Last November, Hanna Alajõe, Hendrik Roland Helm and Carmen Küdorf reached out to all AEGEEans with a survey for which they needed nine hundred volunteers in total from European countries. The results for the survey will be used for their bachelor thesis, which deals with the subject of European youth’s perceptions of their body and attitude towards social nudity. The AEGEEan spoke to the three AEGEE-Tartu members, who all study Psychology, to find out more about the topic and their reasons to choose it as a subject for their bachelor thesis

Carmen second on the right, Hanna third and Hendrik fourth

When asked what made them choose European youth’s perceptions of their body and attitude towards social nudity as the subject for their bachelor thesis, the three explain that they got the idea during EBM Lublin. “We noticed that some people were showering with swimsuits and started to discuss it, because due to the sauna culture in Estonia we are comfortable with being naked in public showers. That’s how we got the idea to learn more about how other countries and cultures feel about social nudity (meaning being naked in places like public showers and saunas) and their bodies in general!”

By doing this research, the three hope to learn more about how different aspects of culture can affect our body image, values and attitudes. “We expect to find some differences between the countries and the different areas of Europe. There are many studies of values of different European countries, so we can compare the results and see if the way we look at our body and how we behave is influenced by our personal and our countries’ general values.” Ideally, the three hope to find out more about which cultures would like more privacy in public washing rooms and which don’t mind, giving organisers the chance to adjust the facilities according to the needs of their participants, if possible.

An example of the prize package that people who fill out the survey can win

To research the differences in culture, people from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the Netherlands are asked to fill out their survey, in order to make sure that the different European regions based on geographical and cultural criteria are covered. “We would like to get a hundred answers from every country, nine hundred in total. So far 505 people have started to fill out the survey, but only half of them answered it completely. We still have a long way to go and not a lot of time left, so please help us finish it!” Next to helping out the three AEGEEans by taking 10 – 15 minutes of your time, you will also be able to win a special Estonian prize package.

Do you want to help out Hanna, Hendrik and Carmen? You can find their survey here!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

These are days of uncertainty. The crisis threatens to make Europe a smaller and darker place. What is the future of education in Europe? What can we do to improve it? In the Y- Vote Convention on Education, Research and Mobility organized by AEGEE-Kraków (from the 4th to the 9th of march0) some responses were given.

Erasmus +
The convention began with the new Erasmus+ program for 2014-2020, which became effective on January 1, 2014 and has caused great confusion. The main novelties are the unification of the old programs of formal and informal education Youth in Action, Erasmus, Comenius, etc. and its extension to sports education and vocational training, as well as greater opportunities for agreements with partners outside the EU. It is expected that the new Erasmus will simplify the paperwork for new agreements, to ensure a more equitable system of scholarships and to reach the entire European population (students, teachers, workers, etc.).
Following this, the importance of mobility programs and the need of institutional support was discussed. The wide range of social and personal skills they provide are useful when entering the labor market. In addition, cultural exchange and knowledge of reality they provide are vital for a united, educated and democratic Europe.

Quality of Education
Then, the discussion focused on “quality of education ” and the need for an education that meets the needs of the individual and society despite cutbacks situations under the excuse of the crisis. Education is not a cost: it is an investment.
Regarding the normal, non-formal and informal learning, it is also necessary to improve the poor recognition caused by public authorities and companies and the lack of tools to measure it.

“Visit” of MEPs
A visit of two Polish MEPs was scheduled for a colloquium. To everyone’s disappointment, they did not come, alleging scheduling problems. So we had to throw our questions about the European policies to their assistants. We got the feeling that there are going to be only a few solutions from the highest levels and that the Erasmus generation will have to make a change, so that working on platforms like AEGEE in the near future will become more important than ever.

Students Agenda for Europe
During the last few days of the event, we wrote the final document which will be presented to the next European Parliament: the recommendations for Students Agenda for Europe.
The process started with identification problems within the competence of the EU and then the proposition of feasible, concrete and clear solutions.

Y Vote?

Lately, disappointed by the political situation that led to disaffection of young people regarding the system, rather than in rebellion, had resulted in disinterest in politics. Why vote? Because in the Parliament the future is decided. Your future. Our future. You can decide with your vote. If you do not vote, no one else will decide for you. Vote. And even if you disagree with all political options and even with the same system, do not make abstention: vote spoiled ballot-paper. Abstention is just to renounce to a right. Voting is to decide. Decide.

More European
It was not just a meeting on education but also on Europe and its people. Every day and night, the great organisers of AEGEE-Krakow showed us the charm of their city, the university capital of Poland. It took us a week to learn about the customs, the past and the dreams of the others. And about ours.

And the last night came. Find the missing sock across the room. Zips. “I have to spend the last zloty: let’s go for beer!” Then a shower and the European Night.
And back to your city. But only to your city. Because all the time you were at home.

On May 25, do not forget to vote in the European Elections.

Written by Javier González Moreno (AEGEE-León).
Pictures courtesy of Karina Kubis (AEGEE-Kraków) and Karolina Kubala (AEGEE-Kraków).

As a young researcher interested in how the world works, I have always been surprised by the limited amount of science-related events we have in AEGEE. While it is true that our members are mostly studying social sciences and languages, this should not keep them from being curious. Science can be a great fun, specially when dealt with in a non-formal way! We have a big deal of members studying almost all scientific disciplines, with the knowledge and a passion for sharing.

At the beginning of AEGEE, our association was famous for the thematic conferences we used to organise. Some of them were very scientific, like the ones about aeronautics and space. And they were a great success, and brought a lot of impact for AEGEE in terms of visibility in Europe, PR and contacts. But somehow this tradition faded several years ago.

Poster of the first conference on Space organised by EGEE-Toulouse in the EASA in 1986

Why is science relevant to AEGEE, you may wonder? How can we contribute in the field?

There are plenty of examples to mention. For example, this year we became partners of the Right to Research Coalition, and we were present at their very first General Assembly (GA) which took place in Budapest. This GA was a great opportunity to discuss a very important issue which limits the students not only in Europe, but all over the world. This is the barrier to access essential research results. Why are these results so important and why is it a problem that we cannot reach them? The answer is quite simple: as students, nowadays we need to learn not only the history of our field, but also be updated to the most recent achievements of the researchers and experts, to be able to build on their findings and make steps further in these fields. The big issue here is that we as students cannot afford the fees to access those data, even though the researches were paid in many cases by the citizens’ taxes. Why that? Because publishers define such a high price for the academic journals that even several universities had to cancel their subscriptions lately.

How does “publishing an article” work? Click on the image to see the full comic strip at www.phdcomics.com

The Right to Research Coalition is advocating for policies, educating stakeholders and mainly researchers and scholars about the possibility of Open Access publication of results which is free, not restricted but still peer-reviewed, which guarantees the trustworthiness of the results.

We have also recently received a request to sign and spread the petition No cuts on research launched by Initiative Science Europe.

Click on the image to sign the petition online!

Education and Erasmus mobility are not the only future-oriented budget areas that are under threat of severe cuts in the new EU budget. Science is also on the target, and the most relevant scientists of our continent, including 44 Nobel laureates, have joined forces to prevent these cuts that jeopardize the future of Europe. But they need also the support of society to gather as many people as possible to convince the heads of state that will take this decision. The EU budget proposed by the European Council was sent back by the European Parliament; therefore there is still time to fight the cuts that will have a bigger impact in the future (Science and Education). So please sign the petition and share it among your friends in your universities!

The story does not end there. Recently the EU has acknowledged the big gap between science and society and is taking measures to close it. The last one, launched by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, consists in a series of surveys launched in collaboration with Atomium Culture (an intersectoral platform to promote knowledge sharing and “out of the box” thinking on issues regarding the development of a European knowledge society) and five big European Newspapers, to consult citizens about science-related topics, in order to direct the demands of society when planning investments in science for the next Multiannual Financial Framework. The first round of questions has already been launched in newspapers such as El País (in Spanish), The Irish Times (in English), Frankfurter Allgemeine and Der Standar (in German) and 24 Ore (in Italian). Go to the website and fill it in, this week it questions how Science is taught in our schools.

But… will there be people interested in the topic in AEGEE?

I believe AEGEE can benefit a lot in getting back in the field of science and technology. And I am not the only one: during a recent training in Ljubljana, one of the participants mentioned how shocking it was for her to see the lack of science content at our events. She mentioned that maybe a Science and Technology Working Group (STWG) could be created, in charge of spreading relevant information to AEGEEans in an understandable way. I presented the idea in my candidature for Projects Director in Agora Rhein Neckar and also recieved positive feedback.

We have some of the best research centers in the world based in Europe. We have several great researchers among AEGEE members. The Science & Technology Working Group (STWG) can give them the opportunity to contribute to AEGEE thematic work. It can be a forum to discuss the news in technology, to explore how to make science understandable to general public, to claim for better research in Europe as a way to have a stronger Europe in the future. I will continue working on the topic, and hope that the ones with an interest in science and technology will contact me so that we can make it happen together. There is even time enough to prepare everything and create the STWG in Agora Zaragoza in October.

Written by Miguel Gallardo, Projects Director, and Beata Matuszka, Network and Human Resources Director of AEGEE-Europe