AEGEE-Torino is situated in the North-West of Italy and was founded 25 years ago, organising an Agora in 2004. Currently consisting in around 100 members (40 of whom are active), the local has being blooming in the past three years, organising more and more (thematic) activities. From the 4th to the 8th of May they hosted Spring NWM Not a Waste of Money, which allowed them to stand out of the crowd and earn the title of Local of the Month of May, just months after receiving the nomination for ACTive local of the Month. We spoke with current president Giulia Melis, who aswered our questions.

The AEGEEan: Present your local.  

Giulia: We have around one hundred members among which forty are really active! Of course, that’s thanks to our sex appeal, but above all thanks to our local activities which are not only an occasion to socialise and to have fun but also an opportunity for recruiting. Each month we organise several events, and  the biggest one is the Aperitivo linguistico: USE YOUR TONGUE! with around eight hundred participants each time. Among others I can mention Mix&Match and DrunKaraoke which, together with the two Welcome Weeks (one in September and one in February) are the events dedicated to international students. Last but not least the Buddy Program with EPOG students (Economic POlicies in the age of Globalisation – Erasmus Mundus Master’s course), it is at its third edition, and the inspirational Europe Café.
This year was really productive also at the European level thanks to the organisation of the Spring NWM, to the new adventure with our twin AEGEE-Ioannina and the involvement of some of our members in Committees, Commissions as Subcommissioners, Working Groups and Interest Groups.

You have been elected as LoM of May. How does it feel to receive this recognition?

We are really glad to receive this recognition. When you work hard it’s always rewarding to know that someone appreciates your efforts. In addition it’s a stimulation to try to do our best day by day, especially for the new members.

One of the reasons of your nomination was the organisation of the NWM: not a waste of Money. How did you come with the idea to organise a NWM and managed to succeed in it?

The idea was in the air already with previous boards and this year we put it into practice. One of the reasons was to test us, our organisational skills and our ability to work as a team. It was also an opportunity to understand the proper role for each member of the team. Someone said: “Give yourself a new challenge every day and try to overcome it”, that is the philosophy behind our choice. Furthermore, we were aware of our strong local dimension, so we wanted to bring to Torino the AEGEE spirit for those members who never had the possibility to try it.

How did we managed to succeed in it? Passion, hard work and cooperation. Every member put in this event his contribution and we managed to reach the right equilibrium and work as a really good team.

One of your famous activity is the Aperitivo linguistico (Linguistic Happy Hour). What is the concept behind it? Why do you think it’s so successful?

The Aperitivo Linguistico is perfect place to socialise, through it we are trying each month to create a familiar, comfortable and suggestive atmosphere where students from all over the world and young people in general can meet, talk, know each other, practise languages, share and mix their stories having fun. People have the opportunity to live the AEGEE spirit with AEGEE-Torino mood  for one night.

The format of the event is simple: take your half card, find your other half and Use your tongue, finally do it over and over again! More cards, more known people, more new friends! Before I joined AEGEE, I was always at the Aperitivo as a participant, I went alone, with friends or with people met in the previous one. In this way I also met AEGEE-Torino from which I can’t be away now. Why am I saying this to you? Because the Aperitivo Linguistico isn’t only a good experience for who participates, but it’s also an important opportunity for our local. In one event we can do fundraising, promotion, recruiting, training of new members and team building.

About its success, it’s a complicated question! I’ll try to be clear and concise. The Aperitivo linguistico has a really long history, the first one was done in 2010, but it started to grow only in the last three years. The idea and the passion were necessary, but not sufficient to get to this point. Good organisation and strategy are also fundamental. In 2014 the board focused on weaknesses of the event and worked hard to find good solutions. They perfectly answered to the “5W” questions for organise a great event, i.e. Why? What? Who? When? & Where?, and found the key for the turning point. Since then we’re working hard in order to improve even more and to maintain the experience unforgettable. So I think it’s so successful for three reasons: its authenticity, our determination, and a bit of luck which never hurt!

During the Agora you have been mentioned during the Action Agenda interim fulfilment for your European Cafè. How did you have the idea? How did you develop it?

Yes, we are really proud of the Europe Cafè. Thanks to it we were also chosen from the Action Agenda Coordination Committee as ACTive Local of March. The idea born in the philosophical mind of one of our old presidents, Sergio Genovesi. In his own words:

“EC aims at leading international youth present on the local territory to discuss relevant issues concerning European politics and culture. Therefore, the EC provides the opportunity to compare their ideas about European problems with different approaches and points of view to both local and international youth.”

During the current year, the board decided to invest more energy on it because we felt the need to have an open space of discussion. Every month Stefano and Roberto, responsible for this event, prepared a small presentation about the topic chosen. It will be the opening of the Europe Cafè, after that the discussion is open and anyone can share his/her opinion. The topic is chosen taking into account current processes in Europe and participants requests.

Europe Cafè is a simple event with an amazing impact on participants. If you are curious check the article about it!

How is AEGEE affecting your community?

Torino is a big city and it is not easy to measure our impact on the community. For sure, we are able to create spaces for sharing and discussing and probably a lot of new friendships, relationships and collaborations started during our events. I think that helping young people who move to Torino to find their new dimension is already a great thing.

In addition, this year we started to collaborate with external partners like start-ups, other associations and the municipality of Torino with which we’re planning some activities with the purpose to involve more young people in the social dynamics of the city and to promote active citizenship.

What is your motto? Can you describe your local in one sentence?

To be always ourself, because differences are awesome!

What are your upcoming activities?

This year was really full, but we’re not tired. Now all our efforts are on the Summer University W.I.N.E. – Water Isn’t Nutritious Enough which will be in collaboration with the Civic Education Working Group and Drink-Wise. It is another project to whom we all feel attached. This will be the second edition of that fantastic immersion in the Torino and Piedmont atmosphere: Italian style, superb food, the best wines in the world and the madness of AEGEE-Torino. After that, holidays to recharge our batteries in order to get ready for September!

What is the future holding for AEGEE-Torino?

You are so curious! For three years AEGEE-Torino has been improving itself, we found a common vision of our local and we’re working to ensure that each of our members feels part of a big project. New elections are close and the aim of current board is to be strongly supportive for the new one in order to turn all AEGEE-Torino plans into reality.

Because yes, we have plans, or better, we have dreams! We’re working on collaborations and projects and starting to plan new ones, our intention is increasing our holding in the future and our hope is that you hear about us for handsome reasons. I love mystery, so no spoilers! You will discover them!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

AEGEE-Oviedo is an antenna that is growing constantly. It was nominated as Local of the Month of April because it organised a successful Regional Training Course (RTC) in cooperation with AEGEE-León and the Youth Mobility Working Group, “To Europe and Beyond”. The event was made up of a group of 23 participants plus seven organisers and three trainers. Since the main topic of the activity was mobility, the event was based on three pillars: the concept of mobility, its barriers and benefits and different kind of mobility programmes that you can benefit from (depending if you’re looking for a job, studies, volunteering or just pleasure). Besides that and more in detail, the AEGEE members were also delivered sessions about the Erasmus+ programme, its structure and several projects in which you can participate. Furthermore, they were working on some aspects like communication or active listening. Read this interview with the board of AEGEE-Oviedo and find out about their experience.

The AEGEEan: Congratulations for being selected as Local of the Month of April. How did it feel to find out that you were nominated?

AEGEE-Oviedo Board: Grazie mille! For us it is a great honour, because this proves that our effort and work is acknowledged. We do not do things in order to receive awards, but it is nice to get recognition for the things you do, since it also serves as motivation to keep working and improving. Also, we would like to thank the network for nominating us!

Introduce yourselves and tell us your AEGEE-Oviedo story. How did it start? Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Oviedo was founded by students of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oviedo on the 21st of December 1988. As it was told by Alain Fernández at our 25th anniversary in 2013, the very first president of the local, AEGEE-Oviedo was born as a way to protest against a European directive.

In the course of 1986-1987, the need for medicine students to pass a public examination before having their compulsory internships in hospitals was implemented in Spain. According to the results of that exam, they could choose a specialisation.

To medicine students all over Spain, this seemed like a trap: after six years of hard study, they needed to pass a general exam of everything they had learnt in that time in order to be able to start their internship period. They protested and they went on strike… But since it was a European directive, it was approved anyway.

And this is where Alain and his colleagues discovered AEGEE: “If we get a better understanding of Europe, we can be more aware of what is going on”. Thus, they started a local that became one of the largest in Europe with almost 2000 members back in the nineties.

Almost thirty years later, the flame is still alive and with enough fuel for at least another thirty years of getting Europe closer to Asturias… And Asturias closer to Europe.

How did you come up with idea to organise an RTC with AEGEE-León and the Youth Mobility Working Group and how did you manage to succeed? Can you tell us the secret to organise a perfect RTC?

The idea of organising something with AEGEE-León came up almost a year ago during Spring NWM Santander 2016, when some members of AEGEE-León and AEGEE-Oviedo were talking about doing something in collaboration, because the antennae are only 120 kilometres away from each other. So we started thinking about what we could do and we came up with the idea of organising an RTC.

During the following course (2016-2017), the members of our antennae started to go to each other’s activities and do some visits, and in January we made the right decision.

Both locals started to prepare the RTC with the first and reasonable decision that half of the organisers would be from Oviedo and the other half from León, despite the fact that the event would take place in La Vecilla (León).

Afterwards, it was proposed to cooperate with the Youth Mobility Working Group, since both antennae are some of the most experienced in the La Nave area regarding mobility, but it was also a natural decision due to the fact that both antennae have members involved in that Working Group. It was the perfect mix! For us, Oviedo plus León plus Mobility meant RTC.

What were the difficult moments in organising the event? 

Well, actually, we could say that organizing an event between two locals is quite challenging. Firstly: both locals should find a common aim. Secondly: you need a team able to work and build something together without knowing each other from before. It may seem simple in theory, but the reality is not that easy! Especially when your team has to work in the distance. Maybe that was one of the most difficult parts since there are some specific tasks, like the logistic part, in which one local carries the weight of everything until the event starts.

This has nothing to do with bad experiences during our event, but sometimes trying to find the right balance between both locals is not that easy. Fortunately, both locals had the same interests and some of us were already friends before taking the decision of starting that project together so we didn’t have that kind of obstacles while organizing. That’s why if we had to choose or define the real and biggest problem, we would say the huge amount of events that were also happening in the same month and even quite near us. It’s not only about the amount of activities, but also the profile of participants you’re looking for or may be interested on the topic. At the end having so many different kind of events around means people have to choose and we got less participants that we expected, being also much more difficult for us to convince them to come.

Was the RTC productive somehow? 

Sure! We achieved our common goals, we were able to overcome difficulties as a team, new bonds were created and, at the same time, the old ones were reinforced. AEGEE-León was a great partner and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all their effort and work that was done. Regarding to the event and the content itself, we tried to do our best and we reveiced great feedback from our participants. That means, finally, everyone learnt from each other while having fun all together.

What are you working on at the moment?

While we are writing these lines, the Summer University of AEGEE-Oviedo, “Guardians of the Paradise vol.9” is going on, making participants discover the wonders of Asturias and why the North of Spain (and this very land) has nothing to do with the clichés about our country.

In addition, we are already planning the course of 2017-2018, thinking about the activities we are going to organise for our members, starting with the after-summer BBQ, and for the international students of the University of Oviedo. By the way, did you know that, in 2018, AEGEE-Oviedo will turn 30? Stay tuned.

What is the “Impro Night”?

The “Impro Night” is an activity for our members and international students of the University of Oviedo that happens in “La Salvaje”, a pub in Oviedo, which provides us with a small stage with a mic and some instruments.

In a way, it is like a jam session, but also for speaking: if your passion is singing, showing other people how well you play the piano or the guitar, or how big of a comedian you are, this is for you.

You can also participate in groups singing your favourite song, as the aim here is just to have fun!

Did you do any other activities during the month of April?

During the month of April we also organised a Mini European School about self-development in collaboration with the AEGEE-Academy where our participants got the chance to put their routine on hold and to focus on themselves. We invited them to reflect on the path that had led them where they were, and how that path had shaped them; and finally, they also discovered how they had realised their own competences and skills, becoming aware of their potential to create an impact.

At the same time, more than 60 people of the Network came to the ‘’Primer Sidre’l Añu’’ event taking place in Gijón to eat some cachopo and drink sidra. This activity became popular after Spring AgorAsturias 2015, so we’re thinking about establishing it as a regular event during Easter.

And last but not least, some of our members went to a Training Course in which AEGEE-Oviedo was partner called ‘’Escape cyber – Enter life Training Course Erasmus+’’ in Turkey. The main purpose of this event was raising awareness among the participants about the modern phenomenon of the mental disorder of internet addiction, the supply of specialised knowledge, the development of “know how” and special tracing, acknowledgement, psychological approach and confronting techniques against this phenomenon. The crisis of values that characterises our modern and developed society leads young people to false behaviours, guiding them to social isolation and self-exclusion, to depression, to dangerous behaviours with uncontrolled consequences, mental disorders and many – many more hazardous paths.

When was the new board elected?

The board of 2017-2018 was elected on the 9th of June and, during one month, we had our knowledge transfer between old and new members, so since the 9th of July the new board is in force, even though some positions are still open and will be elected in September.

Can you tell us something about the board members?

It is a board of seven members: three of them continued from the previous board and the remaining four are fresh members. The whole team is motivated to do great things during the year.

Are there any members who take part in AEGEE projects or Working Groups?

We have members in the Health for Youth Interest Group (H4Y, Irene Dios and Sandra González), Gender Equality Working Group (GEWG, Jesús Baizán, Luz Gómez, Marga Arbina, Sandra Pandiella and Silvia García), Public Relations Committee (PRC, Gerardo García), Youth Mobility Working Group (YMWG, Laura López), the AEGEE-Academy (Eugenia Casariego, Gerardo García and Laura López) and the Juridical Commision (JC, Jesús Baizán) while in the recent past we also had members being part of the Network Commission (Olga Rivero, Juan Sordo, Marcos Herrero), Information Technology Committee (ITC, Alberto Cuesta), Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT, Gerardo García) and Chair Team (Alberto Cuesta).

Can you describe your local in one sentence?

Our local is an energetic and friendly group that likes non-formal education, organising great activities and we always have room for some social time at meetings and events.

What is your motto?

Little things can be great!

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Although AEGEE-Gdansk is a very small Antenna with very young members, the Polish Local got nominated as Local of the Month of March because they organised their first NWM, also followed by national mass media. Read this interview to the President Wiktoria Rajek and to Yevheniia Pavlenko and find out how you can prepare a perfect LTC in your Antenna.

THE AEGEEan: Congratulations, you were nominated as Local of the Month of March! Introduce yourselves, please, and tell us your AEGEE-Gdansk story. How did it start? Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

Wiktoria Rajek and Yevheniia Pavlenko: Big thanks for the nomination! We still cannot believe it. We are from AEGEE-Gdańsk, a small antenna with around eleven active members now. The majority of our board were new members, we did not know each other, did not know the structure of AEGEE, did not have any experience, and did not even have many more members (besides the board) [they laugh]. But it did not stop us from doing great things! We were motivated to develop ourselves, recruit new people, and to get into all of this!

How did you come to idea to organise a NWM and managed to succeed in it?

It was a hard decision for our local, because at that moment we had only new members and a new board without any experience in organising events. At the same time Agata (one of our members) was organising a Local Training Course, Daria was organising a charity project called “Helpers’ generation” for potential future donors of bone marrow, which lasted one week (we are very proud to announce that we have registered one hundred-eighty potential donors), and Marta was responsible for the recruitment process at that time. So as you see, it was a really busy time for us, but we thought that if we had not tried, we would not have gotten any knowledge and remained as inexperienced as we were before. Thank God, we (Wiktoria and Yevheniia) decided to undertake coordination of the whole process of organising NWM. And we can say for sure that it was one of the best decisions than we have ever made.

What are you working on at the moment?                                                     

At this very moment, we are just after elections. Our candidates for future board members have great plans to thrive our local. They would like to organise a European event (not only one), so stay tuned, follow our fanpage on FB, and maybe in the nearest future you can apply for them!

Did Polish TV follow your NWM? Which has been the feedback about that?

Yes! Thanks to Dorota, who was PR Responsible of the NWM, besides many articles, radio and, of course, usual promotion of the event, we went a step further and she managed to invite a big Polish television. They made a short material not only about the event, but also about AEGEE in general. We think it was great in terms of PR, and it really helped to make AEGEE visible in our city. The feedback was really good! Participants were happy and a little bit shocked [they laugh] at the beginning, and for some of us it was the first time when we were interviewed. It was for sure an unbelievable experience.

Can you tell us the secret to prepare a perfect LTC?

In our opinion the key to the successful LTC is very simple. Firstly, you have to place yourself as a contestant and determine your expectations of the workshops. For example, what do you want to find out, what is the problem for you with entering into a labour market. Then find trainers, and describe them your vision. You can devise some theme for LTC and prepare workshops connected with one subject then. During that step, take care of the promotion of your event – it is very important for two reasons, because you are not only promoting the workshops, but also your antenna. We are still shocked about how our LTCs get around one hundred applications. It only shows the keen demand for self-development of young people in Gdańsk. And last but not least: remember that it is impossible to do it on your own – the strong team is the key!

How did it feel to find out that you were nominated?                                                                           

Ooooh [they laugh]… It happened during the closing ceremony of NWM, Stas Mahula, our Network Commissioner, and Maarten de Groot from CD recorded a short video and officially nominated us with the support of all one hundred participants. Needless to say, it was a very touching moment. There were a lot of other locals which organised NWMs this year, and were active, but AEGEEans decided to nominate Gdańsk as a local of March. For us it means that all our efforts were not in vain, and everything we did had and still has a big impact on the members’ development. After our NWM some of the participants joined even the European working groups, such as PRC. It is our best accomplishment, to know that our event actually motivated somebody to strive for more.

What is your motto? Can you describe your local in one sentence?

“Size doesn’t matter” or “nothing is impossible”, hard to choose. We like both and we think they suit the character of our local. This event and every other which we organised at that exact moment taught us one thing which we would like to share with you – if you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Although AEGEE-Düsseldorf is a really small antenna with around five or seven active members, they succeeded to represent the essence and spirit of AEGEE. In February, AEGEE-Düsseldorf organised their first RTC, in cooperation with Diede Oudenampsen from the Academy as trainer. They managed to find accommodation and food, to fundraise some tickets and water, to invite ESN-Erasmus Students’ Network and JEF-Young European Federalists for a presentation, and more. AEGEE-Düsseldorf is continuously trying to improve cooperation with other associations (Christian associations, JEF, and ESN in particular), showing that there is no need for competition. The fact that such a small antenna can achieve such an event deserves recognition.

During the RTC, where the Düssi-fever got participants and organisers affected. Düssi is the elephant mascotte of our the local, that’s the reason behind the funny arm movements.

The AEGEEan: Congratulations, you were nominated as Local of the Month of February! Introduce yourselves, please, and tell us your AEGEE-Düsseldorf story. How did it start? Can you tell us a bit more about your local?

AEGEE-Düsseldorf: Hello lovely AEGEEans, we are AEGEE-Düsseldorf! Once upon a time, a group of Europe enthusiasts decided to bring AEGEE into Düssseldorf’s student life. That was in 19xx and afterwards there is a big gap in our history. It remains unknown until this day, what or who brought AEGEE-Düsseldorf to life. So we start our story with Benjamin Feyen, the bard. It is him, who, with help of his friends, built a solid foundation, that we are still relying upon. Our local was never really big, but that does not matter to us. What matters is the motivation and initiative of our members. Cultural speed-dates, speed-debates, free walking tours and visits from other locals is what keeps our blood pumping. But with our current board, our blood started to boil! Though few in numbers, we managed to organise the RTC “Get your local movin'” in February, with the support of our friends from AEGEE-Eindhoven. And it was amazing!

How did you come to the idea to cooperate with ESN and managed to succeed in it?

In Düsseldorf, there are many youth organisations that revolve around the European future, with young people taking action in making their ideals come true. The goals are not always 100% the same and the methods differ greatly, but we still have a common ground. That was especially true for ESN and AEGEE-Düsseldorf, since we are both nurturing intercultural understanding, so we wanted to get in contact for a long time already. It is thanks to JEF, who started an event for this sole purpose, that we could establish serious (and fun) cooperations. The first “Zukunftswerkstatt”, roughly translated to future workshop, was held at the end of 2016. JEF, ESN, EYP, YEP and AEGEE attended, all youth organisations with the European future in mind. The main purpose of the event was to get in contact and to learn about each other’s visions and goals, as well as to see where we could cooperate together.
It was a great success! Since then, we have had some debating events with JEF and participated in “March for Europe” with ESN and JEF. Now “Zukunftswerkstatt” Vol.2 will be organised by AEGEE-Düsseldorf. This time, the topic will be cooperation on social media. We really look forward to our guests’ presentations on Social Media and the shaping of concrete plans for helping each other out! We highly recommend it to all locals! Look out for who else is fighting for a bright European future and start working together.

What are you working on at in the moment?

There are a few projects we are working on. Some more history-changing, some others purely for our high spirits. We are currently establishing collaborations with other youth organisations, which will help us benefit from each other and spread Europtimism throughout Düsseldorf. It is something that we consider to be crucial and it is nice to work towards the same goal apart from the AEGEE network. Just what is happening with Pulse of Europe at the moment.
In accordance with our RTC, we decided to use sports as a mean of teambuilding. We are now doing monthly yoga sessions to keep us healthy and ready for new challenges. We look forward to Europe on Track visiting us, helping AEGEE-Köln for their pre-event and welcoming SUs and exchanges with other locals. It may not sound as much for bigger locals, but for an active circle of three to seven it feels like a rollercoaster sometimes.

How did it feel to find out that you were nominated? 

We were super happy! To find out that our efforts were noticed by our friends, it made us realise that we are all in this together. We were probably nominated because you can feel how alive we are at the moment and how indulged we are in our events.

Why do you write everywhere that you are not from Cologne? 

Hahaha that is because the cities of Düsseldorf and Cologne are long time rivals (especially when it comes to brewing beer the right way). And because the cities are really close to each other, we emphasise that we are not from Cologne. [they laugh, ed.] You will hear it during the roll call at the Agora as well!

What is your motto? Can you describe your local in one sentence?

Go with the flow and see how far it takes you. Then start paddling.

Written by Aliona Sytnyk, AEGEE-Berlin

The month of December brought us a new Local of the Month: AEGEE-Eskisehir, a Turkish local that is organising a Fundraising European School with some experienced trainers and is involved in a Project called ‘’Volunteer Your Future’’. In addition, AEGEE members are already preparing their Summer University, this time in cooperation with the Election Observation Project. 

The AEGEEan: After being nominated LoM, tell us a little bit about how AEGEE-Eskisehir began to write history.

AEGEE-Eskisehir Board: AEGEE-Eskisehir joined the AEGEE network during the Autumn Agora Ankara in 2001 and has a long tradition of organising events that are open to all AEGEE members. From that day on, we had lots of different kinds of events and projects. We do not think to write all of them individually. For example, in 2005, we organised our second biggest event called “What is Europe,” an event on what Europe exactly entails and the role of Turkey during the membership dialogue between Turkey and the EU.

The biggest of all was the Autumn Agora Eskisehir in 2007, around 700 AEGEEans hosted by AEGEE-Eskisehir participated. Finally, in 2008 and 2009 we organised the largest thematic event in our history so far; our “Disabled People Project Team” organised the “Empathy Days” – after four years of local success, the “Empathy Days” were included in the 2013 European Boards Meeting in Valletta. We have a long and successful history but still, we work to improve our local and members more!

How did the Meeting of the Turkish-speaking antennas, that took place between 4-5 February, go?

We can say that it was a kind of NWM with Turkish speaking locals. We talked about our issues and every local shared their future plans. According to the results we had from this meeting, we need to do something together to have nice contact as in the past and need to help each other more.

How do you keep your members motivated?

As a board, we try to make our members feel worthful. We want every member of AEGEE-Eskisehir – experienced or new, it does not matter – to feel they belong here. We are working together closely. For sure, enjoying things together! We never say ourselves that ”We are friends”. As AEGEE-Eskişehir ”We are family!”

What did you talk about with the governor of Eskisehir?

In general, boards of AEGEE-Eskisehir go to meet with the governor and mayors of Eskisehir to talk about AEGEE and AEGEE-Eskişehir. We, as the new board, went to meet with him and told him about our future plans. Fortunately, governors and mayors of Eskisehir do not refuse us. They are trying to provide what we need. We are grateful to them!

What is happening next in AEGEE-Eskisehir?

We have lots of plans. For example, in the near future, we are going to have Spring LTC for our members and also members of the other eight Turkish speaking antennas which will be able to attend.

We are also going to have a Fundraising European School with four amazing trainers, between 3rd and 10th of April: Antonis Triantafyllakis from AEGEE-Academy, Daria Andreieva from BEST, Réka Salamon from AEGEE-Europe and Vladislav Andrijako from Euroavia. The participant fee is 75 €, that includes hosting in a villa, three meals per day, amazing sessions in Anadolu University which is one of the biggest campuses in Turkey, city tour, transportation in intracity, lots of fun and surprises! If you want to improve your fundraising skills, do not miss this chance because the deadline is on 23rd of February. So, apply from here!

We also have a local project called ‘’Volunteer Your Future’’. Statistically, knowledge about NGOs and voluntary rate in our country is very low. From this point, we created a project and we will try to raise more awareness about the importance of volunteering.

And of course, the Summer University Project called “Fantastic Elections and Where to Observe Them”.  We have cooperated with the Election Observation Project this year, and trainers from EOP will have sessions about the Election Observation’s mission and training. We will also visit three beautiful cities and have plenty of activities. So, 15 amazing days are waiting for 25 crazy AEGEEans!

We hope that plenty of motivated members will work for AEGEE-Eskisehir to make it greater. I think lots of surprises will come in the next terms!

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

The month of November brought us a new Local of the Month: AEGEE-Manchester, a new local, managed to do beautiful things in the past year. We talked to Bryn, one of the founding members and the Human Resources Responsible, and asked him to tell us how few people can accomplish what they want if they have will.

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations! Tell us a little bit about how AEGEE-Manchester began to write history.

Bryn French: Both myself and Pablo felt something was missing in our lives in Manchester, and when we thought about it we realised it was our active lives in AEGEE! I was a member in Toulouse and Durham, and Pablo was a member in Alicante. We met up with each other and agreed to start AEGEE-Manchester! We got in contact with Domitille, who founded the European Union Society at the University of Manchester some weeks before, and everything went on from there.

How did the NWM that you organised at the beginning of November go?

In April 2016, Pablo was elected as Network Commissioner and we thought that if we have a NetCommie from a UK antenna, we’d better have a Network Meeting in the UK too. We had three people in the Core Team (me, Bryn – Main Organiser, John – Treasurer and Silvia – Incoming Responsible). We spent lots of time planning, but this really paid off during the event. There were more than 50 applications for the 26 places we had. Close communication with Pablo, our NetCommie, and between the three organisers meant everyone knew what was happening. The event took place between the 4th and the 7th of November. We had a variety of trainers and members delivering different workshops, a great European night and even some time to explore the beauty and nature of the local area. All the participants enjoyed the event and expressed how much fun they had.

How do you see the development of the local in the last months?

I think in the last months, while working on the NWM, different members have developed various skills, particularly regarding the soft skills of communication and organisation. We have improved links with the University of Manchester Student Union and found a great venue for possible future events with the Youth Hostel Association. We have improved our fundraising experiences and again raised our profile within the AEGEE network.

How do you keep you members motivated?

As a very small antenna, we work together closely. It is really a family feeling, where all the members know each other. Every member is able to contribute as much or as little as they feel like, depending on what is needed at the time and the project we may be working on.

The United Kingdom just has a few AEGEE locals. What is your impact on the community?

The majority of students in the UK have never heard of AEGEE. It is always a difficult job to explain what we do and to recruit new members. At universities in the UK there are lots of different societies and associations for students to be involved in and it can be difficult to make an impact. We have started to branch out and cooperate more with similar societies such as AIESEC and European Movement.

What is happening next in AEGEE-Manchester?

We have been thinking about the NWM for the last 6 months and right now we do not have a project in the pipeline. This is in fact one of our tasks for the first meeting back after the Christmas holidays. We are continuing to send our members to events (EPM, Agora, etc) and will continue to collaborate with other antennae in the UK. Promotion of the Summer Universities will take place in the Spring term like every year and this should help raise our profile within the University of Manchester.

How do you see the local at the end of 2017?

I would like to see fresh new members returning from Summer Universities motivated to make an impact on the European community at the University of Manchester and in Manchester in general; contributing ideas and projects for us to improve European harmony, particularly following whatever may happen nationally!

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

October passed so fast, it is like it lasted only a week, but if we look back we can see that it was nothing like that – just look at AEGEE-Chișinău. Not such a big local, but united, open minded, full of hard working people. A happy family that managed to do a great job and got voted as Local of the Month of October.

The AEGEEan: Congratulations! Your local is Local of the Month of October! How did the members and you receive this news?

Ana Gancearuc: Thank you, we are immensely happy for being chosen as Local of the Month. Everybody took the news super positively and happily. Hard work pays off!

Andrei Dodița: Our newbies are very excited, this nomination is for them and their contribution to the project. It is very important for them to see that their effort is appreciated, this will motivate them to get involved more.

How did your local develope in the last months?

Ana G.: Our local grew a lot in the past months and we clearly have a stronger team, responsible and active members. We are like a big family now and we cannot let down the antenna and its people.

Andrei: Working for the Agora, under stress and pressure, could have broken the relationship between us, but it was the opposite, in the last months teamwork greatly strengthened us.

How do you keep your members motivated and keep growing your antenna?

Ana G.: The period after Agora was for recharging our batteries and in two weeks we had a couple of birthdays to celebrate in AEGEE-Chișinău. In a couple of weeks the new board is going to be elected and everyone is super excited and motivated to get involved more in the association and participate actively in AEGEE events, which is a very rewarding and pleasant thing.

Andrei: Working together, we developed our team spirit. Now we do a lot of things together, like going out or travelling. This is a beautiful friendship that keeps us together.

In October, you organised the Autumn Agora. How did the event go?

Ana Tricolici: I still remember the day when Andrei gave us the news that Autumn Agora 2016 would take place in Chișinău. My feelings were a cocktail of happiness and fear, and so many questions about what organising such an event means. There were many troubles, conflicts, problems during the organising period and of course during the previous weeks. The biggest problem was to find the perfect location, the transportation and meals. But you know what, there is no problem that does not have a solution. It was an unbelievable experience with powerful emotions – a real team building activity. We managed to do it with a very small team, but at the same time a very friendly one. Our international helpers were a big help, and I want to thank them all for that. After all the work we did, it is important for us to know that our efforts were appreciated, that the participants really enjoyed and had a nice experience in our city. We put so much love in this event and it was a dream come true.

How did the Autumn Agora influence your members?

Ana T.: As I said, it was a big challenge that helped us to become a stronger team. It is also a motivation for our new members to be more active and organise other projects and of course to take part in AEGEE projects. We now say between ourselves: “There were a few mistakes in the organisation, but of course when we will organise the next Agora, we will do it better”.

What impact has AEGEE-Chișinău in Moldova?

Andrei: In the last two years AEGE-Chișinău has grown a lot, and this fact is confirmed by the numerous prizes we won: a special award for civic activism, the prize for the most active NGO, the prize for the best project etc. This way, AEGEE-Chișinău became a youth resource centre, in process of continuous training. We also started to delegate members to the National Youth Council of Moldova (NYCM) and now we have two members on the board of NYCM, and one of them is the Vice-President. We are now a youth representative structure and our voice is heard more often. We are happy that a lot more people know about it now and that different youth portals e-mail us asking to post about our awesome association (especially when they find out via social media about the different events that we are organising).

What is on your list for the near future?

Andrei: On our list for the near future is to have the local Agora and elect the new board for the year of 2017, organise a team building with all the members, participate at some Winter Events and get everybody involved in that. We missed organising a Summer University last summer, as the Agora took over and we had lots and lots of work to do, so that will change in the next year, we are eager to organise a new one and we are already thinking about the topic. Besides projects that we used to organise, we are going to make AEGEE a real incubator for young people, where we will focus heavily on non-formal education.

The AEGEEan: The Autumn Agora was organised by AEGEE-Chișinău and AEGEE-Europe in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Municipality of Chișinău, financed by the East European Foundation in Moldova, the Embassy of Sweden and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Agora Chișinău’s digital partner was Star Net “we change the future”.

Other partners involved in the project and organisations that made a significant contribution to the organisation of the event were: Agepi, Draft, Minister of Agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Chateau Vartely, Apă Bună, The Railway of Moldova, Institute of Labour, Red Bull, ADR Center and Classic Mobil.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

AEGEE locals are very sensitive to LGBT+ issues, so much that Equal Rights is going to be one of the focus areas in the upcoming Strategic Plan 2017-2020. Out of all the countries where AEGEE has antennae, The Netherlands is definitely one of the most active in promoting LGBT+ rights and Dutch locals are actively organising events on the topic. AEGEE-Utrecht organised Colours Without Borders back in June and, for this reason, they were rewarded with the title Local of the Month of June. We interviewed AEGEE-Utrecht, more specifically Carina van Hoof, former Treasurer and Board Responsible of the LGBT Event and Bram van Os, President, to talk about this and future plans of the local. 

A moment during the LGBT event

The AEGEEan: Congratulations, AEGEE-Utrecht! How does it feel to be nominated as Local of the Month?

AEGEE-Utrecht: It feels great! It is really nice to see that our work is rewarded in this way, and that members from other locals can now also hear a bit more about it.

Please describe your local.

Our local is very active. We have many members in different local committees organising activities on a local level, and we organise several European events every year. There is always a nice atmosphere during our weekly social nights, where members enjoy a cheap beer at the bar, dance the night away till the early hours or look at our map of Europe to decide where to travel to next. If I could describe our local in one sentence, it would be ‘the local where everything is possible’.

You have been nominated for the LGBT event. How was it? 

The name of the event was Colours Without Borders. We had participants from seven different countries, which gave discussions about LGBT+ issues (for example during our dialogue workshop) an interesting turn, as situations regarding LGBT+ issues are very different in all countries. Think of Turkey vs. Spain for example. We organised several activities, we worked together with Utrecht’s Gay Student Association ‘Anteros’; we organised a pubquiz and a party together with their members. Another remarkable activity was a lecture that was featured on the programme of Utrecht’s 20th edition of the ‘Midzomergrachtfestival’ which is about Sexual and Gender Diversity. Of course, participants also came to our social night, we had sightseeing activities such as a boat tour through the canals, and enjoyed the biggest LGBT+ party of the year in our city.

AEGEE-Utrecht during Agora Bergamo

The event has been a big success for multiple reasons; it was the first time we worked together so closely with another student organisation and this was a very positive experience. We highly recommend other locals to also seek cooperation with associations that can help give your topic more depth. Moreover, participants learned a lot about the LGBT+ situation in the Netherlands and in each other’s countries, and they learned from each other’s personal stories.

In the nomination, you were defined as “always been a super gay-friendly association within Utrecht”. How important are the LGBT+ issues within your local?

It is very nice to hear that this definition has been attributed to us. I would definitely agree. We have quite some members who belong to the LGBT+ community, and as far as I know, the open character of our local has always provided a safe space for every member to be able to completely be themselves. LGBT+ issues are very important within our local, not just because many of us have friends who belong to the LGBT+ community, but also because, as a local, we stand for equal rights for everyone.

How important is this issue, according to you, to AEGEE as a whole? Do you think we are in a good situation in our organisation now, or should we take other steps?

I think giving more attention to LGBT+ issues is very important for AEGEE as a whole; both internally and externally. Internally, I think we are quite okay, but in many cases it still can depend heavily on the country you are from; the level of knowledge on LGBT+ issues and its acceptance. With more workshops or a project we could help educate our members, and create a safer space for everyone to be themselves. Externally, I also think it is very important for AEGEE to take a stand on LGBT+ matters.

AEGEE-Utrecht promoting their antenna

The current (political) situation in Europe shows that LGBT+ rights, as well as human rights in general, are not always getting better, but instead risk to get worse in quite some countries. AEGEE, as a European student association, could give an important message by giving importance to LGBT+ rights, but also to equal rights in general.

What are the new plans of AEGEE-Utrecht?

Well, there is a lot of them, because we are celebrating our VIth Lustrum [30th anniversary, ed.]! We are going to organise a congress with the theme: “Mental Health and Youth”, a European School, a spectacular Gala and many more events and activities. So be on the lookout for us!

Define your local in three words

”Gezellig” [a typical Dutch expression for warmth, cosiness and fun, ed.], Awesome, Active!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

AEGEE-Ploieşti, Local of the Month for this September, is a small, but strong antenna who is proving that dreams can come true if you dream big enough. This fall they organised a Network Meeting (NWM) called Racking up milestones, that was a big success among participants and they do not seem to want to stop. AEGEE-Ploieşti is filled with AEGEE spirit, ready to build amazing projects in the future, and we can’t wait to see what they will do next. Here is our interview with Mihaela Tătaru, President of AEGEE-Ploiești.

The AEGEEan : Tell us a bit about your local.

Mihaela: AEGEE-Ploiești is a fairly young local, and I’m saying this because, in October, we celebrated our sixth anniversary.

How many active members do you have, and how do you keep them motivated?

Since our local became part of the Network of AEGEE Europe, the number of members has varied between 30 and 40 people. Now we have around 10-15 active members and I’m glad that in the past two years we had some members who demonstrated their motivation and devotion to AEGEE.

We proudly say that we have two members who are more active at the European level: Tedi Martinescu in Your Vision for Europe project’s team and Alin Georgescu, our former President, who was part of the planning team for Ideas Factory Leon, and who has recently been elected at Agora Chișinău to be a Network Commissioner. Furthermore, we encourage all our members to apply for the hundreds of events happening around Europe, from Agorae to New Year’s Eve events and get steeped in AEGEE spirit.

How was the NWM, from the planning stage until the outcome?

Organising our first Network Meeting was a big challenge and a really big adventure: from the time when we had to prepare the budget and the social programme, until we had all the logistic  arrangements done. We must say that this NWM was the result of an ongoing effort of our former President, Alin Georgescu (Main Coordinator of our NWM), to go beyond local possibilities and to overcome habits and the so-called “comfort zone” in order to have a broader impact.

Being part of the organising team, I can say that we learned a lot regarding time management, and the importance of having a strong team and the same vision on the event. The results, seeing that participants were having fun and enjoying the event, was really rewarding. This way I want to say thanks to every participant who took part in this Network Meeting.

What are the strong and weak points of your local?

We have six board members: Mihaela Tătaru (President), Florinel Tudor (Vice President & Secretary), Ana Rusu (Tresurer), Cătălin Avram (HR Responsible), Florin Tătaru ( PR & IT Responsible) and Cristian Ivan (FR Responsible). We all try to do our best to achieve the best, and we think that a motivated board is a really strong point of our local, so that we can motivate our members to be more active.

Moreover, another strong point of our local is that we have members with European experience and we are eager to learn from them.

Talking about weak points, we think that a small number of active members, the lack of partnerships and funds are some of them, but we believe that with hard work we will succeed.

What can you tell us about you future projects?

European Day of Languages is just around the corner! We are working to have a good event, and this is not all! Soon we will have a Local Training Course (LTC) for the newbies of our local. We have also set up board meetings, as well as monthly meetings to inform our members what course AEGEE-Ploiești is planning on taking.

Of course, it is well known that soon we will have our traditional project, the Christmas Charity Event. We are thinking of making an exchange with another AEGEE local. Because we are talking now about how the future looks for AEGEE-Ploiești, we proudly announce that next autumn we’ll host the Public Relations European School (PRES)

How visible is your local in Ploiești?

The main goal of the board is to increase our visibility in Ploiești. First of all, we want to be more active in our university, and this means that we are ready to have more local events (workshops) inside the university.

Secondly, as President of AEGEE-Ploiești, I attended several meetings of Prahova`s Youth Forum working group (its aim and objectives are the promotion of active participation of young people in the economic, social and cultural development of the county). Right now we are working to establish CCPT (Consiliul Consultativ pe Probleme de Tineret Prahova [EN. Prahova Consultative Council on Youth Issues]), which means Prahova`s Youth Council and I are, on behalf of AEGEE-Ploiești, the founding members of the council, if the initiative will be approved.

So this is a great chance for our antenna to be more in touch with the local administration and other associations (NGOs), having the choice to create some new partnerships and increase our visibility through this position.

Written by Violeta Croitoru, AEGEE-Iaşi

AEGEE-Podgorica is not very big, but with only a couple dozen members, this local in Montenegro has accomplished some amazing feats. Most recently they have organised a Summer University (SU) with AEGEE-Beograd and AEGEE-Kragujevac, even though none of the organisers of AEGEE-Podgorica have ever organised a SU before or even been on one. To accomplish something like that with a relatively small group, is worthy of praise, and that’s why they are this Summer’s Local of the Month. Here is our interview with Blažo Živković, Treasurer of AEGEE-Podgorica.

The AEGEEan: Could you tell us something about the people of AEGEE-Podgorica?

Blažo: We are very proud of our antenna, because we have students from all the faculties at the University of Montenegro. We have law students, economy students, political sciences, electric engineering students etc. We have six board members, which include one committee. That might be too much but we don’t have any problems in functioning. Everybody knows their responsibilities and there is no overlapping. We have thirty-ish members but ten-ish active. Since the academic year has just started we are in the process of gaining new members and we hope to reach the number of 50.

You organised your first SU this year (with  AEGEE-Beograd and AEGEE-Kragujevac). Why did you want to organise an SU and why now?

We wanted to prove ourselves to us and to others and to put our antenna on the map. We wanted to gain some experience and educate our SU organisers, and, since we have the momentum, we thought it was the right time.

How did the process of setting up this SU go?

Since none of us had any experience – not even as participants in an SU- it was really hard, but our friends from Belgrade and Kragujevac helped us a lot. We were lost at some point and it felt like looking for the sun with the candle but eventually everything turned out pretty good. We had Skype meetings every two weeks for five months. Even in Podgorica our friends from Kragujevac helped us a lot.

You said that none of the organisers of your SU have ever been on a SU before. How was it for them to supervise Aegee-Podgorica’s part of the event?

That’s right! It was extremely hard and very exhausting, but we managed to succeed. We got very valuable experience from this, that we will always remember.

Aside from your SU, what are the most significant activities that you have organised this year?

In cooperation with ADP Zid, we organised a project named: LET’S DO IT MONTENEGRO. This project was about the environment.

Could you tell us something about AEGEE-Podgorica’s future events?

We discussed some ideas for projects that we can do for our own members, as well as some exchanges  and a Network Meeting in the next semester.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen