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

There could be nothing more straightforward than a Local Training Course: it is a course, it is local, and you will be trained. Nevertheless, the most generic names can have the most varying results, and, because of this, no single LTC is the same. This is why the AEGEEan sat down with Alejandra Piot from AEGEE-A Coruña, Raquel Pastor from AEGEE-Burgos, Katha Schwerdt from AEGEE-Dresden and Piotr Stawicki from AEGEE-Poznań, to reflect on the respective LTCs that their local organised in the past half year.

The AEGEEan: Could you give us a short summary of your LTC?

Participants and Trainers at the LTC in A Coruña

Alejandra: Our LTC was based on the differences between all the regions of Spain. It was called “LTC: 8 apellidos Gallegos” (8 Gallician surnames), based on the Spanish film “8 apellidos vascos” (8 Basque surnames). We made an LTC1 with workshops about what aegee is: on a European level, regarding event management, explaining step-by-step what a board does and more. There were only two trainers, Javier Ramírez (AEGEE-Las Palmas & AEGEE-Madrid) and myself (AEGEE-A Coruña). At first we expected to be more, but there were many problems for them to come. Nonetheless, it worked really well to work together and the participants were really interested in the workshops. Afterwards, they congratulated us on doing a good job. David Mezquita and Marcos Puente, both from AEGEE-A Coruña, also helped out. Additionally, we organised activities, such as hiking and gymkhana. There were more or less ten organisers, some of them were newbies, but they did a good job.

Raquel: In October, we organised an LTC, which was placed in Celadilla, a village near Burgos. We decided to organise an LTC after the summer to explain to the newer members that AEGEE is more than a Summer University or a meeting with old friends after the summer. The newer members were not our only objective though; a new board was just elected and a training weekend was the best idea to consolidate the new working group. Furthermore, we had great trainers like Anita from AEGEE-Burgos, who shared her evolution within AEGEE with us and Eloy from AEGEE-León, who explained the Erasmus+ programme to us.

Piotr: Our LTCs always last for three days and their topic is always the same, event management. The programme is divided into one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half-hour long workshop modules and cases about a particular part of event management, such as team building, event promotion, FR, budgeting and more.

Katha: Our LTC took place from the 22nd till the 24th of April. The title of the weekend was “Together to get there II”, since it was the second LTC held by our antenna. The aim was to train the new members on how to be an active AEGEE member, organise events and to show which possibilities AEGEE offers.

Participants at the LTC in Burgos

Roughly how many people visited your LTC?

Raquel: We had 20 participants from AEGEE-Burgos, and some friends from other antennas who assisted us during our last LTC. A huge number of participants of that LTC are now active members that try to collaborate with the antenna and its activities. Some want to join as many events as they can; their next stop will be the Agora in Bergamo.

 Piotr: At our last LTC, there were 20 participants and an additional of about 15 people from AEGEE as trainers or organisers, but sometimes we can have up to about 25 to 30 participants. We organise LTC1 and LTC2: in our LTC1, there are usually about ten to 20 participants, mainly externals and in our LTC2, there are usually six to twelve participants, both members of AEGEE as well as other organisations who have some experience in event management.

Katha: We were twelve participants in total, it was a good amount of people for our team building and icebreaking games. Also we had a “What is AEGEE” workshop and had a lot of fun on the night walk, PR, project management and conflict management workshop, as well as in the short introduction to fundraising.

Alejandra: We had, more or less, 25 participants, some of them AEGEE members, others were externals. Right now, some of these externals have become members of our antenna, so we are really happy. They were so interested in everything we talked about.

How did you attract members to join your LTC?

AEGEE-Poznań’s LTC, “Your success, our passion!”

Piotr: Our members usually only take part in LTC2s and we try to attract them by having a diverse range of topics, workshops and trainers. Thanks to this, our members can participate in a couple of LTCs and each time learn something else –as long as there are new trainers, workshops and activities-.

 Alejandra: We promoted it as a formal event, which also included team building exercises and attractive activities. We send mails though the University Mail Server, because we thought that some people would want to come with us and we were right. Some people read our email and replied, asking us for more information. I think we did really well, because it was a good way to catch new members.

Raquel: Of course the main attraction of an LTC is to spend a weekend meeting friends and new people. However, active members would pass on their motivation to our newer members every day during the course. That is why our last LTC was so successful, because everybody wanted to know about AEGEE and its versatility.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

AEGEE-Skopje, the only antenna in Macedonia and with 70 members, has become well known for its Travel Summer Universities (TSU). We spoke with Maria Davceva, External Relations Responsible, who told us about the results of the last Winter Event, which the Macedonian antenna organised for the International Volunteer Day. She also explains their involvement in “Democracy in Practice”  and focuses on previous experiences in TSUs.

The antenna took part in the “International Volunteer Day”, celebrated every year on the 5th of December. It aims to motivate young people to become active volunteers in order to contribute to their society. Also, it encourages people to understand the importance and the benefits of volunteering. This December AEGEE-Skopje was part of the NGO fair in its city, where more than 50 NGOs presented their activities and future plans in order to motivate people to join them as active volunteers. They presented their past projects and future activities in front of thousands of visitors and managed to share  AEGEE’s vision and mission among them.

AEGEE-Skopje also participated in a project called “Democracy in Practice”. This is an AEGEE-Europe Project that aims to raise awareness among young people about the importance of human rights as the basis of a healthy democracy in order to promote social and political participation of young people in their local, national and European environment. This year there was an initiative to celebrate the Human Rights Day by doing interactive workshops across AEGEE antennae.
The Human Rights Day in AEGEE-Skopje was well accepted and integrated in the weekly meeting on the 11th of December. 15 members of AEGEE-Skopje, divided in two groups, participated in the activity drawing a “human rights tree”. After finishing their drawings, they had a short discussion about which human rights are violated in Macedonia. The members were really interested in the discussion about the factors (the roots) that make human rights flourish, such as: no corruption, health care system, social care system, education, moral, ethics, police, law, democracy, etc.

The last events that were related to motivating and training members were: a Local Training Course (LTC) about Democracy in Practice on 14.12.2015, and a motivational weekend on the 23.10.2015 (Mountain House Papradiste).
The LTC was a three hours course, during which new members gained knowledge from the beginnings of AEGEE, history and its structure, but also the activities in AEGEE-Skopje. They also went from newbies to motivated active members all through a series of workshops and thematic exercises .
The motivational weekend on the other hand, apart from information about the possibilities in AEGEE, its history and member bonding experiences, gave the members two whole days to be part of trainings in the areas of fundraising (how to achieve long-term fundraising success), human resources (emotional intelligence), and informational technology (protect your online data).
Although in both LTC and motivational weekend the basic workshops and activities were tied around the five different working teams headed by the board responsible (HR, PR, ER, IT, FR and Fundraising), their structure and goals are somewhat different (training them with knowledge vs. motivating them to use and point that knowledge towards a goal).

From the 7th to the 12th of January AEGEE-Skopje had its winter event “WinUp-It’s Snow Time”, which took place in Skopje and Mavrovo. The participants enjoyed a workshop about traditional Macedonian dances, lead by a professional folk dance group which taught them how to dance like a true Macedonian. The second workshop was about Macedonian Christmas traditions. It was interesting for the participants to hear and see pictures of the various traditions around Macedonia, considering that it is an Orthodox country. The participants were amazed by the Matka canyon and its untouched nature, the city tour in Skopje followed by the pub crawl in the Old Bazar and the fresh mountain air in Mavrovo. The Macedonian antenna was happy to have a really united and amazing group of participants in which they all felt connected.
“The gossip box was always full, it fulfilled its purpose of breaking the ice and improved the love factor of this event. The energy of the participants was endless, never ending singing, laughing and drinking of course. The party bus in Mavrovo has a lot of stories to tell” says Maria. The best way to spend time after New Year’s Eve is traveling, mainly in the capital of Macedonia where the winter event took place in the middle of the Christmas spirit in Skopje and the breathtaking Mavrovo. “We didn’t have snow, because our participants were so full of love that they melted it all” adds Maria.

About the TSUs, Maria says “A Travel Summer University is a great responsibility and even bigger pleasure to organise”. In fact, the antenna had two great summer universities with two amazing antennae in the summer of 2015, which it had a lot of workshops about their cultures, national dances and history, trying to make the participants feel their way of living. At the TSU with Belgrade “YUGOvision- Balkan is calling”, the participants had the chance to visit two countries which not so long ago shared the same name, language, monetary system and president. The monuments they visited and workshops they attended got them closer to the theme of their TSU, to their culture, history, life and to Yugoslavia. At the TSU with Istanbul “Greater than Alexander, more Magnificent than Suleyman”, the participants got closer to the history of Turkey and Macedonia through multicultural activities, which in the past has intersected more than once, leaving traces that are present even now.

About the last elections of the board, only one of the old members remained and that is the president Ivan. Members attend different universities, meaning that the prosperity of the 2016’s productivity is immensely high. Nenad has his Master’s degree in Business Law, Marija and Stefani are students of psychology, Elena is an IT student, Saska is attending business academy and Goran is an economist. “Together we are one team and for almost two years now, we have been spreading the AEGEE spirit” adds Maria.

During the 2015, AEGEE-Skopje slightly altered its logo. The old one consisted of the word “AEGEE” and the name of the capital city Skopje, as well as a map of Europe next to the word. The new logo is enriched with a picture of the biggest and most beautiful bridge, and also one of the greatest monuments in Skopje – The Stone Bridge. The Stone Bridge or “Kameni Most’”, as they call it, is a bridge across the Vardar River in Skopje. The bridge is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element is the coat of arms of the city, which is incorporated in the city’s flag. The Stone Bridge connects Macedonia Square, in the center of Skopje, to the Old Bazaar.

At the end Maria reminds that all AEGEE members are invited to apply and participate on the next TSU whose name is “Balkanize your summer from Danube to Vardar”, which is going to be organised in five cities (Serbia- Novi sad/Belgrade, Macedonia-Skopje/Struga/Ohrid).

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

New AEGEE members need to be motivated in order to get active and discover everything that the association has to offer them and what they can offer to, in order to both develop. That’s why, there is Local Training Course which is designed for locals that want to train and motivate their members. A weekend long training will combine the acquiring of skills and knowledge with a lot of fun and motivation to work in AEGEE. The LTC is based on the concept of the European School, the well known high-quality training events in AEGEE.

Organising a Local Training Course is also part of fulfilling the Antenna Criterion which says “Have organised a Local Training Course at least once within the last year.” and “The organisation of the Local Training Course is monitored and approved by the Network Commission, or another organ or ordinary member of AEGEE-Europe approved by the Comité Directeur.” The purpose of this criterion is to raise awareness among the members on what AEGEE is and what their possibilities are in the association, to provide them with the necessary skills in order to become active members and organize events in their local and acknowledge the boards of their responsibility to educate the members.

At Spring AgorAsturias 2015 a new Strategy for learning and training of AEGEE was approved by the Agora together with proposals regarding the definitions of trainings and the compulsory criterion of the Local Training Course for each AEGEE local. Since then, LTC will be divided in two levels. The first one, LTC 1, aims at integrating AEGEE members into an AEGEE local and has compulsory parts which are AEGEE Identity, AEGEE History, the structure of AEGEE and an introduction into the AEGEE local and its activities together with a session about event management skills. The second level is LTC 2 and aims at training AEGEE members with knowledge and skills to get them involved in the work of AEGEE. As well as the first level, it has compulsory parts which are sessions about communication channels in AEGEE, training opportunities in AEGEE, thematic projects of AEGEE and project management and communication skills in a team.

This time of the year is the time for Local Training Courses among the network. In order to find out why they chose to organise one and how it went, we randomly chose some antennas and asked them about LTC.

“We decided to organize a LTC so we could integrate the new members of our antenna, thus enabling them to have a complete view of the AEGEE – we dealt with AEGEE history, AEGEE identity and vision, with the Action Agenda, the AEGEE structure, the international oportunities offered by the association and how an antenna works. After that, they discovered our local. We want them to travel all over Europe.” said Luca Ciucci, Secretary of AEGEE-Pisa.

Alin Georgescu, President of AEGEE-Ploiești, told us that “a LTC is the best way to introduce the AEGEE spirit to our new recruits. The majority of them are young people on their first year of university. However, they were getting involved especially when we worked in groups on Strategic Plan and tried to create projects on each one of focus areas.” AEGEE-Chișinău spent three days outside the city with the new recruited members and they earned some skills and experience before they got involved in the association, as President of the local, Andrei Dodița, told us.

Few weeks before Autumn Agora Kiev 2015, AEGEE-Moskva organiaed a Local Training Course 2 in their local. “We had a lot of workshops and trainings all day with qualified trainers and speakers. We discussed topics such as communication channels, training opportunities, project management, thematic projects, communication in the team. But also, we added some trainings and presentations regarding AEGEE inspiration, teambuilding, board position.”, said Dmitry Shishmarev, former Human Resources Responsible of AEGEE-Moskva.

Local Training Courses do give the members a new perspective about the association, as well as showing them their opportunities, help them develop and grow at once with the local of which they are part of.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

The Action Agenda Coordination Team (ACT) is working to show the Network that the Action Agenda (AA) and the Strategic Plan (SP) are not enemies and each month choose an ACTive local. The local of July was congratulated for organising Local Training Course (LTC) and workshops that contributed to the AA. We interviewed the President, Erald Aga, to know more about this local.

ACT: Congratulations! ​As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?

Erald: AEGEE-Tiranë is a small antenna re-established in 2009. From 2009 until 2015 we have organised many Training Courses (TC), Local Training Courses, International Projects/Events, Summer Universities (SU), Network Meetings (NWM), Regional Training Courses (RTC), conferences, seminars, local activities and so on. Also, our members have been active in participating in different Youth in Action Projects and lately in Erasmus+.

Since the beginning, our main aim has been to have better quality members, rather than quantity of them. Our vision of AEGEE-Tiranë as a youth organisation wasn’t just a funny-party organisation, as somehow AEGEE is seen, but we wanted to give content to every activity we organise. So, from 2009 until now, we think we have started to link AEGEE-Tiranë to a youth organisation focused more on thematic activities such as mobility projects, even thought parties are never missing during our international or local events.

Nowadays, we have 12 members. Not a big figure, but our main policy is to have people motivated and giving their best when being part of AEGEE-Tiranë and not just being a “Summer University member”. AEGEE-Tiranë is proud that many members have made a step forward in their careers by giving chances to themselves and being really distinguished persons wherever they have been.

Finally, we could say that we are open to all the AEGEE locals who want to cooperate with us in terms of projects or activities.

​You have organised an LTC, as well as two workshops that have contributed to the Action Agenda. Can you tell us more about your events?

We organised the event called: Hire Me! It was a Local Training Course organised by our members, Brixhilda Kasa and Selda Selfollari, who were also the trainers of this event. The idea of this LTC was started by Brixhilda who proposed it to our board and it was later finalized with the contribution of Selda.

The main purpose of this two-day event was to give participants the knowledge, skills and resources that will help them become creative entrepreneurs, employees or job seekers in the emerging opportunities by using their maximum potential.

This activity was focused on developing the skills of employees or job seekers such as strong communication, facilitation competencies, creative thinking and building working groups. The target group of this activity were young people aged 16-23, since it’s an age which is most affected by unemployment or even mistreated by employers, who are asking them to be over experienced or over qualified.
Why did you decide to organise LTC? And workshops?
We decided to organise the LTC, because it was in line with other projects realized in AEGEE-Tiranë and because it contributes to the Action Agenda. We liked the idea of a two-day event full of workshops to enhance the above mentioned participants’ skills.

The workshops during those two intensive days were: Job Opportunities, Flexibility in Work, Facts about Trade Market, Informal and Formal Work, Job Contracts, Job Interview, How to Have a Successful Job Application, How to Become an Entrepreneur, Thinking out of the Box. All these workshops were based on non-formal education methodology.
What was the result? (I.e.: how many people visited it, what were the opinions about it, etc.)
The results were surprisingly great! Participants liked it a lot and evaluated it with 4.82 points out of 5. So, our Brixhilda Kasa and Selda Selfollari, whoorganised for the first time such an event, should be congratulated because they managed to succeed with good results. We were able to raise awareness about the topics treated in this LTC and the participants got some impulse for their future jobs or how to become entrepreneur.
​Why do you think the Action Agenda is important for the Network and what would you say to another local that is thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?

The Action Agenda is really important for the Network, not because it fits with our motto established since 2009 “Better Quality of Members rather than Quantity of them”, but because AEGEE, as the biggest youth organisation in Europe, should give the best example of implementing and organising many thematic activities focused on mobility. Education is the key to success and AEGEE has the power to bring all its members to their success by implementing such events.

And AEGEE-Tiranë is a typical example of it. We are a small local in the Network with few members compared with many big locals, but, in terms of the Action Agenda projects and quality of them, probably, we could compare ourselves with many of them as equal.
Do you have any other big plans for the upcoming months?

Sure we do, as always! We will keep them between us, but soon we will share them and if any of AEGEE local wants to be part of them,  we would be very happy.

What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you?

Keep focusing on thematic activities and on the Action Agenda, because these are the only activities which will bring success to your antenna and your members. Project with content based on mobility and AA are what we need in the Network. This will be our future power, the power of knowledge.
​Which sentence would describe your local and your event? (One sentence)​
Sentence that describes our local: “Better quality of members rather than quantity of them”.
Sentence that describes our event: “Think out of the box: be creative, be an entrepreneur”.

Do you have anything else to add?
See you somewhere in Europe!

Written by Tugce Carpaz, AEGEE-Eskişehir

“It is more or less common ground that one of the weakest points of AEGEE is its internal education. In all levels of the association, active members are expected to bring results virtually without any training at all”. Although this might sound familiar to many AEGEEans, these words were taken from AEGEE’s draft project on internal education back in 1999.

Given that our internal education system has been a long-term issue and a struggle for our association, the picture looks much better now, after introducing the brand new Strategy for Learning and Training at Spring AgorAsturias 2015, and the approval of the proposals that will from now on regulate the definitions of trainings and the brand new compulsory antenna criterion for each AEGEE local to host at least one Local Training Course (LTC).

A new way to manage the internal knowledge in AEGEE

Let’s first review the different tools of internal education available for AEGEEans: firstly the on-line toolkits, which give guidelines to the members in a wide range of topics (ranging from fundraising, to policy and advocacy, public relations and budgeting). However, the initiative is still quite unknown to the network, which seldom uses such tool. LTCs and RTCs (Regional Training Courses) lacked any kind of general framework and objective until now, which were completely free for each local to organise and select its content. Finally, European Schools are a one-of-a-kind experience to gain knowledge and a deeper insight in certain topics, but they are very few taking place throughout the network, on specific dates and with a limited amount of participants – therefore, not reachable for the biggest part of our network.

According to the new Strategy for Learning and Training document, one of the strong features of formal education institutions is “the hierarchy of different levels of education. According to this hierarchy, it is then possible to define the level of knowledge required for the entry”. Therefore, this strategy aims to create a similar structure, which will provide the basis of the purpose of each training and its entry requirements, as well as the outcomes. It looks as follows:

From now on, Local Training Courses will be divided between two levels. The first level, the LTC 1, aims to integrate new members in a local antenna. According to the new proposal approved by the Agora, 50% of the content of an LTC 1 should be devoted to the following sessions: AEGEE identity introduction, AEGEE history introduction, AEGEE’s structure, local antenna introduction and its main activities, and event management.

The remaining content of the LTC1 can be decided by the locals themselves according to their own needs. The LTC 2, aimed at learning the basic knowledge about AEGEE and the skills needed in order to stay active in the antenna or a European body, follows a similar system and has communication channels in AEGEE, training opportunities, thematic projects of AEGEE, project management and communication inside the team as its own compulsory sessions.

The next level of trainings in the association, the Regional Training Courses, are defined as a support for members of local antennae who aim to become board members and, additionally, to promote the cooperation among antennae in the region and building stronger bonds among neighbouring locals. Compulsory sessions include: Management of local antenna (namely, the antenna criteria, membership management, financial reports,  etc.) and the opportunity to choose among leadership skills or strategic planning.

Last, but not least, the Strategy remarks the roles of European Schools, aimed at providing knowledge and a full-week training in a specific field (Human Resources, Public Relations, IT, Self-Development, Fundraising…). On the other hand, the Training for Trainers, aims to strengthen the pool of trainers of AEGEE-Europe. Both training courses have their learning outcomes defined by the AEGEE Academy.

A full package to organise Local Training Courses is already available in our Members’ Portal. Moreover, stay tuned, as the Strategy for Learning and Training includes references to the on-line trainings that will be soon released for testing. This means that, other than toolkits and publications, AEGEE members will have yet another tool accessible to everyone for self-development!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Local and Regional Training Courses (LTC and RTC) are key points of our organisation when it comes to internal learning. Our members learn from them, create bonds and it can serve as a start to think about running for a board position. With two proposals for Agora Asturias, the Comité Directeur (CD) along with the Network Commission (NetCom) wants to implement LTCs as antenna criteria and define LTCs and RTCs in line with the Strategy for Learning and Training of AEGEE-Europe. Let’s see how the changes in the CIA can help AEGEE achieve that.

Setting Local Training course as a criterion for Antennae

With the addition of the simple rule to have LTCs in the Antenna Criteria, the Netcom and the CD are expecting antennae to give more learning opportunities to new members. Right now LTCs are highly promoted by the Network Commission and with funding opportunities from AEGEE-Europe for trainers and material, but not all antennae are organising LTCs and some of them are highly unstructured.

With the second part of the criteria, antennae will not only have to organise a LTC but the content of it will also be monitored by the Network Commission, thus making it more professional. Furthermore, it is stated in the argumentation for the proposal that antennae will not be alone in this, because organisational and content packages will be available for them right after AgorAsturias. See the full proposal clicking here.

Defining Local Training Courses and Regional Training Courses in line with the Strategy for Learning and Training

The purpose of this proposal is to make the new Strategy for Learning and Training (link), which will be presented at the Agora and still has to be ratified by the Agora, binding for trainings. The trainings defined inside the Strategy are: Local Training Course (1 and 2), Regional Training Course, European School and Training for Trainers.

The Strategy not only defines what kind of trainings are official inside AEGEE, but also which content they should have, who is responsible for it and what the overall purpose of each training. In the document, there’s an introduction to the new concept of LTC1 and LTC2, where the first would be for entry level members, the second for involving members, and the RTC for giving Knowledge Transfer for members interested in board positions.

With a focus especially on LTCs and RTCs, the proposal aims to make the Strategy binding, defining the rules for their organization, content and funding. Furthermore, it is stated in the document that content-related information will be available for members. See the full proposal clicking here.

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona

Kraków is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Poland and also the home of AEGEE-Kraków, an antenna which hosts so many events, that it was even nominated for the antenna of the month in December last year. Therefore, the AEGEEan had no choice but to question the Krakovians about their projects.

“We are proud of every activity which is made by our antenna. It doesn’t matter if it is a local event or an international one. All of them are important and create our organisation”, says Elżbieta Krótka, the President of the antenna. This approach can clearly be seen in the amount of activities the antenna prepares. In December alone, there was a Management Training Course (MTC), which hosted about 25 young people who came to learn about project management, public relations, fundraising, team building or public speaking. After the intensive three days of workshops, the event was concluded with a simulation of the Dragons’ Den. Only a week after this MTC, another event, the PR Camp, showed students from all over Poland how proper communication with the general public is done.

With such a tough workload on their back, the antenna members also learn a lot themselves. “The projects gave our members new knowledge, and it also showed them how to make good projects on a big scale.” confirms Elżbieta, who also believes the number one thing to mention about the antenna are not the events but rather its ‘expansion’. “This is something that AEGEE-Kraków is famous for. For example during NWM (Network Meeting) Zielona Góra there were about 40 members of our antenna there! And the same situation could be seen during the last two Agorae – in Patra we’ve had about 25 people from AEGEE-Kraków and in Cagliari, there were 16 of us.”

With such an overwhelming amount of active members, it is surely no surprise that the two aforementioned events are not the only ones that the antenna has prepared for the youth of Kraków in December. Others worth mentioning are the Free Language Conversations, which attracted around 400 students speaking 21 different languages to come expand their knowledge, as well as their communication skills, or a series of workshops on Gaining Goals and Self-presentation during job interviews which were organised in cooperation with several companies that ensured high quality of the talks. Seeing the antenna organise several other events, such as a WordPress workshop, an Erasmus + training, a Traditional Christmas Dinner or the antenna’s birthday celebration, one question comes to mind: How do the Krakovians keep going? What would they suggest to other antennae who want to be as active and organise so many events?

Once again, the proud President has the answer: “Development! People! The desire of feeling ‘this’ again! I believe, it is a vicious circle. We have coordinators chosen by the board. The coordinators are the people who want to do something and have the skills to organise big things. Their ideas are announced during our General Meetings when they try to show their passion and convince people to come to their project group. People come because they want to do something good for the organisation, they work hard for a few months but even through all the sleepless nights they see their goal all the time. Later, the event comes and they feel a big satisfaction and ‘this’ is what we call AEGEE spirit! They want to do more and more, with people they like and they want to interact with as well. Our local is a chain of activities – everybody knows what to do, they know whom they can ask if they have any problems. What is very important is that we try to have a good atmosphere inside – and if you sum this up, you have a recipe ”.

And what is the antenna planning for the future? Having read the article so far, you will not be surprised that they have big plans on their mind once again – AEGEE-Kraków organises at least four LTCs (Local Training Course) every year and 2015 should by no means be an exception. Apart from that, there is an Eastern Partnership Convention and model of United Nations conference coming up in May, but right now, the biggest deal is the March RTC (Regional training Course) On the way to financial freedom, which will, as the title suggests, focus on start-ups and investing. In particular, during the five days from the 4th to the 8th of March, the participants will take part in a series of professional training courses in the fields of introduction to entrepreneurship, investment in the capital market, financial intelligence and starting a business. There will be many investors and experienced business practitioners to answer every question the participants may have so as always with AEGEE-Kraków, there is a lot to look forward to. The link to the event can be found here.

Written by Jirka Lhotka, AEGEE-Praha

Local of the Month of December is AEGEE-Chișinău, the only Moldovan local we have in our Network. Despite being a rather small local, they have had a month full of events and recognition, organising a LTC, helping the Election Observation Project with their mission in Moldova for the parliamentary elections and hitting the 13th place overall in the Summer University ranking. We spoke with Aliona Ciorba, the secretary of the board, to understand this antenna better.

The AEGEEan: Please introduce your local to our readers

Aliona: AEGEE-Chișinău was founded in 1996 and after a little pause its activity was restarted in 1999. This was the year when the first Summer University in Moldova was organised and in 2014 we celebrated the 15th anniversary of Summer University in Chișinău. Currently, in our antenna there are 28 cute members and 6 cute board members namely Andrei Dodita (President), Lucia Gori (Vice-President), Aliona Ciorba (Secretary), Diana Gorita (Treasurer), Ana Gancearuc (HR Responsible) and Maria Chiper (PR Responsible).

How does it feel to be elected Local of the Month?

Being elected Local of the Month makes us feel very enthusiastic and that our work is finally appreciated. We think we had a good AEGEE year and the greatest result for us is that our Check-in in Moldova Summer University was ranked the 13th from all the 80 Summer Universities. I remember before the organisation of the SU one of our members was saying that “it is not possible, we have no sea, no mountains to attract the participants and make the SU more interesting”, but here we are proving that when you have a great desire, everything is possible and we managed to establish a new record for Moldova in the Summer University project. We really hope that the new board of AEGEE-Chișinău will exceed the previous board and will have even better results!

As you said before, according to SUCT list, your Summer University Check-in in Moldova achieved a remarkable 13th position. What do you think most impressed your participants?

We think that the participants liked overall the activities and the organisation of the Check-in in Moldova Summer University, and secondly, the good connections with the organisers. The members of AEGEE-Chișinău befriended the participants and made them feel very good and enjoy even more the time spent in Moldova.

What is the secret for a small local to succeed in a Summer University?

The secret for a small local to succeed in a Summer University is first of all the belief that everything is possible and that we can do it. Secondly, a big wish to make a great Summer University. Thirdly, knowledge, experience, a good concept of SU, a team and, last but not least, positive participants. Without all this you cannot manage!

Your country recently had elections and you helped the Election Observation Project. Which kind of impact has the project had on your local? Do you think those elections had an impact on young generations?

On the 30th of November the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Moldova took place. We were pleased to support the Election Observation Project of AEGEE and help its members, because we believe the parliamentary elections had a direct impact on the future of our country. We, as citizens, wanted our elections to take place in a democratic and correct manner, hence, we welcomed the observation mission with big enthusiasm. The Election Observation Project of AEGEE did a great job and we are very happy we took part in this important mission.

You organised a Local Training Course. What were the topics? And what were the outcomes?

The LTC of AEGEE-Chișinău took place shortly after the recruitment process of new members in the association. The main purpose of the training was making an introduction and explaining AEGEE. The trainers of the LTC were experienced members that could give more extensive information about any body, activity or project of the association. Besides this, we presented the Summer University Project, as it is the longest lasting project in the association’s history, and organised several workshops and even a quiz. And last but not least, we tried to organise the LTC in such a manner that we could show and transfer to the new members the enthusiasm and love that we have for AEGEE and to inspire them. We consider to have succeeded in this and, as a result, the new members desired to discover more about the association and actively participate in the activities of the local.

What are the new projects of the locals?

2015 seems to be a busy year for AEGEE-Chișinău because we plan to do a lot of projects and activities. We plan to establish a new record for AEGEE-Chișinău by organising The hottest Summer School SU 2015, which besides being the hottest Summer University of AEGEE will also let the participants experience a new concept of upside down school with teachers of the most unusual subjects that will throw their summer downside-up.

Moreover, we will organise  4 seasons, 3 reasons, 2 countries, 1 story! Travel Summer University 2015 in collaboration with AEGEE-București , which has an amazing itinerary and will let the participants discover two colorful countries: Romania and Moldova. The program will include everything: from urban locations (two capitals: București and Chișinău, which are two totally different cities), to mountains, sea and beautiful nature.

Thridly, we plan to organise a local project which will develop the subject of Europe, European Union and the European projects and opportunities for the Moldavian youth, in order to encourage them to take an active role in the society, broaden their knowledge, and create awareness among young people. We hope these projects will have a positive impression on the participants.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

Is there a better way to start a new year than with a great New Year’s resolution? With the Local Training Course (LTC) taking place from 10-11 of January 2014, Lyon’s AEGEE members charged their batteries with a lot of energy and motivation for the new year.

A lot of goals have been set privately and within the antenna and with the help of Maartje Natrop, our trainer for the weekend, these goals should be easily realized by the end of the year. Maartje, the speaker of the AEGEE Academy, a pool of trainers of AEGEE (European Student’s Forum), turned our weekend into a flourishing and interesting experience. Not only did we learn how to power up ourselves, but also how to energize each other and most importantly our antenna. For those who had only recently joined, the training offered a great opportunity to get to know the principles of AEGEE and some of Lyon’s members.

The first session ‘Power Up Yourself’ was, as the name already gives away, concentrated on our personal aims. Goal setting, time management and motivation were the three key points on the list. Not only did it help to understand how important it is to clearly define our goals but also how to set up a plan that is realistic enough to get there. A combination of motivation, discipline, structure and fun will eventually get you where you want.

One of the many things that make AEGEE outstanding is the fact that different kind of people come together and start working as a team. A team is made up of different types of people, but sometimes we are not a hundred percent certain what kind of position we take on when working in a group. Session two was all about powering up each other: finding one’s position in a group, building team dynamics and developing conflict management strategies. Those of you who have not tried or heard of the Belbin test should be googling it right now. With the help of this fantastic test that takes up about twenty minutes it is possible to find out what your strengths are when working in a team. It is astonishing if not scary to see how much the end-descriptions resemble one’s personality.

Still being a very small antenna, AEGEE-Lyon made especially use of the third session: ‘Power Up Ur Antenna!’. People are the essential key to what AEGEE does and that is why it is important to keep your current members active and interested while recruiting new ones. Despite the size of Lyon’s antenna, its diversity and commitment led to the decision of organizing a Travel Summer University with Genova this year. With the help of Maartje’s lovely personality and talent and the team spirit of our members it was possible to remind ourselves of what it is that we personally want to achieve within AEGEE, where and how we would like to get active and deepen our understanding of empowerment and team dynamics.

As a new member to the association, it was an amazing experience to see the progress that was made by the end of the day. Getting to know each other, exchanging ideas and learning about the uniqueness of the organization got me all excited to get involved.

It was a productive weekend that got us excited about what is coming up this year. We would once again like to thank Maartje for making this weekend so special and we can’t wait to see some of you in Lyon this summer. In the meantime do not forget: Life is Your Own creatioN, Let Yourself go Over the Nations! So get motivated, get active and get involved!

Written by Jasmin Haider, AEGEE-Lyon