Lying in the middle of Aragon province, there is a city called Zaragoza. There, in 1998 AEGEE-Zaragoza was born, with a “long and a vibrant history” as the board said, having organised countless of events including two Agoras (2003 and 2013), NWMs, Summer Universities and so on. Currently, they have 158 members who meet regularly and they organise both fun and cultural events. We asked some questions to the board of AEGEE-Zaragoza, to know a bit more about the Spanish local. 

LTC during February 2017

What is the peculiarity of your local? What makes you special?

We tend to invade events, it is very difficult to find just one or two people from AEGEE-Zaragoza in an event. Once the Open Call is on, we apply like a pack and we end up being at least eight, or up! We are a big family that does not only meet to do AEGEE related things. We have social meetings with new members and we organise informal meetings very often!  That is why we are a group of friends working together [they smile, ed.].

Which activities do you usually organise?

We have weekly meetings and we usually prepare thematic activities such as the European Day of Languages or the AEGEE day. However, everything the members are willing to do is valid. So, everybody can propose ideas.

Participants from AEGEE-Zaragoza – RENOVE VI

Name one good thing to be in AEGEE and one bad thing.

A bad thing could be that sometimes we have to prepare and do too much official stuff which might not be as useful as doing some other activities that could be more interesting for you and your local.

The good thing is the new lifestyle that you have while being in AEGEE, with experiences and people who make your life change.

How is the cooperation between your local and others in your area? And also how is it with your Network Commissioner?
Locals in La Nave [Spanish, French and Portuguese speaking locals, ed] usually cooperate with each other sharing good practices and ideas, organising events and attending to the local events. So, we can say it is very nice. The same with our Network Commissioner, we have an open communication with her and our assigned subcommissioner. We can share worries and successes with them.

Active members of AEGEE-Zaragoza

How do you implement Strategic Plan and Action Agenda with your members?

We try to do local activities to implement them as well as workshops, for example during the LTCs. This year, we participated for the Food Bank and we usually publish or participate in campaigns to raise awareness about certain topics such as Sexual Health, International Women’s day and so on.

Four years ago you organised an Agora. The experience can strengthen or break a local. How did things progress after the statutory event?

As in many events, there were some tensions in the team but apart from that, the results we had were very amazing! Among the helpers, there were many new members who wanted to collaborate with the rest of the team and who came out very motivated, eager to discover and work in AEGEE and AEGEE-Zaragoza. They built the basis of today’s AEGEE-Zaragoza. Now, these helpers share their experiences with the new members, talking about how awesome the agora was and people motivate to do another event in Zaragoza.

AEGEE-Zaragoza Summer University 2016

What are the future plans for AEGEE-Zaragoza?

The main objective would be to keep in touch with the new members, to motivate and encourage them to become active in AEGEE and to start doing things in AEGEE. We want to organise more local activities in order to empower our members to become more active both in Zaragoza and in the European bodies.

This year AEGEE Zaragoza is working on a Volunteering Summer University. We plan to stay a few days in a small town nearby, helping the local people with our young spirit, with activities such as playing traditional games, performing theatre plays, etc. Moreover, all of this will be combined with visits to the most beautiful places of this region and a lot of AEGEE spirit! We would also like to organise European thematic events… and we are starting to think about something big again in Zaragoza.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

In AEGEE-Zaragoza you can meet Celia Riveres López, a member who is very active in her local (she is the President), but also on the international level with the Netcom of La Nave (Spanish, French and Portuguese speaking locals), Alejandra Piot. In this interview, she tells us also something about the Renove, an event that takes place every summer in Spain. 

The AEGEEan: Who is Celia in- and outside AEGEE?

Celia: If I’d have to describe myself, I would say I am a very active and positive person who loves enjoying life, travelling and meeting people. You will never see me bored because I am constantly joining new projects and ideas that make my day full. I have been a member of AEGEE-Zaragoza since March 2013 and, ever since, I have been active, attended as many events as possible and helped as much as time has allowed me. Currently, I am AEGEE-Zaragoza’s President but I also have other responsibilities such as being Alejandra’s Subcommie. Outside AEGEE, I am a lovely Design engineer with a great passion for teaching (actually I have a Master’s degree in high school teaching). Currently, I work for a startup in Zaragoza that will soon rock it.

You are the President of your Antenna. How was the experience until now? What did you learn?

Well, I still have many months to go as the president of AEGEE-Zaragoza, but there are some things that are remarkably important from my experience. Overall, the experience is great and I am extremely happy to work with the rest of the board and active members of AEGEE-Zaragoza. We all are the engine to make everything possible. This antenna is insanely active and we always come up with many new and motivating projects. As a hint of what we are preparing, we will organise an amazing Summer University focused on volunteering that will include loads of surprises, new experiences to live and astonishing places to visit. AEGEE-Zaragoza’s craziness is shown by the big and exciting projects we organise and I will just say that we have never organised a European Planning Meeting… May 2019 will be the time? After all these months, what I have learnt is that teamwork is the key to success. It is crucial to keep everybody’s motivation up and very important to value collective work.

You worked a lot for the last Renove. What was the best moment? What was the most difficult thing you have experienced?

To clarify a little bit the question for the reader, Renove is an event that the La Nave Netcommie organises in collaboration with a local after the summer to ease the transition between not-so-new members and new members, gathering around 150 participants. In this case, as the main organiser, the best moment for me was to see everybody playing Crazy 69. It is a sort of quiz that requires interaction with people from the village we stayed and having fun learning about AEGEE. The most difficult thing was saying goodbye to the participants (although we got a good sleep afterwards).

Are you happy with the results and proud of them? Would you change anything when you look back?

Absolutely, organising Renove has been a unique and unforgettable experience. I am definitely proud of the team and the results we achieved. I am really looking forward to new adventures.

Name one good thing and one bad thing about AEGEE.

Naming one good thing, AEGEE opens your mind and equips you with skills that you did not know you would
get through non-formal education. As a negative thing, it may be the over-structure and complexity of AEGEE that prevent especially new members from understanding how they can better contribute to it.

What are your future plans for AEGEE?

I do not have any strictly defined plan, but I would want to continue helping AEGEE-Zaragoza. As a new challenge, I want to help in the implementation of the Equal Rights focus area.

Describe your personality by using the initials of your name.

My initials are CRL that stand for Celia Riveres López, so my personality would be…

C: Curious

R: Responsible

L: Lively

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Due to the fact that NWM in Zaragoza took place only a few weeks after Agora Cagliari, it was mainly organised by former NetCom Carmen María and her team, although some members of the new team (Olga Rivero’s Tripulación) were also involved in the programme preparation and presentations.

Another Network Meeting (NWM), another pleasant and different experience with the members of our Network. We needed some winds of change in our NWMs, so we tried to implement some changes and improvements suggested by the participants in our last Spring NWM in Alicante, although the new team will have to continue working on it in order to keep improving the format. This time, we tried to make the content more practical and we held more sessions to share knowledge and experiences. There was more time for participants to talk and share their concerns, doubts and ideas, even if the outcome was not as dynamic and energetic as expected after all the discussions we had during the Spring NWM in Alicante and in our Facebook group before Agora Cagliari, where the participation in discussions increased notably.

The team was lucky to count on experienced people from different European bodies, people who contributed and shared a lot with the rest; Antonija Parat from the Comité Directeur (CD) who showed us the achievements of AEGEE so far and made us think about our motivation while also clarifying loads of interesting topics, Policy Officers Léa Charlet and Pablo Hernández who conducted a consultation on Gender Equality and Youth Employment, Speaker of the Action Agenda Coordination Team (ACT) Ruben Navarro who led a great session about the Action Agenda, Esperanza Rodriguez from AEGEE-Las Palmas who taught us more about Financial Reports and Erasmus +, Anna Gumbau from the 30^th Anniversary Team who informed us about the project, Liaison Officer Laia García who was always there to raise discussions, Regional Advisor from BEST Carlos Freire who was representing our beloved partner association and many other involved and active members from our area.

Not to talk about the nice social programme AEGEE-Zaragoza prepared! A tourist bus tour around Zaragoza to start knowing the city, their great work with the location of the accommodation and the facilities (in the middle of the city!), nice meals and many details thanks to their excellent fundraising work and, of course, a Celebrities party where participants let their imagination soar and became famous for that night. It should be pointed out that our current president, Paul Smits, was more than present there! 

Below you can find some experiences from participants and presenters with different backgrounds:

Antonija Parat from CD: ‘I enjoyed the event very much. The atmosphere was just perfect: engaged participants, caring organisers, an experienced NetCom team and quality content. For me as a CD member it was nice to see face-to-face where our members stand, what the topics are they care about, and what they hope to see in the future in our organisation. I was truly happy to be there.’

Silvia Sierra from AEGEE-Zaragoza, main organiser of the NWM: ‘It has been a pleasure to coordinate such a great event, the zNWM, and we hope this event has been really productive and fruitful. We have learned from our own successes and problems to continue growing up without falling in the same old errors. Afterwards, the organisers’ reward has been to know that our participants have been happy during the event and have enjoyed it in every moment.’

Pablo Ruiz from AEGEE-Zaragoza, subcommissioner: ‘When I think of the last Network Meeting, I smile to myself seeing the great atmosphere that surrounded the event. Excellent lodging in the center of the city, quite good meals, devoted organisers and, above all, a group of participants who have shown they don’t only share a common region, but what they actually share is a strong friendship and a really good vibe between them. Could I ask for anything else from a NWM in my beloved city? The only thing I disliked about the event is the fact it had to finish.’

Esperanza Rodriguez from Las Palmas ‘After being away from Europe for some time, I was excited but a bit afraid before this NWM. It was my 4th but after missing the previous four, I wasn’t exactly an oldie nor a newbie… But I came back with my batteries fully charged after such a weekend! For me, everything was perfect: the organisation, the content, the social program and the team spirit!’

Julien Denis from AEGEE-Paris: ‘This was my first AEGEE meeting and besides my admiration for the perfect job made by the organising committee, I was impressed by the commitment of all those young people to this association, all of them sharing a similar vision and working hand in hand. This experience made me want to commit myself to a greater extent in AEGEE and work harder to develop my antenna.’

Olga Rivero, current NetCom: ‘Even though I was expecting more discussions and productive talks at some points, I think that with this event we were really on the way of organising the kind of NWM that participants want! Everybody was really happy and motivated at the end of the weekend, and for those who work on the content of the event that is just amazing and inspiring to keep on working to make it even better.’

Once more, many thanks to AEGEE-Zaragoza’s organising team for their great help and wonderful work with the logistics of the event, making everyone comfortable and happy. Thanks again to Antonija for all her help and contribution to this NWM. And a special mention from my side to my team, La Tripulación, and the other collaborators for their support during the organisation of this NWM and their outstanding work. And of course, last but not least, thanks to every participant who took part in this NWM.

Let’s keep on rocking “La Nave” and AEGEE! 

Written by Carmen María López Banegas, AEGEE-Alicante.
Pictures courtesy of Alberto Arroyo from AEGEE-Madrid and of AEGEE-Zaragoza’s team.

There we were again. Back in Manjirón, where this popular event took place for the very first time back in 2011 and where some of the most active members of our area nowadays also started!

In some way, this event became kind of compulsory for the members of our area (La Nave, the area of the French-, Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking antennae). We cannot finish a summer period without celebrating a Renove. The main purpose of this event is to have a big reunion of motivated members, to make participants have a good time after a wonderful and exciting experience in their Summer Universities, to let them discover a bit more about AEGEE and to gather together newbies and oldies from each antennae so they can make future plans for the upcoming year. Fun, experiences and team-building are the key elements of the event.

After great organisational work from AEGEE-Madrid, we can say the event was a success and people came back home full of happiness and motivation. Thank you for it and congratulations!

As a starter, participants were divided in groups representing different urban tribes in a good combination of oldies and newbies from different antennae to help people meet each other even before the event. Emos, rappers, heavies, hunkies, hipsters, chavs, hicks, preppies, nerds and hippies went around the lodging, even if the first night it was more animal like as we started with a Cat party (Madrileños’ style).

Next day in the morning we went for a walk: to some people a delight and to others mostly annoyance. We talked about our experiences in AEGEE in groups which is interesting and also inspiring for others. There was a fun gymkhana on Saturday afternoon where all groups worked together and did their best to complete every task. And after it… let’s go for recovery tasks! As there was an antenna which kidnapped loads of mascots from other close (or not so close) antennae, there were tasks to get them back for nearly everyone. Thank you, AEGEE-Oviedo!

At night it was time to let the tribes out and most of them impressed us with their characterisation and performance during the party. On Sunday it was time for some serious stuff; workshops and talks. Before the event, La Tripulación (NetCom Team) asked all members to send their SU pictures and share their experiences with a sentence. A video was released there for the joy of the lucky participants.

The sessions started with “AEGEE in your resume” held by Gerardo García, Olga Rivero (AEGEE-Oviedo), Marta Martinez (AEGEE-Santander) and Iker Iraizoz (AEGEE-Valladolid) followed by “My life in AEGEE” by Álvaro Espinosa, Fernando Campo (AEGEE-Santander), Pablo Ruiz (AEGEE-Zaragoza) and myself. Last but not least, there was time for AEGEE-Burgos to inform everyone about the upcoming EPM Burgos 2015, to present their project and their team; as well as for AEGEE-Oviedo to present Autumn AgorAsturias.

People left on Sunday after lunch and, after a short but intense weekend full of AEGEE spirit, farewell time was as difficult as in a SU. We believe many new members will be active after Renove IV… let’s keep working and being awesome!

Written by Carmen María López Banegas (AEGEE-Alicante)

Pictures by Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva) and Alberto Arroyo (AEGEE-Madrid)

The AEGEEan is currently meeting all the candidates for the different positions that will be elected at Autumn Agora Cagliari 2014. One of these motivated members is Rubén Puras, president of AEGEE-Burgos and coordinator of the upcoming European Planning Meeting in the Spanish city, who is now running also to become Network Commissioner! The AEGEEan asked him some questions in order to get to know him better.

The AEGEEan: Please, first of all, introduce yourself! Who is Rubén Puras?

Rubén: I am Rubén Puras, from AEGEE-Burgos, I am 26 and I studied Building Engineering, and I have a Master’s in Restoration and Rehabilitation, and besides, I spent one year studying in Catania with the Erasmus program, where I discovered what AEGEE is!

Inside AEGEE world, I am the president of my local and I organized many events. Summer University 2013 (where I was Main organiser), Summer University 2014 (treasurer), Autumn Agora Zaragoza 2013, Local Training Courses, local activities… In addition, I will be Coordinator in the next statutory event, the European Planning MeetingBurgos 2015. I even have experience in European Level out of AEGEE, attending a Leadership Trainning Course.

Furthermore, I am very experienced at organizing international events. For instance, International Tour of Burgos (2006-2014), International Cross of Atapuerca (2006-2014) and also I work as Building engineer.

How and why did you join AEGEE?

As I said before, during my Erasmus year, I discovered AEGEE Catania, and all the amazing activities they did. I was really surprised when they talked about events, activities, Summer Universities… So, when I came back home, I checked if AEGEE was represented in Burgos.

A few of our readers asked that you are the only candidate to Netcom who hasn’t followed the normal step of working as subcommissioner before. Do you see this as a disadvantage for you?

I think it isn’t a big disadvantage for me, for example, when I was chosen president of my antenna people “thought” I didn’t have enough experience and looking back one year later, what has happened in Burgos? Well, in one year we have increased the active members of Burgos, we will host the next EPM 2015, Burgos is getting bigger and our events (in my opinion) are amazing. So, why?!? Because there is a secret ingredient, MOTIVATION. Motivation can move the world, motivation can change everything! The experience is important, I know, but I really have a lot of experience coordinating teams.

So I can say, I’m completely ready for this challenge!

Another reader is asking that “you are running for becoming the network commissioner of La Nave, therefore of French speaking antennae and Portuguese speaking antennae. These antennae are not stable yet they are still oscillating between surviving, getting better and getting worse. What is their worst weakness? What is preventing them from growing and how are you planning to help them?”

In my opinion, the biggest problem is the continuation of the boards in small antennae. Many times, antennae have the same boards for many years, or quite similar, so what is happening when the board leaves? There are no people to manage it, or there are not enough motivated people, or the new members don’t know how to manage it. So, solutions? There are many, but I want to talk about one example I know perfectly: AEGEE-Burgos. In AEGEE-Burgos, it doesn’t matter if you are a new member, we always involve newbies in our projects, so that at the same time they are breathing AEGEE spirit and they are improving their skills. This is really important, because in the future this “newbies” will manage the antenna. Is this the only way to do it? Absolutely NOT , but it is one. So how to put it into practice? I think is really important to share the problems like in the Network Meetings, but also teach this things to members in Regional or Local Training Courses.

In short, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Which vision do you have of the work of the NetCom?

My vision… the Network Commission supports the locals and the CD with their tasks, linking the locals with the European Level. In my opinion, the Network Commission has an important role in helping antennae and collaborating with them solving their problems.

And what is going to be your top priority as Network Commissioner?

I have two top priorities. One of them, as I said before, is helping small antennae that are close to disappear and those which have problems to accomplish the Antennae Criteria. Also, to encourage consolidated antennae to continue their job in the right way. The second one is to strengthen LTCs and RTCs to show members how big AEGEE world is, and all the possibilities it offers, and also to teach how antennae work. Besides, I would like to give more formal content to RENOVE (event created to motivate newbies after Summer Universities period).

There is also another candidate for NetCom coming from the same region, Olga Rivero (AEGEE-Oviedo). Would you be willing to take another region if both of you are elected and La Nave preferred her?

AEGEE is a democratic association, and like a democratic association WE choose our representatives in the Agora, so, I respect and I will respect all the decisions taken there.

In fact, the possibility of having “primaries” or some mechanism to have just a candidate for the region was raised in La Nave. What is your personal opinion of it?

During Spring Agora Rhein Neckar 2013, there was a proposal about fixing regions, and the decision of the Agora was to refuse it, so if AEGEE doesn’t have fixed regions, one region by its own is not allowed to decide.

Another question from a reader: You never attended any NWM until now. Do you think it will be ok to organize the content of something you never been to?

First of all, I couldn’t attend last NWM due to personal issues, but I will attend next Autumn NWM. Also, not attending a NWM doesn’t mean I wasn’t interested in the topics that were discussed. In addition, my local always makes a meeting to share all the information which has been discussed before and after NWMs.

Which other relevant experience in AEGEE do you have, and how well do you know the European level bodies?

I attended Eastern Partnership Project’s conferences, I coordinated in my city the Y Vote Bus Tour Spain, I attended to Agorae, RTCs, Organized SUs, and also I have prepared and managed some LTCs in my city. So, I can say I know quite well the European Level.

There’s always the saying about the “gap between the local and European level”, what is your opinion on that?

I know many people say it, but I think that if everybody collaborates, we can help get this gap smaller.

What about the time you will be able to dedicate? Your antenna will be organizing the European Planning Meeting. How much time will it take that from your NetCom tasks, if elected?

I have enough free time to manage all the tasks associated to be NetCom, it only requires plannification. In addition, the EPM is almost done, and we have a big group of organizers working hard on it. It will be an awesome event. Of course, all of you are invited to come. We will be waiting for all of you in February.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Our Member of the Month award this past July went to Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Venezia), for her outstanding lead of publications such as the Key to Europe 2013/14 and The AEGEEan, and initiatives such as the Election Observation Project. However, there were other nominees in this past month that have done a great job and deserve their story featured in The AEGEEan.

Today we are introducing you to Marta Martínez Moro, current President of AEGEE-Santander. She has been an AEGEE member since July 2012, and since then, she has been unstoppable at the local level. In fact, she was nominated by several La Nave (Spanish-, Portuguese- and French-speaking locals) because “AEGEE-Santander experienced a difficult situation the past few years. Due to some irregularities in the past, they had some debts that needed to be settled up […] and Marta was a key for their success due to her high motivation, perseverance and hard work. For two years, she is being devoted to the antenna (working in all fields -economical, management, administration, human resources) making its recuperation possible and helping to achieve a good financial situation“.

Anna: First of all, please introduce yourself!

Marta: My name is Marta Martinez Moro, I have a degree in Physics at the University of Cantabria and nowadays I am doing an internship in the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP) Information Technology department. Helping people with their request about wifi and computer problems are some of the task I have been bestowed with. In a few months, I will move to Madrid where I will study a Master of Nanophysics.

I joined AEGEE in June 2012 and since then I have been working as Human Resources Responsible motivating people who recently joined to participate in local and European levels. Last year I was elected President of AEGEE-Santander.

How did you find out about AEGEE?

In June 2012, one friend of mine, who was actually a member of AEGEE-Santander, told me about the 5th Anniversary of the local, an event where I could have the opportunity to meet people. It was a fantastic experience. A month later I participated as a helper in the AEGEE-Santander SU and in September I was able to be the Human Resources Responsible of my antenna. I took up the Social Drinks every week again, updated the webside (with the help from Bruno), the Facebook members group and page (we are one of the most liked pages), etc., in order to motivate our members and give them all the necessary information.

You are very much involved and motivated in the local level. What keeps your motivation up?

My motivation comes from the feedback I frequently receive from all the participants of these events. People telling you that you have changed their lives and because so, they would like to get more involved in our projects or activities, is the key to keep you going. Motivating our members is the main object and what we try to keep doing every single day because that is the key which makes AEGEE still successful.

Five years ago, four brave guys from Bilbao, namely Guillermo García, Txaber Tavera, Sara Ortega and Zulema Rebollo formed a team and all together took a step forward by creating AEGEE-Bilbao, in March 2009. It wasn’t easy, and doubts and difficulties were appearing all along the way, but thanks to the enthusiasm of so many people in the past five years they have been able to achieve what AEGEE-Bilbao is now.

Txaber Tavera, one of the founders of the antenna, former Vice-President and Secretary, is proud to see how the antenna has grown in the past years: “It’s good news that AEGEE-Bilbao is a reality five years later, thanks to the time and enthusiasm dedicated to the project. The key, and also the luck, has been to boards continuity between boards and between people who decided it’s time to give new members the chance to replace them. And that’s not easy. Now, I can see there’s a group of people who enjoy, get excited and live new experiences around AEGEE. That’s the most important thing! But I also have to say that there’s a long way to ride yet: AEGEE-Bilbao is not perfect, and it has to get better step by step. It’s true that we can improve, but we will never try to be perfect in any aspect; the important thing is that we can keep AEGEE principles. There will be strong boards and weak ones, less active moments and great projects to come… But the point is to always try to keep the wick on.”

The small antenna currently has 60 members, with 15 of them being active. In the past two years they managed to achieve several goals, like a Travel Summer University (together with AEGEE-Santander and AEGEE-Oviedo) and a RTC. The last event was the celebration of the locals 5th anniversary, which took place in april and was open to all AEGEEans. More than 50 participants from Spain and Europe came to Bilbao to give the local their best wishes.

Amaya de Arcos, currently president of AEGEE-Bilbao is very happy and satisfied with the event: “The fifth anniversary of AEGEE-Bilbao was a really important event for the antenna and also for me personally. Watching so many members working together to make the best event we could made me feel really proud of my antenna and I think that we will be able to do bigger things in the future. I would like to thank all the people involved in the anniversary – participants, helpers, and organizers – as they were all essential for making this event unforgettable. I hope everybody had as much fun as I did”.

The event consisted of a weekend full of culture, activities and parties to celebrate the first five years of the local, while – of course – hoping for at least another five years to come. All the members of the antenna agreed that when things are done by an enthusiastic team they are much easier.

After the celebration, it is time to continue working hard, while trying to reach more goals in AEGEE. For that, AEGEE-Bilbao is lucky to have “La Nave” (the name for the Spanish-, French- and Portuguese-speaking locals ed.) in the region as an example of unity, dedication, motivation and good work, with so many incredibly active antennae: Burgos, which is organizing dozens of events with only five years of experience (like AEGEE-Bilbao), Oviedo, Zaragoza, Alicante… and a long etcetera that gives us some models to learn from.

Written by Nerea Gutiérrez, AEGEE-Bilbao