Green – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. AEGEE's Online Magazine Tue, 25 Apr 2017 23:21:51 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.7 ../../../wp-content/uploads/cropped-The-AEGEEan_logo-FBprofile-32x32.png Green – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. 32 32 SUstainable living! ../../../2017/04/26/sustainable-living/ Wed, 26 Apr 2017 06:00:55 +0000 ../../../?p=39873 Joining a Summer University is not all about the places you visit and the activities you do. It is also important to get to know the organisers of your SU. They put a lot of effort into organising an SU and you will spend a lot of time with them during your SU. In this video, organisers from Tilburg try… Read more →

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Joining a Summer University is not all about the places you visit and the activities you do. It is also important to get to know the organisers of your SU. They put a lot of effort into organising an SU and you will spend a lot of time with them during your SU.

In this video, organisers from Tilburg try to introduce themselves. They use examples of making sustainable decisions in your life. Green SUs try to promote sustainability in various ways which can be really easy for you to implement in your life.

Showering

Do you realise the length and impact of your showering sessions? Standard showerheads use 15 to 25 litres of water per minute which results in 120 litres of used water for an eight-minute shower. By teaching people about their everyday habits like showering, they can realise their daily impacts on sustainability. People are mostly willing to be sustainable but do not realise the things they can do to act upon it.

Transport

01During a green SU of Tilburg and Leuven, bicycles will be the main means of transportation. In the Netherlands, people use bikes a lot since they get used to riding a bike as children. They also have special bike lanes so people can ride a bike safely, which encourage the use of a bike. In some other parts of Europe, bike lanes are not that common or do not exist. This makes it harder for people choosing to ride a bike. In regions where riding a bike is harder, you can encourage people to use public transportation. Dutch municipalities are increasing their demands on public transportation services to increase their sustainability efforts. Trains of NS in the Netherlands, for example, are running 100% on green energy that derives from sources like windmills. This way you can travel on a very sustainable way. Another option for transportation is hitchhiking. Since you are sharing a ride with other people, you reduce the impact on the environment instead of, for example, taking a car by yourself. Hitchhiking can be a lot of fun and it is a way of meeting lots of new people.

Personal sustainability

02Now you are thinking that you do not want to shower for a short time or take a train or bus or even hitchhike. Did you know that meat consumption is one of the biggest influences of climate change? Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction. By just eating one hamburger less you can save water equivalent to two months of showering.

At the end of a green SU, you will experience all kinds of sustainability initiatives and learn what you can do for the environment. So take over some of the things you learned at your green SU and start making the decisions in your daily life to be more sustainable.

 

Written by Gökhan Sancak, AEGEE-Tilburg

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Discover AEGEE-Amsterdam’s caring side during their event! ../../../2015/02/03/discover-aegee-amsterdams-caring-side-during-their-event/ Tue, 03 Feb 2015 12:15:58 +0000 ../../../?p=28531 Amsterdam is often seen as the city of perdition, the land of drugs and prostitutes. But Amsterdam is definitely not only that, so between the 16th and the 20th of February, AEGEE-Amsterdam will show thirty AEGEE-members another side of their city, devoided of prejudice with a green and caring side. We got a sneak peak as we spoke with Maxime… Read more →

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Amsterdam is often seen as the city of perdition, the land of drugs and prostitutes. But Amsterdam is definitely not only that, so between the 16th and the 20th of February, AEGEE-Amsterdam will show thirty AEGEE-members another side of their city, devoided of prejudice with a green and caring side. We got a sneak peak as we spoke with Maxime Nelissen, AEGEE-Amsterdam’s Vice-President and External Affairs Officer.

The AEGEEan: Your event “Yes we care!” is on the way. What is the main concept?

Maxime: The main concept revolves around sustainability. We want to show the participants that we should care more about our living ways. We can help the environment by separating waste, keeping track of our food etc. Each individual can make big differences for our society with little actions and we want our participants to realize that.

What should participants expect?

Participants can expect a couple of workshops to show them how to help the environment and the ones in need (a recycling workshop, a little visit to a shelter, eating in a restaurant that works with food which would be thrown away if not bought). Of course, we will also do typical Dutch stuff and have loads of fun, for example going ice-skating, visiting the social drinks of AEGEE-Amsterdam and going out in the amazing never-sleeping side of Amsterdam.

The title is “Yes we care!” can you explain the reasons behind it?

The title is “Yes we care!” in reference to “Yes we can!” [President of U.S. Barack Obama’s motto during his first presidential campaign, ed.], to show that we are able to make a difference with little actions. The caring side of Amsterdam that we want to show is thus named in the title.

In your FB event you asked some questions: What can you do for society and how? What issues are important nowadays? According to AEGEE-Amsterdam, what are the answers?

According to AEGEE-Amsterdam you can help society by thinking a little bit more about your actions. You can avoid food-waste, there will be a documentary night about this when we will be watching the documentary “Cowspiracy”, help the ones in need around you by donating clothes you might never wear again and even avoid polluting the environment by recycling. It is all about the little actions. This is what we really want to come through to our participants, so that these actions will be followed to their hometowns.

According to you, Amsterdam is known to be the city of prostitutes and drugs. Tell us three things that will make people change their minds.

Amsterdam has many ‘green’ companies which really care about the environment and keep inventing new concepts to make Amsterdam a better place (such as the restaurant where we will be eating, they have won a prize for their innovating concept), the caring people (of course there are drugproblems but there are also shelters for the homeless amongst them to help them) and the openmindedness of the people of Amsterdam! We are very open towards everybody, everybody is accepted the way they are. We will be showing this by going out in a gaybar one night.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

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Making it happen: sustainability at European colleges & universities ../../../2014/01/03/making-it-happen-sustainability-at-european-colleges-universities/ Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:09:13 +0000 ../../../?p=21213 A conversation with rootAbility about the Green Office model and their work. Hey Felix Spira and Arian Meyer, together with two friends you established rootAbility. You were also behind the creation of the first Green Office, at Maastricht University. For those who have never heard of it, can you introduce rootAbility and the concept of a Green Office? Felix: The Green… Read more →

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A conversation with rootAbility about the Green Office model and their work.

Hey Felix Spira and Arian Meyer, together with two friends you established rootAbility. You were also behind the creation of the first Green Office, at Maastricht University. For those who have never heard of it, can you introduce rootAbility and the concept of a Green Office?

Felix: The Green Office is a student-driven and staff-supported unit that implements sustainability projects and policies at a university or college. As students, we have founded the first Green Office at Maastricht University in September 2010 (www.greenofficemaastricht.nl).

Arian: After all the successes and international acclaim we achieved in Maastricht, we established rootAbility as a social business to work together with students, staff and faculty from universities around Europe to help them set up similar sustainability units (www.rootAbility.com).

 

How did the idea of rootAbility come àbout?

Arian: When we graduated from Maastricht University in the summer of 2012, we decided to take our experiences and ambitions to the next level. After a lot of brainstorming we agreed to establish an organisation that would inspire, motivate and assist students, faculty and staff in taking the sustainability efforts of their university or college to the next level.

 

What was the most difficult moment in the life of the organisation so far? How did you overcome it?

Felix: In the first year, the most difficult thing has definitely been the constant ups and downs we experienced, which also relates to the fact that we were quite naive about how easy it would be to establish a Green Office.

Arian: What is important for us now is to share our vision, inspire and motivate people to act and set up a Green Office, while at the same time being quite realistic about how long it takes and how much work it is.

 

rootAbility aims at implementing student-led and staff-supported Green Offices at universities around Europe. What would you say is so special about them, and why do we need them?

Felix: What is special about a Green Office is that it empowers students to become drivers of a university’s sustainability transition, while at the same time closely involving staff and faculty. This way, the Green Office model allows for a more integrated and collaborative approach to sustainability, drawing on the strengths of existing initiatives from students, staff and faculty, while expanding existing capacities through the widespread mobilization of students.

 

What cities are you already active in, and what cities do you think could be joining the network next?

Arian: Sustainability units inspired by the Green Office already exist in five cities: Maastricht, Wageningen, and Utrecht in the Netherlands, as well as Exeter and Greenwich in the United Kingdom.

Felix: We are now also in contact with students, sustainability staff and academics from universities in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. So hopefully many more Green Offices will follow soon!

 

What possible cooperation do you see between rootAbility and AEGEE?

Arian: As Europe’s largest interdisciplinary youth organisation, AEGEE has a huge potential to sensitize young people for the opportunities that the sustainability transition offers and how they can positively contribute to it.

Felix: There are ample opportunities for collaboration between AEGEE and rootAbility, starting with joint workshops, summer schools, campaigns, or policy proposals related to sustainability in higher education, sustainability student engagement, as well as social and ecological entrepreneurship.

 

What are the top 3 tips you would give people interested in setting up a Green Office at their university?

Arian: First, go out, connect, and get inspired. We would like to encourage you to have a look at the existing Green Office models, as well as the sustainability projects that result out of them.

Felix: Second, do not settle for a second best solution. Do not get discouraged by the size of the task or the amount of obstacles your will be facing while interacting with the institution.

Arian: Third, start your own local movement, by creating an action group including students, staff and academics. But do not worry, we will work with you through all the different stages of the process.

 

Any other remarks you would like to make?

Felix: We would like to thank everybody that has so far supported our work and the Green Office Movement, especially profund – the incubator of the FU Berlin -, Maastricht University and our close allies in the student, staff and faculty community.

Arian: For all those that are interested in the Green Office model and our work, please connect with us and let’s get started in transforming the higher education arena in Europe.To learn more about the Green Office model, please watch the four minute video we made: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cOI8S-e5CI&feature=youtu.be

 

Written by Mathieu Soete, member of AEGEE-Leuven & AEGEE-Enschede

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NetCom Times: Getting serious about sustainability ../../../2013/03/11/netcom-times-getting-serious-about-sustainability/ Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:50:06 +0000 ../../../?p=16363 Sustainable development… Green growth… Sustainability… The air is packed with sustainable buzzwords and it is hard to open a newspaper these days without finding an article on some sustainability topic. Regardless of the many empty uses ofthe word, it cannot be denied that sustainability is thé challenge of our generation, as was confirmed by over 40% of respondents in the… Read more →

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Sustainable development… Green growth… Sustainability… The air is packed with sustainable buzzwords and it is hard to open a newspaper these days without finding an article on some sustainability topic. Regardless of the many empty uses ofthe word, it cannot be denied that sustainability is thé challenge of our generation, as was confirmed by over 40% of respondents in the recent AEGEE Survey on sustainability.

Photo by Mathieu Soete

Realising this importance, AEGEE chose Sustainability as one of its policy fields for the term 2012/2013. Within this complex field, focus is put on the subtopics of Education for sustainability and Sustainable entrepreneurship, while also paying attention to making AEGEE more sustainable in its day-to-day activities and projects.

Education for sustainability

An endless sequence of campaigns has had some success in raising people’s awareness about the major global and local sustainability issues. People around the world are familiar with the 2°C rise in global temperature related to climate change, and many know that a lot of our food is being wasted on the way from farm to fork. Any system of Education for sustainability (ESD) with a chance of success, however, should be developed through participation of all stakeholders, including students. This subtopic therefore aims at finding out the perceptions and demands of AEGEEans towards ESD, and its place in their education.Sustainable entrepreneurship

“Sustainable entrepreneurship” generates just over 100 million hits when googled, but what is it exactly? If used without any significant changes to the company policy, it becomes “greenwashing”, not only fooling customers in their search for more sustainable products, but also spreading doubt about the credibility of genuinely sustainable companies.

Map of survey responses

Put simply, a sustainable entrepreneur is an entrepreneur with the explicit objective of improving a social or environmental situation. 42% of respondents agreed that, eventually, all companies will have to become sustainable, so we better get started today. It takes more than just a good idea to build a company though,  and with only 12% reporting any experience with entrepreneurship, there is still much to learn.

This is where both subtopics intersect, providing skills and knowledge training to future entrepreneurs, and surrounding fresh start-ups with the right environment for growth and development. This subtopic looks into existing best practices on education and support of young entrepreneurs around Europe, and discusses possible ways of improvement.

My aim as Policy Officer is to bring the opinion of AEGEE to the policy-makers, while sharing opportunities for learning and action. But for this I need your input of course. So contact me at mathieu.soete@aegee.org to share your ideas and questions, or join the mailing list Sustainability-L to start discussing!

Written by: Mathieu Soete, Policy Officer on Sustainability, for the NetCom Times.

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The Green SU Award recognises the work of 2 TSU’s ../../../2011/11/29/the-green-su-award-recognises-the-work-of-2-tsus/ Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:41:12 +0000 ../../../?p=2445 Winter is approaching… As antennae are preparing their NY events and start having their board meetings with hot chocolate and mulled wine, the EnWG wants to officially say goodbye to the last warm rays of sunshine by announcing the winning project for the Green SU award. Or should we say projects? Because in this case, it was a tie as… Read more →

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Winter is approaching…
As antennae are preparing their NY events and start having their board meetings with hot chocolate and mulled wine, the EnWG wants to officially say goodbye to the last warm rays of sunshine by announcing the winning project for the Green SU award. Or should we say projects? Because in this case, it was a tie as we simply could not choose which one was better.

So, the winning Summer Universities are… [drums and suspense]…

TSU Hide n Seek in Transylvania (by AEGEE-Cluj Napoca and AEGEE-Sibiu)

&
TSU Far, Far Away Kingdom III (by AEGEE – Las Palmas and AEGEE – Tenerife)

TSU Hide 'n' Seek in Transylvania

They both achieved an amazing blend of green activities with their cultural exchange program. I am sure the participants of both TSU’s had the opportunity to discover many interesting places off the beaten track, where nature still thrills and you can get in direct contact with it. They also travelled sustainably when possible and had enriching workshops, cool activities like a photo contest, and even prepared badges from recycled materials. They took the challenge to be creative in their activities and workshops and they achieved a great success, having two Travel Summer Universities where I would have loved to take part as a participant or as a helper.  :)

We are also glad to mention that it was harder than ever to choose, and the reason is that again there were many other antennae which did a great job! In every corner of Europe all sorts of activities were organised, like visiting solar powered house prototypes, competing in recycling contests after the European Night, and organising excursions to volcanoes, lakes, forests, beaches and rivers. We are also aware of the huge effort all these antennae made and the EnWG wants to thank them for their collaboration in our daily task of spreading the best practices of organising sustainable events. It feels great when you can see from the pictures that the participants and organisers enjoyed these activities all the time. This is one of the aims of EnWG: showing that environmental topics are not boring but interesting for everyone, as they affect all of us and we all have something to improve.

TSU Far Far Away Kingdom III

Soon there will be a new opportunity to join the Green SUs for 2012, when submitting the Summer University description in Jan 5th. Let us present you just a small set of statistics to convince you to become part of our GREEN SU family!

A) Within the AEGEE network, 20 Green SU’s took place in 2011 (26%)

B) According to participant evaluation, the Best SU of 2011 was a Green SU! Congratulations to AEGEE-León. Two years ago the classical Green SU of AEGEE-Oviedo was also recognised as the best SU.

C) Moreover, 3 Green SU’s are rated among the 5 Best SU’s of 2011. 9 Green SU’s ranked among 20 best Su’s of 2011.

D) And one last remark: Most Green SU organisers are willing to organize a Green SU again in 2012 :)

Why not give it a try?

For any questions on how to make your SU a Green SU, address the EnWG board at enwg.board@gmail.com

Written by Miguel Gallardo, EnWG SU responsible

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