After a first sneak peek at Roma Autumn Agora Cagliari Pre-Event and the one organised by AEGEE-Milano, the next one will take place in the lovely southern city of Naples. AEGEE-Napoli, along with their twin local AEGEE-Lviv, will organize the WE WE – West east PreAgora event focusing mostly on architecture. We spoke with the main organizer Nicola Guida to discover more about the event and their relationship with AEGEE-Lviv.

Erika: WE WE. What is the secret behind the title?
Nicola: WE WE is a “connection of connections”, an idea to briefly represent our multicultural project. Firstly in English “WE” means us. All together, no barriers, no division, exactly the concept of a border-less Europe. Secondly, being an acronym it connects West with East with a special reference to the Napoli-Lviv twin project. Thirdly in Neapolitan language the exclamation “WE” (or UE) is used for many purposes: to greet, to show surprise, to catch the attention of another person and in general to set a positive connection between people. So there are plenty of hidden meanings as you can see!

When was the idea of a pre event born?
Well as soon as it was announced that Cagliari was going to host the autumn Agora 2014 we got carried away by the enthusiasm and decided we couldn’t miss this chance! We want to give AEGEE members a chance to get a taste of Italy even before arriving to Cagliari!

Your pre event will focus on architecture. What should participants expect?
Through the narrow streets of Napoli they will travel back in time, discovering concrete traces of many different civilizations. We will offer participants knowledge about our city trying to away out from the usual way education provides information. With us they will be able not only to see and learn from an external point of view, but also to get deep inside knowledge and really feel the city.

The event is organized also by AEGEE-Lviv, that is rather far away from Napoli. What is the contribution of the Ukranian local?
They’ll be our fantastic and beautiful helpers in Napoli, making participants have a virtual tour of their city and holding a workshop on their culture!

What is the thing that two cities like Napoli and Lviv share together?
Many things! They are both full of history and atmosphere with warm and welcoming inhabitants. They are also multicultural cities having hosted many different civilizations. They have been ruled by different countries, always being the capital of their region and center of attraction for culture and art. As an example of this important past, their historical centers are both UNESCO heritage sites.

The fee of the event will be 77 euros. Not a coincidence for AEGEE-Napoli, even if a lot of mistery surrouds this number. Why 77 is your lucky number?
It’s a secret from Neapolitan Smorfia, only those who will come to the event will dissolve the fog of mystery!

You set the number to 24 participants. Will you stick to this number or are you able (or willing) to host more?
Unluckily the hostel has only this number of beds and we’re already going to host in our homes the fellow organizers from Lviv.

AEGEE-Napoli and AEGEE-Lviv signed the twin antenna agreement in Agora Patra. How is the relationship going so far?
We can say that it’s quite stable, we were friends before and we are still friends now! No post marital syndrome yet!

Why did you and Lviv choosed each other?
Well, we could say it was destiny… And a lot of things in common. Members from our antennae met frequently in different events in the past and always enjoyed the mutual company. Then during the New Years’ Eve event in Napoli The curious case of AEGEE-Napoli in 2012, we decided to “legalize” our relationship.

What are your upcoming project with AEGEE-Lviv?
An event in Lviv. But shhh.. It is still a secret!

More information about the event can be found here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

The Autumn Agora in Cagliari is coming close, but the pre-events are even closer. AEGEE-Milano for example is ready for a group of 25 participants between the 24^th and 27^th of October, showing them their beautiful city under the name “Discover Me (Iano)!” The AEGEEan spoke to President Michela Marin and Vice-President Alexandra Vilcu to find out more about one of the stops you can make before the Agora.

Why did you decide to organize an Agora pre-event?

Because Milano is one of the main gateways in Italy for the people from across Europe and we supposed that a lot of AEGEEans would stop in our city to take the flight to Cagliari. Wouldn’t it be a great Agora preparation to spend some time with our antenna?

How many members are involved in this event, and how did they get involved?

There is a good mix of new and expert members who work together, and will do their best for a successful event. We started to talk about the event during the promotion of the Summer Universities, to make sure that AEGEE activities become a more concrete concept for the newbies who had not yet participated in any events. Some of them took part in a Summer University this summer and they came back contaminating all of the group with the typical enthusiasm derived by that experience.

You have room for 25 participants. Why did you decide on this number?

The number was chosen according to the availability of the hostel, but also to have the right number of people that can get to know each other in a few days.

What can your participants expect during the event?

As Milano is a city mostly famous for business and for being the economic capital of Italy, very few people know that it also has a cultural side. Therefore, we will let our participants discover the cultural treasures present in Milano. Apart from the “classical” sites, such as Duomo di Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Palazzo Reale and Arco della Pace, we will also include museum visits, such as Castello Sforzesco, or the National Museum of Science and Technology, dedicated to the famous painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci. And last but not least, culture in Italy is also about food, as well as culture in Milano is also about fashion. So, we want to show that side of Milano too, which is creative, beyond the apparent rigidity of business suits.

What will be included in your fee of 75 euro?

Accommodation in a hostel, two meals per day, tickets for public transport and museum entrance tickets.

What are your expectations of the event?

Although the number of days is quite small, we expect that the organizers team will be on their maximum potential, and that the participants will have a good time, and form strong friendships. In the applications that we received so far, which are quite high in number, we can see an interesting mix of nationalities, which is a great thing, because the more variety exists within the group, the bigger the likelihood for participants to learn about each others cultures.

Will participants get the chance to travel to the Agora together?

We leave the participants the choice to travel to Cagliari how they prefer, but of course we will give them all the necessary information required and the opportunity to stay in contact with each other, as well as with our members who will be going to the Agora.

The name of your event is “Discover Me (lano)”. Why did you go with this name?

The title has a double meaning: the first is literally about the discovery of Milano, our beautiful city, which is a city of business, but also a city of art, creativity and invention. The second is “discover me”, so it is about the discovery of the other people that we come into contact with during the event, their personalities and their cultures. Last but not least, I’m not sure if you remember, but last year we organized an event entitled “Look @ Me (lano)!” It is like in life: first you look, then you discover, and who knows what next year will bring. So, stay tuned!

Why should AEGEEans pick your event as their stop before the Agora?

Well, if what we have already said is not enough, we should add the fact that, although we may not be a very-very famous Antenna, compared to others, or considering the quantity of organized European events, we are really just a treasure of an antenna waiting to be… discovered. Our atmosphere is warm and cozy, and our main value within our group has always been friendship.

What do you expect of the Agora in Cagliari? 

This Agora is going to be a blast! We expect lots of participants in a beautiful setting, such as Sardegna. For us as an antenna, apart from already experienced members attending as delegates, we will also have promising fresh forces who will attend. And this means an extra boost of encouragement for them to become more active on the European level.

Want to apply? The event can be found here.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

One of the most popular pre-events of Agora Zaragoza was “AGORAPHOBIA” organised by AEGEE-Barcelona and as it has been shown from pictures that were published on the Facebook page of AEGEE-Barcelona as well as Facebook profiles of the participants and organizers, and from their big smiles, it was really successful!

When my airplane landed I could not wait to go to the hostel and start meeting forty AEGEEans! Tired enough from my flight, but felt really fresh when reaching the dining room I heard the sounds of participants and organizers! They were laughing, they were talking… they were happy for being in Barcelona and let the event begin! How did it officially begin? By important and funny, and at the same time AGORAPHOBIC introductions from Nacho López del Blanco (organiser from AEGEE-Barcelona)! And what do AEGEE people need to start coming closer? Ice-breaking games of course! The group got out in Barcelona streets and played some funny and energetic games! Next stop – party! What else? The spirit was drinking beer, dancing, making crazy moves, funny AEGEEans, laughter and amazing time!

Next morning even if it seemed difficult to wake up, the sunny day and the thought of the first walk in Barcelona made it much easier! First stop: “Plaza España”! That was the best way to see how beautiful this city is – by walking in Barcelona’s big streets, watching the amazing edifices and the awesome water fountains. It was so nice to start “getting lost” in Barcelona! And what was the best price for being exhausted by walking so many hours? Paella! Some of the organisers had already gone to a big area, a bit out of the city, where people usually go to eat with their friends and being entertained. When the rest of the group reached them, cold sangria and some snacks were there waiting for the hungry participants. After having enjoyed one of the best paellas, three Spanish guys decided to entertain everyone more by playing songs in their guitars (David Martín Pérez, and El Juli Pallares Garcia, organizers from AEGEE-Barcelona, Ander Fernández, participant from AEGEE-Bilbao) and that is how that lunch turned out awesome! What was next? The AGORAPHOBIC night city tour! Did the participants dare to go? They did! Did they regret it? NO! People were all asked to get dressed in dark clothes and have candles… The meeting point was outside of the cathedral of the old town of Barcelona. That was the beginning…Two weird ladies (organisers) started to unravel a story… a scary story that was coming alive in front of the participants’ eyes!!! Some scary people (the organisers) were presenting a scary deadly story in parallel with the visit of the old town… In the aftermath their performance was great and made the night really worthwhile!

The next bright day in Barcelona started. What was first? Some weird but at the same time really interesting activities about trusting others, familiar and non-familiar. But the most impressive activity was the one that the group had their eyes covered – each sat at the opposite side of another person and had a material between them (something like clay) that could be formed in any shape. By cooperating with the other person the result was awesome. Everyone made some really nice objects. The event continued with the bike city tour. Two hours riding a bike and at the same time visiting the impeccable city of Barcelona was a fantastic experience!

The sense of riding a bicycle in a marine area with people full of AEGEE spirit along with the freedom that accelerating the bike offers was one of the moments of the event that will not be forgotten. Such a unique feeling that still feels hard to describe. The rule of the night was to be dressed frighteningly as it was the Halloween period! Everyone’s scary face made the night priceless! Spanish terror night was an amazing experience as participants had the chance to taste traditional drinks and food, all prepared perfectly by the organisers! After having a great time there eating, drinking and laughing, participants were ready to terrify the residents of Barcelona in a club! Full of joy, enthusiasm and energy, happy AEGEE people danced till dawn!

“Para bailar la bamba, Para bailar la bamba se necesita una poca de gracia, una poca de gracia para mi para ti y arriba y arriba y arriba y arriba por ti sere, por ti sere, por ti sere” This is how the last day in Barcelona started. Why? AEGEE-Bilbao had stolen the flag of AEGEE-Praha and here was the punishment. Participants from AEGEE-Praha had to find five random people during breakfast and persuade them to sing “La Bamba” in front of everyone so as to take back their flag! And they made it! The three participants from AEGEE-Praha (Lucie Zágorová, Pavel Jíša, Milena Jurigova) who were singing and dancing with the strangers, along with the guitar escort of Ander Fernández (AEGEE-Bilbao) made the day start with plenty of positive energy. Now it was the right time to start walking on the streets of the city! The group was walking for a long time but did not care as they were lucky to be gathered in an amazing city and make new friends.

The day passed by talking, laughing, watching incredible Barcelona, getting crazy and capturing mad moments that will remain the best souvenir! The last city tour culminated with a visit to a university where participants obtained knowledge about the first steps of cinema. Interesting even for those who are not passionate about this field! AGORAPHOBIA ended with a Suit Up party. The last night everyone was looking even more sexy in their fancy clothes! Drinking, dancing and partying with the most excited people made the night!

And it is always difficult when the departure day comes! Difficult to say goodbye to your new friends, but their warm hugs, their smiles and their “See you again” promises make it less hard to leave and make you feel blessed for having such an experience with these exact people, their exact smiles and positive energy that made you happy everyday!

Written by Dimitra Fratzeskou (AEGEE-Peiraias)

AEGEE-Alicante and the Health4Youth project decided to work together on organising a healthy lifestyle pre-event to Agora Zaragoza already before the summer. And when the event was finally there, a small but very active group of participants, a lot of organisers and helpers from AEGEE-Alicante, and Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen) and Sygrit Andringa (AEGEE-Groningen) from the Health4Youth project gathered in Alicante to take part in this amazing pre-event: Mediterraneanly.

A busy four day programme on the topic of the Mediterranean healthy way of life was waiting for the participants. There were workshops on healthy lifestyle, a lot of sports activities (almost all given by professional instructors), cooking activities, and a visit to a biodynamic fruit and vegetable garden. Of course, there was also time for socialising, parties and getting to know the lovely city of Alicante, including its nice weather and beach. Every day started with a nice breakfast and all lunches and dinners were prepared by the participants and organisers themselves.

One of the highlights was the tapas workshop, were the participants made tapas in the public kitchen of the local market. The participants had to work with a budget, buy the ingredients at the market and prepare different tapas in groups. After that, a lovely meal was eaten together in this public kitchen.

One of the participants, Carlos Castillo Perez, wrote about the pre-event. Carlos is a fresh member of AEGEE-Alicante, but he already joined several events in the network. As he did not have enough time to be an organiser for the pre-event because of exams, he decided to apply as a participant, to an event in his own city. This is his story:

MEDITERRANEANLY, UNDOUBTEDLY, IS THE BEST WAY OF LIVING:

There was no better way of warming up for Agora Zaragoza 2013, than with a pre-event on the Mediterranean shore, in the welcoming city of Alicante. We were five minutes away from the beach, and three minutes away from the the city’s party area.  In this city there are just two seasons: spring and summer. Given that the event took place between the 26^th and 30th of October, we could say that we were in the cool period of our summer, with temperatures around 20-25 degrees Celsius.

It all started at 16:00 on the day of arrival. However I have to confess I was not present in that first gathering, as the football match between Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona forced me to arrive some minutes late (240 minutes to be specific). The rest of the participants had a pleasant walk through the streets of Alicante, and a great first contact with the city that was going to be their home for the next days. Once the night had fallen, the amazing, awesome, attentive, charming, outstanding organisers had prepared an authentic Mediterranean dinner, with a varied mixture of meat, vegetables, eggs and more, to the delight of their participants. Throughout the event, they did not only maintain that level of cooking, but they even improved! Legend has it that one of the organisers made the bread every day, and twice a day she carried it to the hostel and delivered it to the participants, freshly baked, and with a huge smile.

The second day started with a yoga class at 8:30 AM (a typical time when everybody takes yoga classes, obviously), followed by the breakfast right there, and thanks to the high temperature we went to swim in the sea.  Some of us went to swim as well the second day, after the “Zumba” class. Simply fantastic.

In addition to all those sports (yoga, beach volleyball, football, jogging, salsa, zumba, or the hardest one, beer-pong), we did a lot of different workshops. A broad range of them: some were more dynamic, others funnier (the one about alcohol. Though it was supposed not to be exactly funny, with Spanish people and our anecdotes relative to that topic, it was really hard to take it entirely seriously) some more reflective (as the one about the effects of the lack of sleep, conscious eating, or the one about healthy lifestyle) or more cultural (the astronomy workshop).

Unfortunately, the nice weather betrayed us the last day, but our organisers had a back-up plan. The first plan had been to go to the mountains and camp there. But because of the weather forecast, we decided to stay in Alicante, and have a Ukulele class. This class was really funny, even for me, despite the fact that I could not play the Sponge Bob-Ukulele (I am still quite upset with that). After that, some of us went to visit the Castle of Santa Bárbara. And after living in Alicante for seven years, it was incredible that I did it for the first time…

As you can see, in spite of this being “only” a pre-event, and relatively short, much could be written about the event and about its people (both all the participants and all the organisers) because in AEGEE we will always have a lot of things to tell (not only because with AEGEE we sleep very little and therefore, days are very long), because every AEGEE experience turns out to be an unforgettable experience.

As “Participelper” (half participant, half helper) I can speak in the name of everybody when I say THANK YOU both to the participants for being so funny and collaborating in every activity with a great smile, and to the organisers and helpers for their hard work and for their positive attitude throughout all the event. And AEGEE-Alicante was not alone in this, as Maria and Sygrit from the Health4Youth project were also involved, whom showed us many interesting and useful things about how to live in a healthy way.

P.s. another participant, Elmar Guliyev, AEGEE-Baki, made a nice compilation movie about the pre-event.

Written by Carlos Castillo Perez (AEGEE-Alicante) & Sygrit Andringa of the Health4Youth Project Team.

One of the pre-event organised before Agora Budapest took place in Bratislava. As the very first event of Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) it confirmed once again that AEGEE events can be thematically oriented.

During the event hate speech in Europe and the online combat against it were the main topic discussed and it clearly pointed out that freedom of expression is still not granted in many countries.  Participants, together with guests from other associations, realised that young people are currently the ones who should raise their voice and act. We hope that our discussions will not stay just behind the door of working group, but that the message of this event will be spread around AEGEE.

We wonder, have you ever realised in how many photos you are tagged on Facebook? Are you shocked sometimes, how homophobic comments that appear on social networks can be? The Internet offers us a possibility to publish and distribute any kind of information and one might have  thought that nowadays we can reefer to the  Internet as to a space where freedom of expression is granted. However, sometimes unconsciously it can be spilled over. Online space like any other public space forms a part of society. Human rights should apply there as much as in the rest of the society. Unfortunately, because of the difficulty to control it, many times we can come through hate speech proclamations, racist notes or other discriminative comments.

The current campaign of the Council of Europe called “Young People Combating Hate Speech Online” brings a new dimension to act on hate speech crimes.  Becoming a young blogger of the campaign gives you a chance to influence directly protection of human rights online and be a human rights activist. Projects focused on raising awareness, complaints gathering and monitoring of abusive content were launched under the campaign and next year young people will have a possibility to join seminars and training courses. The project should result in policy guidelines on prevention of hate speech and the risk it posed on democratic citizenship and young people’s equal opportunities to participate in all spheres of society. “I, personally, think that people who are responsible for these speeches are somehow limited in their mind, it means they don’t have enough information” said Aneta Caltová from AEGEE- Plzeň. “I love the idea of the campaign and I might be interested to take part in it,” she concluded.

Brighten your horizons in Bratislava raised attention about the campaign and thanks to other NGOs, which introduced us to their work in the human rights field during our first HRWG event, we were very glad to organise it. “For the future, I’d like to stay updated with the activities and developments of HRWG and probably cooperate with them on some event,” mentioned Anne Stikkers from AEGEE-Groningen.

What about the participants? Of course, serious work means serious fun afterwards! AEGEE- Bratislava rocked the event and prepared untypical conditions – too much food and great programme for us to clear our heads after the workshops and comfortable beds to have enough energy for the gym at the Autumn Agora Budapest. New friends, new cooperation between AEGEE-Bratislava and HRWG, new partnerships and fun made a nice memory from time in Bratislava for all of us.
And now what? The show continues and not only us can become an active protectors of our rights online, but we invite you all to join the fight.

Written by Lucia Sobeková, member of AEGEE-Bratislava and the Human Rights Working Group

The pictures used in article are in courtesy of Aneta Caltová from AEGEE-Plzeň and Dasha Onkhova from AEGEE-Moskva