Just like we did for the past Agorae, for Spring Agora Enschede, once again we would like to provide you with a short and easy summary of the proposals submitted for the Agora. In this third, and last round, we will be explaining you four proposals: “Including Planning Meeting in the Events, Projects and Activities”, “Changing the selection process of the hosting locals of the Agora”, “Fostering pre-Agora discussion by requiring online statements of support for proposals” and “Restriction of Reimbursement Criteria of Comité Directeur”.

Including Planning Meeting in the Events, Projects and Activities

The Planning Meeting is the event where the Strategic Plan, i.e. the guidelines for the work of the association in the following three years, is drafted. At the moment, there is no mention of this event in the CIA. Proposed by Lia Touska, on behalf of the Comité Directeur, this proposal wants to include the Planning Meeting in the CIA, defining the timing of the meeting and the procedures needed before and during the meeting. Specifically, the Planning Meeting will take place at least six weeks before the Agora in which the new Strategic Plan will be approved; the CD will be responsible for the agenda, which will be communicated to the Network at least two weeks prior the event, and the selection of the Planning Team; and the Open Call for the hosting local will be announced one year prior the event together with the Open Call for Autumn Agora.

You can read the full proposal here.

Changing the selection process of the hosting locals of the Agora

This proposal by Tekla Hajdu, Réka Salamon and Katarzyna Sokolowska on befalf of Comité Directeur, aims at increasing the transparency regarding the selection process of the Agora, so the AEGEE Network is informed about the application, has the chance to review it and can have a say in the process. If approved, it will be the Agora who will decide on the hosting local by secret ballot. This will also allow AEGEE-Europe to have a more proactive role in supporting the hosting local with possible funding opportunities and external cooperations. The CD will need to approve applications one month prior the presentation to Agora; the hosting local will be selected one year prior the event and will be required to present a progress report at the following Agora.

You can read the full proposal here.

Fostering pre-Agora discussion by requiring online statements of support for proposals

Proposed by Evelien Kroon, Jochem Postmes and Steyn ten Kate on behalf of AEGEE-Enschede, this proposal wants to foster preliminary discussion over proposals prior to Agora, and introducing a requirement of support from three European Bodies for a proposal to be discussed at Agora. Considering the time needed for discussion of proposals during Prytania, even when they are poorly designed, this change would ensure that proposals are discussed in advance and fine-tuned. If the changes are approved, it will be required a change in the online voting system that is feasible and the creation of an infrastructure in which locals can already show their support for proposals before the Agora. The proposed time-frame in which the proposals could collect statements of support from European Bodies is two weeks.

You can read the full proposal here.

Restriction of Reimbursement Criteria of Comité Directeur

Current Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe Zvonimir Canjuga on behalf of Comité Directeur proposes to set clearer rules for reimbursement of moving out costs, since at the moment, the form offers too much space for misinterpretation. If the changes were to be approved, the moving out reimbursement would be limited to the amount corresponding to the trip home or next proven place of residence with the cheapest travel option possible.

You can read the full proposal here.

Written by Federica Soro, AEGEE-Cagliari

Mark your calendar! From the 7th to the 11th of September you should really be in Leon for the AEGEE Idea Factory/Planning Meeting. The Spanish Local, in fact, will host this strategic event for our organisation. What is an AEGEE Idea Factory/Planning Meeting? It’s the moment when the Strategic Plan 2017-2020 will be drafted and new topics, those the association will be working on for the next three years, will be discussed. If you are already intrigued by the idea, read the interview with AEGEE-Leon and wait for the Open Call, which is coming soon. 

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to apply?

We are one of the strongest antennas in this moment, with members in European level, huge knowledge of Action Agenda and in organising big events. And what can be better than a Planning Meeting to show that to the entire Network? Moreover, this is a great opportunity for us to open León to the whole Europe! Since we’ve already opened Europe to León, we’re sending at least ten members to the last statutory events.

What were you doing when the Comité Directeur delivered you the news?

In May, we were attending the LTC 2 when Álvaro noticed that we received an email from the Comité Directeur. We ran to read it, and we celebrated the positive result! But we had to be quiet so that members of other antennae that attended it could not discover the news… it was a secret until Agora Bergamo!

Present your local.

AEGEE-León is one of the most active antennae. Yes, that’s a cliche, BUT WE REALLY ARE! Imagine, we have been participating in the EVS program for five years now, hosting two volunteers per year and sending an average of three people from Leon to Europe per year. We were the last best SU before the “tirany” of Catania and we had organised a SUPS, NWM, and big and important events for our region, (for more than 100 hundred people!) we focused in the AA last year, with a lot of activities and workshops that fulfil it. We work a lot with the Erasmus + programme, sending each year more members to youth exchanges and training courses than to summer universities. We have around 130 members, among which there are some who have positions in the European level. We weekly organise activities for international students and for local members, both “social” and “serious” events.

Who will be in the core team? Have you already decided?

In our fantastic Core Team there are the following lions: team of coordinators, Sergio Nistal and Álvaro Nieto. Then, we also count on the big experience of members such as Alejandro M. Moya and Marcos Mato, and the great motivation of other members such as Cristina de la Parte, Genoveva García, Andrés Diez, Mario González and Enric Baltasar. Maybe we will include some more good people.

Tell us three things that make your local special.

– We work a lot with the Erasmus + programme. We currently have two Italian EVS volunteers that work for us to make events, manage the daily tasks and find and write Erasmus + projects.

– We are probably the most active antenna in the region even though our city is the smallest one!

– We have a special link with international students who let us be in contact with people of other cultures, be able to help them and know other points of view.

And now three things that make your city special.

– For sure the awesome architecture of the city! It has a lot of history, having been a Roman installment, capital of a medieval kingdom and now capital of a province.

– Tapas!! In León they put food with your drink for FREE, and really huge tapas! You cannot miss it, (is NOT like any city you have ever been, here we have real big tapas for free) for five euros we can have dinner and even get drunk! 

-The campus of the University of León is very good for this event because we will be able to go everywhere on foot. Everything is near!!

Can you give us already some sneak peaks of what we will see once there?

Even though the whole city is amazing, the most famous monument is the gothic Santa María de León Cathedral, probably the most beautiful one! It is really impressive when you see it for the first time, the second time, the third time… even old Leonese people still say so. You will also visit San Marcos and San Isidoro, which are two incredible monuments of the city you will fall in love with!

Stay tuned for the Open Call!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

If someone still believes that stereotype about the citizens of Genova being greedy and narrow-minded, they haven’t met the members of AEGEE-Genova. This young local, who signed the Convention d’Adhésion at EBM Riga 2011, is growing fast and definitely likes to think big. That was the reason they organized the Planning Meeting 2013, where a wide group of AEGEEans gathered to discuss about the Focus Areas for the upcoming Strategic Plan 2014-17.

Founded: 2010 – Members: around 70 – President: Nicola Grasso – Nominated for: Planning Meeting 2013

The Planning Meeting turned out to be a very valuable experience: the organizers managed to create the perfect combination of hard work and a social program that allowed for a lot of relaxation time and good parties. Punctual, helpful, and always with a good sense of humour, the members of AEGEE-Genova were wonderful hosts. Besides, if we add a truly beautiful scenery such as the city of Genova, there was no better framework for the participants to prepare a draft of the Strategic Plan.

The AEGEEan spoke to the outgoing president of AEGEE-Genova and main organizer of the Planning Meeting, Antonio Carassiti, on the same day that the antenna was holding its local Agora. We spoke about the (short but intense) story of AEGEE-Genova, the ingredients to organize a perfect Planning Meeting, and the future plans of the local.

Thank you very much! Everybody was obviously happy, we opened a bottle of spumante (Italian sparkling wine) yesterday evening to celebrate it.

Can you tell us a bit about AEGEE-Genova?

AEGEE-Genova is a pretty young antenna. Tiziano Tosatti (former President and Vice-President, and now in the Advisory board with me) founded it in 2010. He signed the Convention d’Adhésion at EBM Riga 2011, and believe it or not during Summer 2011 we were already in the middle of our first TSU (Travelling Summer University) with AEGEE-Torino as organizers! We slowly gained new members after that, but it’s only in the last year, after we decided to focus on local level, that we finally managed to have a big group (around 70 members with 10-15 active). I am really happy about my antenna, there is a lot of AEGEE spirit and I’m sure that this won’t be the last time that you’ll find us in The AEGEEan!

Despite its small size it gives you great emotions! – Savino Delfino, IT Responsible

What motivated the team to organize the Planning Meeting?

Well, it was a perfect occasion for us, after a year without European events: it’s a short event, in a perfect period (September) for activating people who just came back from the SUs, and also a perfect occasion for making our newbies aware of what the so-called ‘European level’ is. It worked really well, considering that two girls that helped us during the event have just been elected in the new board.

Which do you think were the biggest challenges about organizing a Planning Meeting?

(smiles) Explaining to people from my local why a big group of people should come to Genova just to discuss all day about serious topics! Jokes apart, the biggest challenge was actually the selection of participants: we had to do the event at the beginning of September, so the entire application/selection process happened during the Summer, with people going to Summer University, home, wherever. That’s the reason why we had less participants than expected. The organization of the event itself is actually easier than other events (a SU for example): the absence of a “day program” helps a lot from this point of view.

 We are a group of friends! Nicola Grasso, Treasurer

And what about the best things?

Showing everyone in Genova what AEGEE is really about. It will help us a lot in our relationship with the university and the local council. And of course, getting to show how beautiful Genova is to a lot of people.

Can you think of any curious anecdote during the organization of the PM 2013?

Unfortunately, the best anecdotes are not suitable for a public interview… but I really want to talk about the wake-up song: since in the previous events as organizer I was hated by everyone because of the music I used (Slayer, Metallica), I’ve decided to use a nicer/happier one, which you can listen clicking here. Right after the first morning, the participants split in two groups: the first group loved it and sang it all day long, while the second group completely hated it. This “hatred” between the groups kept on going also after the event. I was even told that the confrontation moved to the Head office of AEGEE in Brussels, where Miguel Gallardo (Projects Director) uses it everyday as his alarm ringtone, while Beáta Matuszka (Network & Human Resources Director), his roommate, would prefer not to hear that song ever again.

We are the first ones having fun in what we do! – Tiziano Tosatti, Vice President

The members of AEGEE-Genova, at their local Agora last Tuesday.

Oh my, who could forget about that song!? Apart from that, during the event there were no delays, the communications between organizers and participants was very smooth, all the activities were run always on time. Which do you think were the ingredients for such a success?

I could go on for hours on this topic. I will just say: organizers must be always on time, there has to be a very detailed timetable and sometimes you need to kick some participant’s (and organizer’s) ass…! I just want to say that a lot of what I know about organizing events came from the past Summer University Project School I attended, and seeing the results I have to say that trainers did a great job there. The value of European Schools is way underrated in our network, I hope that locals will understand their importance as soon as possible.

We always know how to have a great time! – Antonio Carassiti President

Besides the Planning Meeting, which are the highlights of AEGEE-Genova in this year 2013?

We did a lot of local events: international aperitivo every two weeks, two very successful pub crawls, trips to Viareggio (to attend its popular Carnival), Cinque Terre, and a wine tasting in Barolo region… and also an exchange with AEGEE-Amsterdam, which allowed our members to visit the new CD House and the last Queen’s Day in Amsterdam! We also cooperated with other international associations, like AIESEC, in order to promote youth mobility at university. All those activities, added to some presentations in different faculties for the Summer University Project, helped us to find a very nice group of new members.

Tell us what the future holds for AEGEE-Genova. You are holding new elections tonight and have a brand new board, which are your plans for next term?

The elections were great, the oldies (Tiziano and me) are finally out and we have a new board that is a good mix of newbies and experienced members! They will keep doing the good work that we did during last year, organizing great local events, but also they will organize a great Summer University!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Pictures on the courtesy of AEGEE-Genova

The election for Member of the Month for July is different than the others. Instead of choosing one member, the honor goes to nine AEGEE members that took part in the Identity meeting in the beginning of July.

Anja Köngeter joined AEGEE-Heidelberg in March 2011 because  she felt like giving something back to international students after her Erasmus and spreading the spirit of tolerance and solidarity among young people from all over the world. Another girl who joined AEGEE a little bit later is Ana Potočnik from AEGEE-Ljubljana, and she has a different story about joining AEGEE than the one you usually hear: “One of my friends decided it is time to find a boyfriend, so she asked me to join her on the meeting for the New Year’s event. I had no idea what AEGEE is, what kind of event they were organizing or for whom, but as a good friend I decided to support her “let’s find me a boyfriend” mission. One and a half year later she has a guy and I have AEGEE”. 

Another new Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) member and Subcommissioner of Network Commissioner Patricia Anthony, Ruta Jankauskaité (AEGEE-Kaunas) was convinced by the former Network Commissioner Karolina Mazetyte to join. “Hers was the most important role, as there was no antenna in my city and AEGEE was something I knew nothing about, but there was something I still do not understand that made me stay”. Another Subcommissioner in Patricia’s team is Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen) and she was also in Brussels for the Identity meeting. She joined AEGEE in 2011 because she liked travelling and she heard about AEGEE a couple of times before, but never took the step to actually become a member. Then she met some people, they told her about an exchange they wanted to do a month later with AEGEE-Budapest, and that convinced her!

Francesca Russo (AEGEE-Padova) has the typical AEGEE story of joining – she joined to take part in a Summer University and she is the one who has been in AEGEE the longest in this group, having joined back in 2006. Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno), an active member who frequently publishes articles in The AEGEEan, has been in AEGEE since the beginning of 2011. He joined because he wanted to become active in some student associations during his university studies. Opportunities that AEGEE offers were, and still are of high interest for him.

Matthijs Overhaal joined AEGEE-Nijmegen in 2010 but is one of AEGEE members that have since changed antennae – he proudly become a part of AEGEE-Tartu. When asking how he joined AEGEE he says: “That is a funny story actually. I just came to live in Nijmegen and basically did not have much social contacts there yet. I would not say that joining AEGEE was a random lucky guess, but all I was looking for was social interaction. I certainly found that!” Mayri Tiido who is also from AEGEE-Tartu has been Member of the Month before as well, and her story can be read in the article that was already published.

Matthijs & Mayri

These members have done many different things in AEGEE, so The AEGEEan asked some of them about their experience in our organisation so far.

Ana: One month after I joined AEGEE I became a board member of AEGEE-Ljubljana. Since then I was the main organiser of Summer University, SUPS, NWM in Ljubljana and helped organise other events in our antenna. This summer I also became Antonija Parat’s Subcommie and now I am member of ACT.

Maria: First of all, I started to do some things on the local level, organise some activities, etc., and I joined the trips. Then I became involved in the establishment of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), of which I will be Speaker until next October. After a while, I also became a member of Health4Youth project. Next came Agorae, EBM Valletta, Planning Meeting in Poznan, an SU every summer, Network Meetings and some other events. At the moment I am Patricia’s Subcommie taking care of AEGEE-Durham, AEGEE-London, and AEGEE-Sheffield. Last but definitely not least, I am now in the Planning Team.

Maria Arends

Matthijs: For a year I was not present in the European level of AEGEE. I had no idea who/what was important whatsoever and was only (overly) active on the local level. However, things started changing, mainly thanks to Mayri Tiido. She showed me how cool and amazing it is to broaden your horizons, share opinions etc. In the end, it led to the foundation of Health4Youth project, which I and the others are very proud of. In between, I went to Training4Trainers in Warsaw, which turned around everything I believed in. I became a trainer in the Academy, was a trainer in local events, Agorae and European School Summer University (ESSU) Patra.

Francesca: Local level: board member, secretary and now president of my antenna (for the last two years). European level : statistics analysis assistant of Mickey Turati and now Secretary of Human Rights Working Group and Subcommie of Network Commissioner Claudio Armandi.

Ivan: I started on the local level and then after one year spent in the board of AEGEE-Brno, I moved to the European level and became a Speaker of International Politics Working Group, developed my own project – AEGEEDebate, and took part in other smaller activities as well.

What drives you to be active in AEGEE?

Maria: A gazillion things! First of all, the people. You work with so many other motivated members, and together you feel like you can do something, you can achieve something. That feels wonderful. Besides that, AEGEE is an addiction. Every time I do something with AEGEE, I want more. So in short, I do not know what drives me, but there is a powerful force that I cannot resist! 

Matthijs: Young people are the future and our generation faces so many challenges, not the least of which are health-related. Being an active young citizen makes me feel that I try to help this generation further and add something of myself to it. 

Ana: I love AEGEE because it is something completely different from my studies (biochemistry). Sometimes I need my brain to take a rest from all the molecules and working in AEGEE is always fun. You meet so many interesting people with different backgrounds. What is most important  is that you always learn something new. I was active since the very beginning, so it is the only way I know how to be a member.

Francesca: AEGEE spirit! It is about what AEGEE can give me – meeting really cool people, finding interesting opportunities, having amazing experiences and then inspiring people to show them how cool it is to be active European citizens. I love helping youngsters to feel Europe!

Ivan: Self-development of skills which I cannot develop through formal education and the motivation to change AEGEE for better.

Ruta: Without a doubt, people you meet in European events, because here you learn but not through studying.

What made you interested in taking part in the meeting?

Mayri: I must admit that after attending my first Agora (Alicante 2011) I understood that AEGEE means so many different things to everybody. This made me passionate about what AEGEE is and I have had endless discussions about that with my friends. After hearing at Agora Budapest that there will be an Identity meeting, I knew I had to be there!

Maria: Have you ever tried to explain someone what AEGEE is and what it does? In that case, I think you know! I mean, once I spent an incredible time to try to explain to a friend of mine and I thought, if I as an active member have problems with this, then how is it going for people that are not yet active? How do you even motivate people to join AEGEE?

Matthijs: I followed the process since (almost) the very beginning and have always had my troubles with AEGEE’s identity. Being culturally, socially, politically and geographically diverse is a part of a double-sided medal which can be/is very troublesome. Analysing the opinions of all AEGEEans and drafting conclusions from them only seemed a logical step after that.

Francesca: ‘I’m AEGEE’ – me and all the other 13000 members. I wanted to be one of the AEGEEans who helped develop our association, who took the challenge to do something that was needed: clarify the essence of AEGEE, the things we do not yet have stated in a few words – vision, mission and means. So that every AEGEEan will not have any doubt when asked who we are!

Anja: AEGEE’s need of a consistent and updated identity is obvious – it is difficult to have a “common identity” among all antennae AND to keep the special characteristics of each local at the same time. Since I am writing my Master’s thesis on European identity and I was working in an advertisement company (which also faces the challenge of clarification of identity) I thought that I could help out finding a good result!

Ana: It was the everyday struggle to explain to people what AEGEE is. I wanted to find a common idea about what AEGEE is and “update” our identity to make it clear and simple.

Ruta: The wish to make it clear for myself (as well as everyone else) what AEGEE is (not).

Ivan: Since I joined AEGEE I do not have a clear idea what AEGEE is and what it stands for. That was my initial problem which caused my interest in participating in Identity meeting. I wanted to change this problem and to come up with some ideas.

What was the best part of the event for you?

Mayri: I sort of guessed that it would be a lot of work and that we would most likely run out of time. Although all that was true, I really enjoyed working late with other participants. In between useful discussions we were laughing in tears. I guess that was the best part for me – working hard while having fun.

Maria: I think the group. The group was really motivated and driven and we worked hard together. As it was a serious event, people sometimes get bored, but that did not happen this time. Because we were all motivated to come up with a good result, we all kept each other motivated. 

Matthijs: Not so much a part, but rather the feeling that remains. The feeling of really wanting to finish this meeting successfully, no matter if that meant that we had to work very late. We just could not let go of the things that were unfinished for that day. I will not be the first one to say this, but the feeling of working hard with people just as inspired as you is incredible. Also, I totally rocked charades!

Francesca: It was amazing to be a part of the process and to feel the commitment and passion everyone was putting in it. The best moment was working, facilitated by Ivan, until midnight to start re-arranging the statement of principles because everyone was actively participating and no one was complaining about the duration of the work. I love even how we started the meeting, with an exercise: ‘explain AEGEE in one minute’. I found it surprising and interesting to see that everyone has their own and often very different way to do it.

Ivan: Best moment for me was the active participation of every member there during sessions. I did not expect such involvement. Apart from this, I also celebrated my birthday during the event, so that was pleasant for me too.

Anja: I learned so much about group dynamics, project management and really enjoyed visiting the CD house.

Ana: It was definitely working late in the office on the last day. We had a lot of fun working on statements of principles.

Ruta: Night in the CD house without any of CD members in the house!

Some of the members have followed up on the event after being in the Belgian capital:

Francesca: After the event I went to the Leadership Summer School (LSS) and then we had our Summer University. Every time I had the chance, I explained to all AEGEEans I met (mostly during LSS) what we did and why. Soon a paper will be sent to everyone to understand better everything we did and it will be easier to explain!

Maria: We have finished the draft documents, discussed a strategy on how to implement it, and now I am really looking forward to start with the preparations for the Agora. I hope you will all like it!

The topic of AEGEE identity continues not only for these nine people but for the whole organisation. It is certain that their participation in this weekend meeting in the CD house has contributed a lot to the topic and The AEGEEan congratulates them once more for being Members of the Month.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

N.B. Jorge Miguel, AEGEE-Valladolid as well as Antonio Sanna are also chosen as Member of the Month but chose not to take part in the interview.

Fast and precise, many carriages of experience, and a will to provide a good service – in other words, “To serve and protect”. The train metaphor matches the personality of Karolina Mazetyte from Kaunas, candidate for the Network Commission, who will introduce herself and her programme in the following interview for The AEGEEan.

Karolina, can you tell something about yourself? What do you like to do apart from AEGEE?

The words that I think describe me the best are communicative, ambitious, lively, and optimistic. Currently I am getting my Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and trying to write my thesis on the role of social networks in the Egyptian revolution. I love everything that is related to art, because it makes your life extraordinary. I am especially passionate about photography and I hope to organize a photo exhibition one day!

For being in AEGEE for just a bit more than one year, you have an excellent curriculum! How did you collect so much experience so fast?

Thanks! Well, for me, it is not about time, but it is what you do with your time. You should remember to count and take as much experience as possible every month. My favourite saying is “Take everything and give back everything what you can now, don’t wait for tomorrow”. I applied it in AEGEE, being a president of my local, attending thematic events like the EuroArab Project in Krakow, being a board member of the Environmental Working Group, being a Subcommissioner in the Network Commission (NetCom) and going to such events like the Planning Meeting in Poznań, which are all unique opportunities to get to know a lot about AEGEE in a short time.

Which was the biggest lesson you learnt in this term as Koen’s Subcommissioner?

I think the biggest lessons relate to how the Network Commission works, both internally and externally, and helping the locals. Going with Koen on a NetCom trip towards some of the Northern locals and researching this part of the Network has taught me a lot about the issues in the Northern region. My involvement in Network Meeting (NWM) Tallinn gave me a valuable experience on how to structure and organise a NWM.

The programme in your candidature is very well-structured, but also very ambitious… made up of 13 points. What are your priorities?

My priorities will be focusing on thematic events, mainly by strengthening ties with projects, Working Groups, and externals; therefore strengthening this part of the Network. As motivation and attracting new members are the biggest problems in the region, I would like to focus on motivational events in order to activate members throughout the Northern area, and close cooperation between locals to share best practices and materials in order to make a region-specific Public Relations (PR) strategy.

Classic question: Quantity or quality? Will you focus on increasing the number of antennae or strengthen the existing ones?

For sure we should focus on quality. The aim of AEGEE is not to have as many locals or people as possible. We strive for European integration, democracy, mobility, a better education, and most of all, a better Europe.

It is important what every antenna can give to AEGEE, so my first goal would be to further strengthen the locals in the Northern area. Only when we are strong and have clear goals, we can expand. History teaches us that without this as precondition, it might be possible to start new contacts, but many of them will die sooner or later.

From my experience as a Subcommissioner I do know there are places that have the possibility to start a new antenna, and of course, I would further research these possibilities. If I am assured of the quality and continuity of a new possible contact, then of course I would do everything in my power to help them become part of our AEGEE family.

Which projects do you have in mind for Scandinavia?

I want to work closely together with the Action Agenda Coordination Team in order to work on the thematic field. I am aware that in the end neither of us will decide for the locals which projects they should work on, but locals themselves need to decide what project suits them best and how they want to contribute to AEGEE. Pushing a project will only lead to a local not fully interested or convinced in organising an event. That is why I see myself in more of a guiding role, explaining to them what possibilities there are and how they can cooperate with projects, Working Groups, or external partners.

Another candidate from the Northern Region proposed and organized Skype meetings to boost the cooperation in the area. Did you attend them? What is your feedback to this initiative?

I attended the meetings and I like the initiative a lot, but this is only a part of the many initiatives that are being taken in the Northern region. NetCom already felt the need of further integration of this particular area some years ago, that is why Scandinavia is currently a focus area.

As Koen’s Subcommissioner, I have been closely working with him a lot behind the scenes on researching the current problems in this part of the network, preparing bits of the NWM Tallinn and even going with him on a NetCom trip to some of the Northern locals to be in direct contact with them and talking directly about the issues person to person. We are now at a point where we found out what is needed to strengthen this part of the network. In my opinion, actual cooperation is only a slight part of it, as the main issues are lack of motivation and promotion in order to attract new people and activate them. So now we need to make the steps to go from talking to finally acting, and work together to solve these issues!

How do you plan to combine your responsibilities as a Network Commissioner with sustaining the development of Kaunas to full antenna?

Kaunas will already upgrade to Contact Antenna in Enschede, so the first steps are already taken to develop it. I am not alone there. Many new members are very enthusiastic and would love to get started, so I will need just to keep the overview. Furthermore, the things I want to achieve for the Northern area are applicable for Kaunas as well. Also, Kaunas will benefit for my plans about thematic events, motivational events for the Northern area, and Regional Training Courses (RTCs). I am absolutely confident that I will have enough time and energy for both tasks!

Are there already some people that you would like with you in this journey as your Subcommissioners?

I did not think about this yet, as I wanted to focus on my current work as a Subcommissioner, write my programme, and get elected. Of course, I would be open to anyone who would like to help out, as there is a lot of work to do in this area! Koen, the current Network Commissioner, already said he would like to continue helping me with the Scandinavian focus area if I am elected. But right now I hope people are more interested in reading the programme of each candidate, because that matters much more to the future of the network than the possible team of Subcommissioners that will be formed later on anyway.

Direct as a train, again. The AEGEEan wishes Karolina to arrive to the stations she strives for!

Written by Martina Zanero, AEGEE-Torino