“Discrimination0”, the project organised by AEGEE-Lviv, AEGEE-Dresden and AEGEE-Moskva has already come to its end. The project consisted of two parts which took place in Ukraine and Germany in the format of youth exchange. The main goal of the event – promoting tolerance and unity for building a society free of any kind of discrimination and stereotypes.

The first part took place in Lviv on October 2nd-7th. During the week, every day was very different from the others and very intensive. The first day of the project was devoted to finding the definition of discrimination and discussing some controversial points about it. Then we talked about the discrimination of disabled people and got acquainted with the international sign language. We also had a day devoted to gender discrimination and meeting with representatives of the League of Women’s Rights Protection “Harmony of the Equal”. They shared with us some important information about gender discrimination in Ukraine and the ways it can be revealed. We also learned some legal aspects of this problem. As Lviv is considered to be one of the oldest and the most beautiful cities of Europe, our organisers also included an excursion part to the programme. So, we had a city tour with an amazing guide who let us in on the city secrets and a trip around three old castles situated in the Lviv region. It is also worth mentioning the informal part of the project – communication, games to know each other, evening walks and parties!

The second part of the “Discrimination0” project took part in Dresden from the 17th to the 22nd of November. Due to our amazing organisers, the second part was mostly focused on the themes that weren’t discussed before. So, we had a reflection workshop with a long conversation on privileges in society and empathy towards other people. We tried to understand the phenomenon of PEGIDA, to find out the real ways to react against discrimination, to develop a civil courage and understand the main problems of the muslim community. A gender issue was also present in our discussions, but not in a way we were used to; an exhibition, “The boringly normal man”, dedicated to masculinity made us think about this social construct. What does it mean – being a man in the XXI century? Which problems are men usually faced with? Now almost everybody agrees we must fight against gender inequality, but without understanding the nature of femininity and masculinity it would not be possible.

“Discrimination0” has come to its end. To sum up, the Dresden part differs from the Lviv one on its topics and on the questions we were trying to solve. But that’s the most important thing! Two countries having a different background and different experiences uniting against the mutual problem, trying to learn from each other and to understand each other. Reacting against discrimination is very important, but the first and the main thing our action can start with is a feeling of empathy towards somebody and understanding of the situation. We strongly believe that “Discrimination0” had an impact on the participants and they will feel now informed and empowered enough to make a difference in their society and stand for values as diversity, trust and understanding. We want to thank the foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (EVZ), the Federal Foreign Office and the Robert Bosch Stiftung for making this project possible!

Written by AEGEE-Lviv

Europe on Track is a project run by young volunteers who aim to raise awareness, to create a space for discussion and to capture the opinions of youth in Europe on important social issues. Thanks to Interrail, the  ambassadors in teams of 3 (one videographer, one photographer and one interviewer per team) will travel by train across 20 countries in one month to deliver workshops, interview young people and organise events in cooperation with 200 volunteers from 30 cities in Europe. Let’s take a closer look at this amazing project!

The AEGEEan: What is your definition of Europe on Track? 

Erifyli and Ola: For many people Europe on Track is the most exciting AEGEE project, also quite often called the “dream” one. The idea is that selected ambassadors travel by train across Europe for one month to deliver workshops, interview young people and organise local events in cooperation with AEGEE antennae about the main topic of each edition. But the aim of Europe on Track is not only to travel and have fun but above all to raise awareness, to create a space for discussion and to capture the opinions of youth in Europe on important social issues while having an amazing time and connecting different parts of our continent (or even further!). This is an unbelievable journey for everyone involved in the project – ambassadors, project team and local organisers. One month full of adventures, events with great content and visible outcomes.

Tell us more about the project’s past achievements. 

Erifyli and Ola: We are working now on the fifth edition of Europe on Track which means the project is already known by some AEGEEans (but not all of them and we want to change it!) and has many things
to be proud of! Each edition of the project tackled a different civic topic, relevant for European youth. The first edition of the project, launched in 2013, won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize which is awarded annually to a project that fosters a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.
Last edition, Europe on Track 4, was the winner of the Franck Biancheri Award and organised an amazing kick-off conference in cooperation with AEGEE-Budapest and the Civic Education Working Group. During their journey, the ambassadors were able to reach 1000 young Europeans in 26 different cities. After last edition’s success, many people became interested in the project and decided to continue the journey with Europe on Track 5!

How is the team being formed?

Erifyli and Ola: Our Project Team, consisting of 16 people, was already selected in June and has been working on the project for six months! In August, three assistants joined our team to help us in specific areas – Fundraising and IT. Since the beginning we can count also on our CD appointed member Maria, who was the Content Manager of EoT 3 and 4, so she’s a really great help for us! In October we found 34 awesome AEGEE locals which will prepare Europe on Track stops in their cities. The local organisers are a crucial part of our project because thanks to them we can engage different people and be present at universities, have meetings with local authorities, NGOs etc. Now we are looking for the last important part of the team – our ambassadors! This edition, we don’t need six, but nine travellers who will join Europe on Track. To have a bigger impact, we decided to create three teams, one more than in previous editions, and we are currently looking for the perfect candidates! If you know someone who’s inspiring, wants to have a life-changing experience traveling all around Europe while discussing and giving workshops about Sustainability and Climate Change, share our Open Call with her/him.

How and why did you choose the topic for the new edition?

Erifyli and Ola: Firstly we collected ideas from the network. Then we split inside the project team into smaller groups and researched each of the 32 submitted topics: possible activities, grants, cooperation, funds, etc. It took us more than one month to select the final one! The topic of ‘Sustainability and Climate Change’ under the motto “Can you hear the ECO?” is extremely important these days! We are dealing with an environmental crisis caused by irresponsible human behavior but we don’t want to only talk about it, we want to take action. That’s why we will make our project CO2 neutral, we will plant trees (also in your name if you donate to our crowdfunding campaign) and we will gather opinions of young people and inform them about how to act and how to have an impact on the Earth.

What plans do you have in store?

Erifyli and Ola: We said in the beginning that we will take Europe on Track to the next level and so far we think we are doing it! Three routes, nine ambassadors, 34 hosting locals and our crowdfunding campaign are just the beginning of big surprises. We are focusing now on the Open Call for ambassadors and the crowdfunding campaign. Then we will work closely with locals to prepare high level and contentful events and to make them use the opportunity to be a part of big European project. We are also planning our kick-off conference in Thessaloniki and the Environmental Action Week. We are constantly working on Fundraising and External Relations. We hope to reveal some more big surprises very soon!

Who can become an ambassador of Europe on Track 5?

Erifyli and Ola: First of all, we are looking for people for specific positions: photographer, videographer and blogger. Also, we don’t mind if you can do two or all things, in the end you always have to choose one role!
We want to find people who are inspiring, have experience in travelling and delivering workshops as well as knowledge about Sustainability and Climate Change. You need to be open-minded, responsible and, what’s very important, resistant to stress and physical fatigue. Travelling for one month, sleeping in trains, changing place every two or three days can be tiresome and we need to be sure that our potential ambassadors are prepared for it. And in the end, we are looking for candidates with initiative who will make this trip an unforgettable
experience both for themselves and everyone involved in the project.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Erifyli and Ola: We think that what makes this edition special is that we have so many extremely motivated people working on the project and we are really aiming big! Our project manager, Jorge, was an ambassador of EoT4 and has a lot of experience so he always pushes us to do more, think out of the box and do things that have never been done before like having three teams or the crowdfunding campaign. We had a live meeting in Brussels in October and the atmosphere inside the project team is just great! Although the most important thing is that we really want to bring Sustainability and Climate Change closer to AEGEE and young people.

Our initiative is needed and we, as Europe on Track, want to act and help the planet as much as we can. And with our motivation and your help we believe we can do a lot!

Are you curious to find out what young people really think about Sustainability and Climate Change? Are you passionate about travelling? Do you like giving presentations and workshops? Do you want to spend one month doing all of these around Europe?

Then join Europe on Track 5!
Become an #ambassador! We are looking for photographers, videomakers and bloggers/interviewers who wish to travel for one month and bring the topic of sustainability and climate change closer to European youth. You can find Open Call for ambassadors here:bit.ly/ambassadorEOT5
Support our #crowdfunding campaign! Together with Youth 4 Public Transport we will measure our carbon footprint and plant enough trees to make our project CO2 neutral. We need your help for that! Check out our perks and more about our project from the 10th of November.
Organise and participate in local events! You can get involved in organising activities connected with Europe on Track during our Environmental Action Week, or during the route of our ambassadors. You’ll see the list of events on our website soon.
Follow our journey in Social Media!

Facebook: Europe on Track
Instagram: www.instagram.com/europeontrack/
Youtube: Europe on Track https://goo.gl/w1PCcv
Website: www.europeontrack.org

Written by Aliona Sytnyk, AEGEE-Berlin

Every month, many antennae around the Network organise activities that are related to our Action Agenda and Strategic Plan. Some of these locals become ACTive Locals of the Month, but often there is more than one outstanding activity taking place. One of these activities is the project “If I were in your shoes” by AEGEE-Kyïv and AEGEE-Berlin, which took place last October (Kyïv) and December (Berlin) and was related to the Youth Mobility Focus Area. We spoke to Iryna Sheremeta, President of AEGEE-Kyïv and the main coordinator of the Kyïv part of the project, to find out more!

ACT: Can you tell us a little bit more about your programme and participants?
Irina: The program was connected to the main topic of the project “Participatory Democracy”. The idea was to show young and motivated people how they can participate now and be useful for society. Participants were from different cities in Ukraine and Germany, 18-25 years old, and not only AEGEEans. We mixed activities, because we wanted to balance theory and practice as well as show our participants the city. We met with representatives of different initiatives, organised workshops connected to the topic and walked around the city. The same strategy was used in Berlin. We talked about populism, German local initiatives, for example the bicycle movement. Moreover, we visited some of them and tried the practice of mediation with children, helped in a refugee camp and in a local bicycle association.

How and when did the idea to organise this project come to your mind?
The idea to organise a serious project appeared in the heads of our board members from the very beginning of our term. It was a logical decision after a successful year of the previous board, which organised Autumn Agora Kyïv 2015 and a series of events connected to democracy. The particular idea of this project appeared during our New Years event during a discussion about our focus and how we could link ourselves to the Focus Areas.

 
Which steps did you take to realise your idea?
We did not want to make a project following some grants requirements, but we wanted to find a grant matching our idea for it. We followed the Facebook page of the German embassy in Ukraine and saw an open call there. Then, we contacted AEGEEans from AEGEE-Berlin and developed a common vision. Both locals from Ukraine and Germany were involved, because the project Meet Up is a Ukrainian-German cooperation. Then, the waiting period started and we got an answer from the grant three months later. They asked to specify the topic and to add more group work. Actually, the confirmation from the grant was the first step to realise our idea.

 
How exactly did you apply for the grant?
The application for the grant was quite extensive. It consisted of a general vision of the project, a preliminary programme, a preliminary budget, documents, which proved that we are representatives of NGOs (statutes, documents signed by Presidents, etc). We needed to fill an electronic application form and also send a paper version by mail.

 
What was the outcome of your project?
With this project, we wanted to motivate people to act and to be active in their own country. We wanted to show them that there are many possibilities to do that and many opportunities to develop your own personality. We made a video briefly explaining the main idea of the project and shared it on our pages in social networks. Also, the main task was to create ideas for policies which will be sent to the Kyïv City Council.

 
Did you have any troubles to create and realise your idea? How did you solve them?
I do not know if we can call these things troubles, but one girl from Berlin lost her purse and a boy from Cologne lost his camera. Also one participant  from Berlin had troubles on the border and we needed to send her the invitation on the day of arrival. One more participant missed the flight and did not come at all. But basically everything went well and the atmosphere was amazing and friendly.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?
AEGEE-Kyïv is 21 years old, very active and motivated. During our history we organised two Agoras, and we regularly organise Summer Universities (SU) and local events. We had several Comité Directeur (CD) representatives in the history of our antenna and we are really proud of that.

 
Describe your local in five words.
Active, motivated, friendly, open-hearted, hospitable.

P.S. More information can be found here.
Written by Action Agenda Coordination Committee and Youth Mobility Working Group

The beginning of the AEGEE Election Observation project dates back to Agora Zaragoza when Project Manager Thomas Leszke (AEGEE-Köln) and former member Alin-Florin Calin (AEGEE-Manchester) organised a meeting to reestablish the Election Observation in AEGEE. They were joined by a group of interested people who established the first team, working already before the ratification in Autumn Agora Cagliari. In almost four years, the project developed towards a more professional approach and organised dozens of observations all around Europe, engaging hundreds of young people in the democratic processes. We spoke with Marije Arentze, the External Relations Manager, to understand better their next plans after closing the first part of the project in Autumn Agora Chisinau, starting a new phase. 

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce your project.

Marije: AEGEE Election Observation provides a youth perspective on elections in Europe. We do this by deploying young people on election observation missions to specifically assess youth engagement. This is important because young people are underrepresented in elections across Europe. We want to understand why.

We train and deploy those who are best-placed to assess youth engagement: young people themselves. Our observers undertake research prior to deployment, and collect vital on-the-ground information on youth participation.

Autumn Agora Cagliari – Autumn Agora Chisinau. How have the past two years been for your project? How did you change?

We have changed dramatically over the course of the past two years. Of the team that signed the contract in Cagliari, only three people are left: Thomas Leszke, Julia Krebs and me. We were joined by thirteen new team members from all over the continent, who all bring a unique and invaluable contribution to the team; they each have a background in election observation, youth participation, or the fields they are active in.

Our professionalism improved drastically. Since Agora Cagliari, in November 2014, we have organised nine Election Observation Missions, each one more advanced than the previous. We introduced the Mission Coordinators; during our Open Calls we usually get excellent applications from people who are a very valuable contribution to our project. We completely revised our research practice; all observers now have specific research tasks prior to the mission, which greatly improves our Final Reports. We are a long way down the road in developing our distinctive methodology to observe youth participation in elections, which would make us the first authority in the world on youth election observation. We have discovered our purpose, what makes us stand out in the field of election observation, and are all extremely committed to this.

What are the highlights of the first cycle?

Apart of the thirteen missions we organised, we held a very successful Erasmus+ sponsored training course in Köln and we had some amazingly inspiring team meetings. As a highlight for us all, I would mention the team meeting we had in Warszawa in January 2016. For the entire weekend we were hosted in the premises of OSCE/ODIHR, the world’s leading authority on election observation, and got to meet with their elections department, who gave us tons of inspiration.

What is the thing you are most proud of?
For me personally, what makes me most proud is the fact that we are doing something completely new: of all the international organisations that practice election observation, we are the only one who is focusing on youth. We are pioneering, setting a standard, doing something no one has done before. This is absolutely thrilling to be part of, especially with a team of such dedicated young professionals.

What is the impact that you think you had in youngster and the societies where you operated?

Our project teaches young people what democracy is so much more than crossing a ballot every four years. It shows them from up close that democracy is a system of government that requires the participation of everyone. Our presence in several European countries has helped young citizens to think critically about their own system of government and their place in this world.

Why did you decide to start a second cycle?
We are not “starting a second cycle”, but rather continuing what we were doing, with the same team and the same plans. This is because we are not quite done yet with our work and we are all convinced that the potential of this project lies far beyond a two-year cycle. Stopping now would feel very unnatural and like a waste of something truly beautiful. We decided to prolong the contract and use this year to lay the foundations and make the necessary arrangements to be able to found a separate NGO in the future.

What do you expect?

I expect our two December missions, to Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to be no less than amazing. The work of our six Mission Coordinators, who all new to the project, is already very promising.

We are presently seeking to expand our funding base in order to accelerate our progress to understanding the under-representation of young people in electoral processes. We are piloting some new concepts in 2016, and plan to make big steps toward founding our NGO.

What are you planning for the upcoming year?

Apart from the two missions in December, we plan to organise around six missions in 2017. We have decided to go to the elections in The Netherlands, France and Albania. We aim for a new edition of our Erasmus+ training course, and we plan to take some big steps in terms of methodology and partnerships.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

At the upcoming Spring Agora Bergamo, beside plenaries, prytania and workoshops, twelve Progress Meetings (PM) will take place. Excluding a Progress Meeting which will be on Friday afternoon, they will all be on Thursday and Saturday, divided in a morning slot and an afternoon one. Progress Meetings are a very important moment in AEGEE since we all can receive information about the current status of certain issues and our members can present new ideas they want to develop in the medium-long term. So go there and discuss about the future of our organisation!

On the second last session of the Progress Meetings, which will be on Saturday 21st of May from 11:45 – 13:15, two interesting PM will take place: “LGBTQ topics in Europe: what can we do?” and “My AEGEE development & White Paper in IT service”. As the titles of them are announcing, the first will be a thematic one, the second will discuss the progresses about an implementation AEGEE is carrying out for some years now.

LGBTQ topics in Europe: what can we do?

Ander Guerrero Ruiz on behalf of the Comité Directeur is the moderator of this interesting debate which will be on the 21st of May, starting from 11.45 in the “S. Lorenzo” room. The main discussions will be regarding the current situation on LGBTQ rights across Europe, analysing which are the countries recognizing and reducing them. But it is not over, during the debate we have the opportunity to take a look at the current situation within AEGEE and homophobia problems people may have noticed within it. The purpose of this Progress Meeting? Launch a huge European project for our locals about this topic!

My AEGEE development & White Paper in IT service

Pablo Hernandez Rodriguez for the Comité Directeur and Fabrizio Bellicano on behalf of the Information Technology Committee are the hosts of this meeting. It will take place on the 21st of May, starting at 11.45 in the “S. Alessandro” room. The topic is a very important one since it regards the implementation of our new online system which will be updated from a system of the 90s to a system of today. At this Progress Meeting, the implementation results of this issue, which AEGEEans really care about, are going to be shown. What is the aim of the meeting? Gather the most possible inputs to finalise the work and shape the system as AEGEEans would like to see it. For more information about this topic you can also read this interview the AEGEEan took with Fabrizio Bellicano who is the IT person developing the system and our Member of the Month of February 2016.

For more information you can download the Agora Agenda and the Workshops and Progress Meetings booklet.

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

The city of Bergamo was running to be the Capital of Culture in 2019, but the application was rejected. One of the reasons stated by the  Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali (Ministry of cultural heritage and activities ed.) for this rejections was the lack of European dimension of the city. That’s the reason AEGEE-Bergamo created a new project for the city of Bergamo, under the name of “Bergamo is Europe”. The three-year project focuses on six constituents of the arts, each of which is developed using three different methods: online, local and European level.

The idea came to light during a sleepless night, caused by the difficulty of sticking to the idea of culture that was outlined by the administration of Bergamo (and also by everyday life) in the application for Bergamo Capitale della Cultura 2019. That night, AEGEE-Bergamo reconfirmed the office at Polaresco (where many AEGEE-members stayed for the NWM) and a new frontier for the local.

“Bergamo is Europe” is a project that starts from crisis and is structured in the crisis and the practises of voluntarily work. It must be held together with the help of those who live in this cultural, social or economic crisis every day. Active culture is immersed in the city, so “Bergamo is Europe” means participation, “Bergamo is Europe” means freedom. For you and your cities all this may be obvious, but for those who live in Bergamo, in a dormitory town, with a certain way of seeing things and a certain way of looking at life, it is not that obvious.

AEGEE-Bergamo decided to organise this particular type of activity because the problem of cultural entertainment is a very salient issue in the provincial and Nordic parts; where in the national debate the only concern seems to be unemployment, the monetary value of things and not to disturb the neighbours. The Northern local is trying to bring a little sense of Europe into Bergamo, because an airport is not enough.  The city needs to engage in some social activities seriously and, at the same time, it needs people who are willing to take the risk.

The Ukrainian crisis has dominated the news in the past months. In order to show a European perspective on the situation, AEGEE-Nijmegen organised a debate night, with a broad panel of academics, policy makers and of course AEGEEans from Ukraine. The debate, titled ‘Ukraine Rising: perspectives of a European (r)Evolution’, took place on May 14^th and was the kick-off for a series of thematic events on Ukraine. The AEGEEan spoke to the organising team about their activity.

Last December a small delegation of AEGEE-Nijmegen members visited the city of Lviv to witness and experience what’s happening there first hand. There, they came in contact with some of the organisers of the demonstrations, and spoke with them about their view on the protests and Ukraine’s future. As the conflict escalated, they remain concerned for Ukraine, and decided to act. Soon enough ten motivated members were found and Project Ukraine became a fact, consisting of Manon Luinenburg (President), Monika Paskauskaite (Secretary), Luke Peerdeman (Treasurer and Board Responsible), Jesper van Munster (PR & Fundraising), Jenya Bednaya (Incoming Responsible), Anouk Evers (Outgoing Responsible), Alexander van Ratingen, Wouter de Vries, Dorian Schaap and Ron Stoop.

During the event a broad panel discussed their views on the history, present and future of Ukraine.   First off, doctor Marc Jansen (University of Amsterdam) put the Euromaidan rallies, the deposition of Yanukovych and the annexation of the Crimea in a historical perspective. After his address, two Ukranian AEGEEans shared their personal stories; Nelia Golubiatnikova from Lviv and Diana Melikian from Charkiv. Even though both girls had a long trip behind them, they still managed to show the well-known AEGEE-spirit during their presentations. Nelia shared her personal story about the demonstrations in Lviv, while Diana focused on the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine and the anti Maidan protests.

After the speeches, a panel debate was held, to which the earlier speakers contributed with additional experts. These were John Stienen, OSCE observer, civil servant and AEGEE alumnus, and Mikhail Smirnov, a Russian student, who now studies conflict sciences in Nijmegen. Together with the audience, they discussed about the future of Ukraine. The goal of the debate was to have people from different backgrounds share the different perspectives on the current situations. The personal stories of the Ukranian speakers and the passion of the Russian panel member resulted in a strong discussion, while the audience felt free to share their opinion too.

The evening attracted over 80 participants, from a variety of backgrounds.  The next big event on the calendar will be an international conference on Ukraine, later this year. The conference will consist of lectures from different international speakers and interactive workshops, so the different visions can be shared. Project Ukraine wants to combine the event with an exchange, so participants can discover Nijmegen and the Netherlands too, while sharing their views and concerns in an international arena.

Of course, a question that arises is: should there be more large events like this organised about the situation in Ukraine? The organising committee says they were lucky to have enough enthusiastic members, and that organising an event like this takes up a lot of time and energy. They feel like a dire situation like the one in Ukraine deserves to be taken seriously. That’s why they wanted to provide a platform where people from different background can feel free to share their thoughts.

As organisers, they wanted to remain neutral which can be a delicate balance on such controversial topics. Their main goal was to add to a comprehensive civil discussion on the Ukrainian situation. It was felt that this kind of event was something their antenna could do, and that the organisers had the passion and capacity to do the topic justice. They feel it’s very important to find the passion in your antenna, and to translate that passion into events that fit the identity of your local. “In the end, we just hope that we could help, even in a small way, to illuminate and educate about Ukraine’s situation”, Jesper says.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen, pictures taken by Kelley van Evert, AEGEE-Nijmegen

We all love AEGEE, because it’s a multidisciplinary organization, which allows each and every one of us to bring up an idea, create a project and bring it on with the help of AEGEE members from all over the Network, with the aim to get AEGEE involved in a new field and increase the internal knowledge. However, every project has to deal with finances.  How do you deal with the budget when your project got a grant, but you won’t get the money until the project is over?

That’s why we have FATF! Let’s ask the current Secretary, Anita Kalmane, to give us more information about it.

The AEGEEan: What does the acronym FATF stand for? Faith Trough AEGEE Fighters?

Anita: Nope, FATF is the acronym for “Foundation AEGEE Trust Fund”.

Anita Kalmane

The AEGEEan: How is it connected with AEGEE? Where and how was the idea born?

Anita: FATF was founded by the Project Managers of “Europe and the Euro” back in 2003 with two main aims. The first one is to prevent liquidity problems in case AEGEE doesn’t get General Subvention and due to possibly not getting other grants needs to go bankrupt. In case this unfortunate situation happens, the money in the FATF bank account can be used to start AEGEE from scratch with the first start-capital. The second one is to provide more certainty and guarantees for carrying out European Projects and Events successfully and as originally intended – in other words, if a local has applied for a grant and has got accepted for it, but hasn’t got it yet and the event is about to start, FATF can lend the necessary money to the local which should be paid back as soon as the grant has been received. That ensures that good ideas and projects can be realized even if financial grants arrive late.

The AEGEEan: What are the differences between FATF and the AEGEE Social Responsibility Fund granted from the Comité Directeur to members for attending the Statutory Events?

Anita: Actually both funds have no similarities as FATF is lending money to locals to organize events, while AEGEE Social Responsibility Fund gives money to individual AEGEE members to attend statutory events. However, as discussed in the last FATF board meeting in March 2014, as of now, FATF will be more involved in AEGEE Social Responsibility Fund in two different ways.  Donations will be going through the FATF bank account to ensure both transparency and the possibility for a donor to receive a tax deduction. And the FATF board will be involved in selecting people who will receive the funding to ensure more objectivity as FATF board members are not holding any other positions in AEGEE (except two members who are also members of AEGEE-Europe’s board).

Theijs Van Welij

The AEGEEan: Who is representing FATF?

Anita: FATF is represented and taken care of by four board members – two of them are appointed CD members (Treasurer and Board Member), while the President and Secretary are elected every two years by the previous board and should have either CD experience or former European management experience with large international projects. The current board is composed by Theijs Van Welij as President, me as Secretary, Anna Gots as Treasurer and Pavel Zbornik as Board Member.

The AEGEEan: Who can be a member of FATF?

Anita: FATF doesn’t have any members per se, you can see the structure here. However, if you have experience in project management, in AEGEE or in any other International Non-Governmental organization, and you wish to support FATF and its work, you can contact the board to become a member of our “Commissions of Experts”, a team which support and helps project teams and event organizers in any way needed.

The AEGEEan: Some numbers: how many projects/activities have been granted last year? And how many since FATF has been created?

Anita: In the last two years there weren’t a lot of applications, so obviously there weren’t a lot of events supported. Most of them were rejected as there were different possible funding solutions found. Only one event was supported – lending money to AEGEE-Chișinău for organizing their Summer University.
You can see the total numbers from the previous years here.

The AEGEEan: Who and how can contact FATF?

Anita: Anybody can contact FATF. We can be contacted by writing to info@fatf.info

Wrapping up: if you have an idea for realising a project, and you need a valid support for writing grant applications, if you need a loan, or need help in managing and reporting a project, you can count on FATF. Now it’s up to you!

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

It all started from an on-line debate, and now it is about to become an AEGEE-Europe project. Last December, the Culture Working Group (CWG) set up a Skype debate about History textbooks and how they are influenced by nationalisms in Europe. EurStory is a newborn in AEGEE, but it’s ready to rock the Network and to make ‘History’!

We cannot deny that nationalism in textbooks leads to lots of contradictions on the ways the subject is taught in many countries. Kristóf Papp, president of AEGEE-Budapest, saw a brilliant opportunity in the past debate held by the Culture Working Group about Textbooks & Nationalism and decided to take the lead on making a project about European History textbooks come true. This is how EurStory was born.

EurStory team members Luca Gallyas and Kristóf Papp (AEGEE-Budapest) in the Agora Fair in Rhein-Neckar

“I felt this project was perfectly describing me”. Kristóf grew up in a small city close to the Croatian border, which has a great Ottoman influence. Besides, during several AEGEE events, “I met the different aspects of the interpretation of History in the Central-European region”. All these facts, combined with his passion for History, pushed him to take up the challenge of leading such an ambitious project.

But what is exactly EurStory about? “We want to show Europe that there is a History we are all part of, and that we all have different points of view”, Kristóf explains. There is still a big amount of sensitive topics in European history. EurStory aims to observe and gather the different points of view on relevant historical facts from high school textbooks, and to highlight both their similarities and differences.

The Project Team of EurStory gathered for the first time last May in Brussels, and agreed in their objectives and outline for the project. According to Kristóf, “in order to present all the information, we want to publish comparisons and debates, interesting facts reachable for students as an additional source, and a website with a timeline”. The second part of the project aims to lobby for changes in school textbooks, and to “free them of nationalistic approach”.

The project is still in the planning and recruitment part, but there are some other challenging goals ahead: “we are planning to have a Training Course where we can teach people how to represent the different aspects of History”, Kristóf says. And then comes the cherry to the cake: the Project Team of EurStory plans to visit high schools and give workshops all over Europe, in a similar way like the YOUrope needs YOU! project did in its time.

Positive feedback from the Network and externals

EurStory’s logo, by Benjamin Doll (AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden)

Even though EurStory has just started walking, it has already found a strong support throughout the Network. So far, it has supporters and team members from almost every region in Europe, thanks to its presence in several European events such as the Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar or some Summer Universities. Kristóf admits that the whole project has been changing since the beginning, because of the feedbacks received: “I think I can say that people is excited about the project and everybody has been trying to help us with their opinions and comments”.

Marta Astorgano, member of AEGEE-Barcelona and History student, led a workshop in the TSU between AEGEE-Barcelona and AEGEE-Las Palmas. Looking back at the workshop, she is happy with the outcomes it gave: “we had a couple of members who were really touched by our goals, got in touch with us and asked to be a part of the project”. However, she admits that it’s hard to make most of the members keep its interest in History. “I understand that it’s a heavy subject and it needs concentration, so in a workshop at a Summer University is normal that people lose their attention quite easily”, she says.

Furthermore, EurStory counts with a strong supporter who might be quite well-known for many AEGEEans. It’s Dr. James Skelly, who has taken part in some panel discussions in AEGEE’s Statutory Events. Kristóf Papp approached him in the EBM Valletta, and was offered lots of materials and support from the beginning: “he [Skelly] said it has a huge potential. Since the EBM I met him several times, and we were discussing about the possible working method. He suggested to make the comparisons between exact events, which became the fundamental base of the project”.

A great idea that expects great outcomes

“We have lots of hours of reading, writing and contrasting ahead us, but I hope the outcome is great, because the idea is”, Marta says. There are many ways you can get more information and get involved in the project: the EurStory project team members plan to give a workshop in Autumn Agora Zaragoza, and you will hopefully see them on stage, too!

You can also reach them through:

– Facebook group

– Contact mail

Let’s all make history in AEGEE!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Pictures by Dasha Onokhova, AEGEE-Moskva