Dear reader, I’m Alejandra, member of AEGEE since four years ago and, currently, one of the members from the pool of representatives of AEGEE-Europe. Between the 10th and 14 of October, I’ve attended the General Assembly of IFMSA- Spain (International Federation of Medical Students Associations).  For me, having the opportunity to be there, participate and give everything I could to this event was a big pleasure. Now, I have this report so you can check how the event went and possible future cooperations. Thank you for this opportunity!

The event was the National Meeting (General Assembly) of IFMSA-Spain. There were parallel agendas about different topics that they have been working on during the whole year, apart from the agenda for presidents and for the exchanges responsible. Plenaries happened in order to vote motions, candidates, etc, and there were also trainings.

During the whole event, I was switching between mostly two agendas, one about human rights and the other about sexual health. The sessions were really interesting and I found many topics in which AEGEE and IFMSA can collaborate contributing with different perspectives on the same topic. I have also attended one session for presidents to know how they organise it. Apart from that, I was attending all the plenaries, and during the first plenary I held a presentation to introduce AEGEE.

Moreover, there were also training: I delivered one about how to include your association in your CV. During the whole event, I was talking with many people explaining about AEGEE and the different projects, apart from asking about the functioning of IFMSA-Spain to get more information about it. I also had the opportunity to meet the president of IFMSA International, a representative from the CEEM (Consejo Estatal de Estudiantes de Medicina) and a representative from AECS (Associació d’Estudiants de Ciències de la Salut).

The programme was a mix between bureaucratic procedures and trainings. There were six different agendas, four of them about their different working groups and with thematic sessions, one other related to their exchanges and the last one for presidents. The representatives of each local committee had to attend the one for presidents and the ones in charge of the exchanges in their local had to attend the one about exchanges. The rest of participants could switch from one to another, even if most of them tried to focus in just one. Everyday after lunch  there was the local hour, were each local committee was reunited to discuss everything to vote later in the plenaries. On Wednesday and Thursday there were trainings, three at the same time on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Anyone could choose the one that they liked the most. As feminism was a topic for this GA, there was a session about this, parallel to the trainings. Of course, plenaries were there, in order to vote motions, present candidates, vote them, etc.

As for my impressions about this event, first of all I love the idea of having different agendas. It has a really big potential so anyone can choose in which they would like to participate. This could be also implemented in our Agora, as we have parallel workshops for the visitors and we can implement this procedure and maybe improve the attendance rate of visitors. This kind of structure of course can be implemented in any other events, and we could organise thematic events with this structure, so the funding should be easier, more people with different interests would attend it, and we could have a bigger impact.

Regarding the cooperation, the different local committees can cooperate with our antennae. Right now I just have contacts in Spain, but, from here, I can work to get more from other countries in order to implement the collaboration. Also, with IFMSA International, we can talk and give them some spot in the Agora and some space. We can start with IFMSA Spain, but we can also look further and try to get this cooperation. They are medical students, so a full collaboration is difficult but still, we are fighting for the same ideals and rights, even if we look through them from different perspectives. So, at the end, we can collaborate in this topics that we have in common. I’m starting to test this local collaboration unofficially with the Local committee in Santiago with AEGEE-A Coruña and AEGEE-Vigo, and my idea is to invite two of them to our LTC.

The event opened my mind a lot. I could observe that we can improve a lot how we organise some events to give space to everyone. Everyone here was so attentive, and asking me about how my experience was going, taking the time to explain me something everytime I didn’t understand. It was a totally repeatable experience. To conclude, we should continue with this collaboration, as we can learn a lot from each other. And try to have this collaboration on the European and local level.

Written by Alejandra Piot Pérez-Abadín, Network Commission

The last Member of the Month of July left many exceptional nominations and AEGEE members that stood out – one of them, Laia Garcia Montufo, is currently President of AEGEE-Tarragona, member of the Pool of Representatives and Liaison Officer towards the United Nations.

Laia has been nominated due to her involvement in several youth platforms. Moreover, she is now fully absorbed in the Travel Summer University organised by AEGEE-Tarragona and AEGEE-Valencia, which is due to start on the 15th of August. And still, she is currently working on her thesis, as she has studied Architecture and Urban Planning with a minor in Sustainable Development.

Presenting a message from the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon at the   Autumn Agora Zaragoza

Like many other members in our Network, Laia joined AEGEE right after her post-Erasmus blues. “Erasmus is a lifestyle, which I suppose many AEGEEans know. During my exchanges I got to know a lot of people around the world, I made friends, I travelled and I learnt how to live on my own or with other nations in a foreign country”. But Erasmus also has a difficult side, as she says: “After returning, I was missing the international vibe so much that life back home seemed utterly boring. Soon I realized that in my city there were also a lot of Erasmus students, so I started looking for them and I found out about the existence of a group who helped foreign students. Of course, I joined it right away!”.

And it was not long until she got in touch with the European level of AEGEE. It was back in May 2012, at the final conference of the ‘Where Does Europe End?’ project in Utrecht. According to her, it might be the best event she has ever been to: “I remember thinking to myself: I am skipping a full week of classes before the finals… but after a while I just understood there are times when the benefits of skipping class are greater than the negatives as I was actually learning more than at the university! These trainers taught me how powerful Non Formal Education (NFE) can be and that learning experience triggered in me a strong desire to become active at European level”.

The Spanish Youth Council (CJE) and its situation

Laia has been very involved in the past year with the Spanish Youth Council (CJE in its acronym, from Consejo de la Juventud de España), mostly in the Structured Dialogue process, an instrument to ensure that the opinion of young people is taken into account when defining youth-related policies of the European Union by bringing together young people and the policy makers across the EU. She was involved at the national consultation in Palencia last January, and she was also chosen as Spanish National Youth Delegate to attend the EU Youth Conference in Thessaloniki in March.

On holidays!

“Unfortunately, the Senate has just given green light to its closing as it has definitively approved the text of the draft law concerning the Rationalization of Public Sector, which regulates the closing of the Spanish Youth Council with the support of the comfortable majority of the People’s Party and the abstention or the vote against from the rest of the opposition groups”. Laia explains about the situation concerning the CJE, which was threatened of being closed by the Spanish government. However, she adds, “at the very last moment, two amendments proposed by the People’s Party and endorsed by the rest of the parliamentary groups were passed, where two important points concerning the regulation of the CJE were modified, so the framework improved with regard to the initial proposal”.

She adds that, luckily, none of the more than 60 organisations that are involved in the CJE have given up: “A new framework must be found, but until the creation of the new organism that replaces the CJE, we must be careful not to have a period of time without a platform that canalizes the youth participation.”

The World Youth Conference in Sri Lanka

Moreover, last May Laia took part at the World Youth Conference in Sri Lanka, where young people from over 170 countries gathered together with Ministers of Youth from around the world, high-level officials from the UN and other civil society organisations and the private sector, around the topic of the next development agenda beyond the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire in 2015. The outcome of the conference was the Colombo Declaration on Youth.

According to Laia, for the first time youth representatives were included as equal stakeholders: “In my opinion, WCY 2014 was unique with regard to the degree of youth influence over official negotiations. Rather than youth meetings in advance of negotiations and producing separate outcome documents, this conference produced a “joint declaration” endorsed by both youth and governments. It was definitely a compromise between these two ends: but an important one at that, because now we have a commitment from governments to implement the recommendations enshrined in this declaration”.

She adds that, as a result, “the declaration has strong language on youth engagement: for example it calls for the establishment of a permanent youth department within the United Nations with representations in member countries to support and follow up local youth programs and also calls on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to establish a permanent forum on youth, for youth and governments to facilitate a sustained dialogue including on the Post- 2015 Development Agenda”.

3rd Council of Members of the Great Silk Way

The Great Silk Way organisation

If all of her activities and involvement have not been impressive enough, Laia recently became representative of the Great Silk Way International Youth Union, an organisation established in 2012 in Azerbaijan which connects more than 30 youth-led organisations from Asia, Europe and North Africa based on and designed for strengthening intercultural dialogue, cross-border cooperation and increasing role of youth in these issues on a global level.

She was elected as the focal point of GSW in Spain. These focal points are youth organizations or active young individuals “who coordinate the activities of GSW in that particular country. This means we ensure participation of local young people in international projects organized by GSW, make sure to disseminate information on opportunities (youth exchanges, volunteering, internships etc.) that can be useful for young people”, Laia explains. “In addition to this, the focal point has the right to initiate and coordinate national or regional level projects and events with the support of GSW. Basically we become the voice of GSW in our country at the same time feedbacking on the needs of local young people to be then reflected in decisions taken by the organization on high level”.

…and still, time to devote for AEGEE!

AEGEE-Tarragona members at the Agora

Laia’s involvement in youth platforms doesn’t stop her from being very active in AEGEE. As president of AEGEE-Tarragona, she is currently very busy organising the Travel Summer University in cooperation with AEGEE-Valencia. She has done a big task by promoting the European level in her antenna, since there are some AEGEE-Tarragona members that have become active in bodies such as the Language Working Group, the Eastern Partnership Project and the Action Agenda Coordination Committee. “I try my best to minimize the gap between my local and the European level. Therefore, I keep the members updated about all the relevant information on the many opportunities our association offers throughout our local meetings and social networks”.

According to her, AEGEE-Tarragona has around 30 members, “but the core team of the most active ones is smaller, so it is easy for me to be in contact with them and try to motivate everyone to contribute. Also, the fact that I am active on the European Level  makes things a bit easier when it comes to promotion as interested members can always come to me and ask for personal advice. And you know what? Some people just need a little push!”

When asked about her future plans, Laia says she is currently finishing her tasks as Liaison Officer towards the UN and the Pool of Representatives, but she plans to keep involved both in the local and in the European level. “Wait, I forgot something!”, she adds. “I do know one of my next steps in AEGEE! After having organized two Summer Universities and one Summer Event… I think next year will be about time to apply for my first Summer University as a participant!”.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Aleksandra Kluczka, but you can also call her Ola, is a 23 years old member of AEGEE-Kraków. She is currently CD assistant, content manager of the Y vote 2014 project and member of the pool of representatives of AEGEE-Europe. She studied International Trades and International Relations and she has been a member of AEGEE-Kraków since october 2009, covering the position of Vice President and Fundraiser and coordinating several local activities. She’s running for a position in the Comité Directeur with a preference for External Relations (including European Institutions & fundraising) and Projects & Working Groups.

The AEGEEan: Do you consider yourself as a team player?

Aleksandra: I definitely perceive myself as a team player and this is what I usually hear from people working with me in different teams. I believe a good team is a basis on which you can build later on, which makes it possible to achieve common goals. Personally I enjoy working with people. I gain energy, get the best ideas and motivation and I am most efficient, while working in a group. I have empathy. I believe in the sentence ‘first seek to understand, then to be understood’, to quote Stephen Covey. If  I am elected for the CD, I will do my best to ensure a good environment in the team and I will give a lot of attention to teambuilding.

The AEGEEan: If you are elected CD Member, what will be the first thing you will do?

Aleksandra: If I am elected, I believe the first thing we should do with the new team is a solid teambuilding. People can have amazing ideas and skills and work great as individuals, but if they do not become a true team, striving for the same goals, going in the same direction, they will not reach their full potential and contribute to the organisation to the biggest extent. That is why I believe the TEAM is so important. Therefore, even before the term starts, I think we should take some days specially for teambuilding with a professional trainer. Also, we should start working on our strategy and goals we want to achieve with the team as soon as we are elected. It seems that one year term is a long period, but in fact it passes very quickly and as we know, it takes a long time from the creation of an idea to its implementation

The AEGEEan: How will you involve AEGEE members to catch opportunities Liaison Officers provide to the members?

Aleksandra: I think the first step is to acquaint our members better with the organisations Liaison Officers cooperate with. We should have more workshops on statutory events explaining the work of organisations such as United Nations, OSCE, OECD, etc., in a youth-friendly way: their relevance for AEGEE, the benefits they provide and the impact we can have. Then, we should share on a bigger scale the opportunities these organisations provide, information about conferences, internships, scholarships and other initiatives, but also the processes AEGEE is involved in. There are plenty of opportunities, just to give an example of fully funded United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Summer School in New York. Information is key!

Currently I am a Youth Ambassador of Model OSCE and I support our Liaison Officer towards OSCE, Ermanno Napolitano (AEGEE-Milano), on bringing this organisation and its opportunities closer to our members. I can already invite you to our workshop at Agora Patra explaining the functioning of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and how AEGEE is involved there. We will collect your ideas for an AEGEE side-event that will be organised during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of OSCE in Warsaw this year and let you know how you can get involved. We will also update you on the state of youth policies there and I will tell you more about the Youth Action Plan that is being developed, waiting for your ideas!

The AEGEEan: Liaison Officers and Policy Officers are not so known in the Network, especially among non- European level active members. How will you make Liaison Officers and Policy Officers ‘more famous’?

Aleksandra: I don’t think we should make Policy Officers and Liaison Officers ‘more famous’, but we should definitely keep updating the Network more clearly about the purpose of their work. This question is quite related to the previous one. I do see the need to acquaint our members more with the topics and areas Policy Officers and Liaison Officers take care of, which can be done by, again, more interactive workshops during statutory events, online hangouts with questions & answers sessions, etc. However, I am aware that making members already active on the European level more familiar with the work of POs and LOs is not too difficult. The biggest challenge is how to pass this information to all members on the local level. I think the responsibility rests also on the board members. It would be good if in each board there was one person responsible for informing the members on the developments in AEGEE-Europe, also regarding the achievements and opportunities provided by the work of Liaison Officers and Policy Officers. I believe that the new CD should pay even more attention to informing, but also asking for opinions of board members of locals and improving communication channels with them.

The AEGEEan: You said that ‘ideally we could have an AEGEE representative appointed towards each national youth council’. How will you manage to do that?

Aleksandra: I think we should adopt common AEGEE strategy towards national youth councils. We should do proper research and create a database with all national and regional youth councils in Europe, check and keep track of which of the antennas are already involved in those councils and encourage other locals to participate. In order to achieve that, we should communicate properly to our members the specifics of youth councils,  the impact they have in the youth policy field and the benefits resulting from the membership. Once  AEGEE locals join national youth councils as member organisations, a common representative of AEGEE towards the national youth council in a particular country could be chosen.

I believe  that involvement in national youth councils can be of great benefit for AEGEE members and locals. My antenna, AEGEE-Kraków is a member of Polish Council of Youth Organisations (PROM) and I used to be  the representative of my local towards it. This experience made me realise, how  many opportunities it provides for member organisations. Member organisations have the ability to shape youth policies in their country and take part in consultations regarding it, start new initiatives and projects with other member organisations, get involved in the working groups,  Structured Dialogue and they have access to interesting conferences or trainings.

The AEGEEan: How will you create a regional pool of trainers?

Aleksandra: This idea would have to be discussed with the team and the Academy for sure. Regional pools of trainers don’t necessarily have to be official bodies at first. We should start with creating databases of people with training experience based in different parts of our AEGEE Network. The reasoning behind this idea is the fact that many locals do not have the capacity or human resources to organise a Local Training Course for their members. I come from a local that organises 4 LTCs per year – two for new members and two Management Training Courses for future project coordinators and I realised how unbelievably empowering such events are for the members and how crucial they are for the development of the organisation as a whole. The  biggest impact AEGEE can ever have is on its members and LTCs are in my opinion the first step to empower them.

The AEGEEan: Who is going to take care of the online trainings?

Aleksandra: In my programme I mentioned not only the fields I would like to be the main responsible for if being elected to the CD, but also a general vision and issues that I think are crucial for the further development of AEGEE. Some of the other candidates mentioned in their applications the will to work on online trainings and I am sure they will do a great job with that. Of course I am willing to support them in this process. Online trainings would ensure that every AEGEE member has the access to training opportunities. Not everyone has the capacity in terms of time or finances to attend an international training course, therefore online trainings would be an important step for empowering a bigger amount of our members and giving them tools for personal development.

The AEGEEan: Can you explain a bit more about the concept of a secretariat?

Aleksandra: In my opinion, the main purpose of creating the Secretariat is to professionalise our organisation and diminish the administrative workload CD members currently have, enabling them to devote more time to strategic planning and developing new ideas for the organisation. Implementation of a Secretariat means employing people to take care of some aspects of the organisation’s administration, if AEGEE receives a grant for this purpose. At the same time, leading the organisation and choosing directions of development would stay within CD’s competences, which would still consist of volunteers. There are many variants of a Secretariat, AEGEE should adopt  a model best suiting its needs if the new CD decides to continue the efforts of the current CD in this matter.

The AEGEEan: Knowing that fixed positions in the Comité Directeur ideally do not exist, LTC/RTC and online trainings are more Network Director related tasks. How do you think you, as possible external director, could be involved?

Aleksandra: According to the CIA and the real workload in the CD, fixed positions do not exist. Of course, each board member has some focus areas and preferred tasks, but in fact each of them needs to develop a big dose of flexibility and undertake different kind of tasks, both internal and external. My preferred official position is External Relations indeed, but I would still like to support other fields, such as development of thematics and trainings.

The AEGEEan: You are the Content Manager of Y Vote 2014 project. What did you learn by this experience? How do you think you can apply your knowledge to your term in the Comité Directeur?

Aleksandra: Y Vote 2014 has been one of the most important learning experiences of my life. We started working on the project already in January 2013, having a meeting in Brussels, where we developed the concept of the campaign and the activities.  Since then I became the Content Manager of the project, and as I mentioned in my candidature,  I was responsible for developing the Students’ Agenda for Europe and the content of nine Y Vote conventions taking place between September 2013 and April 2014. I was coordinating the work of the content teams, the communication with hosting locals and supervising the logistic preparations. It was a great opportunity to develop my training, facilitation and public speaking skills during the conventions, as I attended seven of them as a trainer. I have facilitated panels with Members of the European Parliament and their assistants, as well as with other external speakers and experts. While preparing the conventions, I have broadened my knowledge about the functioning of the EU as well. Finally, I have learnt how to work hard under a big pressure of time in an international team spread around Europe. I realised even more, how important proper communication is and the necessity of  a solid teambuilding. I believe that the above mentioned experiences are extremely relevant for  the work in the CD. As we all know, during the term CD members work under a huge pressure of time, coordinate many processes in the organisation parallelly, work with AEGEE members on different initiatives, represent the organisation externally, facilitate discussion panels, give trainings and that’s just a tip of the iceberg. I believe that my experience and skills makes me capable of managing all those challenges. With the Y Vote 2014 project we wanted to empower  and inspire young people to become multipliers of the project, to spread the passion for Europe and awareness about the impact of the EU on our daily lives. I hope we managed to have an impact on  participants of our activities. The project has had a huge impact on myself. It motivated me to contribute to the European project even more, made me realise, what we are capable of  in this organisation and that I want to devote my next year to contribute to AEGEE to the highest possible extent.

The AEGEEan: Do you already have any idea for a follow-up of Y Vote 2014 project?

Aleksandra: I am very glad you asked. First, we need to  finalise the Y Vote 2014 and do the follow-up regarding the Students’ Agenda for Europe that was created by AEGEE members during Y Vote conventions in the past few months, consisting of recommendations for Members of European Parliament on topics relevant for youth. Before the  European Parliamentary elections we  will send it to all candidates to European Parliament to address the vision for Europe students have. Once we get the support for the ideas, after the elections we will keep reminding the newly elected MEPs, what they promised to young people. I believe we should not remember about Europe only once in 5 years, before the EP elections, but on a constant basis. I do not want to suggest a concrete vision for a project on spreading eurooptimism yet, as I would like to give the ownership to the future project team.  But I believe such project should raise awareness of young people concerning the impact the EU has on our daily lives and the benefits coming from the European project.

The AEGEEan: Lately you attended a lot of Network Meetings. Was it because you were interested in the topics or because of CD campaign?

Aleksandra: Indeed, in the past few weeks I attended three Network Meetings – in Alicante, Leiden and Salerno. While deciding to go to them, of course the idea of CD campaign and preparations crossed my mind. But more importantly, I wanted to get to know better significant parts of our Network. I think it’s extremely important for a CD member to know the people, the needs and challenges the different parts of the Network are facing. Knowing the people personally is also very helpful for the purpose of good communication in the future. Apart from this, my role in NWMs was more active. In Alicante I was a trainer, leading a workshop about conflict resolution, facilitating some sessions and performing a session about the upcoming European Parliamentary elections and the structure of the EP (together with Léa Charlet from AEGEE-Paris). Also in Salerno and Leiden I led workshops about EP elections.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

For the first time in AEGEE history, the Pool of Representatives (PoR) that can speak on behalf of the Comité Directeur and represent AEGEE externally has been created. The PoR consists of 17 AEGEE members who share motivation, significant experience and sufficient knowledge about the organisation to be capable of giving a proper image of AEGEE towards various external stakeholders.

As a part of the Activity Plan for the upcoming year to create more expertise outside the Comité Directeur, it had issued an open call looking for members who are motivated to become “the faces of AEGEE”. Out of more than 30 candidates who applied, the CD finally selected 17 people taking into account their profiles, expertise, geographical location and nationality. These people constituting the new structure within AEGEE – PoR are going to represent AEGEE at conferences, meetings, projects and on other occasions which are important for the organisation to be present at the times when the CD lacks human resources to attend these events itself.

For the period of 2013-2014 the CD has chosen and Agora in Zaragoza ratified the PoR that includes following members:

• Selin Sivis (AEGEE-Ankara);
• Turgut Tosun (AEGEE-Ankara);
• Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno);
• Roland Papp (AEGEE-Budapest);
• Benjamin Feyen (AEGEE-Dusseldorf);
• Paul Smits (AEGEE-Enschede);
• Mert Can (AEGEE-Istanbul);
• Karolina Mazetyte (AEGEE-Kaunas);
• Aleksandra Kluczka (AEGEE-Krakow);
• Sandra Oborska (AEGEE-Krakow);
• Jorge Miguel (AEGEE-León);
• Mathieu Soete (AEGEE-Leuven / AEGEE-Enschede);
• Claudio Armandi (AEGEE-Napoli);
• Nicola Guida (AEGEE-Napoli);
• Louise Pahisa (AEGEE-Paris);
• Diana Ondza (AEGEE-Riga);
• Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tartu).

It is certainly true that each member of the Pool is excited about the opportunity to make AEGEE’s external image and feels honoured having this trust from the Comité Directeur. “When you are out, you are all the President of AEGEE-Europe. The highest representative towards the organisation. … make us proud, and you will carry on going to even higher level events.”  were the encouraging words of Luis Alvarado Martinez, the president of AEGEE-Europe, towards the newly created PoR. The PoR commits their performance to be exemplary and to make the network proud!

The first time the PoR was ‘functioning’ was the Presidents’ Meeting of BEST in Brno (Czech Republic) attended by Ivan Bielik. Nicola Guida visited the World Forum on Democracy and Paul Smits was at the European Movement International Council Meeting. After coming back from the conference, Ivan concluded: “I did enjoy the representation of AEGEE-Europe at the BEST Presidential Meeting very much. I really appreciate the trust CD gave me with this task. I had the possibility to observe how other student/youth NGOs work and to meet new people as well.” The PoR is looking forward to attending more events and increase AEGEE’s visibility around Europe!

Written by Diana Ondza, AEGEE-Riga