Europe on Track is a project run by young volunteers who aim to raise awareness, to create a space for discussion and to capture the opinions of youth in Europe on important social issues. Thanks to Interrail, the  ambassadors in teams of 3 (one videographer, one photographer and one interviewer per team) will travel by train across 20 countries in one month to deliver workshops, interview young people and organise events in cooperation with 200 volunteers from 30 cities in Europe. Let’s take a closer look at this amazing project!

The AEGEEan: What is your definition of Europe on Track? 

Erifyli and Ola: For many people Europe on Track is the most exciting AEGEE project, also quite often called the “dream” one. The idea is that selected ambassadors travel by train across Europe for one month to deliver workshops, interview young people and organise local events in cooperation with AEGEE antennae about the main topic of each edition. But the aim of Europe on Track is not only to travel and have fun but above all to raise awareness, to create a space for discussion and to capture the opinions of youth in Europe on important social issues while having an amazing time and connecting different parts of our continent (or even further!). This is an unbelievable journey for everyone involved in the project – ambassadors, project team and local organisers. One month full of adventures, events with great content and visible outcomes.

Tell us more about the project’s past achievements. 

Erifyli and Ola: We are working now on the fifth edition of Europe on Track which means the project is already known by some AEGEEans (but not all of them and we want to change it!) and has many things
to be proud of! Each edition of the project tackled a different civic topic, relevant for European youth. The first edition of the project, launched in 2013, won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize which is awarded annually to a project that fosters a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.
Last edition, Europe on Track 4, was the winner of the Franck Biancheri Award and organised an amazing kick-off conference in cooperation with AEGEE-Budapest and the Civic Education Working Group. During their journey, the ambassadors were able to reach 1000 young Europeans in 26 different cities. After last edition’s success, many people became interested in the project and decided to continue the journey with Europe on Track 5!

How is the team being formed?

Erifyli and Ola: Our Project Team, consisting of 16 people, was already selected in June and has been working on the project for six months! In August, three assistants joined our team to help us in specific areas – Fundraising and IT. Since the beginning we can count also on our CD appointed member Maria, who was the Content Manager of EoT 3 and 4, so she’s a really great help for us! In October we found 34 awesome AEGEE locals which will prepare Europe on Track stops in their cities. The local organisers are a crucial part of our project because thanks to them we can engage different people and be present at universities, have meetings with local authorities, NGOs etc. Now we are looking for the last important part of the team – our ambassadors! This edition, we don’t need six, but nine travellers who will join Europe on Track. To have a bigger impact, we decided to create three teams, one more than in previous editions, and we are currently looking for the perfect candidates! If you know someone who’s inspiring, wants to have a life-changing experience traveling all around Europe while discussing and giving workshops about Sustainability and Climate Change, share our Open Call with her/him.

How and why did you choose the topic for the new edition?

Erifyli and Ola: Firstly we collected ideas from the network. Then we split inside the project team into smaller groups and researched each of the 32 submitted topics: possible activities, grants, cooperation, funds, etc. It took us more than one month to select the final one! The topic of ‘Sustainability and Climate Change’ under the motto “Can you hear the ECO?” is extremely important these days! We are dealing with an environmental crisis caused by irresponsible human behavior but we don’t want to only talk about it, we want to take action. That’s why we will make our project CO2 neutral, we will plant trees (also in your name if you donate to our crowdfunding campaign) and we will gather opinions of young people and inform them about how to act and how to have an impact on the Earth.

What plans do you have in store?

Erifyli and Ola: We said in the beginning that we will take Europe on Track to the next level and so far we think we are doing it! Three routes, nine ambassadors, 34 hosting locals and our crowdfunding campaign are just the beginning of big surprises. We are focusing now on the Open Call for ambassadors and the crowdfunding campaign. Then we will work closely with locals to prepare high level and contentful events and to make them use the opportunity to be a part of big European project. We are also planning our kick-off conference in Thessaloniki and the Environmental Action Week. We are constantly working on Fundraising and External Relations. We hope to reveal some more big surprises very soon!

Who can become an ambassador of Europe on Track 5?

Erifyli and Ola: First of all, we are looking for people for specific positions: photographer, videographer and blogger. Also, we don’t mind if you can do two or all things, in the end you always have to choose one role!
We want to find people who are inspiring, have experience in travelling and delivering workshops as well as knowledge about Sustainability and Climate Change. You need to be open-minded, responsible and, what’s very important, resistant to stress and physical fatigue. Travelling for one month, sleeping in trains, changing place every two or three days can be tiresome and we need to be sure that our potential ambassadors are prepared for it. And in the end, we are looking for candidates with initiative who will make this trip an unforgettable
experience both for themselves and everyone involved in the project.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Erifyli and Ola: We think that what makes this edition special is that we have so many extremely motivated people working on the project and we are really aiming big! Our project manager, Jorge, was an ambassador of EoT4 and has a lot of experience so he always pushes us to do more, think out of the box and do things that have never been done before like having three teams or the crowdfunding campaign. We had a live meeting in Brussels in October and the atmosphere inside the project team is just great! Although the most important thing is that we really want to bring Sustainability and Climate Change closer to AEGEE and young people.

Our initiative is needed and we, as Europe on Track, want to act and help the planet as much as we can. And with our motivation and your help we believe we can do a lot!

Are you curious to find out what young people really think about Sustainability and Climate Change? Are you passionate about travelling? Do you like giving presentations and workshops? Do you want to spend one month doing all of these around Europe?

Then join Europe on Track 5!
Become an #ambassador! We are looking for photographers, videomakers and bloggers/interviewers who wish to travel for one month and bring the topic of sustainability and climate change closer to European youth. You can find Open Call for ambassadors here:bit.ly/ambassadorEOT5
Support our #crowdfunding campaign! Together with Youth 4 Public Transport we will measure our carbon footprint and plant enough trees to make our project CO2 neutral. We need your help for that! Check out our perks and more about our project from the 10th of November.
Organise and participate in local events! You can get involved in organising activities connected with Europe on Track during our Environmental Action Week, or during the route of our ambassadors. You’ll see the list of events on our website soon.
Follow our journey in Social Media!

Facebook: Europe on Track
Instagram: www.instagram.com/europeontrack/
Youtube: Europe on Track https://goo.gl/w1PCcv
Website: www.europeontrack.org

Written by Aliona Sytnyk, AEGEE-Berlin

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

After several successful events, including a Network Meeting (NWM) two years ago and three Agoras (in 2012, 1995 and 1991), AEGEE-Budapest is organising with a very experienced core team and the collaboration of the Civic Education Working Group, the Franck Biancheri Award, which will also serve as the opening event of the Europe on Track project. In this article the Board of AEGEE-Budapest gives us some information about this event which will be held at the end of April 2017.

The AEGEEan: Please, present your local!

AEGEE-Budapest: Our history started in the Nineties, when AEGEE-Budapest was founded like a pioneer as the first local of AEGEE-Europe on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain. Since its formation, it hosted prestigious events, like the Agora in 1991, which was a conference with 600 participants. This was repeated four years later, and for the third time in 2012, when AEGEE-Budapest organised one of the biggest Agoras since the foundation of AEGEE.

AEGEE-Budapest is one of the most popular students’ associations in the capital. It provides exchanges, thematic trainings, conferences, summer universities and countless different types of events for its members. Nowadays, we have around 200 members, 50 of them actively contributing to the work of the local. They come from different fields of study like economics, engineering, computer science, sociology and some of them are even already graduated students.

To highlight some events our local hosted, in 2014 AEGEE-Budapest organised a Network Meeting with 42 participants where the main topic was Spreading Europtimism. One year later, in 2015, we hosted the IFISO (Informal Forum for International Student Organisations), where students’ organisations from all over Europe were represented. In 2016, AEGEE-Budapest launched a new project called Get Involved! which aimed at discussing some of the current happenings in Europe. For now all the conferences organised within this project explored the topic of migration towards Europe, including the Hungarian perspective and the role of Turkey in Europe after the military coup and the governmental answer to it.

To activate its members, AEGEE-Budapest has now three working groups, namely: Human Resources (HR), Public Relations (PR) and Fundraising (FR). These WGs help a lot to improve the quality of the events we organise.

Why did you decide to apply for the Franck Biancheri Award?

Since Autumn Agora Budapest 2012, we had the dream to organise a prestigious and professional event where the content was aimed at addressing the current situation in Europe, cooperating with several AEGEE Bodies to highlight its values. We were thinking about applying last year, but we had some doubts whether we could apply for the award with an outstanding application or not. In fact, our motto would be a quote from Star Wars: “Do or do not, there is no try”.

When Europe on Track (EoT) and Civic Education Working Group (CEWG) approached us in 2016 with the basic idea of a conference which would be reflecting on the past, debating on the present, envisioning a different future, we understood that we could be able to win the award with this application.

Who is in the core team?

In the core team there are those members who already contributed to fill in the application. After the positive result from the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri, we involved more people with different backgrounds and experiences to achieve the highest possible level of cooperation among us. The core team members from AEGEE-Budaperst are: Petra Buruzs, Bernadett Mészáros, Ákos Glaub and Bálint Caesar. As for the cooperation with the AEGEE Bodies, we have Nicola Guida and María Ballesteros Melero from Europe on Track, Bálint Toronyai from Civic Education Working Group and Maria-Daniela Maris from More than Education.

Can you give us a sneak peek of what you are preparing?

A three-day conference will be held in Budapest at the end of April. During the conference we will discuss the role of Civic Education, analyse the real meaning of democracy and how we can face the raising of populism in Europe. All these topics are highly associated with the ideas of  Franck’s legacy and his work. This is also reflected by the title of the conference, which is ‘Education for the present, Democracy for the future’. The event will be also the opening of the fourth edition of the Europe on Track project, and their ambassadors will commence their journey from Budapest this time.

Furthermore, AEGEE-Budapest has an own middle-term, local project called Get Involved!. The project was launched in 2016, and aims at focusing on the current happenings and issues in Europe. We are organising more forums and discussions in the near future covering three main relevant topics. Among others, we will examine the relevance of a common currency (a.k.a. Euro), analise the threat of the populism in Europe and finally how did Hungary benefit on different levels from the EU membership.

What were you doing when the CD delivered the news and how did you feel about it?

After submitting the application, we were really excited. All of us were waiting for the final result with fingers crossed – we really felt pain keeping our fingers crossed for so long. We were checking and refreshing our e-mails quite often, until finally we received the highly anticipated e-mail from the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri announcing that we won the award. All of us were really happy and ‘celebrating’ it in the Facebook chat group with a lot of champagne stickers and smileys.

A few days later, we had a skype meetig with the core team, when we discussed the most important steps ahead of us. Some weeks later, we also had a skype meeting with the members of AAFB and Comité Directeur. They are really supporting us with everything!

Did you already collaborate with Civic Education Working Group and Europe on Track project?

Last year, Budapest was one of the stops of the third edition of Europe on Track. We organised an event where we screened a Hungarian movie and the ambassadors of EoT also held a workshop for the members of AEGEE-Budapest. One of our members, Bálint Toronyai, is also part of the Civic Education Working Group and this definitely proved to be a huge help during the application process. While preparing the application, we had weekly skype meetings, hangouts, rapid commenting at the shared documents, where we discussed our ideas and made it real together.

How can we reach Budapest? What has Budapest to offer?

Well, it is easy to reach Budapest. Our capital is located in the middle of Europe and it has several connections with other European cities. Liszt Ferenc International Airport is one of the biggest in the region with more than 10 million passengers per year, it has connections with almost 100 destinations and 120 flights per day. International trains connect Budapest with several German cities and with every neighbouring countries. Express trains operate every two hours from Wien, Munich, Bratislava, Prague, etc. International bus companies operate several cheap lines from different cities all over Europe. When the application period will be open, we will publish a document explaining how members can get to Budapest from all over Europe.

And why is it worth visiting Budapest? The capital of Hungary is divided into the hilly Buda on the western bank of the Danube, with its narrow streets and greener environment, and the more residential and flat Pest on the opposite side.

Budapest is famous for its historical sites, like the almost 800 years-old Buda Castle District, where you can visit Buda Castle, Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. An astonishing view from the hilly Buda is guaranteed! On the opposite side you can see the Hungarian parliament, which is the third biggest parliamentary building in the world, St. Stephen’s Basilica, which is the largest church in Budapest, and the Main Synagogue, the second largest synagogue in the world. At the end of the Andrássy Avenue, Heroes Square closes the Unesco World Heritage area.

Hungary, and also Budapest, is famous for its spas, like Széchenyi, Gellért or Turkish. Nowadays Budapest is also leading the nightlife in Europe. Several tourist, in fact, come to Budapest to discover the pubs, bars, clubs, festivals and concerts scattered all around the city.

If you want to stay updated about the event, visit the website.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Europe on Track is an official AEGEE-Europe project in which six ambassadors, divided in two teams, travel for a month across Europe with InterRail in order to get to know how young people see the present and the future of Europe.

A bit of history: the first edition of EoT took place in 2012 thanks to a partnership of AEGEE-Europe with InterRail. It was so successful that it won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize. In 2014, the second edition of EoT followed, with a focus on the European Parliamentary Elections that coincided with the trip. In the third edition, last spring, the topic was “Borderless Europe”, ending in Agora Bergamo, where the project became an official AEGEE-Europe project.

After Agora Bergamo, we went back on the rails to evaluate EoT3, and to prepare for EoT4. During our evaluation of the 3rd edition, we analysed the countless data that the ambassadors collected, which will be published in a results booklet soon. Due to our analysis, we can implement changes for our preparations of EoT4 in order to improve the project and to expand its growth. In summer, new members joined the project team and a knowledge transfer took place. With the new team, and in cooperation with the Civic Education Working Group, we decided on the topic of the next edition: Civic Education and the European Citizens’ Initiative “More than Education” (see and sign: www.morethaneducation.eu).

One thing we knew was that we wanted to start the next edition with a big opening conference. When the opportunity to apply for the Franck Biancheri Award was presented during Agora Chisinau, we did not hesitate to apply. For those who do not know, the Franck Biancheri Award is a yearly prize awarded by the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri to a thematic conference within AEGEE locals, in order to commemorate our founder’s ideas and to push forward the values of our association.

AEGEE-Budapest, apart from being a great and hard-working local, is really involved in Civic Education. For example, they are carrying out a project called “Get Involved!” in which they conduct several debates with students about different topics that are relevant for the current situation in Europe.

After many conversations, we organised a Skype meeting where both teams, Europe on Track and AEGEE-Budapest, were present. Everything went very smoothly; we were all on the same page and had similar ideas of what we wanted to get out of this cooperation. I think this has been one of the keys for winning the Franck Biancheri Award. On the other hand, we would also like to thank the Association des Amis de Franck Biancheri for believing in us and making our idea a reality.

As a result of this, you can already book your dates: the opening conference of EoT4 wil take place in Budapest from the 21st to the 23th of April, and the ambassadors will finish their trip at Agora Enschede on the 23rd of May.

The overall crisis has proven that there is a need of re-thinking democracy and how our systems work. We believe that the only way for a long-term change and democratisation of Europe is good civic education to which everyone can have access, to shape critic, active and responsible citizens.

Europe on Track 4 will explore what being a good citizen means all around Europe, what is being taught and what needs to be improved in order to achieve a better and inclusive democracy according to young people. The idea of this edition is to involve as many people and stakeholders as possible, collecting more different ideas and points of view, in order to have a better impact.

If you want to know more, check www.aegee.org/europeontrack and like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeOnTrack/ . If you want more information, contact us at europeontrack@aegee.org.

Stay tuned, open calls for hosting local and ambassadors and much more news about EoT4 coming soon!

Written by María Ballesteros Melero

Some of you have doubtlessly been following, and maybe even waiting for this for a long time, but finally we’re happy to say that we’re going to launch (again) this amazing project from AEGEE-Europe. Of course, we’re talking about Europe on Track which will debut with its 3rd edition starting in Brussels on the 20th of April, and finishing on the 20th of May at Agora Bergamo. Sounds amazing, right? Keep on reading to get to know more about this project’s edition and the project coordination team members!

In the first edition, the project had won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2013, because of its aim to capture youngs’ vision and wishes for Europe. Now, six lucky ambassadors divided in two teams will travel throughout Europe taking part in AEGEE events, interviewing youngsters, documenting the whole trip and delivering sessions about the main topic of this edition: Borderless Europe.

Besides this main topic, there is also room to discuss about several other subtopics. The project collaborates with the Civic Education Working Group preparing sessions and creating a common background knowledge from which we can discuss about the findings of the present and the future of a Borderless Europe. However, the main goal of the project is to raise understanding and create a constructing and vivid debate by fostering the exchange of ideas, opinions, to reflect on what is happening now and to forecast what we want for Europe in the future.

The project ambassadors will record all the opinions, ideas, proposals and findings that will be generated with the hosting locals and participants during this intense one-month trip. At the end of this railway adventure, all the results will be presented at the Spring Agora Bergamo and to the European Commission later in this year. Hopefully, lots of inspiration and thoughts will come up from young people all over Europe.

Empowering youth is essential for shaping its future, with the help of civic education in building a common and borderless Europe. And is there any better example of understanding Borderless Europe than travelling all around Europe by train and exchanging opinions with other Europeans?

While open calls for locals and ambassadors have been launched recently, for the last three weeks the project coordination team has been secretly working hard to make this possible.

Réka Salamon, Vice-President and Project Manager of AEGEE-Europe, is the project manager. But she won’t be alone with this. Those who are taking care of the PR of the project are: Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva), Architecture student and former PR of the Summer University Coordination Team; Héctor Larraz (AEGEE-Zaragoza), General Motors maintenance foreman and Audiovisual Communications student; Oğuz Tosun (AEGEE-Ankara), Environmental Engineering student and former PR- director of his antenna.

Managing the content we have: Sofia Lobakina (AEGEE-Voronezh), currently living in Napoli studying Social Sciences and Communications; Viktoriia Leonenko, former Secretary of AEGEE-Kyïv and External Relations/University teams leader of Agora Kyïv 2015; and María Ballesteros (AEGEE-Bruxelles), Translator and Interpreter and Political Science student, currently working in the Revision Commission of her antenna and living in Paris; 

The route will be planned by Tola Akindipe, not an AEGEE-member (yet), working as a compliance officer in Lisbon and running the Refugees Welcome there; Nicola Guida (AEGEE-Napoli), Architecture and Building Engineering student, involved very actively in AEGEE for several years, both in the local and European level; Alp Güvercin (AEGEE-Utrecht), Spatial Planning and Urban Design student.

As you can see, the PCT is consisting of a great variety of nationalities, backgrounds and working specialities. However, that doesn’t make it harder to work all together, but it’s being totally the opposite: we are working hard to make Europe on Track 3 awesome.

You can apply for Ambassador here or apply as a hosting local by sending your applications to europeontrack@aegee.org until March 23 (23:59 CET).

Written by María Ballesteros Melero, AEGEE AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles

In 2013 the Europe on Track project got launched, sending out young people to cross the European continent searching for answers to questions like: ‘Why should more young people become actors in the European Project?’ and ‘How can we get young people more engaged in the European agenda?’ The project turned out to be a huge success, even winning the Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2013, so a second edition was organized this year. The AEGEEan spoke to the travelers of this edition to find out more about their motivation, journey and memories they keep.

From April 9^th until May 10^th six young Europeans decided to take up the challenge, and cross Europe by train in two teams. Team Blue was formed by Yana Brovdij (AEGEE-Wien), Javier Castillo (AEGEE-Las Palmas) and Wessel Reijers (AEGEE-Enschede), while Team Red had Monica Nica (AEGEE-Aachen), Lucia Sobekova (AEGEE-Bratislava) and Gergõ Kalamár (AEGEE-Budapest) as team members. Both teams started their journey at NWM Leiden, but split ways immediately. Team Blue travelled eastwards, visiting cities like Berlin, Praha, Warsaw, Minsk, Kyiv and Budapest, while Team Red went to the south, visiting cities like Zaragoza, Patra, Léon, Naples, Zagreb, Sofia and Pécs.

The first question to ask, of course, is why these six people decided to join the project. Although the exact reasons vary, they all mention their love for travelling and involvement with Europe’s future. Gergõ actually thought he had tried everything in AEGEE, but then realized he had never participated in an AEGEE-Europe project. “I thought this project was the best opportunity to meet a lot of young people, travel around Europe and do something really useful for our future.” Yana shares a similar motivation, telling us: “This project was giving me an unique opportunity to combine the three passions of my life: European affairs, writing and travelling.” Monika adds to this: “I believe it’s crucial for Europe’s future to meaningfully include young people in the decision-making process, and it’s time for politicians to listen to what they have to say.” Wessel thinks there is also a role for AEGEEans here, saying: “Since we as AEGEEans proclaim to have a certain vision about Europe, it is important to stay focused on the ‘why’ of this vision.” Next to developing Europe, they also wanted to develop their personal skills. “I am a Media Communication student, so I wanted to put my video skills into practice”, Javier tells us.

Travelling for a month normally means that you are leaving your home, but for one of the travelers it was actually a chance to go back home. As Yana tells us: “I have been living abroad for eight years, so it has been great to be able to visit my country and see my family, especially during this hard times.” The other travelers however weren’t this lucky, so they missed things from home, varying from Spanish food (Javier) to family and friends (Gergõ) or the ability to sleep in the same bed for more than two nights in a row (Monica).

The journey wasn’t only a matter of missing things though, since the travelers all had a hard time picking their favorite moments of their travels. Wessel says it’s hard to pick one favorite moment, but he had the most memorable time in Minsk, Belarus. “The people in Minsk were simply amazing, we had a great time talking to them and making music together, and there is a great sense of hope for the future amongst young people in Belarus.” Javier had a similar positive experience with citizens of Prague they met in the tram on the way to their hostel. “We met some musicians from different nationalities and we decided to go to a really underground pub and talk for hours about our experiences while travelling.” Yana tells us there were a lot of unforgettable moments, but the visit to Ukraine stands out for her. “Due to the events of the last months in Ukraine, being able to visit Maidan and see the places where people gave their lives for the better future of their country was very emotional.” For Gergõ it was really hard to pick one favorite moment, because every moment was great. “I loved to run to catch a train, it was fantastic to travel, the places we visited were beautiful and the people we met were wonderful.”

The travelers agree that they didn’t come home only with great memories, but also a changed vision about Europe, AEGEE, places they visited or all of the three mentioned before. “I have really hanged my vision about certain places I visited; especially about Belarus and Ukraine”, Wessel tells us. “It was great to experience the actual spirit in those countries and the disposition of young people to really change the status quo.” Javier adds to this: “It gave me an overall view of what youngers think about Europe, and it made me feel lucky to live in a really big country that we call the European Union, where it’s so easy to travel and to meet people all around the continent.” To Monica it changed her view on Europe in a positive way. “Europe on Track gave me more confidence in Europe’s future, meeting so many dedicated, professional and positive people.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that all of the travelers would go on a journey like this again. Most of the travelers agree that the concept right now is close to perfect already. As Wessel tells us: “I would keep most of the project the same, because in general it’s really an awesome project!” Yana even wants to take a second round of Europe on Track to the next level. “Not only would I do it again, I wouldn’t mind doing something similar for the whole year, because the experiences you get are unforgettable and you learn and grow so much in the process.

Want to stay updated about the project? Follow Europe on Track on Facebook!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Europe on Track and The AEGEEan are very happy to announce that they will cooperate in publishing some exclusive “back-stage” articles about the personal experiences of the travellers. Through the channel of The AEGEEan, you will get to know a bit more about the funny and exciting adventures that we’re having along the track. So, make sure to check the Facebook and the website of The AEGEEan regularly in order to know more about our personal stories during the project.

First of all, we will explain you a bit more about what Europe on Track actually is, in case you’re new to the project. After a very successful edition last year (which even won the Charlemagne Youth price!), two new teams of three travellers are traveling through Europe again by train. During their travel, they will visit AEGEE antennas and, together with those antennas, organize events that will focus on different themes. This year’s themes are: Youth mobility and Europe; which are sub-divided into the topics of youth participation, youth employment, Europtimism and the European elections. By covering these topics, we are trying to create a good picture of the opinions and opportunities of young people in an European context. We will do so by communicating as much as possible about what we are doing, making videos, writing blogs, giving interviews and doing great street actions. The Red team (Lucia Sobeková, Monica Nica and Geri Kalamar) will especially get in contact with the locals in the south of Europe, travelling from Orléans to Napoli, to Patra. The Blue team (Yana Broudi, Javier Castillo and Wessel Reijers) will focus on the east; going from Aachen to Warsaw, to Kyiv.

Preparing in Brussels

Before going on track, we met each other and the coordination team of the project in Brussels, where we had a training weekend and a presentation at the Network Meeting in Leiden. After months of only contacting each other on Skype or Facebook, it was great to finally meet in real-life and to talk with the people we have to travel with for a whole month. From the first moment on, the team was really close. We shared a lot of ideas about the project, had many (often fanatic) discussions and enjoyed some good Belgian beers.

In the first days, we spend a lot of time in the CD house in Brussels, which was filled with AEGEE members from all kinds of different countries. Next to the CD, the participants of the Yvote convention were often in the house and as always there were AEGEE members visiting Brussels on their travels. Amongst them were also Nicola Guida from AEGEE-Napoli and Luc from AEGEE-Eindhoven, who even helped us with brainstorming about different ideas for street actions on the way. Next to that, they even took care of the Europe on Track flag (some classic AEGEE flag stealing) – which meant of course that a punishment would follow. The punishment took place during the European Night of the Yvote convention, where Réka Salamon and Rocío Leza had to dress up in animal costumes and tell them how awesome the antenna of Napoli and Eindhoven were.

Meeting the Network in Leiden

Our first trip took place on the 6^th of April, when we went to the Network Meeting in Leiden. At the Network Meeting, we met some people of the locals that we would visit during the travel; which showed that we are not the only AEGEE members traveling through the network. During the session, Réka Salamon presented the idea behind the new Europe on Track project and the routes of the two teams. We could also present ourselves, and the topics that we prepared for the sessions along the road. After the session, we got some very useful feedback from the group that we hope to be able to implement during the street actions in the different cities.

At the moment of writing, team Blue is already traveling through Germany and team Red is in Spain. Until now, the journey is great (though exhausting as well): we are meeting many awesome people, discovering new places and having very valuable discussions about the topics of the project. We are getting to know a bit more about the ideas that people have about the European elections, youth mobility and other topics. During the interviews, we’re often forced to leave the so-called AEGEE bubble of people that are generally positive about Europe and all are going to vote during the elections. By getting to hear stories from different people, we have realized that many of them are not interested in the European elections or Europe in general. This shows the relevance for the Europe on Track project, not only for involving people in the topics but also to learn that Europe is a continent that has as many opinions as it has people.

We will soon post another update about our personal experiences during the Europe on Track project. Keep an eye on The AEGEEan website and the Europe on Track and AEGEEan Facebook pages!

PS. Soon, the official Europe on Track song and video clip will be published! For more information about that, check out the FAME project and the Fratoj sen Limoj (“Brothers without Borders” in Esperanto) Facebook pages for lyrics, media files and ways to participate in the European music making!

Written by Wessel Reijers, Europe on Track

Last time The AEGEEan spoke about the Europe on Track (EoT) project was in October, when the open call for the project manager was issued. Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Aachen/AEGEE-Debrecen) was choosen for the second time to be the coordinator of the project, together with Rocío Leza (AEGEE-Brussel/Bruxelles) and Turgut Tosun (AEGEE-Ankara). Last year the project won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize, so the AEGEEan was interested to learn more about the second edition starting this April.

EoT progress meeting in Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar 2013

Europe on track was the most successful project of AEGEE-Europe in 2012. Six young ambassadors travelled around the European continent by train: from Belgium to Spain, Italy and the Balkans. The ambassadors were divided in two teams, each of them following their own route. There were three topics on which the ambassadors interviewed the young people they met: youth participation, sustainability and enterpreneurship.

Last October Réka Salamon was chosen for the second time to be the project manager. “EoT is probably one of the greatest achievement of my life. It is like my baby, I hope I don’t sound too emotional.” – she said. “I saw all the potential and the success it achieved, but I also saw all the flaws, so I will do my best to correct them in this edition with the rest of the Coordination Team.”

Topics of EoT 2014

This year the topics are going to be very different. “While choosing the main topics of this year’s edition, we wanted to take into account not only general youth issues, but also current events so one of the main topics is going to be ‘Mobility’.” – explains Réka. “We believe the newly ratified ‘Erasmus+’ program is going to have a great impact on youth for the upcoming years, so with the coordinators and Comité Directeur (CD) we decided this would be one of the topics. We also want to focus on the active involvement of young people in the decision-making processes on a higher level and help the Y-Vote project to spread the word about the European Parliamentary Elections. Thus we decided to choose this as the second main topic of the project.”

Next to these topics the ambassadors will also touch upon other topics on which AEGEE will be working according to the new Strategic Plan, like ‘youth mobility, youth employment, civic education and even EU neighborhood policy’.

EoT Route 2014

The draft routes of the travellers

These are not the only changes in the program. Of course the routes won’t be the same, even if a lot of locals who hosted the project last time applied again. The responses and the final route showed that the Network is interested in the project and wants to participate.

Germany, Italy and Greece were the three countries with most applications from locals. With three applications from Greece, the plan is to bring one of the team straight to Spring Agora Patra, and because Greece is starting its semester of Presidency of European Council, ending in Patra will be even more meaningful. This year the plan is to send a team of ambassadors to Riga and to Kyiv as well, due to the great interest from the locals and to the possible impact an EoTconference can have in these cities.

However, there were also surprises as well, Réka tells us: “We didn’t receive any application from France”.  The teams still need to cross it though, since there are stops planned in Spain.

The biggest Challenge

When asked about the biggest challenge of the previous EoT she replied: “The most pressing issue last edition was time. There wasn’t much time available to plan and implement the idea we had for the project. In this edition it is definitely an advantage that we had almost half a year to plan and arrange everything. Also the locals won’t have the pressure to organize someting on a very short notice.”

Apart from the timing, the last time, the project lacked external financial support to cover the costs of ambassadors for taking nighttrains and making reservations. This year the CD and the Coordination Team found a solution. “Last time we had the InterRail passes and we relied upon the network” (for food and accommodation ed.) Réka explains. “This time we have applied to the Open Society Foundation for grants. Now we can also financially support the locals and travellers for the costs of their accommodation.”

Selection of Ambassadors

A thing that raised some controversy last time was the fact that there was an opportunity for non-AEGEEans to participate in the project. Réka explains the reasons for this decision as follows: “in AEGEE we tend to live in our own ‘bubble’, seeing things from one certain perspective. These people can bring a fresh new insight and a different kind of approach to the project and the discussions.”

“But because after all, the ambassadors who, at the time, were not members of any  local eventually joined AEGEE, the Coordinators and CD decided to again open the applications for non-AEGEEans in this year’s edition.” (However the downside is that you know less about these participants and it has been proven difficult to check the skills and experience they put forward in their application, Ed.). You can meet the ambassadors of the project in the following link.

Réka Salamon is known to be involved in many projects and committees and she’s never hid her plans to run for the Comité Directeur during Spring Agora Patra. Being so involved in AEGEE and at the same time preparing her candidature could be difficult but Réka is sure she can manage. “I have learned how to manage my time effectively and even if April is going to be the most intense month for the project, I believe that if everything is going to be ready on time, I don’t see any obstacles in the way of my candidature for President of AEGEE-Europe.”

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

Do you know that 45% of our life one is dreaming? We dream about the future, about the perfect job and an amazing vacation. Most of us do. But the AEGEEan is lucky to introduce: Mathieu Soete  – ex-board member of AEGEE-Leuven, currently Speaker of European Working Group of Enschede,  who not only dreams about the sustainability and improvement of the environment but does a lot every day to achieve it. 

The AEGEEan: Fisrt of all, please introduce yourself to the AEGEEan readers!

Mathieu: Some may know me as the green guy in a suit, asking questions on an Agora stage, but I’m mostly working behind the thematic scenes of AEGEE, giving trainings on environmental topics or pushing AEGEE into a more sustainable direction. Or outside the association, representing AEGEE at environmental events in Brussels or elsewhere.

That’s what a lot of people say about you! Were you always so dedicated to sustainable and environmental work and was it the reason why sustainability also appeared during Europe on Track?

Actually it is AEGEE that got me on this track. My very first event – in fact, the very reason I joined AEGEE – was the case study trip to South Africa with Beyond Europe, our flagship project back in 2010. For two weeks we discussed with Europeans, Africans and Indians about the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), and their implementation in Southern Africa. Through some other events and trainings I went from international development to envinromental issues and sustainability, and even ended up in Rio de Janeiro last year, representing AEGEE in negotiations of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). I would like to think my work on sustainablility within AEGEE is what inspired the Comite Directeur (CD) to choose this as one of the topics for Europe on Track, but the truth is Luis Alvarado Martinez and of course Miguel Gallardo Albajar from the CD are very much concerned that topic as well.

Such a great example when AEGEE changes your attitude towards something important and you dedicate your time and efforts to succed in this field! I also know that you work for 350.org and even organized your first screening for them, right?

Well I don’t exactly work at 350.org, but I have promoted their activities in the past, also within AEGEE — probably some will remember the huge climate dot picture we took at Agora Enschede. 350.org is a grass-roots campaign on climate change that started in the US some 5 years ago. Their goal is to solve the climate crisis by organising people everywhere around the globe, using online tools to facilitate offline action. Next to taking part in some of these actions, I’m also doing some translation from time to time and as you said, we organised an online screening with Environmental Working Group (EnWG) of their Do the Math documentary, which deals with the numbers of climate change and the way people are taking action.

That is so impressive! And you work for Greenpeace Belgium at the moment, right?

That I do! I started working with them some weeks ago as Ambassador, going round cities and towns in the country, talking to people about the campaigns and actions of Greenpeace in Belgium and around the world, trying to convince them to join Greenpeace. Because Greenpeace is one of those truly independent organisations, accepting money from neither states nor companies, so we only rely on our members to continue our work.

There are some pictures where you support the Arctic30. What do you think of this terrible situation and how in your opinion it will be solved?

In the words of Russian president Vladimir Putin: “I’ve always admired people who devote their lives to environmental problems.” These 30 people — 28 Greenpeace crew and activists, and 2 freelancers — have done nothing but peacefully protest against what is likely to become a big environmental disaster: drilling for oil in the Arctic. Clearly these are not pirates as the Russian authorities are now trying to prove, which we will hopefully see in the coming weeks. Only time will tell how this will be solved, but with over 1 million supporters they are not alone in this. Also AEGEE has added its voice to the call for their immediate release, you can read more about this in the opinion I wrote two weeks ago.

We all hope for the best! And talking about you what is really amazing is that you are also a part in CIA Reform Team at the same time, can you tell about this experience as well?

The aim of this team was to restructure the CIA, after years of editing and adding to it. Don’t get me wrong, having a dynamic set of rules is a basic requirement of a democratic association. But if you let subsequent generations of members edit a document without control, you end up with something which can be hard to understand. That’s why we set out to bring back some internal coherence into the CIA, and to create a strict yet logical separation between the Statutes and the rest of the rules. The work is not done yet, but the Agora in Zaragoza will already see the first results… and perhaps some more people will be inspired to help out.

Now when the readers  have gotten a possibility to know you better, I can reveal that you were voted as a Member of a Month! What are you feelings about that and plans for the future in AEGEE?

It is great to see that, even though sustainability is quite a new topic within AEGEE, my work on it is being appreciated. Especially since much of it takes place behind the scenes or even outside of our own events. Until Agora Zaragoza I will still be AEGEE’s Policy Officer on Sustainability, after that I don’t know yet. I was recently elected as Speaker of AEGEE-Enschede’s European Working Group and there’s the new Strategic Plan where sustainability will hopefully figure more prominently, so I guess you’re not rid of me just yet!

We are happy to know that! What are your hobbies apart from AEGEE and work? Cycling as far as I know?

Well, working at the European level of AEGEE means quite a lot of sitting behind your computer. So when I have the time I try to be outside as much as possible, which is where most of my work with Greenpeace takes place as well. Next to this I took up rock climbing and mountaineering last year and Wieke recently introduced me to long-distance cycling. This summer we spent 4 weeks crossing the UK from the south of England to the north of Scotland, and I can tell you: cycling is the best way to appreciate a country. Slow enough to still enjoy the local life, but fast enough to cover big distances. And you learn that outside of Belgium and the Netherlands, “flat” does not exist!

Good ending! And the last question – what is your motto in life?

Reaching the summit is just one thing, it’s the coming back down that matters!

Thank you it was really nice to talk to you! Lot’s of luck and see you on ZarAgora!

Written by Annie Pykhtina (Smailikova), AEGEE-Kyїv

The award winning Europe on Track is back and ready for the second round. The Comité Directeur is working on finding the team for the second edition of the popular project and because of that The AEGEEan interviewed the president of AEGEE-Europe, Luis Alvarado Martinez about it. 

The AEGEEan: The second edition of Europe on Track (EoT) 2014 is focused on the European Parliamentary Elections of 2014. Can you tell us more about this?

Luis: 2014 will be the year of the European Parliamentary elections, so all the EU discussions will be related to them. It will for sure be the biggest event or activity related to Europe and therefore we thought it would be very important to connect Europe on track with it.

In the new edition, our travellers will be interviewing students again and young people around Europe, but this time they will be asking them to send messages of what they would like to change in Europe to the newly elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)

If you had a chance to be in front of the almost 800 MEPs who on a daily basis decide and approve legislation which affect each one of us, what would you tell them? This is the question that we want to ask young people around the continent.

Are there any improvements compared to the former edition of Europe on Track ?

One of the big changes for the second edition, is that we have already applied for funding from the Open Society Foundation. If this is accepted we will be able to ensure that our travellers have everything they need and they will have much better conditions than last time, but we will also be able to support AEGEE locals that organize events in their cities. Having the experience from the first edition will help us without a doubt. We will have a bigger coordination team from the very begining who will also be deciding much more about the content aspect, as well as all the logistics.

The fact that we also created a known brand with the first edition of Europe on Track will already give quite a lot more visibility from the start of the second one, as well as much more support and cooperation from other partners.

The period was changed from november/december to april/may. What are the reasons?

We have chosen these dates because they are close to the European Parliament elections in May 2014, but also because we though that maybe the travellers would enjoy some warm weather more.

Will the routes stay the same as the EoT 2012?

The routes still have not been decided. Once we have selected the coordination team we will decide the route with them, and then we will also have to take into consideration the opinion of the travellers. For this you will have to wait a bit, but we will inform the people with enough time so locals that are interested in hosting EoT events can know and plan in advance.

Is it difficult to find lodging for the Ambassadors and antennae that are intersted to cooperate?

This part of the project is of course always challenging, and this is why one person of the coordinating team will be just focused on this logistics aspects of finding places for travellers to stay and AEGEE locals willing to organize events. Of course if we get the funding from the grant, everything will be much easier.

But last time, the response from locals was amazing, as many of them really wanted to take active part in the project and host events in their cities! We hope that with this edition, participation will increase even more.

The Network cooperation with our project and our locals that was showed during the first edition, was clearly one of the success key actions that gave us the Charlemagne Youth Prize 2013.

If you want to be part of the Coordinating team  of the second edition of Europe on Track, please send the following information to president@aegee.org

-Name + Surname

– Antenna

– AEGEE Experience

– Non AEGEE related experience

– Time availability

Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino