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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

November 2015, the world was shocked by the attacks in Paris. Among others, the Spanish local AEGEE-León decided to take action and organised a session on the future of Europe and islamophobia, related to the Focus Area of Spreading Europtimism. Seeing that their current President, Marcos Mato Gonzales, is also a member of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT), it will come as no surprise that many of their events are related to our Action Agenda. We spoke to Laura Perez Alvarez to find out more!

ACT: Congratulations! ​As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?

Laura: León is a small city, so for us having more than 100 members is a big deal! We organised Renove V (a weekend event for locals of our Network Commissioner with more than 140 participants) in September and right after that we changed our board. We have been trying to focus on organising relevant events. Since our president joined ACT in August he has been helping us to organise better activities that are more related to the Action Agenda. He was the one that came up with the idea for a series of sessions open to AEGEE members and other students about many different hot topics.

​Why did you decide to organise the session on the future of Europe and islamophobia?

There were many reasons. First of all, it was the time right after the terrorist attacks in Paris, because of which we saw that islamophobia was increasing. We have friends who are refugees and they were scared. We decided that we, as AEGEE members, should do something, so we talked to the islamic community here in León and the university. The idea for the sessions, including a speech and debate, just came up.

What was the result of your session?

The session was really interesting and attracted a lot of people: members of AEGEE-León, Erasmus and international students, other students and even two representatives from the muslim community. In total, more than 50 people attended the sessions. There were a lot of different opinions in the audience, which led to a great debate. We had some hungarian people as well and they gave us their point of view about the situation and explained some concepts we didn’t really know about. There was also a more intensive debate about the war in Syria and whether to support it or not. Some people thought that it is the only option and for some others war is never an option.

​Why do you think the Action Agenda is important for the Network, and what would you say to locals that are thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?

To locals that want to organise something, we would say: do it! We think AEGEE has a lot to offer and locals have a lot of potential, which is why the Action Agenda is so important for us. The Network needs to have a direction, and to have events that help us grow as an organisation.

Do you have any other big plans for the upcoming months​?

Right now we plan on continuing with more sessions at the university about important topics, like feminism and youth employment, with a speaker from the City Hall. Besides that, we are planning to have a workshop about ACT and the Action Agenda. Besides that, a lot of our members (more than ten) went to the EPM in Leiden, so now we want to host another session explaining the results of the event to the rest of our members.

AEGEE-Leon has certainly shown to the Network that it can be an example to other locals. What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you?

Work hard, play hard. We have very active members that work really hard to improve our antenna, while they also have fun! We have also implemented a mentorship program” to help our newest members know AEGEE better. So, as advice for other locals we would say: it’s important to motivate your members, especially those who seem interested, and help them develop their full potential.

​Which sentence would describe your local and your event?

We, as young europeans, must be informed about the problems in today’s Europe. To spread europtimism, you have to know what Europe means!

Written by Action Agenda Coordination Committee

Many things have changed about AEGEE during its thirty year existence. However, instead of looking back at its rich history, this article will take a look at five things concerning AEGEE, and by extension Europe, from 2015 that you might not already know.

Improbable spelling. Everyone who is participating in the Agora in Kiev in October may have noticed that the local organising it is called AEGEE-Kyïv. This seemingly weird spelling has everything to do with the spelling rules for AEGEE locals. The rule, in a nutshell, is that all AEGEE locals must use the local or national name for the city, in which they’re located, hence not the English name for the city. Then this name has to be converted to the Latin alphabet, if it’s not already. This is why AEGEE-Киïв is written as Kyïv, instead of Kiev. Other examples are AEGEE-Москва as Moskva, instead of Moskow, and  AEGEE-Αθήνα as Athina, instead of Athens. AEGEE-Minsk, however, is still AEGEE-Minsk, because the transcription of the local name happens to be the same as the English one.

Not all countries are represented. Members from various locals have or are going to visit at least one of the two Agorae during this anniversary year, while some countries are not represented by members of their locals at all. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Montenegro are, for instance, not represented, but to be fair, all of these countries have only contacts or contact-antennae. The two countries with AEGEE-antennae that have not been represented at either Agora are Albania and Lithuania.***

No locals in Scandinavia. AEGEE-Helsinki, of course, is still an active and vibrant antenna in the network. But Helsinki, or Finland for that matter, is not part of Scandinavia, but of the larger geographical region of Fennoscandia. According to the 2015 version of AEGEE’s map of the network, the last AEGEE local in Scandinavia, AEGEE-København, no longer exists, thus AEGEE’s presence in Scandinavian is missing.

King of democracies. One of the central themes, and slogan of the autumn Agora in Kyïv is ‘rebuilding democracy’. However, of all the countries in Europe that are considered to be “flawless democracies”, according to the 2014 democracy index, half are technically monarchies. These are Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, the United Kingdom and Spain. The three countries in Europe that by the same index are considered to be authoritarian regimes are Belarus, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

This land is mine. Considering the theme of ‘rebuilding democracy’, the most infamous land dispute in Europe of 2015 is arguably the question of which country has the rightful claim to the Crimean Peninsula, located in the northern waters of the Black Sea. This, as should be noted, is not the only disputed land area in Europe at the moment. Most notable are the self-declared independent regions of Transnistria in the east of Moldova, and the Nagorno-Karabakh in the west of Azerbaijan, and some disputed border areas between Croatia and Serbia. Some may know one of these unclaimed areas as the location of the self-proclaimed independent and libertarian territory of Liberland.

Many other interesting events concerning AEGEE, and by extension all of Europe, have of course happened in 2015. Feel free to comment about those you think that should have been mentioned below.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

*** Data were retrieved using the participants list of both Agorae, that can be found here.

With the recent announcement about the abdication of Spanish king Juan Carlos I in favor of his son Crown Prince Felipe, the reoccurring debate about monarchies in Europe was stirred up again. The main question for all countries with a royal family is: Monarchy or Republic? In other words: to royal or not to royal? 

Currently, there are twelve sovereign monarchies in Europe, namely: the Principality of Andorra, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Principality of Monaco, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of the Vatican City. Most of these monarchies are constitutional monarchies, meaning that the monarch does not influence the politics of the state, with the exception of Liechtenstein where the prince still has a large influence on politics and Vatican City.

For ten of the monarchies, the head of state (monarch) inherits his or her office and usually keeps it for life or until they abdicate. Two of them have an elected head of the state, namely Vatican City (the Pope) and Andorra (joint heads of state formed by the elected President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, appointed by the Pope). Although there currently is no major campaign going on to abolish the monarchy, most of the states do have a significant minority of republicans (a good example being the political organization Republic in the United Kingdom) lobbying for a state without royal family.

One of the most important arguments against monarchies is the fact that they can add up quite a bit in the costs. Republic stated before that the average annual cost of the British monarchy is around 202,4 million pound and isn’t set an annual budget like other public bodies are. However, most of the queens, kings, princes and princesses are also doing work for their living, like Queen Elizabeth II of Britain who still maintains a busy schedule of state ceremonies despite being in her late eighties already. Next to this, 43% of citizens in UK doesn’t think the 36,1 million pound a year the royal family receives is a good value for their money (against 40% who didn’t think so and 17% who didn’t know).

Royal heads of state represent a nation’s history and continuity, while rising above politics in a way the Republican heads of state can’t achieve. Although monarchies tend to come with a lot of scandals, politicians still tend to rank below royals in popularity polls. In fact, 53% of citizens in the UK think that their country would be worse off if they didn’t have a Royal family, whereas only 14% thinks it would be better off. 66% considers their country to be better off as a Monarchy, while 17% would rather be Republic.

Although there are many con arguments to be named, it seems that the monarchy is still considered a valuable tradition more than anything else. A good example of this is the Netherlands, where the royal family rose in popularity after the abdication of (now Princess) Beatrix in favor of her son Willem-Alexander. In 2013, the year of the abdication, 85% voted in favor of their country staying a monarchy and 80% even said they trusted in the lead of Willem-Alexander as a King. However, the majority of the citizens also voted in favor of giving less power to the Royal family.

Having a monarchy turns out to have both benefits and drawbacks, but which of these weighs heavier is dependent on personal opinions in the end.

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

 During the last Agora in Zaragoza, ‘Nationalism‘ was elected as the topic for the upcoming EBM in Lublin. Different thematic sessions workshops have been prepared to give a deeper insight to EBM participants about it, such as the workshop ‘Branding nationalism the American way’ that Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Aachen/AEGEE-Debrecen and Speaker of the Public Relations Committee) will give.

The AEGEEan: How exactly do you brand nationalism the American way?

Réka Salamon: The name of the workshop aims to refer to the spectacular American fashion of wearing their national identity on their foreheads (sometimes literally!). We are often mislead by a biased media presentation or misguided by our own stereotypes against the Americans but the massive amount of their national symbols and their reapparance in every possible surface, penetrating every possible aspect of their daily lives from food commercials to cinematography, from political speeches to civic education… the concept is simply astonishing. But is the USA really the greatest nation on Earth – how the Americans are often trying to present it – or it is only based upon a series of exaggerations and blind patriotic images?

AEGEEan: Why is it important for Europeans to learn from this American way of branding?

Réka: Not only AEGEEans, but also young Europeans in general tend to be caught up in the ‘continental mindset’, meaning, we possibly have a great knowledge of the European culture and it’s 1000-year-old traditions and tendencies up until nowadays, during the time of the EU integration and crises. One aspect of bringing the American viewpoint into all this is to discover what is behind the nowadays commonly used annotation of ‘United States of Europe’ and how Europeans can learn from the American model mainly by means of establishing a unified pro-European vision for all the citizens. The other aspect the workshop is to provide the Europe-bubbled mindset with a fresh global perspective by drawing a comparison between the European and the American model.

The AEGEEan: What can AEGEE members learn from your workshop?

Réka: AEGEE members will be introduced to the background concept of American patriotism from a brief historical perspective up until nowadays. The participants will be invited to take an active part in sharing their own impressions and stereotypical thoughts about the American culture, which ideas will be challenged and eventually “lessons” will be learnt. What is the impact of the iconic American patriotism in the everyday lives of American citizens? Is it a wildly manipulative articifial imposition or a heartfelt attachment for their motherland? From reenacting famous speeches to debunking the idea behind Captain America, learning and entertainment is granted!

The AEGEEan: What makes you the perfect person to give this workshop?

Réka: I have already given various types of presentations and was presenter at progress meetings during our statutory events. I completed my Masters in English and American Studies at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. I was also working in the US for a few months and had the opportunity to meet the living-breathing images from my textbooks. Yes, they are normal human beings (smiles), with a very unique mindset when it comes to their attachment to their country and this is something i have always found admirable and intriguing at the same time. Learning about the American culture in its past and current developments is one of the personal interests of mine.

The AEGEEan: What do you epect of participants joining the workshop?

Réka: I expect the participants to bring a lot of enthusiasm and dare to share even the craziest ideas they might have! I am also curious to meet fellow American Studies students, but in any case, the only thing is to be active! I would like to fulfil the participants’ expectations and meet the learning objectives of the workshop and have a mutually satisfying and fun time together!

Interested in this workshop? The exact infomation about time and place of the workshop will be announced during the EBM, but will also be available online in the EBM Lublin 2014 – Official Group

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

It is my pleasure to introduce the new Local of the Month: AEGEE-Tübingen!

This month we like to honour an antenna really deserving this nomination because of their great effort in organising a series of lectures about conflicts in Europe, tackling  human rights, medical treatment of migrants, education, and cultural diversity. In cooperation with other student associations they discussed how they can motivate people to become active in politics and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

A series called “Crises, conflicts and live together in one world” took place in the autumn semester 2011/2012 and distinguished speakers from business, politics, and science took part in debates. For instance one of the topics debated was “Borders of the EU – Borders of Human Rights? Integrationprocesses and conflict management on the example of Cyprus”.

Here you can find the complete interview with Jan-Philipp Holthoff, former President of AEGEE-Tübingen:

How many members does AEGEE-Tübingen have and when was it founded?

We were about 15 members, but only about ten are active. AEGEE-Tübingen was founded at the Spring Agora Bucuresti 2003 where we signed the Convention d’Adhesion and became a Contact Antenna. We organised our first Summer University together with Stuttgart, Mannheim and Konstanz in July 2003.

Can you describe AEGEE-Tübingen in three words?

Active, friendship, interdisciplinary.

Why did you come up with the idea to organise an event about international conflicts? What did you want to achieve?

In Tübingen there are many small, but active student groups. We met and thought about our common aims. It turned out we all fight for peace and stability in different ways. Every semester there are lectures which are open for all students as well as any other person in Tübingen and supported by the university. These lectures are called “Studium Generale” in Germany. We wanted to organise lectures by students to inform more people about our student groups, about what we do and to inform about the topics we are working on.

Do you consider it a success?

We had about eight different lectures and one panel discussion. Every lecture was attend by 50 -150 people. The different student groups in Tübingen sat together and learned from each other. They now know what the other associations are focusing on. So yes, I think we can call it a success.

Would you like to do a similar discussion round again?

We will not organise it next semester, because the university wants to give other student groups the same chance. However, maybe another year…

Did anything change for AEGEE-Tübingen after the Studium Generale lectures? Did more people become aware of AEGEE in Tübingen and the work you do?

I got some e-mails with questions about the lectures, AEGEE in general and about the lecturers, but unfortunately we didn’t attrack any new members through the lectures. However, after such lectures people go home with new information. You never know what they gain from it, which lesson they have learnt and what information they will spread to others.

What was the last AEGEE event you organised?

Our last international event was the Network meeting “Tü be or not Tü be” from 8th to 10th April 2011.

We also organised a trip to Strasbourg, arranged a Swedish evening for our local members and friends, had a trip to the Christmas market in Esslingen and did lots of other things.

What should the network know about AEGEE-Tübingen?

Tübingens’ strengths are its very different members – members from many different faculties (physics, biology, medicine, economics, IT, politics, linguistic, cultural studies etc.). We are small, but active. For a small and rather new local such as ourselves, a more centralised structure within AEGEE would be helpful. We reinvent websites, programmes, advertisements, and people constantly work on organising themselves. The time spent on this can be spent on working on the Fields of Action. In our local it is difficult to find people who commit for a long time, for example for the position of president. Ever since the Bologna system has been introduced in Germany, it is easy to find people for projects, but it gets harder to find people for a long-term commitment.

Thank you very much for this interview, Jan-Philipp!

After the interview, AEGEE-Tübingen sadly confirmed that they asked to be deleted at the Agora Enschede 2012, because they cannot find any active people who like to become board members.

Therefore, thank you AEGEE-Tübingen for this wonderful nine years in our Network! We will not forget you!

Written by Stephanie Müller, AEGEE-Heidelberg

Attention: If you think you know an antenna, which deserves to be honoured as “Local of the Month”, send an email with the locals’ name and the reason for nominating to aegeean@aegee.org.