In AEGEE, we have several committees to support the work of the organisation, such as the newly revived Human Resources Committee (HRC). As the name says, this committee works on the human resources of AEGEE-Europe in many different ways. An example of this would be the Human Resources Regional Training Course, which was organised in Passau last January by AEGEE-Passau and the Human Resources Committee.

The idea of organising this training course started at Agora Chisinau after a meeting with the Network Commissioner Mareike Ritter and her local members, Antonia Erich and Svenja Kupke from AEGEE-Passau. They said: “Many members of the locals at the meeting shared their troubles with recruiting and motivating the new and old members in their local. We got so excited that we started planning right away while sitting on the floor under the stairs in the plenary hall. One hour later the entire event was mapped out!”

After the approval by the board, the members of AEGEE-Passau were ready to organise the event with not one, not two, but four main organisers. As Antonia and Svenja said: “Who needs one main organiser when you can have four? Cindy, Jana and we (Svenja and Antonia) were the perfect match! Nobody wanted to be left out. So, we basically did everything together. We did distribute some tasks but they stayed constantly in the loop on everything. One of our main assets was that our group consisted of different AEGEE-Passau generations: Andrea as our oldie but goldie, Cindy as previous secretary and gossip board member, Jana as the former president, Svenja as AEGEE-Passau mommy who takes care of all her little ducklings, and Antonia as our should-have-been-in-the-board but timing is a bitch member. Not to forget our amazing current board (Dom, Jasmin, Charlotte, Saskia, Roman) and our working group that supported us in any way possible.”

The decision was made to cooperate with the Human Resources Committee to provide the content, for which two trainers, Andrea Schmelz and Svenja van der Tol, travelled to the south of Germany to deliver sessions on the basics of Human Resources, the Human Resources cycle, identity, feedback culture, motivation, teamwork, recognition of potential, knowledge transfer and conflict management. The knowledge gathered at the sessions was implemented afterwards in case studies, in which practical tasks had to be solved in small groups. As Matthias Felder from AEGEE-Bamberg said: “All the workshops were perfectly prepared and there was a clear structure in everything as content. The theoretic part of the workshop was well linked to a case study, that always followed the theoretic part, so we needed to put the knowledge into practice. Thanks to the awesome atmosphere and the awesome trainers, this event was one of the best I attended so far and I hope we can put all the ideas we got into practice in our antenna.”

Besides the sessions provided by the HRC, a guest speaker, Heike Ehmann, from the locally based company MyMuesli was invited, who told the participants more about the Human Resources of their company. The presentation by MyMuesli was an addition that was well-liked by participants. Peter Suligoj from AEGEE-Ljubljana expressed this affection as: “The guest speaker from MyMuesli was a great choice. Heike presented herself in a very approachable manner and was willing to explain everything. Furthermore, the training made sure that our questions were on point. I imagine there is an opportunity here to collaborate with working groups such as the Youth Employment to prepare questions, that we as members could think about, and ask on such occasions. I see this as a process of fitting the newly gained knowledge in a bigger picture, and as something, we should try and facilitate.”

It wasn’t only the content that was well-liked though – good ratings were also given to the logistics of the event, which were provided by AEGEE-Passau. Antonia and Svenja: “The long planning and sleepless nights paid off! There is nothing more rewarding than getting so much positive feedback from participants and trainers. We can honestly say that we would do it all over again! The constant and great communication in our team and with the HRC made everything so easy. Sweet participants + awesome and patient trainers + motivated organisers and helpers = an unforgettable event!”

Overall, almost a month after the HRTC took place, the trainers, local organisers and participants all look back with positive memories on a well-organised event by an enthusiastic and motivated group of people. The training does not stop in Passau though, as far away as it might be for some. For more training on Human Resources in AEGEE, the committee is always there to cooperate with locals on topics related to HR! Feel free to get in touch with us via hrc@aegee.org!  

Written by Svenja van der Tol, Human Resources Committee

From the 2nd until the 4th of May, AEGEE-Manchester organised a Regional Training Course (RTC). As its name says, this RTC was ready to connect different members of the network to learn, share experiences and work together. We interviewed Bryn French, organiser, and Katharina Lawall, trainer, to find out more about it.

The AEGEEan: How did you come up with the idea of organising a Regional Training Course?
Bryn: AEGEE is really starting to grow in the UK and so we needed some training in order to help our antennas grow in the right direction. Organising a Regional Training Course was an opportunity to bring together different members from across the network to share our knowledge and experiences. As Manchester is a fairly new local it gave us a project to work towards to and helps us fulfill antenna criteria in order to be upgraded from Contact Antenna to Antenna as soon as possible.

What were the best moments in organising the event?
The highlight of the event for me was our final dinner. Through Pablo’s close attention to the pennies throughout the event we were able to splash out a bit extra and enjoy a fantastic meal at a local restaurant on the Curry Mile, one of Manchester’s specialities. Treating everyone to an indulgent meal was a real pleasure and it was great to see the friendships we had created over the course of the weekend.

What were the difficult moments in organising the event?
At one stage before the event we did not have accommodation, and we did not have a place to do the training. We were seriously concerned about how we were going to do it all. Fortunately things worked out, so do not panic and never give up!
However, the accommodation was on the other side of the city from the university training rooms and so I personally found transport the most stressful thing to organise. We were able to travel in style, getting taxis everywhere, but it took a lot of coordination.

How did the RTC go? Was it productive?
The RTC was extremely productive as we achieved a number of the aims. Firstly, Manchester showed that we can organise a European event and show our participants a good time. Secondly, the trainers were enthusiastic and informative and developed a good ethos in the group. Thirdly, the participants were all able to contribute something positive and also gain something to take away from the event. Finally, communication and collaboration between antennas was established and improved.

Can you brief us shortly on your programme?
The programme focused on how to motivate our members and get more people to join AEGEE. We had training sessions on teamwork, communication, leadership and public relations. For the social programme we were able to host a city tour and show our participants two different night life scenes in Manchester

What is your overall impression of the RTC?
Katharina: I really enjoyed the RTC and was impressed by how well and with how much energy the team from Manchester organised everything for us, even though they are were not so many. It showed me that so much is possible if lots of enthusiastic people work together. I was also really impressed with our participants who were so enthusiastic and eager to learn even though we had very packed training days and, as in all good AEGEE events, very little sleep.

What was the structure and thematic of the training sessions?
We wanted to design a training that would respond to what all the different UK locals present at the training course needed the most right now: a big focus was therefore on Human Resources and recruitment, but also included training sessions on Public Relations, Teambuilding, Leadership and communication in AEGEE. My co-trainer Maria Arends and me prepared and then facilitated the sessions mostly together which was great!

What was the biggest challenge you encountered during the event?
The biggest challenge for us was to design trainings which were appealing and valuable to all the participants as they were a real mix from experienced AEGEE oldies to very new members. On the other hand, I think this actually turned out to be one of our greatest assets as it allowed very dynamic sharing and learning between the participants!

Anything else you would like to add?
Just that it was a pleasure to give my first training course in Manchester and that I thouroughly enjoyed every bit of it. AEGEE in the UK is alive and kicking and I hope Manchester will invite us over for a next event very soon.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Sofia/Thessaloniki

Another local being very ACTive in the past months is AEGEE-Kraków, which organised a Regional Training Course (RTC) about start-ups and investing. We spoke to Mateusz Gierczak, President of the local and Coordinator of the RTC, to find out more about what this Polish local did, does and will do! 

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?
AEGEE-Kraków is quite a big local. We have around 100-120 members, of which 50-60 are really active. We organise around 20 local and European activities during a year. A lot of them are training courses, but we also organise events like the Eastern Partnership Convention, Y Vote Convention and of course a Summer University.

You organised a Regional Training Course about start-ups and investing, called ‘On the Way to Financial Freedom’, which is the reason you were chosen as ACTive Local of the Month. Can you tell us more about this event?
The Regional Training Course was an international event for all members of AEGEE. During a five days long event, participants were given the opportunity to improve their knowledge about entrepreneurship, investments and financial intelligence. Moreover, students attending the event also learned how to establish and run their own business. They got to meet professional, experienced entrepreneurs and discuss with them about what is most important in running your own business.

How did you decide on this activity?
Actually, the former board decided on it. During one of their board meetings they were talking about the activities they could organise in Kraków. They wanted to create something new, something our local never did before. When they took into consideration the projects of AEGEE-Kraków they understood that there were not many events related to Youth Unemployment. So, they decided that it’s something we have to take care of, especially, because the topic is included in our Action Agenda. What is more, they figured that this part of our interests is quite forgotten by the antennae. The last thing they had to do, was to think about the way of organising this kind of event: a conference? Discussions? Some courses? The best way was to combine all of these activities and create a Regional Training Course open to people from all over the network, where participants can get some knowledge and discuss their opinions with people experienced in the topic. What is interesting for AEGEEans, who are young people ready for the challenges? How to set up their own business.

The RTC was not the only event implementing Action Agenda you organised in the past months. Can you tell us more about them?
I think that almost all of our activities are implementing the Action Agenda, so they are around 20 each year. I will not tell you about all of them but I would like to mention the most interesting ones. First off, the Language Conversations. This is a project where we connect with students who would like to be a teacher of some foreign language in the future or just enjoy speaking in a certain foreign language. They are teaching other students their favourite language for free, just to get some experience. Every semester we have around 300-400 places for these courses and last time we had almost 2000 applications! That is really incredible. Secondly, we have the Let’s Get Better project. Through this project we organise free training courses for students from all over Kraków. The fields of courses is very varied, so we organise soft skills but also workshops on how to use Microsoft Excel. Each course is open to a group of 10-30 students, depending on the topic. We organise around 3-4 training courses every month. Last but not least, we organise Perfect Speaker, which is a three days long project where we organise workshops and training courses on public speaking. Here, people learn how to deliver a good presentation, how to use gesticulation and mimics als how to manage with stress. It’s also open to students and free.

Do you have any tips for organising thematic activities?
The first thing is not to be scared. Many antennae think that it is impossible to organise a good event without special experience, which is not true. If you have an idea and a few people who want to work together, that’s everything you need. European projects like the Eastern Partnership Project are not very difficult, because you have substantive support from a content team. If you want to organise a training course, don’t be afraid to ask trainers in your city if the want to do it for free. You can offer them an advertisement on your Facebookpage. Usually, they don’t want anything, because they like to do it. Think also about what is already popular and where people would like to go. After that, just plan it well and pull everything together! The satisfaction you will get after the realisation is really worthy your effort! If you don’t know how to do it, don’t hesitate and write us. We will  help you with pleasure!

Are you planning to organise more activities related to the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda?
Sure. We are thinking about new activities connected to entrepreneurship and civic education. We are not sure exactly when and what it will be, but certainly you will get to know about it! 

AEGEE-Kraków has certainly shown the Network that it can be an example to other locals. What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you?
As I said before: don’t be afraid to be awesome and set up awesome projects! If you have great ideas and you have a few people to help you – just start to realise the ideas. If you are not sure how to do it, ask or try to find a good way. Even if you are still not sure, try to do it on your own way. You will make it better or worse, but next time you will be smarter. Remember that you can always ask for help. In AEGEE, we are one big family and we know we can rely on each other. If one of us needs help, we will always give a hand. After all you will be incredibly satisfied that you managed to organise this great project and people will come, and say “Thank you”, as they said to us after the RTC. Finally, you will see how much did you learn by that, how much you developed and you will realise how much you can learn in future projects. You have great potential and each of you can be as awesome as you would never even imagine! Use your potential and create great projects with great AEGEE-Spirit!

Written by Monika Duda, AEGEE-Wrocław