“Lost between Europe and Africa, it belongs to nowhere. It belongs to nowhere, never having belonged to nowhere. To Spain and the Arabs and the Phoenicians more than anything. But as if he had never really had a destiny. No fate. Left out of time and history”

David Herbert Lawrence, Sea and Sardinia, 1921

I wanted to start with this quote because it is not easy to describe Cagliari, the capital city of an amazing jam in the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Sardinia. It is the result of many influences by different populations who ruled the island: Phoenician, Arabs, Romans, Pisans, Spanish and of course Savoy are just examples.  Cagliari is one of the most important harbours in the Mediterranean Sea and situated in South Sardinia, pretty close to Africa, especially to Tunisia. The weather in there is incredible. In fact, it is so sunny that locals call it CA(g)LI(ari)FORNIA. Here are ten things to do, eat and visit in this city.

Poetto Beach with a view on Sella del Diavolo

1) Poetto – You cannot say that you visited Cagliari properly if you did not go to the beautiful beach of Poetto. Poetto is so close to the city that you can actually reach it by a bus from one of the main squares of Cagliari, Matteotti’s Square. It stretches for about eight kilometres and it is said that it is the longest beach in a city after the one in Rio de Janeiro.  You can enjoy your time there looking at the beautiful blue sea and eating a sandwich with horse meat bought in one of the “paninari” or “caddozzoni” [that can be translated with very dirty people, ed.], as people from Cagliari call them, and of course drinking an Ichnusa, the traditional beer of Sardinia.

2) Sella del Diavolo – There is a small story hidden behind this beautiful hill near at Poetto’s beach, that is also one of the symbols of our city. The legend tells that Lucifer and his demons wanted to rule Cagliari’s Gulf, but in a battle Lucifer fell off his horse, lost his saddle that turned into stone and became the Sella del Diavolo, Devil’s Saddle in English. You should climb it because the view from there will be one of the greatest experiences of your life, plus you will see Poetto with its all beauties.

3) Viale Europa – It is a really long street and it is close to Monteurpinu Park (one of the biggest parks in the city). There you can enjoy the beautiful skyline of the city and if you turn around you can also see Poetto. It will take your breath away.

Flamingos, with Cagliari’s skyline in the back

4) Fenicotteri – How not to mention flamingos? People from Cagliari are very proud of them. To find them, you have to move just a little bit from the city and go to Molentargius Park, which is really close to Poetto’s beach. Rent a bike and enjoy your time there. I suggest you bring your camera so that you can keep memories of this beautiful experience forever.

5) Pizzetta Sfoglia – Finally, I introduce you just one of the many tasty dishes from the island. Pizzetta sfoglia is basically a small pizza made with puff pastry and filled with tomato sauce and sometimes capers. We usually eat it in the breakfast or as a snack in the evening. Like Ichnusa and flamingos, people from Cagliari are very proud and jealous of Pizzetta Sfoglia. Try it, it is delicious!

Carlo Felice’s statue in Piazza Yenne

6) Piazza Yenne – Piazza Yenne is the centre of Cagliari’s movida. Especially on Friday and Saturday, you will find lots and lots of inhabitants having their happy hours or just talking and sitting in a bar. I suggest you take an appetiser there, you will enjoy the view of Castello (one of the historic neighbourhoods of Cagliari), the harbour and, of course, our beloved Carlo Felice’s statue. Carlo Felice is the symbol of the city and when Cagliari FC was promoted to Serie A [the major football league in Italy, ed.], last year he was dressed in red and blue, the colours of our team.

7) Marina – Moving a little bit forward from Piazza Yenne, you will find the neighbourhood of Marina. Marina is really beautiful, there you can find amazing restaurants with typical Sardinian cuisine and small shops that sell souvenirs. They might not be cheap, but eating traditional food is an experience you cannot miss when you are in Sardinia, it will be totally worth it.

Cagliari’s Cathedral façade

8) Castello – Castello (or Castle in English) is the neighbourhood of Cagliari. In fact, in Sardinian language, Cagliari is called Casteddu which means Castle. In Castello, you will find the most important monuments of Cagliari: the cathedral, the Vice Regio Palace, museums, etc. I suggest you lose yourself in small and beautiful streets with full of the magic of this neighbourhood and of course, go to Bastione Santa Croce to enjoy the beautiful view on Cagliari.

Bastion St. Remy

9) Bastione St. Remy – It is one of the meeting points of young people in Cagliari. The view from there is totally worth it and breathtaking. You can go up by foot or with the elevator. You will see its main entrance from the shopping streets via Garibaldi and via Manno, it is situated at the exact crossroads between these two streets.

10) Lose yourself – Just like I have read in other articles of the Travel Guide series, I suggest you lose yourself in this beautiful city to see and taste everything it offers. Cagliari might not be a big city or famous like other beautiful cities in Italy, but it is unique.

Written by Paola Letizia Murru, AEGEE-Cagliari

If you want to tell 10 things to do, eat and visit in your city (even where there is no AEGEE), you can fill this form or contact us at aegeean@aegee.org. Let’s create a small travel guide for AEGEE people!

There is a reason if William Shakespeare set one of his most famous plays in Verona: Romeo and Juliet made this city the emblem of love. The city is located in the North East of Italy, in the region of Veneto, and it has been established that the first settlement can be dated back to the Neolithic era. Verona has been then developing during the Roman Era, Middle Ages and Renaissance till now, when it was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. We bet you know the Arena, but here is the list of 10 things to do, visit and eat in Verona, seen by inhabitants.

Juliet copper statue in her home

1-Visit Juliet’s house and write to her. In the city center there is what is believed to be the house of Juliet, from the Shakespeare’s tragic play “Romeo and Juliet”. In this house you can see the balcony where Romeo declared his love to the girl. There is a copper statue of her where unmarried couples can touch Juliet’s breast (a kind of good-luck ritual). If you feel some love pain, you can write to Juliet and the official club will answer you with love advice and support.

2- Watch Verona from Castel San Pietro. Castel San Pietro is a military building in Verona. The building stands on the San Pietro hill, on a plateau where, in Roman times, there was a temple linked to the Roman theatre. To reach the summit of the hill there are some stairs that start behind the old roman theatre. Climbing them will require some effort and it might leave you breathless,  but not as much as the view of Verona you can have from there.

A view of the Roman Theatre

3- Spend the happy hour in the Tennis Club. The Tennis Club is situated on the outskirts of the city, in the neighborhood of Torricelle. If playing tennis is not your cup of tea, you can just easily chill during the happy hour with a drink, hopefully a spritz, in your hand. During summer it is a fresh break from the city center’s heat.

4- Drink Mandorlino. Mandorlino is a liquor obtained by the infusion of bitter almonds. It is mostly sold in a tavern called Zampieri la Mandorla, very close to the city center. The tavern is really small and characteristic, with barrels serving as tables and huge corks in the place of chairs.

5-  Enjoy the Roman Theatre Summer Season. Every summer the ancient Roman Arena is transformed into an open air theatre for plays, dance shows and lyric concerts.

The monumental cemetery entrance

But there is also another open air theatre that is overlooked by many: the Roman theatre. Situated on top of the hills, it was built at the end of the 1st century BC and now it can host up to 1860 people. With this romantic Roman view, you can enjoy Shakespearean plays, dance shows and a lot more.

6- Visit the Monumental Cemetery. During Napoleon’s invasion, a law established that all the cemeteries should have been built outside the city. Also in Verona, likewise other North Italian cities, a new cemetery was needed since all the graves were placed right next to the churches. It was built in 1829 in neoclassical style. The majestic entrance seems intimidating, but inside, an unusual peace can be found. In this cemetery, you can find the graves of writer Emilio Salgari or painter Umberto Boccioni, among others.

Il Ponte di Pietra

7- Fall in love with bridges. The Adige river divides the city in two, therefore bridges have always played an essential role for Verona. Today there are seven of them and they all share the common fate of having been destroyed by the Nazis and then rebuilt in later years. The oldest of all is the Ponte di Pietra (the Stone Bridge). Built in the Roman era, it still connects the Roman Theatre to the city center. After World War II, stones and bricks, projected into the river bed by the explosion, were recovered and used to rebuild it, as much faithful as possible to the original one.

8- Admire le Arche Scaligere. The Scaliger Tombs, located in the historic center of Verona, next to the church of Santa Maria Antica, near the Piazza dei Signori, are a monumental funerary complex built in the Gothic style by the Scala family, intended to contain the graves of some distinguished representatives of the family, including the one of the great Lord of Verona, Cangrande, to whom Dante Alighieri dedicated the Heaven part of his Divine Commedy.

Lake Garda  seen from a boulevard in Peschiera del Garda

9- Sunbathe in Lake Garda. Not far from the city center there is the biggest lake in Italy- Lake Garda. It is just enough to take a train to Peschiera del Garda and in less than 15 minutes you can enjoy the beauty of this lake surrounded by mountains.

10- Take a walk. And then, when the sun goes down there is nothing more beautiful than taking a long relaxing walk in the sidewalks along river Adige. The colours of the sunset reflecting in its waters will make Verona even more worthy to fall in love with.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona with inputs from Angie Zandonà, AEGEE-Verona

If you want to tell 10 things to do, eat and visit in your city (even where there is no AEGEE), you can fill this form or contact us at aegeean@aegee.org. Let’s create a small travel guide for AEGEE people!
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You might have noticed people from this local during Agoras, because they always prepare something choreographic for their roll calls. We are speaking about AEGEE-Napoli, an antenna located on the South of Italy. The local is 24 years old and in its history counts several events, including an Autumn Agora in 2006 and a NWM in 2012. We had a lovely chat with their President Flavia Mariano and HR responsible Tullio Pacelli.  

The AEGEEan: Present your local.

Flavia: Since 1993, AEGEE-Napoli has been a very dynamic local. Right now we have almost 70 members, and most of them are very active, thus allowing us to organise international events every year and lots of activities at the local level. Our weekly meeting is more than just a members’ reunion, as we are first a (big) group of friends. We meet to share a beer, have a chat and plan the future events and travelling, and every week more people are joining our family.

You recently had your NYE event. How did it go?

Flavia: Incredibly well, we were really surprised by the great chemistry that arose between the participants from the very first night. We had a great group of participants, they were always ready to explore more and party more, even if they had slept only three hours the night before. But the success of the event is also due to the great job done by the main organiser, William Mazza. Things were planned not to go wrong!

Your city, Napoli, is often associated with pizza, mozzarella, the folklore, but also with organised crime. How do you live the latter as member of AEGEE?

Tullio: First of all, Napoli is not only pizza and mozzarella! For example, did you know that Napoli has one of the biggest historical centres in Europe? That boasts an unique quantity of museum? Napoli is one of the few cities in the world that has gone through five historical phases (Greek, Roman, Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque) and has the oldest and most beautiful lyric theatre in the world.

About the criminality, yes, it is true that there is a high criminality level, as in lots of other European cities. What is untrue is the portrait that the media give of the city, they intensify the phenomenon, and despite what they say it is possible to lead a normal life and accomplish important projects in Napoli. Most Neapolitans are involved in the “fight” against the problems, but as I said before the media don’t seem interested in showing it. There are lots of associations, just like us, that not only promote the culture and beauty of our city, but also fight the crime. Some associations have literally saved abandoned public spaces from neglection and have turned them into important social centres for entire neighbourhoods. We too have had the occasion to use some of these spaces during our events.

As AEGEE-Napoli we try to do our part in the fight against stereotypes. For us, it is important not just to show the city, but to make people fall in love with it, and we are very proud to say that this happens very often. We share little pieces of our life with our participants trying to show them how we live, trying to make them feel Neapolitans for one day (or one week) and many of them want to come back, explore more and spend more time time with us.

Is it hard to present your local despite possible prejudices? In which way do you think you break stereotypes?

Flavia: I do not find it hard, being every year on top of the list for number of applications received for the SU means something. AEGEE members (at least most of them) are very open-minded, they know that most of the times prejudices are untrue and everyone recognises that our hard work is stronger than possible prejudice.

For sure we break at least one stereotype, the first rule in the organisation of our events is “Be always on time”. This is the thing that surprises our participants the most, they think that because they are in Napoli they can sleep five minutes more in the morning… oh, how wrong they are!

Also, we try to make the best out of stereotypes, therefore we have a partnership with the Consorzio Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.

Tullio: Fortunately, in AEGEE we have almost never had this problem, also because most of the AEGEE members I have known do not mind stereotypes and they know that the city is not as someone paints it. The great number of applications that we receive for our events are the proof. But, of course, sometimes I speak with some people that are “afraid’’ to come here because of what they read about Napoli on the Internet. When this happens we invite the “afraid’’ people to come to Napoli, and we could make a list of people who came, changed their opinion  and now are willing to come back again and again.

Have you ever organised/will you organise any event focusing on a youth perspective towards the fight for legality?

Flavia: No, and we are not planning any of it in the next future. We want to focus on the positive side of our city.
Tullio: We do not do a “direct” fight for legality, but with all of our actions, projects and events we are indirectly fighting for it. For now, we do not plan to organise a legality themed event, we feel that there are other associations  in Napoli doing this better than what we could do. For example, a few months ago AEGEE-Napoli collaborated with “Sii turista della tua città’’ [Eng, Be the turist in your city, ed.], an association involved with the cultural promotion of Napoli, and together we cleaned the beautiful staircase of Petraio, dating back to the XVII century.

What do you think makes AEGEE-Napoli special?

We are firstly a group of friends that enjoy working together and we are blessed to live in the most beautiful city in the word.

What are the future plans of your local?

Keep doing what we are doing! We will organise a SU with the same team as last year plus some great addition, and we are really eager to live together again for two amazing weeks. We organised the first and only Pub Crawl in Napoli in 2015 and for 2017 we decided to make it a monthly appointment. Other associations are starting to copy us, and we are almost proud of it. We have a packed activity plan for this year, and we do not want to reveal everything now. We invite AEGEE members to join us in Napoli to know more about our plans and discover our city.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Exactly one month ago, I was enjoying the last days of my first amazing Summer University here in Brescia. Even if I’m just writing about this, it still feels strange… I joined AEGEE-Brescia only shortly before; in May after a pre-Agora event. It felt great to host foreign people from various countries in my hometown; I liked overcoming the initial shyness and having fun during the parties that we had.

Even with these premises, I wasn’t prepared for what was coming! We started planning the SU in every detail (activities, compulsory sessions, booklets and more), and, after a couple of months we were ready to again host twenty-five BEAUTIFUL people for two weeks, that would be rich of events and fun. Here’s my personal review of the best moments in our “Be Green Go Extreme, Just Survive Vol II” Summer University. Enjoy!

In fourteen days, we definitely had many activities, but some of them really impressed me. As the theme was linked to extreme open air activities, we pushed the adventurous spirit of our participants and, luckily, they didn’t disappoint us! In the beautiful location of Lake Iseo, we went kayaking and paddle boarding for a whole day… it was amazing! You might be thinking about a boring group just floating around but, hey, we’re talking about AEGEE people, right? Everyone had fun with some small competitions, games and demonstrations. The best, anyway, was paddle boarding. If you have ever tried that sort of board, you know how unstable it is. Somehow this gave us a nice idea: GLADIATORS FIGHT!!! Someone came out as a winner and others were left without regrets! We may have looked like mad people, but who cares?!

Another activity I really enjoyed, was climbing. We brought the participants to Riva, at the northern tip of Lake Garda, for two days, in order to enjoy some hiking, climbing and, of course, sunbathing. The beautiful mountains surrounding the lake hide amazing vertical rock walls where you can climb safely, which attracted climbers from everywhere… and we couldn’t help but join them! Even though someone had already tried it indoor before, it was a tough challenge! However, everyone enjoyed the activity and reached the top. We also had some super funny moments when a participant got stuck in the only bush growing on that wall (still wondering how…) and another one did a kind of somersault while climbing down. The most surprising thing? Seeing people from the Netherlands, who had never been to the mountains before, climbing up like professional climbers. Go Extreme!

But how can we not mention the most famous event: the European Night! We all know how important it is to show that we respect other countries by tasting what they’ve brought, sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s something to drink. From now on, we all know how it goes…. By the way, it was an amazing night, our participants cooked many incredible dishes and told us amazing stories about them. The most remarkable thing was not the European Night per se, but what was going to come the following day!

We decided to use the beautiful mountain location where we were, to go for a six-hour-hike (20 km). After realising that maybe (maybe!) it wasn’t a good idea to propose it after the European Night in August in Italy, we offered an easier option for those who didn’t feel like it: a shorter trail in the shady woods. As we felt like their “worried parents”, we tried to do our best to discourage them from choosing the first option and, well, the next day, all the participants amazed us once more: they all got up at 8 a.m. and chose the longest path! But this is not all, they were all very excited and this time it was the Estonian moment: Estonian girls ran (we say: ran!) to the top of the mountain, arriving there well before many organisers and helpers. If you’re wondering: in Estonia, there are no mountains…

It happened again the following day when we went for a via ferrata. What is a via ferrata? Being secured with a rope to an iron cable that goes along otherwise inaccessible mountain trails, walking on rungs of metal secured over a stream or holding on to iron chains through canyons… This is what a via ferrata is, and you know what? All our participants chose the difficult way… No doubt they would make it!

We could go on like this for long, telling you how cool our participants were and how much fun it was to spend time all together hiking, playing some games or, simply, chilling out somewhere. We couldn’t wish for a better group; we couldn’t wish for a better Summer University!

Manuel Volpi, AEGEE-Brescia (Special thanks to Giulia Guerini, AEGEE-Brescia)

“The Dark Side of the Boot” has been a great adventure, it has been a bet, a dream come true, but above all, it has been a lesson for all of us. The topic of our Summer University (SU) was self-development and the refugees’ crisis happening right now all over Europe. We wanted our participants to go back to their countries with something more, with something new. We wanted them to experience the SU in a funny way, but at the same time, we wanted them to learn something more about our country, and not only the good aspects of it, that everybody knows, but also the darker side of it.

Our 30 participants had the chance to meet many refugees, who are currently living in our city of Udine. All these people, as they told us, ran away from the war in Syria, but some other came from Afghanistan and Pakistan. We listened to their incredible stories, to how they had to leave their families, including their children, back in their home countries to seek a better future for all of them. In their country this was simply no longer possible. We had the chance to understand the reasons that pushed them to leave their realities, and start a long and risky journey. We also saw how Italy is trying to integrate them into society, helping them with the language, the culture and customs, thanks to some volunteers that are offering their free time to help them.

Participants also had the possibility to do some volunteering during the SU at Caritas, an Italian association that hosts and helps everyday-people, not only refugees or immigrants, but also the homeless or poor people, giving them a hot meal and shelter. The participants had the chance to give some of their free time for a good cause, seeing how sometimes, if you give a little love, you can get so much more in return. It has been a great experience for everyone. Sometimes you don’t realise the value of what you have, the importance of love and of all the little things that you own, and that are normal to you.

We also created a sort of refugees’ path simulation. We wanted the participants to understand how a refugee’s journey looks like, and so we thought about a story where everyone was involved with a different character. Each of them got the name of a person who really existed, and who really did do the journey to Europe. We were telling the story, and they had to follow it to see what was going to happen to their character, and what was their destiny. It was very helpful for them, because they really experienced it from a first-person-perspective: the fatigue and the hard conditions that refugees have to deal and live with during their journey to Europe.

It was a great SU, a bit different maybe from the other ones, but it will always be with us, what we saw, what we experienced far beyond our expectations, and what we thought. We understood a lot of things during the event, but the lesson that I am going to remember forever, the lesson that I learned from my participants, that is also the key for everything in life, is that no matter what, people need people, and people will always need people. No matter where you come from, no matter which language you speak, no matter the colour of your skin, people need people. I know, for someone this lesson is just a cliché, heard a million times, but sometimes even though we pretend to know it, we don’t really understand the deep meaning of it, or we don’t really listen carefully to it. So keep in mind: people need people.

Written by Stefano dal Farra, AEGEE-Udine

On the 1st of July 2014 a new Trio came on stage for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, starting with Italy (till the 31^st of December) and will continue with Latvia and Luxembourg. While the Presidency itself carries on the tasks of preparing, coordinating and chairing the work of the Council, while also acting as honest broker to promote legislative decision and policy initiatives and to negotiate with members states, each Trio agrees on a programme that will be further developed by each state during its own mandate.

The current Trio, taking the lead right after the European Parliament elections, promised a more concrete approach in focusing citizens expectations to overcome the economic crisis and ensure a positive job trend, with a strong support to Youth Guarantee schemes and the Youth Employment Initiative; other focus areas will be sustainable growth, cleaner energy and climate policies, Digital Single Market, migration and border control, neighbouring policies and much more.⁽¹⁾

In this context, Italy presented a full programme ⁽²⁾ underlining the priorities for this semester:

– Employment and Economic Growth, with a particular focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (or SMEs) and sustainable development, to be linked to Expo Milano 2015;

– Protection of fundamental rights, with a special look to migration and asylum policies;

– A more integrated foreign policy, focusing mostly on the Mediterranean and the Europe Neighbourhood policies including enlargement, and with an eye on the strategic partnership with Asian economies.

The focus on SMEs is a clear and evergreen Italian standard: to get some figures, SMEs represent 99,9% of Italian companies, with the highest EU rate in terms of micro-entities (94% vs the 92% EU average), contributing to more than half of the total employment rate and one third to added value; SMEs provide occupation for around 80% in Italy, way more compared to the 68% average in Europe.⁽³⁾

Less evident is the link to EXPO Milan 2015, whose theme is Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, even more after the recent scandal regarding a huge flood of bribes estimated on around 1 million Euros.

As well, the topic of fundamental rights is a very well known issue for Italy, considering the huge flow of illegal migrants coming from the southern bank of the Mediterranean sea, and the continuous and unattended requests for help and cohesion in adopting a shared solution to ensure the basic respect for human rights and a more coherent patrol of the EU borders.

Last but not least, the focus on Mediterranean is evident thanks to the strategic position Italy has; after the Arab spring spread over north Africa in the past years and the failure of Barcelona II and the Union for the Mediterranean, it is time to put a cooperative approach back on the table to make sure that both banks of the sea get closer and to enhance a mutual beneficial trade cooperation. Of course, Ukraine and Syria will not be forgotten, being the hottest issues on the foreign EU political agenda at the moment.

Italy drew a challenging programme, for which a budget of 68 million Euros has been foreseen (Latvia’s budget for its Presidency term after this year foresees 100 million Euros budget), and will have a hard way to go to lead both the Council of the European Union and solve the home affairs issues arising. Italy is currently under the third non-elected government, with a maxi coalition formed by the main centre-right party (Partito Democratico, or PD) supported by a new-born centre-right party (Nuovo Centro Destra, or NCD) from a scission from Forza Italia, meaning a constant mediation in terms of policies so far didn’t bring the expected results (Matteo Renzi, the current Prime Minister, promised his first results after one month in office), nor the light after the tunnel is visible.

Moreover, the Presidency started with the English speech of Renzi at “Digital Venice” (high level meeting hosted in Venice, to support a sustainable digital economy and promoted by the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union), where the Prime Minister showed a poor language knowledge; the only clear part of his speech has been the closing part: “as in Italy we value food, now it’s time for lunch”.

Hopefully the path will be smoother for the Italian government, which just recently saw the failure in getting Federica Mogherini (current Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs) nominated as high commissioner for EU foreign policy. Baltic States and Poland rejected her candidature because of her lack of experience and her inadequate response to Russia regarding the Ukrainian crisis, while she rejected the accusations as “manipulation” against Italy; in the end, the next European Commission  is still far from being formed, a further summit meeting has been called at the end of August.

The first delay of the mandate, not exactly the best to give a real boost compared to the need for “concrete measures” (as foreseen in Italian programme) but rather a well-known commonplace.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Pripyat, province of Naples. This, the one of a ghost town, seems to be the message you are supposed to get from the hype going on in Italy lately. As usual, in Italy it’s always hard to distinguish between reality and conspiracy theories. This article has no arrogance of being able to solve the eternal dilemma, but it’s just the point of view of an expat Neapolitan still in love with his City.

What I can assure beyond every reasonable doubt is that the surroundings of my city have been filled with any possible poison for at least the last 30 years. In the countryside around Naples, you can easily find industrial solvents and ashes, scrap paints, asbestos and nuclear muds happily mixed with worn tyres and rubbish of every sort. Not bad for a city that has a poor industrialization level in a country that banned nuclear power plants in 1987. This can only mean that the biggest part of the wastes are coming from other cities and European countries. Some companies have just chosen the cheap way. Instead of paying for expensive disposal services for their industrial wastes, they have paid organized crime to truck it and “lose” them somewhere in the South.

Lago d’Averno

Every single hole in the ground, every drain, every lake, every plot of land and sea has a story to tell. I can recall seeing mountains which look made out of albestos on the side of highways, waking up in the morning with my head exploding and being unable to breathe because someone has been burning god-knows-what all night long. Burning everything is the ultimate solution when the illegal landfill is too full to accept other wastes. A couple of days ago I read that also Lago d’Averno, one of the most enchanting places I’ve ever seen, just hundred meters from my old house, has been found full of toxic wastes, paying its crime of being deep enough to accept barrels.

Ancient Romans used to call this area “Campania Felix”, Happy Campania, because of an incredibly fertile land and a sea full of fishes. Campania Felix is currently providing leukemia and various kinds of tumors, let alone allergies and headaches. The local food industry is obviously at stake. People will no longer eat pizza or mozzarella without asking themselves some questions. There are no official numbers, but the incidence rate of tumors is up to three times the national average. What I can tell you is that everyone of us has a young relative or a baby fighting for life in his/her family. Everyone of us lives with a bomb inside their bodies ready to explode, because the ultimate disposal place is our bodies. No one of us knows of much time we have left with the people we love.

There are not even official studies about such a disaster. The only one is a research conducted by NATO in 2009 to evaluate the conditions of life of its soldiers living in the province of Naples. Even if it has no statistical value, since it examines air, water and soil only were soldiers live, the general recommendations include not using tap water for cooking or washing teeth and avoiding living in some areas. NATO soldiers are not considered at risk only because they spend less than 6 years in the area. Italian Ministry of Health has never created a dedicated research on tumors incidence in Campania, even if it is clear to see something is wrong there.

On November 16th the streets of Naples were invaded by 100,000 peaceful but angry protesters (only 30,000 officially) asking for the truth about their land, showing pictures of deceased relatives, blaming their politicians for what happened and asking for a recovery of their land. The hype started after mass media published the declarations of the “pentito” Carmine Schiavone, who declared all you can read in this article in 1997. His allegations have been kept secret until a few days ago, as usual in Italy.

I cannot tell you if a recovery will ever be possible. What I am asking myself is where Neapolitans have been for the last 30 years, including the guy that is writing this article. Our politicians are democratically elected to represent us. To represent a population that chose to look to the other side too many times, that chose to stay silent in front of a disaster happening after their very eyes and that exploited organized crime when it came to receiving personal benefits. We are all to blame. Sadly enough, Nola, one of the most polluted municipalities close to Naples, gave birth to Giordano Bruno. He chose to be burnt at the stake by the Inquisition not to disavow his revolutionary ideas, including the one that Earth was revolving around the Sun.

I would like to close this article with a lighter and more AEGEEan note. Naples is still a marvelous place to visit and every single AEGEEan should visit it. Nothing will happen to you if you only spend a couple of weeks there, except meeting great people and having one of the best times of your life.  A united Italy and a united Europe have meant to Neapolitans only the freedom to receive Northern Italian and European wastes. AEGEE can play its little role in demonstrating that there is something else out there.

Written by Claudio Armandi, AEGEE-Napoli

For further reading:

– Article by The Independent
– Article on Wikipedia
– Biutiful Cauntry, a documentary on the waste-mafia
– The dossier by NATO: 1, 2 & 3

Recently Beata Matuzska (Human Resources responsible of the Comité Directeur) announced that AEGEE will soon have a contact in the Italian city of love: Verona. The AEGEEan interviewed Larisa Smajlagic in order to learn more about this city and the plans for AEGEE there.

Maria from Verona

What is special about the city of Verona besides being a city of love?

Verona represents the perfect union between past and present. On the one hand it’s a city of history, art and music, so it’s the ideal place for an individual’s personal and cultural growth. On the other hand, in recent years Verona turned into a dynamic and young city,  mainly thanks to a growing university campus.

Why did you decide to bring AEGEE back to Verona?

The idea of taking part in relaunching a student organisation like AEGEE represents the perfect opportunity to promote our beautiful city to students from all over Europe. Our main goal with this project is to make our University even more ‘international’.

 How many people are involved in AEGEE in Verona now?

Right now there are five people really interested and involved in the AEGEE Verona project.

The antenna was in the Network of AEGEE before, are there people still involved who were also involved back in 2010? 

No, the team is brand new.

Sometimes new antennae get help from other antennae in form of mentorship agreement made together with the Network Commission. Have you thought about this option?

Yes we have. Actually, we had a first general training in July. Our mentors were Michele Minuti from AEGEE-Brescia, Francesca Russo from AEGEE-Padova and Alberto De Nardi from AEGEE-Udine.

The new team

What are the plans for the rest of 2013 for AEGEE in Verona?

Right now we are looking for dynamic, open-minded and hard working people to include in our board, then we’re going to follow all the necessary steps to turn into a contact-antenna.

We also would like to take part in the Network Meeting in Foggia and, if possible, in the Fall Agora in Zaragoza as well: These two meetings are a great opportunity to understand the whole AEGEE world better.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Koebenhavn

This is the slogan of a big group of Italian young people all over Europe who decided to protest against the negation of the vote abroad. They can’t vote on the Italian General Election 2013 (which is taking place on the 24th and the 25th of February 2013) because they are abroad, taking part in mobility programmes such as Leonardo or Erasmus, or they are overseas for working experience or to study. People in these circumstances are not listed in the General Register of the Italians living abroad (AIRE); this status which would have permitted them to vote is gained only after living abroad for a period longer than one year.

Italian youth met each other through social networks one month ago, and created a page on Facebook to coordinate a very singular protest. They are divided in 25 European groups (Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Toulouse, Valladolid, Tenerife, Heidelberg, Cork, London, Lisbon, Potsdam, Vigo/Pontevedra/Ourense, Seville, Edinburgh, Berlin, Amsterdam, Marseille, Lyon, Valencia, Barcelona, Hannover/Gottingen, Dublin, Warsaw, Tours, York, Granada) and one South American group also (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

On the 23rd of February they are going to place a polling station in each town of their group to simulate their election in order “to give a moral slap” to their institutions. “They prevent us from voting…but we will do it anyway!”. This is their message.

They want to show that they are a many people and that maybe their vote would change the result of the election.

This creative reaction is proof that young people really want to be active and have their say.

For now they are trying to reach other Italian people, spreading flyers to share on social network, in the streets, in places and events where they can meet their young compatriots.

They are also sharing a simultaneous campaign for voting online, that is taking place the 24th and the 25th of February. It has not legal value (neither has the voting casted at the simulations), but it is useful to estimate how their vote would have count and to show their real will to make their voice heard.

With this article, we would also like to reach more Italian young people scattered all over Europe to let them know about the initiative and to give them the opportunity to take action, to join the groups in their city, or even create their own group.

The person who is writing is firstly involved. My name is Monica Riccio, I am 24 years old. I am from Napoli and I am doing an internship in AEGEE Europe, the European Student’s Forum. I am very active in my town, engaged in many projects for active citizenship and cooperation.

When I decided to join this initiative I was searching for Italian youths who were as astonished as me hearing the news that we couldn’t have the right to vote abroad. In that moment I started to contact Italian youths in Brussels, using social network, to organize a mobilization. Then, surfing the net, I found a page (https://www.facebook.com/italianiesclusidalvoto) which was created for the same purpose. Now it is a page that we use to inform and coordinate the initiative.

At the moment I’m leading the Belgian group with other three Italian girls (Eleonora, Marta and Claudia) and with the support of AEGEE-Europe. But we need to be more and more to raise our voice. So, if you have some friends doing Erasmus, Leonardo or experiences like these in Brussels or all over Europe, please spread the word and contact us so they can also participate in our initiative.

For Brussels add on FB: Elezioni Italiane a Bruxelles  http://goo.gl/SWnC2

For other European groups: http://www.facebook.com/events/453149821405565/?ref=ts&fref=ts

For the online vote: https://iovoto.evoting.it/registrazione/

AEGEE-Napoli seems unstoppable this year! After a New Year event and the Spring Network Meeting in May, they prepared another event, “2 Eat, 2 Play, 2 Love”,  the second edition of last year’s successful summer event. Like last year, participants had the chance to visit Naples and its surroundings, like Caserta, Salerno (where they joined the ongoing Summer University and created an amazing group) , the Amalfi coast and the nearby islands. Anyway many things changed since last year. For example, accommodation. Instead of a classic gym, participants and organizers had the chance to stay in a deconsecrated church in the heart of Naples’ historical center.  The church still shows its crucifix and the sepulchers of some Neapolitan citizens.

If one of AEGEE’s aims is bridging Europe, sometimes it also works in bridging countries within themselves.  One of the many examples is Northern and Southern Italy. Annibale Cianci from AEGEE-Treviso was one of the participants in the last New Year event in Naples and he decided to come back for the summer.

Annibale, how long have you been an AEGEE member?

It has been almost one and a half year. I  found out about it after I quit university. I hoped to make up for it.

Why did you decide to go back to Naples just a few months after your last event there?

It was a lucky coincidence. I was not chosen for any Summer University and I was not able to find any suitable open call. All of a sudden, while I was in Rome with my family I read about the event in Naples. I had such a nice time in Naples last time so I did not want to lose to opportunity to go there again! As Latins used to say: “Carpe diem” (“Seize the day”). The people there are so wonderful – it takes just a few minutes to become their friend. They are very productive as well; I contacted them at midnight and in half an hour my trip to Naples was perfectly planned!

How does it feel to sleep in a deconsecrated church?

Some participants were afraid of the sepulchers. I had no problem about it. Now I feel ready to sleep in Dracula’s castle! I was a scout and I also know being in AEGEE will lead you to sleeping in strangest places in the world.

What was your opinion before visiting Naples for the first time?
I have already been there some years ago on my own so I had no prejudice about the city at all. I discovered new things, but I had only positive experiences, all my expectations were confirmed. My family used to live there, so luckily I am not that kind of northern guy with strange ideas about the South.

Now that you have seen Naples – both in winter firing up to welcome a new year, and in summer under a blistering sun – is there any chance you would like to go there again?
Definitely. It is not all about visiting places and museums, I will go there to meet those people again, I promise! On the other hand, I would also like to visit some new European countries with AEGEE.

Written by Claudio Armandi, AEGEE-Napoli