you give us a sneak peak of how the content will be? In what will you focus more?
Daniela: For the content part, we chose to focus on future, possibilities and solutions instead of actual situation, problems and fears. So the main idea is to realise an EPM where the network could think mainly on how to come up from the current situation and on the possible ways to contribute as a European student network to improve the situation looking forward to solutions and initiatives.

 
Often it is lamented that the topic of EPM is not related to Strategic Plan. Are you planning to connect it more?
Joanna: We do everything we can to fix this. Workshops with external guests are planned in a way to inspire the strategic planning and we hope it will serve this purpose. A day and a half is really not enough to cover all the aspects of the topic, so one of our main selecting question was “Is it useful for AEGEE?”. We hope it will be visible for participants and will result in many great initiatives in the upcoming year.

Are you planning to collaborate with Luca Bisighini, the Policy Officer on Migration? How?
Anna: Definitely! During our live meeting, we had a first Skype with Luca in order to share our expectations and plans, as well as to see how the consultation for the policy paper will fit into the EPM agenda. In the last days, the content managers, Luca and CD have been in regular contact to seek cooperation: probably by leading some session, and definitely using the space to consult the members and include the conclusions of the conference in the policy paper.

 
Refugee is a hot topic, but yet very delicate. How will you treat it?
Romy: We realised this as well, that’s why we’ll create an informational booklet beforehand with some general information and definitions regarding the current situation. In this booklet we will also discuss how to have a respectful debate. In the end it is important that everyone is able to voice their (thought-through) opinion.

 
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

As February is getting closer, everyone is getting more and more excited for the upcoming European Planning Meeting (EPM)  2016 hosted by AEGEE-Leiden. With a very hot topic as the “Refugees in Europe – Europe vs. the Rest: Change of Perspective?” the Core-Team in Leiden is almost ready to present their participants with an unforgettable experience including some very important sessions and, as always, amazing parties. We had the chance to talk with Casper Renting the Vice-Organiser and PR & IT responsible of this EPM who gave us a bit of insight for the organisation and the city life.

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-Leiden has already hosted some great statutory events. Could you tell us a bit more about the history of your local?

Casper: We were founded on the 31st of October 1985, so we have been there since the very beginning. There has always been someone from Leiden in the Comité Directeur during the first 9 years of AEGEE, something we are quite proud of. We have also continuously organised Summer Universities since the early nineties. For most of its history, however, AEGEE-Leiden was a very small antenna, with only around 15 members, until the year 2000. Since then we have been steadily growing up to the around 300 members we currently have.

Why did you decide to organise an EPM?

We hosted EGEE-3 in 1987 and the 49th Agora in 2010, but we had never organised an EPM/EBM. What better reason could you have? Anyway, that is why, in 2014, some senior members of our antenna started thinking about the idea. After initially losing the 2015 bid to Burgos, we improved our application considerably and won the year after.

How is the organisation going so far? Is everything running as expected?

Haha, mostly! Jokes aprt, we are doing fine. We meet every Monday evening with the Core Team to update each other. We have just found our coordinators and we will soon select helpers. We have applied for various funds and are confident that we will get a positive response. All party locations and almost all meeting locations are definitive. As IJsbrand, our Logistics Responsible said: “If the EPM was tomorrow, it could go through. It would be very stressful for us as CT, but it could work.” Still being two and a half months away from the 25th of February, we are sure we will manage everything in time.

What is that thing that would make this EPM more special than the previous ones?

That is a difficult one. Every EPM or Agora is of course a unique experience and we do not want to sound like Burgos or Lublin were nothing special. But, to name a thing, as well as Bergamo could host the biggest Agora ever, we could host the biggest EPM ever. We can accommodate 350 people, if we will, that is up to whoever is reading this now.

Oh and the legendary European Night will be back on this EPM, so make sure to bring your national cuisine!

How did you come up with the postcard challenge? How is it going?

Every summer, members of AEGEE-Leiden send postcards to the AEGEE-office from wherever they are, and there is of course the Christmas-Postcrossing by AEGEE-Warszawa. AEGEE has some nice traditions involving postcards and we wanted to honour that tradition with this competition. We have now received only 5-10 cards, but as AEGEE people love being close to deadlines I am sure, more will arrive. Besides the big prize, there will be a small prize for every participant and of course we will display the cards during the EPM.

Any spoilers on how do you plan on delivering such a burning topic?

Well, as organisers we are only facilitating. How to deal with this interesting but difficult topic is up to the content managers. We can say, however, that we see the relevance of this topic every day. Our sleeping location was a temporary refugee shelter some time ago. AEGEE-Leiden people organised a day full of activities for the refugees at that time.

What is the one thing that participants must see or visit when they come to Leiden?

There is so much to see! We posted some inspiration on our website, but as an anthropologist I can reccommend the National Museum of Ethnology and the National Museum of Antiquities. A free tourist attraction is the Burcht, a 10th century fortified building in the middle of the city, from which you have a great view over the city.

Is there any advice you would give to antennas that plan on hosting a future European Planning Meeting?

Just go for it, it is a great experience for organizers personally and for the antenna as a whole. However, make sure you have full support from your university and/or local government. We would not have been able to do it without them and I think the same is true for Burgos and Lublin. Furthermore, do not abandon the local level, make sure there are still people organising and visiting local activities. Organising a statutory event, doing something for the network, is wonderful, but it is an (unnecessary) shame if it harms your antenna and the HR it heavily relies on.

What should the participants expect after their experience from the EPM and the city of Leiden?

Well, there is of course the common things. You will be drained from energy because of all the parties and discussions. You will have made new friends and reconnected with old ones. If you were smart you have seen a lot of Leiden and surrounding cities because you visited a Pre-Event in Amsterdam, Enschede or Heidelberg, or stayed a bit longer to see historical cities like The Hague, Delft or Utrecht. You will have found out that the Netherlands is quite affordable if you know the right places (and we do!) and that Leiden is rich in student traditions. Lastly, you will have many great memories that have one thing in common, they all start with: “Remember that time in Leiden…”

You can visit EPM Leiden 2016 here

You can apply here until the 17th of December 23.59 CET (Login Required).

Written by Theodora Giakoumelou, AEGEE-Athina