One might say that Summer days for AEGEEans are filled only with Summer Universities, vacations and some deserved rest. But, every year, there is a group of people who is working hard to collect all the most relevant happenings of the AEGEE Network in order to create the annual publication of the Key to Europe. With an obvious reference to our logo, the Key-to-Europe-people are not afraid of the heat, the sun or an incredible amount of mails, checking endlessly for spellings errors, for layouts and for pictures. We asked some questions to the two people who coordinated the 2015-2016 edition: former Secretary General Svenja van der Tol and former Communication Director Anna Gumbau – with a contribution by Angelos Pappas (AEGEE-Athina) as the creative director. 

Anna and Svenja

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce your project. 

Anna: The Key to Europe is the annual publication of AEGEE-Europe (not to be confused with The Song). Every year, during summertime, there is a group of AEGEEans who collect information about all the the events of the past year, write articles, check them, and ensure that all the great things that our organisation has done and witnessed are reflected on. The final result, the Key to Europe itself, can be used by AEGEE antennae for their external relations, fundraising or recruitment purposes, or just to have a nice piece of history on their shelves to look at every now and then.

Who is in the team?

Svenja: This will probably be considered the ultimate cheesy answer, but we got really lucky with a team full of amazing people. There were first of all our Editors who helped us decide on what we wanted to write about in this Key to Europe; Anna Inazemtsava (AEGEE-Grodno), Daria Lovkova (AEGEE-Moskva) and Tatiana Rodina (AEGEE-Moskva).

The articles they edited with a lot of care would not have been there without our journalists: Erik Redli (AEGEE-Bratislava), Firdevs Çazem (AEGEE-Hatay), Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Verona), Matteo Lai (AEGEE-Cagliari) and Laura Pérez Álvarez (AEGEE-León), and they would not have been picture-perfect without our proofreaders: Erik Redli (AEGEE-Brasislava) (again), Maria Zwartkruis (AEGEE-Utrecht), Sabina Guja (AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca), Mireille Voorendt (AEGEE-Utrecht) and Federica Soro (AEGEE-Cagliari).

Last but not least, to make the whole publication not just a nice read but a nice view too, we had our Research and Statistics Manager and multitasking proofreader Maria, Photo Database Manager Elena Agulló Cantos (AEGEE-Alicante) and, of course, our Creative Director Angelos Pappas (AEGEE-Athina), who made the whole design of the Key to Europe. And of course there were Anna and myself as the Editors-in-Chief. You can find all of their pretty faces on the team page, and read more about their contributions in the word of thanks (#shamelessselfpromotion).

Why did you decide to run this project? 

Anna: Hmm, initially it was not in our plans to run the project. Svenja was appointed as the Comité Directeur responsible for the Key to Europe in our initial task division, as she had a strong involvement in the last two editions and knew the job, and as the responsible for communications I wanted to be around too. However, when the open call for team members was launched, nobody applied to become the Editor-in-Chief.

Therefore, after giving a lot of thought, Svenja and I looked at each other while enjoying a rare sunny day outside in the garden of the AEGEE house and said: “shall we do this?”, “let’s do this!”. (The sun might have played a big role in this decision). We knew that we would have to devote a lot of time to it, but we wanted to ensure the highest possible quality and, after all, I think I can speak for both when I say that this is a project where two of our passions collide – AEGEE and communication! (Svenja would just like to add here that she agrees 100%).

typical example of a K2E team member working

How is the publication structured?

Svenja: Of course we start the publication with AEGEE’s Statement of Principles (#basics). After that, we continue with the prefaces by ourselves (#awkward), European Commissioner Tibor Navracsics and the former President of AEGEE-Europe Aleksandra Kluczka. Then, we have the ‘About AEGEE’ section, which explains all that you need to know about AEGEE, ranging from the visual identity to our different European bodies and from the Action Agenda to the magical AEGEE house.

More information about other organisations that AEGEE-Europe cooperates with can be found it in the section ‘AEGEE Cooperates’ and in the ‘Faces of the Network’ section you will find some people that have contributed to AEGEE in the past year, like our Members of the Month and Les Anciens. In the ‘In the spotlight’ section you can find all the big happenings and challenges of the last year, and in the ‘Happenings around the Network’ you can read even more about remarkable events taking place. As it can be expected, in the ‘Projects’ section you can find out more about our different internal and external projects, and to top it off, the ‘Looking forward’ section gives you a flash forward to the upcoming year.

What are the highlights of the publication this year? 

Anna: We tried to squeeze as many topics as possible in our publication. Of course, happenings like Brexit, the refugee crisis and the situation in Turkey could not be missed. We tried to highlight as many inspiring events as possible, and have as many voices from all over the Network represented! We also have several great, high-quality infographics and statistics in pretty Visual Identity colours (#makingPRChappy). Moreover, this year we introduced a tweet-wall, where a ton of different AEGEE members share with you what our organisation means to them! These are just a few of the highlights of the Key to Europe this year.

What is the idea behind the design? 

Angelos: On the cover, we tried to depict the typical AEGEE experience, with the different icons representing different aspects of our organisation. Inspired by the design of the publication last year [which was created by Philipp Blum and Vincent Baas, ed.], we kept the design of the articles a bit more simple to keep the attention on the articles themselves and not distract the reader too much. You can find the icons on the cover back on each of the section pages, which mark the start of a new section.

What was the hardest part of dealing with Key to Europe? 

Anna: In general, it is difficult to keep the motivation, work and consistency up during the whole summer. Svenja and I had to take some holidays at some point: even if we could not fully disconnect because we had plenty of articles to edit [she smiles, ed.]. And since most people usually have holidays as well, we often had to head-hunt people to get the articles finished. But there they are! We knew this was part of our job so we were prepared for it.

Key to Europe in numbers. Give us some. 

Svenja: 120 pages of fun, 6 sections, 16 team members, 637 likes on our Facebook page (that’s a hint, yeah), countless hours of work, 10 new grey hairs on my head, and, sadly, zero hidden unicorns.  

Unfortunately the publication was not presented during Autumn Agora Chișinău. Where and when can AEGEE members see it? 

Anna: AEGEE antennae will find them soon in their mailboxes, as the General Mailing will be coming around early December. So brace yourselves, K2E is coming!

Is there any fun fact you want to share with us? 

Svenja: The Editors-in-Chief were not supposed to be the Editors-in-Chief but rather busy enough CD-responsibles, but in the end they are very happy that they took on the job. Or is that not fun enough?

You can check the online version of the publication here. Following this link, you can read all the previous editions. 

Key to Europe team 2015-2016

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Somewhere in Brussels, near the European Commission, you can find a house that looks just like most other houses in the city from the outside, but contains a lot of rooms, people and ideas on the inside. What house am I talking about? The AEGEE house, which the new Comité Directeur has been calling their home since the 1st of August, when we moved in to start our work. “What is that work about?”, you may wonder, and probably other members wonder too. Read on to find out!

In a (cheesy, but true) nutshell: the Comité Directeur works for you, the members of AEGEE-Europe. The exact ways we use to do so depend on our function and tasks, but we all share the aim of making sure that we do what is best for AEGEE-Europe [ endofcheesiness, an.]. As the Secretary General, quite some of my tasks are rather administrative, including staff management, but I also work on the preparation of our beloved statutory events, the European Planning Meeting (EPM) and Agorae, in cooperation with the Chair Team.

With the next EPM upcoming in Leiden, a lot of my days (and sometimes nights) are spent with the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda, which I am starting to consider as new close friends looking at how much I know about them by now. While Anna [Gumbau, Communication Director, an.] works on the content part of the EPM together with the Content Managers, I am responsible for the part of the event when we will draft the Action Agenda for 2016 – 2017, which means I have been drafting the program together with the Chair Team, translated the Focus Areas into hashtags – stay tuned for the EPM booklet – and sent and received many, many e-mails. Luckily, I will get to work with my friends after the EPM too, because I am the responsible for the Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) too.

Another body I am responsible for is The AEGEEan, for which my tasks aren’t limited to writing this article, but I am also checking the articles in the Comité Directeur section, make sure there are enough contributions and follow the work of the online magazine in general. At the end of the year, I will also be working with another reporting team; the Key to Europe to create our annual year report of 2015 – 2016.

Last but not least, besides the internal bodies of AEGEE, I am responsible for one of our external projects, which is the Lifestyle in Mobility project – a research project on the effects of studying abroad on your lifestyle. And let’s not forget about the tasks that show up on a random basis, like the sudden need to call a company because you are the only one with knowledge of Dutch, the feedback sessions for our new Intranet, translations from German to English or the other way around or spontaneous archives digging for members.

The working days are long, sometimes going on until the next morning, and the to do list never seems to end, but this is easily compensated by the people I meet, places I discover and things I learn. After all, who needs sleep if you can AEGEE? As Secretary General, sometimes all you need is an office full of people ready to work, some loud reggaeton music and lots of e-mails from and to members. To be continued …

Written by Svenja van der Tol, Secretary General 2015 – 2016 

PS: Besides all these tasks, sometimes you also just have to be a pirate.

For the first time, we collected nominations for Local and Member of the Month during the Autumn Agora Kyïv Fair. We received a lot of nominations and, after some consideration, we elected our Member of the Month (MOM) – Agora Edition. The recipient turned out to be Philipp Blum from AEGEE-Aachen, who is also the newly elected IT and Publication Responsible of the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT). We asked him some questions to get to know him better. 

The AEGEEan: Philipp, please introduce yourself!

Philipp: Always a kid, sometimes serious. I’m 24 and doing too much for AEGEE. Full of sarcasm and inappropriate jokes (but I was forbidden to use in this interview): being politically correct is not my style.

How does it feel to be nominated MOM – Agora Edition?

Amazing! It was an amazing Agora for me, where I think I was very active and visible, but I didn’t expect this. Motivation for even more to come (he smiles, ed].)?

Who do you think nominated you?

What about you, Eri?

You were President of AEGEE-Aachen. How was the experience of running the local?

It’s been an amazing year, in which I learned a lot and had a lot of great feedback from my fellow board members. It’s definitely a great feeling to lead and not to follow. In the beginning, I was not sure how the fellow board members and I would handle the situation, because most of us had been in the board already, which meant a change in the hierarchy. Luckily, this went very well and we had great times together. Towards the end, there was a very tiring period where my head was constantly full of dates and checklists. A lot of tasks were concentrating at the same time, we had meetings almost daily and we had troubles finding people for a new board. All in all, it was a bit hard to let go in the end, because it was an awesome year.

What is the best memory you have about being President?

When I first met our Summer University participants, I was actually celebrating a good friend’s birthday in a pub, and they by chance came to the same bar. The responsible was like “and this is our President” and everyone came and said hi to me and we had a great night. That was a very happy moment for me and I think it finally made me realise what it’s like to be a President.

This year you were Creative Director of Key to Europe. Tell us more about your job and how the final product turned out?

That was a great experience. I was very happy to work together with Vincent Bass (AEGEE-Enschede), Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Verona) and others in the team which made it acceptable even if at 2am all your files seem corrupted. When in Kyïv, I couldn’t wait to see it and I think I was just looking through it for two hours. The colours really looked gorgeous, and I am very happy with it.

Why did you decide to apply for such a position?

When I saw the previous Key to Europe, I knew that I didn’t want pixelated images to happen again. This, combined with the fact that I planned to quit the board and would have time, was basically it.

During the Agora you were elected in the SUCT and for one year you will cover the position of IT and Publication Responsible. How did you prepare for the role?

I bought a handbook “PHP for dummies”, so I think I will be able to manage the website (he smiles, ed.). No, to be honest, I am doing freelance web development, I did my Bachelor project in PHP and study computer science. I enjoy it, and I am confident I can manage the website. As for the other task: I often have to order materials for our local, and I know what it’s like to have a deadline for those, because otherwise they are just not around. After working for the Key to Europe I became confident enough to apply for the position of Publication Responsible for such a big project.

You have already started your term with a team meeting in Bruxelles. How are the vibes so far?

That was a really short-term idea, and I am really happy it worked out. I didn’t know Yevgeniya Gagarina (AEGEE-Kyïv) and Carolina Alfano (AEGEE-Salerno) at all, so I was very curious how it is going to be working together. Until now, it’s awesome. It’s only the beginning of November, and it feels like we already did quite a few things. But in the big picture, I see that we have a lot of work ahead, and I am happy we started early.

Seven candidates and four positions and yet you smashed it, receiving the impressive number of 233 votes out of 260 available. How thin is the air up there?

I went trekking in Nepal two years ago so I am used to it.

Always smiling and in a good mood and energetic. This was one of the reasons why you were nominated. What is your secret?

I drink champagne for breakfast, my motto is “Why not?”, and I am pretty much an optimist. Mostly, there is no reason why you should believe something will not work, so believe it will.

Last but not least, let’s play a little game. Explain you and your personality using the letters that compose your name (I.e. P as Pacifist, H as hilarious, I as iconic).

Perfect

Humble

Intelligent

Lazy

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Like every month, The AEGEEan elects a member who stand out for his or her contribution to our association. In October this person was Sabina Guja from AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca, rewarding her for being the Public Relations (PR) responsible of the Culture Working Group (CWG) and having been part of two proofreaders team (The AEGEEan and the Key to Europe), a job that is often not mentioned, but helps the associations publications to have a high standard of English.

The AEGEEan: Can you please introduce yourself? How long have you been in AEGEE and what is your European Level experience?

Sabina: I started in AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca in November 2011, after meeting Yvonne Antonović from AEGEE-Utrecht at a Youth in Action project in Serbia. She got me really curious about AEGEE and as soon as I got home, I contacted my local and that’s how it all started. For a while I was active on the local level (being main organizer for our pre-Agora Budapest event was my crowning achievement), and after that I moved on to the European level by being a member of the Culture Working Group, where I coordinated the Movie Library  and a few other smaller projects and finally became Public Relations responsible last autumn. Now I am living in Brno (Czech Republic) and I try to attend most of the meetings of AEGEE-Brno, but my heart stayed with Cluj-Napoca.

You are a proofreader for The AEGEEan and you were a proofreader for Key to Europe. What is the most difficult thing about being a proofreader?

I think the most difficult thing about being a proofreader is trying to hold on to a high standard, while also keeping the personal style of the author. I don’t think it’s any secret that not everybody has awesome English skills and of course we are very happy to have articles to proofread, but sometimes it can be really challenging trying to understand what the real meaning of a sentence is.

Proofreaders are always unnamed as they work “behind the curtains”. Do you have some fun facts concerning the task?

Well I can’t remember any specific details right now, but I can imagine it can be funny to watch me proofread, because a lot of times I will start talking to the walls and asking them what sentences mean… I’m not sure when they will be able to answer, but I am persistent.

You are Public Relations responsible for the CWG. What was the best initiative that you had in the Working Group?

I think my best initiative would be the cards CWG gives out at their stand at the Agora Fair and EPM (former EBM) Fair. We started at EBM Lublin, continued at Agora Patra and now are in the finalization process for Agora Cagliari. Here’s a sneak peak at what you can expect, and this is just one of our cards, so be sure to drop by our stand.

Weekly Newsletters are a helpful tools for members to be updated on the most recent happenings in the Network. The CWG made one to cover the Venice International Film Festival (VIFF). You said that it doesn’t happen very often. How did you feel in September?

When I sent the info about VIFF I wasn’t sure if it would be published or not, because my past experiences with the newsletter were not so great, but this time it happened! So, of course I was excited! The whole network could see we are active and more importantly read about VIFF from one of our own AEGEE members, not just from mass media.

You are in the board of CWG. Lately, we saw some discussions about the current status of Working Groups. What do you think about the topic, being actively involved in one of them?

I saw the discussions and I agree that there is a crisis in the Working Groups, if we can call it that. Having a lot of members, yet few active can be discouraging for a board. At the same time, we are talking here about volunteers, so forcing people to be active isn’t the option. I don’t think that criteria such as doing a certain amount of tasks would help, the desire to be active should come from within. I also think that, from a member of the board’s point of view, it’s much more fun and easier to work with people who want to do it, because the task actually speaks to them, rather than because they have to do it.

Agora Cagliari is approaching, can you give us some anticipations about Agora Fair or Cultural European Night?

Like I said, our cards will be there and you will get to meet some of our members and chat with them. Other than that let’s keep it a surprise.

What are your future plans?

I am not sure yet. My term as CWG board member is coming to an end, and I am not sure what my next step will be. What I know now is that I will remain both proofreader and CWG member for another year, but to what degree my involvement will be, remains to be seen.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

This month the member selected for the MoM (Member of the Month) award was Erika Bettin, member of AEGEE-Venezia, for her outstanding activities over the last month. From the Election Observation Mission in Ukraine to the interim mandate as Editor-in-Chief of The AEGEEan, check out some curiosities regarding this vulcanic member!

Alfredo: Erika, you have been awarded MoM! How does it feel?

Erika: It was strange, honestly. It was strange to write my own name in the nominees list (as EiC ad Interim, Erika was collecting all the nominations ed.) and it was even more strange to remind people that they were supposed to vote. I am proud, embarassed and happy. Being the editor of the People section and journalist myself, I edited and interviewed many past award recipients and they always had done something remarkable. I’m just doing the job I applied for and it feels very good to see people believing in what I’ve done so far.

Why have you been nominated?

The nomination sums up the activities I have done in the past 40 days or so: I have been in the team taking part in the Election Observation Mission in Ukraine, I am the Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe, my term as Editor-in-Chief ad interim in The AEGEEan and the OSCE/ODIHR Youth Forum in Warsaw. But I wasn’t alone in the ride, I always had a team backing me. Regarding Key to Europe, Svenja van der Tol (AEGEE-Nijmegen) is a marvellous Co-Editor-in-Chief. Without her, the process of creating such a publication wouldn’t have been so smooth. We are building a solid and sarcastic relationship, telling each other the truth as it is.

The OSCE/ODIHR 2014 Youth Forum in Warsaw was definitely Ermanno Napolitano (AEGEE-Milano)’s fault [she laughs]. Despite my initial doubts, he was right in saying I would not regret. Spending three intense days with people involved in different stages of the youth political scene was very enriching. Clearly the mission in Ukraine was not only a personal achievement, but a lot of people were involved and worked hard to make it happened. Thomas Leszke (AEGEE-Köln), coordinated the mission, Alla Resheten (AEGEE-Kyïv) helped with the Ukranian bureaucracy, Ermanno organised the meeting with the OSCE observers and AEGEE-Kyïv showed  me one more time (as if it was necessary) how a local can be proactive and full of resources.

Last but, for sure, not least I want to mention The AEGEEan team that worked very hard in this month. Thanks to the journalists and proofreaders, we delivered a lot of articles and we were able to involve externals to write for us too.

What did it make so special?

“You are doing a great job, you deserved it”. This sentence made it special. For the past months a lot of people said that, but I’m very skeptical in receiving compliments. It’s special because it marks seven incredible months of my life in AEGEE and it spurs me to work harder in the months to follow. It is even more special because this month, both Local of the Month and Member of the Month are coming from the same area: the Rainbow area (Italian speaking locals, AEGEE-Valletta and the Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Lugano). I am always getting a little bit emotional when it comes to my region, because indeed we are as crazy as horses, but we are living this sort of renaissance, thanks also to the brilliant job of Mattia Abis (AEGEE-Cagliari, Network Commissioner).

 Now that you are Member of the month, what’s your special message to the world?

I always dreamt to give an Oscar acceptance speech. Let’s face the truth, if Leonardo DiCaprio has not been awarded yet, I highly doubt I can win one. So, I would like to use this interview to thank Lisa Gregis (AEGEE-Bergamo) and she knows why, Luis Alvarado Martínez (President of AEGEE-Europe) for adding all my missing S, Alfredo Sellitti (AEGEE-Salerno/Bologna) for the lovely questions, my mother for constantly reminding me I need to get a life, my non AEGEEan friends who still believe I’m in a sort of nerdish secret sect, hashtags that makes my life more interesting, Cleto (my laptop) for being always on my side and all the people I bothered with mails and reminders for not having sued me for harassment (yet).

Ok, now some more questions for those who still don’t know you:

* What was the name of your favourite puppet when you were a child? (assuming you have been a child too)

Indeed I was I child and I still have my teddy bear, Lulù. Now he is 21 years old, as it was a gift from aunt Chiara when my sister was born. The poor guy is squinter, his left arm (where I was holding him while carrying all around) has been sewed up probably seven times and he is missing half of the fur on his nose because, apparently, I was convinced fur would grow again. I was wrong.

* How many times have you said “I hate you”?

On Mondays “I hate you” is the phrase I use the most due to the misanthropy that affects me at the beginning of the week. But in general, hate is a negative and strong emotion and, despite my tendency to complain a lot, I do not feel it very often. The true, felt, angry “I hate you” came out of my mouth only three times.

* Where was the furthest place from home you ever visited? And the one where you felt home?

The northernmost point I ever reached is Ängelholm (Sweden), the southernmost is Malta, the westernmost is Cabo da Roca (Portugal) and the easternmost is Kyïv (Ukraine). The one I felt home was Coimbra in Portugal where I spent my Erasmus. Call me romantic but, I have to find a spot I can call home in every country or city I go. It is not always easy, especially if you don’t have time to visit the place, but I tend to establish a routine to help with my homesickness.

* Where did you eat your best pizza?

Pizza is pizza. I can tell only where I don’t eat it: outside my country. If it happens, it’s always the last resort: or starvation or pizza. I made this decision ten years ago during a one-month exchange in Brussels when I saw pineapples on the pizza. Three heart attacks later, I order a salad and I vowed: never again.

* What’s your favourite recipe?

One part of Prosecco, one part of Aperol, one part of sparkling water served on the rock with a slice of orange and an olive. This is the recipe of spritz, a cocktail that is served as an aperitif in my region. It’s a must try.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Do you remember the recent European Parliament (EP) elections, where other citizens of the European Union and, hopefully, also you, voted for your chosen future Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)? While preparing the latest Key To Europe issue, the annual publication of AEGEE-Europe, we had a chance to ask some questions to those former and current AEGEE members who submitted their candidatures for MEPs. See what they have to say! The same questions – different answers.

Gerard Vidal Pallarès

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce yourself!

Gerard Vidal Pallares: My first AEGEE event was the European School 2 in Poznań, the most inspiring week of my life. I shared this amazing experience with such people as Luis Alvarado, Lucille Rieux and Lucia Sobík. We also had great trainers: Arne Reis, Federico Pisanu and Virginia Pañeda. I regret having joined AEGEE only when I turned 25.  Now, I am 28 years old. I live, work and am AEGEEan in Barcelona. Even though I studied Telecomunicacions Engineering and have a masters degree in Management, I have been involved in politics since I was a teenager.

Manos Valasis (AEGEE-Peiraias): I was born in sunny Peiraias (Greece) and studied at the faculty of Digital Systems at the University of Pireus, while I held diplomas in Economics and Counter Terrorism. Among other, I have been the Projects Director and the President of AEGEE-Europe (the latter in 2010-2011). During that time I had the pleasure to found a project to fight Youth Unemployment, which fueled a lot more of them, such as ones’ trying to improve non-formal and formal education and to bridge the East & West of Europe. Nowadays, Digital Advertising is taking my time, as I work as an Analyst Programmer. In my free time I try to motivate young people to take over their own lives, to become active citizens and to work for a better world.

Manos Valasis

The AEGEEan: Which party & country did you represent for the elections?

G. Vidal Pallares: I have been the candidate from Unió de Joves, a youth branch from Unió Democràtica de Catalunya. It is a Christian Democrat party that belongs to the European Peoples Party.

M. Valasis: I represented the Greek Greens, part of the European Greens, a rather idealistic party, formed by active citizens. In Greece and many other countries in Europe people do not like politicians and politics. Politics is by many considered an attempt to manipulate the masses, while in many cases politicians are involved in corruption and in abuse of power scandals.

The AEGEEan:  Why did you decide to run for MEPs and did your AEGEE experience influence it in any way?

G. Vidal Pallares: During the last EP mandate I had the opportunity of coordinating the team from MEP Salvador Sedó and I was working in his headoffice. Indeed, AEGEE was a positive impulse for running as a MEP and my AEGEE experience also helped me to get the job. By volunteering in AEGEE you grow both personally and professionally. We need to be able to prove it, to persuade employers of how enriching volunteering is. Politics is an expression of active citizenship, and active citizenship is one of the four AEGEE pillars. In my opinion, it is the most relevant one for making a change in our society. In these difficult times, where we have the need for changing many conventional standards and institutions, we can ONLY properly impulse the changes that are needed with YOUNG people.

M. Valasis: While in the past I was wondering “Why do we actually have politicians and politics, if nothing good comes out of it?”, AEGEE taught me that politics is something beautiful. It starts with the phrase “I want to make the world a better place” – there cannot be any line more political than this one. When I was approached by a political party that had the same beliefs as I, regarding the role of politicians and politics that consisted of active citizens and not „professional politicians“, then it simply made sense to join forces with them and work for our Europe!

The AEGEEan: What was the result of your candidature?

G. Vidal Pallares: Voter turnout increased by almost 11% in Catalonia – this result makes me feel happier that I was an active contributor. Catalan people showed their European will for continuing to be a part of the European project and to be united in diversity. My party got 3 MEP seats, the same amount as in 2009. Our party got 100.000+ votes more than in the last EP elections. It is quite remarkable, considering we have been in government during the last 3.5 years, high painful times of austerity in southern Europe. Although I didn’t get elected, the personal output is a life changing experience, where you can learn and grow. I encourage every single AEGEE member to go for it! Europe urges innovative, passionate and radically pro-European young people to be in strategic positions.

M. Valasis: Break-even can be a fair description. I didn’t get elected, but that was never my aim. My aim was to show to young people that they should take politics seriously, they should engage with it and participate in their local communities more, that the EP is something tangible – not distant – and that becoming a politician themselves is one of the many ways to contribute in making their societies better, which was achieved, while I enjoyed the journey and the experience which certainly was unique.

Written by Anita Kalmane, Foundation AEGEE Trust Fund (FATF)

The AEGEEan met Erika and Svenja, the two Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe. Funny and professional, these girls answered all our questions to let us know something more about them. Hello Kitty and fairy tales, dynamic and crazy: discover how they enjoy writing and what their plans in life are.

The AEGEEan – Name, Surname, Local and your favourite quote

Svenja: Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen, Per aspera ad astra (through difficulties to the stars ed. ) or “Hello Kitty isn’t a bunny?” Depends on how intellectual you want to portray me.

Erika: Miss Erika Bettin from AEGEE-Venezia. I have tons of quotes I use as a mantra, but my life style can be summarized as “I keep on making bad decisions, hoping for a positive outcome“.

The AEGEEan – You’re going to lead the next edition of K2E together. Where did the idea to work together come from?

Erika: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. Me and Svenja started talking about the way we saw journalism and life and we instantly got along. When I saw the open call I thought it would be amazing to apply, so I shared this idea with her and we said: “Let’s do this!” Key to Europe is amazing but at the same time massive and it’s beautiful to take this journey with someone as crazy as you are.

Svenja: What would the Italian pasta be without a good sprinkle of Dutch cheese? Well, there’s your answer. The first time Eri and I started talking we immediately knew we wanted to a) marry each other, and b) work together. Coincidentally the open call for the Key to Europe came around the same time, so we decided to join our forces and make the power team work.

(Considering this answer too boring, Svenja provided us a fairy tale about it ed.)  “Once upon a time, an Italian and Dutch girl met each other in The AEGEEan Palace, where both happened to be working as Editor Princesses. The two started talking about a Royal Article, and soon they found out that not only were there many similarities to be found among them, but they also completed each other in their work. If the Network Princess got caught again staring at the wide, wide AEGEE pool of ideas, it was the People Princess who put her feet back on the ground, and if the People Princess felt a bit down, there was always the Network Princess to cheer her up. Coincidentally, around the time that the two decided to name themselves the Power Team, Queen Kathrin of the magical Comité Directeur sent out her white horses to find a new Queen-in-Chief for her castle, also known as Key to Europe. The two princesses, both being passionate about writing, decided to apply to make great things happen, and they lived happily ever after in Key to Europe.”

The AEGEEan – Do you already have experience in a similar position?

Svenja: Technically, I was Editor-in-Chief of my high school magazine (because nobody else wanted to start it up, honestly), but I don’t think it was as serious (or wide spread) as the Key to Europe. Next to this, I have been the coordinator of a team of reviewers before at a thriller book website, which included setting deadlines, searching for new members, kicking asses and writing articles about anything related to books (interviews, newsletters, etc.)

Erika: I started more or less ten years ago when I was Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper. Then I decided to get more serious in journalism so, a part of majoring in Communication studies, I worked for a local newspaper and TV channel. In 2012 I started working for the University of Padua as journalist and author/speaker in the local University student radio. Usually I’m coordinating the work assigning tasks, deciding the topics, setting deadlines and reminding people: “You do this, and by saying do I mean it should have been done yesterday”.

The AEGEEan – What’s your idea of K2E?

Erika:  Key to Europe is where the Network shows its best achievement to both members and externals. I want this Key to Europe to be something in which each member can identify himself and his work, but at the same time something where you can learn something new about the projects and the external relations that AEGEE has. In a few words: I’d like to see members browse it and exclaim “That’s what motivates me!”

Svenja: Key to Europe is the best way to represent AEGEE, both towards our own members to know what exactly happened in this giant network of awesomeness and also towards externals who have no clue what AEGEE is and can learn more about it through the Key to Europe. Therefore, I highly appreciate that we will have a part about what AEGEE actually is, but also different parts about the last year specifically. To me, it’s a combination of a yearbook, AEGEE for Dummies guide and a lot of awesomeness (hopefully).

The AEGEEan – How many people do you count to involve?

Svenja: Ideally, I would of course like to involve all AEGEEans (fresh members or golden oldies), but this wouldn’t be a realistic number to work with as a team. For the team, therefore, I’d say “as much as needed to deliver a great job”.

Erika: We received a lot of great applications and formed a team of 15 people. I must say that I’m pretty happy with the team since we got both experienced people and fresh blood. But the publication is something that should include the entire Network and we’d like to involve as much people possible. So… brace yourself, more mails are about to come.

The AEGEEan- As a couple, who’s going to be the tough one between you?

Svenja: Eri, definitely, and I am glad she is. I’m too scared people will hate me to really yell at them, so I try to get them to do the work with a lot of compliments, positive spirit and… begging. Eri will save both of us a lot of time by just saying things the way they are.

Erika: I have the sneaky feeling that Svenja is going to answer my name. I’m without a doubt the toughest. She is spreading #svenjaoptimism and I’m the one setting deadlines. This is actually good, because we complete and balance each other.

The AEGEEan – Besides the AEGEEan, are you used to write? (For a newspaper, a blog, a diary, flying papers, messages in the bottle, etc).

Erika: I started writing when I was four because my grandpa thought me and I’ve never stopped since then. I was involved in the high school newspaper, logbook for the scout trips, writing plays,  ghost writing for a website, satirical blog with a couple of friends and author/speaker for the student radio station. One of my favourite sounds ever is the one that the keyboard makes when you type during the night.  It could seem strange to people that don’t know me very well, but I’m more comfortable in writing. Everything I’m thinking just streams down in a very orderly way and not as messy and confuse as when I’m speaking.

Svenja: Yes, when I was young I already wrote stories about my dad being a giraffe with a laptop, and later on I wrote about more serious topics (sometimes). I have written reviews about thriller books and movies, but also wrote about different topics (including, of course, travel stories) on my own blog that I sadly didn’t keep up with because I still enjoy reading my teenage rants. Next to this, I have written for the local magazine of AEGEE-Nijmegen and of course The AEGEEan, where I’m an Editor and Proofreader. Last but not least, I have published an article in a national newspaper before which I am very proud of but I can’t impress AEGEEans with because most of them don’t know Dutch.

The AEGEEan – What is the funniest article you ever wrote?

Erika: Normally I tend to be very technical when I’m writing articles, so I lose a little bit of my normal sarcasm.
Recently I was asked to write an article about people who gives flyers. It was such a boring topic that I transformed it into a guide to recognize and avoid them. The secret for me is having fun while writing and the article will just be funny.

Svenja: For my Journalism minor, I once had to write a fictional biography. Where my classmates took the chance to win a Nobel Prize or become the next Scarlett Johansson, I decided to become a Brazilian serial killer. Although I surely do not hope to ever end up like that (and I don’t think it’s possible since I’m not Brazilian), I did enjoy writing about it a lot.

The AEGEEan- How did you join AEGEE? When?

Svenja: I joined by filling out an application form, in March 2012. I actually joined the introduction period in 2011 already because I wanted to experience the student life and I liked the fact that they promoted travelling. Because I was still living in Leiden at that time, I couldn’t attend the activities so I didn’t become a member until I had a room in Nijmegen. A few months after my application I was elected secretary of the new board, and I fell in love with AEGEE during my board year.

Erika: I joined officially in November 2011, but I already knew the activities of AEGEE-Venezia for some times. It wasn’t love at first sight, I must admit, and it was more a favour done to my friend’s boyfriend. After watching Agora Enschede in streaming and attending a Summer University in Patra, the story changed.

The AEGEEan – Do you have hobbies? Life besides AEGEE?

Erika: I do love AEGEE but I have to take some free time from the lovely madness it brings. I honestly don’t have much free time because I often work during nights, but I just adore going to the cinema. It’s the only moment where I turn off my mobile phone. And If I’m particularly sad, tired, nervous or angry I just love to take long walks with some good music on in my favourite place: a villa near where I live.

Svenja: There is a life besides AEGEE? At the moment I am actually a board member at an umbrella corporation for international student organisations in Nijmegen (also involving AEGEE), so I try to divide my time between this, AEGEE, university, friends and my bed. If I have some free time left, I also like to practice Zumba (although not as often as I’d like), given by my former boardie, and to read good books.

The AEGEEan- Tell us a funny story about yourself.

Svenja: There’s too many to really pick one to highlight, but to give you a hint: I have been forbidden to consume sugar by certain friends because I start acting like a lunatic, my nickname is Jigglypuff, I have a tendency to fall down stairs at the most awkward moments and I do not have any knowledge about geography at all. If you want to know more, you should just come and talk to me during an AEGEE event.

Erika: Let’s start with the basics: I’m disgraceful. I’ve the rare gift to do and say the worst thing in every situation. And, apparently, I don’t have any sort of balance and I always fall, even while standing.

Lately the level of my dumbness reached a new high with the “airport affair”. I just arrived in Kyiv and my mother asked me “How was your flight?” and I replied to her “I’ve just landed. Fun fact, there is a police man in the aircraft”. Everything was normal until my mother called me quite angry because the T-9 of my phone decided to write ARRESTED instead of LANDED, words that in Italian are quite similar. Everybody is still laughing about that, my mother excluded.

The AEGEEan – Usually such position brings more visibility within the Network. So tell us: are you in a relationship?

Erika: Yes, there is someone very special in my life and his name is Cleto, my laptop. He knows all my secrets and we spend probably 20 hours together per day. I will actually choose him over some humans I know.

Svenja: Yes, my bed and I have been together for almost twenty two years now and I think we will marry.

The AEGEEan – If you could make one wish true, which one would it be?

Svenja: To make a living out of writing and travelling, by being a travel journalist or local reporter for the news. While having that awesome job, I want to go back to Brazil and drink a lot of guarana.

Erika: Being able to fly. Being up in the air for me means starting to breathe again and since the human beings are not designed to do so, the closest thing is to become a commercial pilot. And of course I wish for peace in the world.

The AEGEEan – When you are involved in something, what is the most important to reach your goal?

Erika: I can think only of one word: commitment. I came to understand that you can’t reach what you want with only good intention and the words “I will”, but you have to be truly engaged and devote to the cause.

Svenja: A team that is just as motivated as me to work for it, dreams to achieve something great and a lot of sugar since I like to work while normal people sleep.

The AEGEEan- What’s your favourite newspaper / blog / source of information? Why?

Svenja: The only printed newspaper I read is a Dutch one, namely NRC Next, because it gives me the information I want. For the more internationally oriented news, I like BBC News and sites with weird-but-true facts (don’t ask).

Erika: Every morning I have a routine: opening probably twenty tabs with newspapers from all over the world. I like to check what is happening and if something catches my attention I read it. Moreover, I have an application for my phone that gives me constant updates on what is happening worldwide. Not to mention the fact that Facebook is a precious source of citizen journalism.

The AEGEEan – Anything else you would like to add?

Erika: Let’s do a little bit of promotion! Like the Key to Europe fanpage. We know we already spammed a lot, but we promise it will be worth it.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Recently AEGEE-Europe issued two similar and important open calls – one for the team of Members’ Manual and another for the team of Key To Europe (K2E). What are those publications, what’s the difference between them and why do we, AEGEE members, need them?  That’s exactly what we are going to explain to you in this article.

What’s the difference?

Actually it’s quite simple. Members’ Manual (MM) – as the name already suggests – is a manual, guidebook for AEGEE members, which explains the core things of our organization. The statement of principles, the European level, board members’ responsibilities, the main things to keep in mind when organizing an event… These points and many more are covered in Members’ Manual, and the last time the manual was updated was back in 2009.

On the other hand, Key To Europe (K2E) might be better known to you as it’s our annual yearbook which is published every autumn and gives an insight into what AEGEE has done in the last 12 months, at what we have been successful and what are the most important things the next AEGEE generations will remember about this time.

“Every promotional material has its own aim and target audience, so they should not compete much with each other. MM is published by AEGEE-Europe for the local antennae, so their boards can use it instead of creating similar products. We should make MM bright and brief – then local members will love, recommend and use it,” says Olga Yushchenko (AEGEE-Kyiv), editor-in-chief of the new MM.

How can I benefit from MM?

Although newbies will benefit from MM the most, this manual can also be useful for already experienced members giving them insights into those parts of AEGEE they did not know a lot about and making it easier to explain different questions to other members. Verena Schmidt (AEGEE-Tübingen), who was the editor-in-chief of the last MM back in 2009, recalls that it was exactly her reason for making a new MM: “I was interested in creating the MM, because I quickly became active in AEGEE once I had joined my antenna, but never had a MM at that time and depended on more experienced members and the AEGEE website for information. A MM would have been nice, because it’s structured, coherent, concise and all-knowing.”

Also Olga agrees with that, admitting that she is often using the current MM and explaining it to new members, but quite some information is already outdated due to various reforms we have had in AEGEE since 2009. The new MM therefore will be updated with all the latest information, including our structure, projects and more visual materials (e.g., schemes and graphics). Other parts – such as board responsibilities and tips – never get outdated, but it’s always good to have a fresh view at it.

Verena shares another interesting idea her team had previously had, but it was not realized – to translate MM! “We had an idea to translate the MM into different languages (e.g. Spanish), which are widely spoken in AEGEE, so to make reading the MM easier. However, there’s the question whether you prefer to make new members read the MM or to encourage them to use English.”

And how do we use K2E?

And then there is Key To Europe, for which, just a few days ago, it was announced that the new editor-in-chief will actually be two girls – Alma Mozgovaja from AEGEE-Riga and Hara Kogkou from AEGEE-Peiraias. “Together with them, we will firstly define the concept, gather some rough ideas, select a team working with us and then create the new Key over the summer,” clarifies Kathrin Renner (AEGEE-Passau), who as Vice President & External Relations Director of AEGEE-Europe will be the Comité Directeur responsible for K2E. The team is planning to publish it in the autumn, so it will be ready for distribution at Autumn Agora Zaragoza 2013.

In the previous years there has been a lot of shifting regarding the main focus of the publication – some teams thought that their main aim is to show everything AEGEE has done, including also our failures, as this is the true way to write and remember our history. Other teams have claimed that the main aim is to “sell” AEGEE to externals, therefore it should focus only on our biggest successes and possibilities for externals to sponsor and cooperate with AEGEE. What about this year’s publication? “K2E is our possibility to really showcase all the great work and all the possibilities AEGEE offers. This should be the main focus of this edition: showing what AEGEE has achieved in the last year, and getting people interested in becoming and staying involved. Externally, the Key to Europe is our business card, a tool that not only the CD, project managers, Policy and Liaison officers and so on, but also our locals can use to promote themselves to our partners. Of course, the internal aspect should not be neglected, but I believe that there is no problem harmonizing both aspects, making the K2E interesting to read for our members as well as representative for externals,” says Kathrin.

How to apply to join the team?

If you are interested and want to join creating one of these AEGEE publications, it’s not too late! Both open calls for team members have already been issued and, e.g. MM is looking for 7-10 “constantly working people”, although they are open to more ideas and more people joining at a later stage. Olga is optimistic: “There will be a lot of work, so I’m ready to work with everyone who is interested!”

For MM you can apply until May 24 by writing to hrc@aegee.org – you will find more information in an e-mail which was sent to ANNOUNCE-L on May 9 by Beata Matuszka.

Also for K2E you can apply untill May 24, this time by writing to harakogou@gmail.com – more information in the e-mail, sent out by Hara Kogou on May 16 to ANNOUNCE-L.

Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre

AEGEE still growing strong in the East

Original article

The AEGEE network is still developing and changing dramatically. In the past five years, the number of antennae, contact antennae and contacts rose by 63 percent: from 160 to 261 by the end of 1999. “I am impressed by this growth,” says Michal Pesta, responsible for the network in the Comité Directeur. Currently, the biggest part of the growth is occurring in Central and Eastern Europe. “Since the idea of Europe and European integration here is new and fresh, the reality of it is very much desired,” he adds. “We can see this happening in, for example, Belarus, Poland and Ukraine.”

Many local groups have also appeared in Turkey lately. The fact that AEGEE-Adana organised a very successful Presidents’ Meeting in September 1999, is a perfect example to show how active this country, bordering Asia, is. “Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are also developing significantly,” states Michal. “We finally have enthusiastic people in Banja Luka, Tuzla and Sarajevo, once again.”

This means that there is hardly any country in Europe left where AEGEE does not exist. “We have antennae in most of the larger university cities in 42 countries,” continues Michal. In the past, it has not always been like this. In the first four years of its existence, AEGEE restricted itself to the member states of the European Union. In fact, in 1988, AEGEE existed only in nine countries. This situation was regarded unsatisfactory, so AEGEE undertook efforts to enlarge the network. In the late 1980s, first local groups in EFTA countries were founded.

Immediately after the revolutionary changes in Central and Eastern Europe occurred in 1989, AEGEE made its first contact with CEEC students. The first antenna in that area was AEGEE-Leipzig, quickly followed by local groups in Budapest, Praha and Warszawa. “AEGEE is the forerunner of development. The European institutions did this step much later,” stresses Michal Pesta.

Today, AEGEE’s strongest points are in the Netherlands. 21 percent of its members are living there. Italy is another influential part of the network. “They organise the highest number of Summer Universities and leisure events,” explains the network responsible. “With 12 active locals, my home country, Poland, has the best organised Central European network.”

However, the network also has its weak points, especially in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Michal points out: “These students unfortunately have little interest in AEGEE. Nearly all antennae there are established and run by continental AEGEE members visiting the country on Erasmus programmes.” Scandinavia and the Baltic countries are equally problematic zones. They suffer from distance problems inside their region. France is also a weak area, but it is the focus of AEGEE’s network development plans. “The total number of antennae in the network went down a bit compared to last year, but that is because we deleted the local groups that have no members anymore. In total, the network is still growing, and we trust that this will continue.”

Original article

In the year 2000, AEGEE wants to develop its network with particular influence in Denmark, France and Belgium. “We are planning to make presentations at the most outstanding Belgian universities in order to establish new antennae in Brussels and surroundings,” says the network responsible in the CD. During the Presidents’ Meeting in Skopje, held in March 2000, the participants also discussed the question of the borders in Europe. Should European territories such as French Guyana and countries such as Iceland be regarded as potential AEGEE countries? And what about the countries that are close to the European mentality, such as Israel? This question still has not been resolved. However, due to their interest in Europe and them being approved by many European institutions, the Presidents’ Meeting agreed that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia should be included in the network. “In the future we want to take better care of the quality of the network, not only looking at the number of antennae,” stresses Michal.

Each AEGEE antenna has to organise at least one European event per year. “Who knows, maybe in the next years we will welcome to our network the first AEGEE locals in the Caucasian capitals of Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi.”

Written by Key To Europe 1999-2000 Team

Originally published in Key To Europe 1999-2000

Original article

Y Vote 2009

 Y Vote 2009 is at the same time the AEGEE project that gained most visibility among the media and policy-makers in recent years and the AEGEE project that dealt most explicitly with solely European Union affairs. This was inevitably made possible by the grants of the European Commission Youth in Action fund for youth projects. In brief, Y Vote 2009 was aimed to encourage and empower young people aged 18-24 to cast their vote for the European Parliament elections taking place 4 to 7 June, 2009. In the 2004 European Parliament elections, 67% of the people aged 18-24 did not vote. We focused on elevating this rather bad achievement. Of course, voter turnout rate can, and should, be higher at all times, but here we talk about the first-time voters, the future electorate, and the future leaders of Europe.

Details about how did we work this out in practice will follow, but let’s first look at the actual voter turnout rates and compare them to previous EP elections. In 2004, the previous elections mobilized 45-47% of the EU voters. We detect a spiraling trend, because in 2009, in total 43% of the voters headed to the polls, and every single 5 years the turnout rate falls by on average 3%.

So at the end of the day, was the project then not successful? I am absolutely convinced that such a question is impossible to answer objectively. One has to bear in mind that we dealt with possibly the biggest conundrum of those interested in the future of Europe. AEGEE turned towards the very essence of EU integration – that European decision-making is not only for its citizens, but also with its citizens.

From the outset the Y Vote 2009 project resembled the heart and mind of its founder, and later Project Manager, Dragan Stojanovski. It was first of all a genuine product from young, idealist students. One can see this unmistakably in the final manifesto, the Youth Agenda 2009, that rounded up the outcomes of a real cycle of one-week conferences. Furthermore, it was a product of young people who truly care for the European story, and who believe in active contribution to society for the sake of democracy.

Original article

The whole campaign started with a launching conference in Vienna, September 2008. On some 15 big one-week conferences thereafter we visited student cities across the EU. It was stimulating that in each city we were welcomed by local members. So, the campaign moved completely within the realm of possibilities that AEGEE offers. Every such conference tackled a specific theme, for example, Creativity and Innovation, Education, or EU on the world stage, and on each of these conferences the experts in our network were invited to lead workshops for participants (who were, by the way, both members and non-members). In the workshops (small group work) and panel discussions with Members of European Parliament, university professors, and other leaders the participants got plenty of room to share their thoughts. What is more, it was a time to have ferocious Oxford debates, display their uncertainties about a lack of knowledge about a topic, ask questions to panelists, develop communication skills… Thanks to the social program and cultural, touristic activities everybody had the chance to feel comfortable enough to make all these things happen.

Participants got to know Y Vote 2009 in various ways, mainly through our blog, e-social networks, and following sound cooperation with other International Youth NGO’s like BEST, and the European Youth Forum (umbrella organisation AEGEE is a member of). Aside of this participant-empowerment dimension of the project, the other paramount challenge we had to square up to was to find people, young and old, EU citizen, and then to engage in dialogue with them or simply to catch their eye with our message ‘Y Vote? Why not?’. One way or another you have to find those voters, which can be hard if you planned a street action in the open air just when it starts raining.

More importantly, a street interview, or ‘canvassing’ in jargon, is also a reality check. Talking to random people made us realize things and learn about the increasing complexity of a globalizing world, its impact on individuals, and the environment in which young people are growing up, fully with its own values. We learnt quickly that you have to meet them further than halfway–the message of voting is important, and so is the means of getting attention. This came out as well during the UK Tour, a special part of the project dedicated to the United Kingdom, widely known to be by far the most eurosceptic EU member state. While getting attention about EU affairs is assumed to be most difficult in eurosceptic countries, this did not entirely ring true for our efforts in the UK. There we could tour the city centers in our mobile Y Vote van, drawing the attention of all passers-by as we blew balloons with our slogan, we screamed, and the van’s speakers boosted loud music.

Original article

To highlight one last aspect of the campaign is not difficult to choose. Campaigning in the 21st century cannot do anymore without presence on the internet. Millions of people have a profile on social networks like YouTube and Facebook – and it does not take a genius to see that these are opportunities that can generate extremely high levels of interest with a relatively very small effort. All year long, from different parts of Europe, from different Y Vote events, material was gathered to be uploaded little time later, video-editing, funny and thought-provoking video clips that make democracy truly reach out again into households. And it was marvelous to see Facebook statuses of hundreds of friends show ‘I voted for European elections’, not to mention the on-line comments on the Y Vote 2009 performance on Europarl.tv’s Election Night broadcast. Yet still not everybody has replaced older-fashioned communication for e-social media. One sunny spring day in 2009 the president of AEGEE, Dragan Stojanovski, got a best wishes message from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. By telegram.

By the way, the Youth Agenda 2009, the manifesto that outlines all that young people desire from the presently sitting members of European Parliament, can be sent to you by the author upon request. Working diligently on Y Vote events, together, towards the biggest democratic happening on our continent, being increasingly more excited during the last three weeks leading up to the elections, has something fantastic about it. Something that voluntary work deserves.

Written by Thijs de Wolff, AEGEE-Utrecht and Y Vote Content & Formats Manager

Originally published in Key To Europe 2009-2010