Like every year, The AEGEEan is giving a platform to candidates for a position in the European Level boards and commissions of our association to answer to some questions in order to present themselves. This year, we established a cooperation with the Golden Times and, together with his Editor Gunnar Erth, former and current journalists of our magazine will interview the candidates for the upcoming Agora in Krakow. Today we present you with the candidature of the three candidates for Juridical Commission Veronika Chmelárová (AEGEE-Berlin), Lisette Kunst (AEGEE-Groningen), Giuseppe Aquilino (AEGEE-Catania), and the candidate for Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe Monika Mojak (AEGEE-Warszawa). 

Veronika Chmelárová is very young, but she has already experienced a lot of thing in the association, such as Local Board and Home-based CD assistant. Among her tasks, she is also a member of the Juridical Commission (JC) for the term 2017-2018. After successfully running in Enschede, the 20-year old AEGEE-Berlin member is ready to run for a second term during Spring Agora Krakow.

Check her interview here.

You can read her full candidature here.

Lisette Kunst is a 24-year old law student from AEGEE-Groningen. She has been a member of the Mediation Commission for the term between Agora Kyïv and Agora Chisinau, and, after a term as subcommissioner of the JC, she is ready to be part of it. We asked her some questions to get to know her and her candidature better right before the Agora.

Check her interview here.

You can read her full candidature here.

In Spring Agora Enschede, he was torn between applying for Juridical Commission and Comité Directeur. Even if he chose to run for CD, Giuseppe Aquilino still had the dream to join the Juridical Commission (JC). In Agora Kraków he will try to make his dream come true, running for a place in the commission.

Check out his interview here.

You can read his full candidature here.

At Spring Agora Kraków, so far there will be only one candidate for the position of Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe for the term 2018/19: Monika Mojak. “I have all needed qualities to serve as mediator of the team, be the ‘mother of the headoffice’ and the ‘good spirit of the house’, says the AEGEE-Warszawa member, who is currently President of the Juridical Commission.

Check her interview here.

You can read her full candidature here.

Florian Hauger is a member of AEGEE-Heidelberg and the current president of the local. His experience in the local and as assistant to a Member of Parliament of Baden-Württemberg helped him decide to run for this position. We asked him some questions in order to find out more about him and his wish to become the next Secretary General.

The AEGEEan: Florian, can you describe yourself in five words?

Florian: Sociable, curious, passionate, caring and AEGEE-addicted.

You are the only candidate for the Secretary General. Why do you think is that?

I really do not know. Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe is an incredibly interesting and exciting job. On the other hand, it is probably one of the busiest and most time-consuming jobs in the headoffice. Balancing both in- and external tasks is quite a challenge. Maybe that is what scared people off. But previous secretaries Svenja van der Tol and Kasha Sokolowska proved that it is manageable by doing an amazing job. They are both AEGEEans to look up to and I am happy they convinced me that Secretary General is the right position to run for.

Why do you think that the position of Secretary General fits you best?

I have always been deeply impressed by the wonderful projects and events in our locals across the continent. There cannot be enough appreciation and support for their amazing contribution. Two terms in the board of AEGEE-Heidelberg taught me about the daily challenges of local frontline duty and how to deal with problems. Renewing the bond between locals and headquarter is the most pressing issue in the upcoming term. Apart from its internal and administrative tasks, the position covers external representation, too. As primary contact in the house, I could help our bodies to develop their ideas as well as making them recognised in Brussels. The hybrid character between grassroots and politics in Brussels is extremely tempting and probably one of the main reasons I decided to run for Secretary General instead of External Relations.

You mentioned visa issues and the political impact in your programme. How would you make EU politicians understand the meaning of the barriers for us, for AEGEEans?

Indeed. We should use AEGEE’s formal access to the European institutions to strive for our vision and promote improvements like visa affiliations. Many politicians do care about our work and the situation of young people in- and outside the European Union. AEGEE-Heidelberg just managed to get a visit from our Minister of Research to talk about exceptions for tuition fees for foreigners. I would like to use my political experience as MP assistant to promote AEGEE’s goals. Meetings and hearings in Brussels are great opportunities to make our ideas recognised in European politics. We should also not forget that we are not alone. As a member organisation, AEGEE enjoys the support of its influential umbrella organisations, such as European Movement International (EMI) or the European Youth Forum. If we want to have an impact in Brussels, we need to work together! I am not a wizard and won’t make promises but I will never quit fighting for our vision!

What will be the first thing that you will do in case you get elected?

We have four people running from my local in Enschede. We will probably need to kill a bottle of Bourbon in case all of us get elected. Hint: please vote Viola, Álvaro and Fabian, too! They are amazing! AEGEE-Heidelberg rulez!

Tell us the most relevant aspects of your candidature and why should people vote for you.

As stated above, I would like to renew the bond between AEGEE-Europe and its antennae. The passionate work of the locals is the backbone of our Network and deserves the best support from Brussels. I want to be there for the locals. Unfortunately, AEGEE is losing more and more members and locals every year. We should not panic but start to discuss new ways to get more young people excited about our amazing organisation. My local work in Heidelberg helped me understanding the importance of promotion and recruitment. If we want to raise our numbers, we need to raise AEGEE’s visibility – both on the local and European dimension of our Network. Let’s make people understand we are not AIESEC!

Due to my EaP background and the lack of candidates from outside the European Union, I’d also like to speak up for our members from non-EU countries. Although most AEGEEans enjoy visa-free regimes, many members from non-EU countries still need to apply for costly and time-consuming visas to attend AEGEE events abroad. I already stated that I will keep on fighting for youth mobility and visa affiliations. Everyone should be able to attend AEGEE-events. It breaks my heart that it is still not affordable for everyone. That is why I also strive for more social fund promotion in the Network.

Question from the Network

In the CD you share house and office with Financial Director, other members and President. The work of the CD is really dependent on the President and her vision of AEGEE. Which candidate would you prefer to work with, Reka or Loes?

Although I appreciate Réka’s long years of service, I support the candidature of Loes Rutten. She is kind, smart, lion-hearted and a true AEGEEan. I had the pleasure to work with her during the preparations for EPM Zagreb and appreciate her reliability, passion and creativity. We share the same vision for the future of AEGEE and how to get more people inspired about our beloved organisation. Furthermore, I really enjoyed reading her programme. Both of us value our locals’ hard work and agree that there should be more support provided by the Comité Directeur. Let’s hope we can take our ideas into action!

What is your experience in taking minutes in English?

Working in different European Bodies renewed my appreciation of proper protocols. Successful teamwork and transparent communication require conscientious recording. Especially my engagement in the EPM Zagreb Content Team was a great opportunity to gain some experience in minute-taking.

What is your experience in writing grants?

Two years of local board experience taught me that sustainable fundraising strategies are crucial for our development and progression. AEGEE-Heidelberg receives both institutional and public grants we need to apply for every year. Furthermore, we obtain generous support and partial coverage of our European events by the University of Heidelberg Students Council. The financial stability of AEGEE-Heidelberg has always been a team performance and I do not claim to be an expert on fundraising. I will do my best and hope I am going to make a contribution towards the projects’ funding.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

During the Agorae, there are many candidatures for elected offices, for which you can vote. It is expected that the delegates of the Agora have been properly instructed about who they can vote for, and why these functions are important to AEGEE. Nevertheless, two out of every five participants of the Agora have never been to one before, and AEGEE is a large and multifaceted organisation that can be hard to dissect. That is why we have a short list of all the candidatures for all the functions that could theoretically be voted for at the Agora. So, here is something you can share with everyone who would like to refresh his or her memory of what they are actually voting for.

Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Agora and EPM

The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are two vital people at an Agora and EPM in order to streamline the event. Telling everyone when everything is happening, how long everyone can talk, when everyone can ask questions and to whom, and moreover, they are crucial to prevent a cacophony or even a complete derailment of the meeting. Without a (vice-)chairperson, these meetings might very well take ten times longer, while accomplishing the exact same thing.

Member of the Audit Commission

The members of the Audit commission help by checking the bookkeeping of AEGEE-Europe, and locals of AEGEE, and that of Working Groups, and even of events that are hosted by AEGEE-Europe. To top that, they also need to approve the financial reports of all these aforementioned institutions, except for locals. So, if you ever had to fill in a financial report, it was, in part, for these guys.

If you think these financial detectives are finally done after checking and approving  all of this, you’d be wrong. Afterwards, they need to present all of their findings at each Agora, for which there isn’t, as of yet, any reimbursements for their travel costs.

Member of the Mediation Commission

The Mediation Commission, formerly the Members Commission, is basically like your old primary school councellor on steroids. They are mediators, as the name suggests, between any people or bodies of AEGEE, should this be necessary, and, when they mediate, they can also give requested or unrequested advise.

However, what many members may not realise, is that they are also part of the juridical branch of AEGEE; chiefly operating as its judges. Instead of mediating a dispute, they are also allowed to settle it. In extreme cases this can result to the suggestion of disciplinary sanctions as draconic as the expulsion of an entire local from the network. In short, just like for any other function, it is pretty important to elect the right people for this job.

Member of the Network Commission

At first glance, the Network Commission might seem like that collection of big umbrellas under the even bigger umbrella of the CD; a sort of ‘super board’ of your local and its neighbouring ones. The NetCom actually has mostly to do with communication, furthering cooperation between, and giving support to locals.

The Network Commission was established at Autumn Agora Athina approximately twenty years ago, because by then, AEGEE had become so large that it had become hard to organise it as efficiently as in the decade before. Imagine that, if AEGEE did not decide to create the NetCom, nowadays all of its almost two hundred locals had to be managed and supported by a single person; the Network Director of AEGEE-Europe.

The Network Commission takes a vital role, as each of its members supports only a handful of locals, and thus becomes an important link between the locals themselves and AEGEE(-Europe) as a whole. The decision to break the network down into smaller, more manageable bits  in 1996, allowed it to continue efficiently. It, furthermore, allowed the CD to be reduced that same year from twelve to only nine people. For an ever expanding network, it is important for the NetCom to remain functioning.

Member of the Summer University Coordination Team

The Summer University Coordination Team, or SUCT in short, is pretty much exactly what you would picture, when hearing its name: it is a team of four people who coordinate the Summer Universities. There are a lot of intricate details about the responsibilities of the SUCT, but to keep things simple, one can say that the SUCT is a necessary hub that can aid, advise, encourage, and oversee all teams that are going to organise Summer Universities.

The importance of the SUCT also comes from other factors, such as the fact that the Summer Universities are, currently, one of the most, if not, the most significant recruitment events of AEGEE. Another factor, that ties into this, is the programme of the SUs. Summer Universities can fall victim of becoming ‘cheap holidays’, and students could only join AEGEE as a ‘necessary evil’ to go on this ‘cheap holiday’, without the intention of trying anything else in AEGEE. Members of the SUCT, therefore, always have to remain vigilant that the programmes of the Summer Universities include life changing experiences that contribute to the vision of AEGEE, without being boring or losing popularity.

Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe

The role Secretary General, however, might not be what you thought at first glance; at least, if you imagined it as the highest executive office of the Union of Europtimistic AEGEE Locals. The tasks of the Secretary General can most easily be explained by comparing it to the tasks of your local’s secretary; taking minutes, keeping the archive, be present at board meetings, etcetera. Except for that fact, this secretary is also the secretary of the board that represents the entire association. Hence the suffix ‘general’, in order to clarify that it is the secretary with the highest function.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Katarzyna Sokołowska (just Kasia for friends) has been a board member of AEGEE-Krakow, responsible for fundraising. The experience that she gained from her antenna and her internship at the Council of Europe motivated her to dedicate one year to the association in the AEGEE house. Here are the questions The AEGEEan had for the current Interim Secretary General who is running for the same position. 

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run for Secretary General and why you didn’t do during Agora Bergamo?
Katarzyna: I did not consider to candidate during Agora Bergamo because I was not present there and I also had an internship at the Council of Europe. This experience was very valuable for me and during that time, I found out what I exactly want to do in my life and what I want to focus on. It is not an easy decision to move to the AEGEE house and spend one year of your life there.

What makes you the best candidate for the position you chose?
I think that my experience, which I mainly gained in various organisations, gave me the skills to manage AEGEE with the other CD members. Thanks to that, I also know how the world of NGOs works and what we, as a network of young people, can do to spread our voice throughout Europe.

Can you tell us something more about your previous internship in Council of Europe? Which skills did you earn from that work experience?
My internship was mostly focused on No Hate Speech Movement. I was based in the European Youth Center – the place where young people are most important. I had a chance to experience how the Council of Europe organises seminars, study sessions or preparations meetings before their projects. I also saw how the European Youth Foundation works and supports NGOs.

How could you improve AEGEE with your experience from others NGOs?
Thanks to the experience gained in different NGOs, I can contribute to make our work more smooth and productive. As a professional employee, I also developed knowledge about staff management which is obviously present in the AEGEE office too.

Do you have some plans for the Working Groups, especially Youth Mobility and Youth Employment?
Youth Mobility and Youth Employment are the two Working Groups that are closest to my interests. I would like to support them with their work, share my knowledge with them and also give them a space (opportunities for training or conferences) to develop in their fields. I hope that my cooperation with coordinators and members of those WGs will be very fruitful.

Why would you like to cooperate with Interest Groups about gender equality and LGBTQ+?
I would like to cooperate with these two Interest Groups because I am simply interested in those topics. I had a chance to participate in a few events about it and since then I see the need to focus on these topics more. I think that nowadays, more and more young people want to fight for their rights and want to feel respect. In my opinion it is very important to live in an equal world where everyone feels comfortable.

You entered in office two months ago, what did you achieve in the past months of your term?
The beginning of the term is not easy. Firstly you need to get to know each other, on both fields: not only how we want to work together, but also how we will be living together in one house. After that difficult time, all of us went to León where we drafted the new Strategic Plan. I think that in the beginning, it is hard to achieve your personal goals – it is rather the question what we achieved as the team that we created since then.

What are your plans for fundraising?
I am responsible for institutional fundraising. I would like to support European Bodies as much as I can. Moreover, I would like to make an overview of all locals which applied and received institutional grants. I hope that the cooperation with our motivated network will let us apply for lots of grants this year.

What do your parents and your friends think about your dedication to AEGEE in the famous AEGEE house with the CD for one year?
People who are close to me support my decision. Sometimes they still do not understand what I am doing exactly, but if I am happy, they will see the sense in what I do.

Do you really feel ready to cover the position of Secretary General for the rest of the term?
I think that I am ready. You never can be sure that you know what is coming, so I would say that there will still be a lot of things which will surprise me during the year, but I am aware of it and prepared for it [she smiles, ed].

You can read the full candidature here.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

Here we met Svenja again, running for a second term as Secretary General. Member of AEGEE-Nijmegen since 2012, she already had experience on the European level being Editor of The AEGEEan, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe and Secretary of the Agora. Between new ideas and unicorns, she’s ready to step on again and commit for another year for AEGEE. Let’s meet her and find out something more about her candidature!

The AEGEEan: It is not common to run again for the same position. Did you leave many tasks unsolved that you want to catch up for?

Svenja: Before thinking about which position to take, I wanted to decide first of all if I wanted to go for a second year or not, keeping in mind that it is an amazing experience, yet also quite a tiring one, to be honest. In the end, after evaluating the past nine months, bringing up memories and looking at the potential future, I decided that I wanted to continue working for AEGEE. Doing so in other positions have crossed my mind, like those of President and Network Director, but in the end – and I am aware this will sound very cheesy but it is true – I felt that I could do the most for AEGEE in the role of Secretary General since I am already familiar with the tasks, I actually enjoy most of them (saying I like all of them would be way too cheesy, she laughs, ed) and I knew there weren’t other interested candidates in the position.

As for my tasks, at the beginning of the year I had some ideas in mind of what I wanted to achieve during the year and I’ve done my best to do so. At the same time, I got to know AEGEE a lot better this year, which gave me new plans and ideas for things to work on. If I am elected for a second term, I would like to work on these new things next to my regular tasks.

Improving the communication between CD and members is sometimes hard. This year you started sending monthly CD decisions to the network. Why was it hard to do it before? Next step would be to send them at the beginning of the upcoming month. Can you commit to this engagement?

The communication between the Comité Directeur and the Network can indeed be hard sometimes. One of the things I wanted to try this year to improve the communication was to send the CD decisions monthly, so the decisions described would still be fresh in the members’ memory, and the CD decisions would be shorter in total, which is a factor that can be more important than you’d expect [she laughs, ed.].

Personally, I like sending the minutes out every month, because it’s also easier for me to recap what happened during meetings of the past month rather than the past three months. Right now, I try to send them within the first two weeks of the month already, but I would be happy to send them at the beginning of the month too.

Given the huge amount of mails you receive daily, what’s the realistic average time you need to answer all mails? Is there anything you will do to make sure that your fellow CD members will answer promptly to the mails you receive on headoffice@aegee.org?

One of the things I have grown used to this year is receiving a lot of mails, so much so that I actually don’t consider my mailbox ‘full’ anymore until it passes the 100, which luckily doesn’t happen so often because I am a bit addicted to checking my mail. If I am not out of office – and even then sometimes – I normally reply to mails within a couple of hours to a day maximum, although there are always exceptions, of course.

If mails have to be answered by other members of my team, I add them to the conversation directly so both the sender and CD member are aware who is supposed to reply. For urgent topics, I normally also send a personal reminder to the member involved so they can get back to the mail as soon as possible. For this, it helps that we are all in the same office and I can easily walk to someone’s desk to ask them to reply to something!

A few members of your current CD are, as you are, running again for a second term. How do you think your election (as existing team) may affect the next CD in terms of teamwork?

Having been in the same team already with some people will of course mean that I know them better, yet at the same time one of the newly elected CD members could have also been my best friend since kindergarten (not the case, sadly), which might also have an impact on the team. I think that in the end it is more important that everyone is willing to give an effort to build a team together and get to know each other, while giving everyone an equal chance. From my side, I am happy to work with anyone and I would look more than forward to getting to know and working with all my future team members.  

Related to the previous question, you are in charge of the internal management of the team. How do you think elections will affect the rest of the term of your current CD?

We have discussed this topic and we all agreed that no matter what happens, we will finish our term in the best way possible, making sure that we achieve our aims and provide the new team with a good knowledge transfer.  

You would like to investigate the possibility of hiring an Office Director. Which tasks do you think you could/should delegate? And why do you think it’s necessary to have a paid position for the tasks you are already managing now on a voluntary basis?

At the moment, AEGEE is hiring several employees to work on the external projects, like EUth and GR-EAT, that we are involved in. These projects give a great contribution to the work of AEGEE, but also come with a great amount of work dealing with the staff members, including creating their contracts, salary sheets, other administrative tasks and the supervision of their work. Right now, it is the Secretary General who takes care of these tasks, but at the same time (s)he also has to manage a lot of other tasks, resulting in a huge portfolio which would be enough work for two people.

Seeing that in many other organisations there is actually a separate person hired to deal with staff members only, I would like to explore the opportunities to have a person like this for AEGEE too to give the Secretary General more time to work on internal tasks of AEGEE. This person would work with the staff members (so the contracts, salary sheets, administration and general supervision of their work etc.), but could also help out with other administrative tasks, like taking care of the visa invitation letters we provide to members coming to the house, creating certificates and making the booklets for the Agora.

In your opinion, shall the Secretary General have a more thematic role or take over all the administrative tasks?

I think this would be up to each Secretary General to decide based on their experiences and preferences, but ideally there would be a combination of both tasks. The Secretary General is not only a Secretary, even if many people seem to think so, but also a full member of the Comité Directeur and therefore it would be good if (s)he also works with the thematics or more organisational aspects of AEGEE. In the end, even if I would like it to be the case, no one joins AEGEE with the lifelong dream to move to Brussels and only answer 300 mails a day and take minutes [she laughs, ed.].

You are the CD member who most of all deals with bureaucracy and administration. From your point of you, do you think we are hyper bureaucratic, as more and more people are lamenting? In case we are, how would you ease it?

It is true that AEGEE has a lot of rules and procedures, yet at the same time I also think they are needed to function as an organisation as big as ours. Therefore, before cutting out any rules or procedures, I would want to take a look at why we have them, and how the same results can be achieved with less rules or procedures. At the same time, having rules does not stop us from going out of the box and make space for bold ideas that don’t follow the rules. Sometimes, you just need to do it rather than think and talk about it, and there is always a way for that, even if it may look impossible.

One of your roles is also to organise statutory events together with the Chair Team, JC and local organisers and you were also in charge of the Agora Reform task force. What do you think is the main change you brought and what you want to change in your next term? 

The Agora Reform taskforce has been working on ideas for changes over the past months, of which some will be implemented at Agora Bergamo. I want to give them all the credit for that though, because they truly did an amazing job and my role was mostly to follow their work and of course start the task force! I am very happy to see the results of the task force  after having had progress meetings on the topic for some years, and I would like to continue working with the task force in the upcoming year to make sure we continue to improve the Agora.

Besides that however, I would also like to take a look at the European Planning Meeting and how to shape it, because I think the current form is
not ideal and there is space for improvement. I have already started discussing this topic with my current team, and I would like to continue the discussion with my new team if I am elected again.

QUESTIONS FROM OUR READERS

If you could only make one big change in AEGEE’s current state, what would you want it to be and how would you contribute to it in the position you are running for?

I spent way too much time thinking about this – there are a lot of things that can be changed, yet at the same time a lot of things we should keep the way it is. However, if I have to pick one thing, it would be a change in our big annual gatherings, the statutory events. Seeing that these events gather the most members, I would like to maximize their impact on members by focussing less on organisational matters and more on inspiring and teaching them. I’d hope that this new inspiration and information would then also be shared with the locals, thus inspiring and teaching the whole Network. Since the Secretary General is normally responsible for statutory events, I would contribute to that by continuing to work with the Agora Reform task force and thinking of ways together with my team to reform the way we use our statutory events.

In your candidature you said that you want to work with the Network again, even though you are running for Secretary General. How would you structure the work of the CD based on the Network’s needs? If you could give an advice to the future Network Director which one would it be?

We indeed have a Network Director in the team, but I think all members of the Comité Directeur should work directly with the Network. To be able to work for and with the Network, like we want to do, we should first be aware what this Network exactly wants, and I think this is too big of a task for one person alone. I would therefore recommend the future Network Director to make use of the fact that there are seven people in the team coming directly from and able to work with the Network, and to investigate together what can be done for and with the Network.

Was your team aware that you decided to rerun?

Yes, I informed them that I was considering to rerun while I was thinking about it, and I shared my final decision before submitting my candidature.

—

And last but not least: how many unicorns did you bring in the CD house so far? And how many shall we expect in case you’ll be re-elected?

Not enough! I hope that you can expect more if I’m re-elected, because apparently my love for (rainbow) unicorns is not really a secret anymore [she laughs, ed.].

You can read her full candidature here and the article about her portfolio here. 

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Somewhere in Brussels, near the European Commission, you can find a house that looks just like most other houses in the city from the outside, but contains a lot of rooms, people and ideas on the inside. What house am I talking about? The AEGEE house, which the new Comité Directeur has been calling their home since the 1st of August, when we moved in to start our work. “What is that work about?”, you may wonder, and probably other members wonder too. Read on to find out!

In a (cheesy, but true) nutshell: the Comité Directeur works for you, the members of AEGEE-Europe. The exact ways we use to do so depend on our function and tasks, but we all share the aim of making sure that we do what is best for AEGEE-Europe [ endofcheesiness, an.]. As the Secretary General, quite some of my tasks are rather administrative, including staff management, but I also work on the preparation of our beloved statutory events, the European Planning Meeting (EPM) and Agorae, in cooperation with the Chair Team.

With the next EPM upcoming in Leiden, a lot of my days (and sometimes nights) are spent with the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda, which I am starting to consider as new close friends looking at how much I know about them by now. While Anna [Gumbau, Communication Director, an.] works on the content part of the EPM together with the Content Managers, I am responsible for the part of the event when we will draft the Action Agenda for 2016 – 2017, which means I have been drafting the program together with the Chair Team, translated the Focus Areas into hashtags – stay tuned for the EPM booklet – and sent and received many, many e-mails. Luckily, I will get to work with my friends after the EPM too, because I am the responsible for the Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) too.

Another body I am responsible for is The AEGEEan, for which my tasks aren’t limited to writing this article, but I am also checking the articles in the Comité Directeur section, make sure there are enough contributions and follow the work of the online magazine in general. At the end of the year, I will also be working with another reporting team; the Key to Europe to create our annual year report of 2015 – 2016.

Last but not least, besides the internal bodies of AEGEE, I am responsible for one of our external projects, which is the Lifestyle in Mobility project – a research project on the effects of studying abroad on your lifestyle. And let’s not forget about the tasks that show up on a random basis, like the sudden need to call a company because you are the only one with knowledge of Dutch, the feedback sessions for our new Intranet, translations from German to English or the other way around or spontaneous archives digging for members.

The working days are long, sometimes going on until the next morning, and the to do list never seems to end, but this is easily compensated by the people I meet, places I discover and things I learn. After all, who needs sleep if you can AEGEE? As Secretary General, sometimes all you need is an office full of people ready to work, some loud reggaeton music and lots of e-mails from and to members. To be continued …

Written by Svenja van der Tol, Secretary General 2015 – 2016 

PS: Besides all these tasks, sometimes you also just have to be a pirate.

The closing of Agora Asturias 2015 brought the newly elected Comite Directeur with it, composed of seven people who will begin their mandate on the 1st of July: President Aleksandra Kluczka (AEGEE-Kraków), Secretary General Svenja van der Tol (AEGEE-Nijmegen), Financial Director Ander Guerrero Ruiz (AEGEE-Zaragoza),  and as Member of Comité Directeur: Anna Gumbau (AEGEE-Barcelona), Pablo Hernández Rodríguez (AEGEE-Thessaloniki/Alicante) and Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Aachen). In this article you will find out a few personal details about them and also about their program plan for AEGEE.

  President: Aleksandra Kluczka (AEGEE Krakow), 24 years old, describes herself as “an experienced passionate of youth work and AEGEE in particular, willing to unleash AEGEE’s potential together with the team and the Network”

She has been a member of AEGEE since 2009, the organization that empowered her through every passing experience. Her ascent in AEGEE went on as she joined nine Agorae and three EBMs/EPMs, advanced from being a CD assistant to being the current Vice-President & External Relations Director of AEGEE Europe. She was also the Vice – President and Fundraising Board Member of AEGEE-Krakow.

Aleksandra expresses her plans in the Candidates Booklet: “I decided to run for the position of President of AEGEE-Europe and devote one more year of my life to AEGEE, in order to ensure the development and continuity for the organisation. I have a vision for the organisation that I would like to offer to the members and develop it together with the elected team. I observed that one year of CD term is relatively short, as you do not always see the results of the processes that you start. I am running for this position, as I want to have a feeling of a fulfilled mission and that I did everything I possibly could to improve AEGEE, before I leave it.”

Secretary General: Svenja van der Tol (AEGEE-Nijmegen), 22 years old,  who describes herself as „a happy, optimistic, honest fluff puff” girl full of energy who loves rainbow unicorns, talking, eating, laughing and travels.

She has been a member of AEGEE since 2012, the organization which has changed her life a lot in many positive ways.

The most relevant experience which recommended her for Secretary General was the practice she gained as Secretary of AEGEE-Nijmegen (2012-2013), member of the Advisory Board (2013-2015), being a Chair of the Internal Formal Committee and being in the Chairteam of AEGEE Europe. Currently, Svenja is the Secretary of the Agora/EPM, a member of the Advisory Board and also a journalist and Proofreader at The AEGEEan. One of the most important aspects on which Svenja wants to focus during her term is the communication, not only among the CD, but also in the Network.

  Financial Director: Ander Guerrero Ruiz (AEGEE-Zaragoza), 24 years old, who describes himself as “a positive, idealistic, down-to-earth, smiling guy from Zaragoza (Spain) who really believes in the potential of AEGEE and who expects to improve the association next year in Brussels.”.

The experience of AEGEE, after joining in 2012, taught him that there is always an opportunity for everything, you just have to look for it.

The experience Ander gained as an AEGEEan, being the Treasurer for three Erasmus Trips in 2012 and 2014, member of the Core-Team for Autumn AGORA Zaragoza 2013 and Corporate Fundraiser, recommended him for the job. Also, he is currently the CDs’ Fundraising-assistant and President of AEGEE-Zaragoza.

Asked by The AEGEEan about his plans for AEGEE Ander replied: “I want to continue ensuring the financial stability of AEGEE in the short and long-term in order to keep on carrying out our activities, looking for more funds and using them wisely, and also dedicating my time and ideas to increase our activities.”

Member of Comité Directeur: Anna Gumbau (AEGEE-Barcelona), 22 years old, who describes herself as “someone caring, idealistic, a good listener, extremely clumsy, and enthusiastic”.

AEGEE made her feel like home since 2011 and, according to her candidature, she wants to give back to AEGEE all that has been given to her.  She was Editor-in-chief at The AEGEEan (2013-2014), a CD-assistant, Vice-President of AEGEE-Barcelona and responsible for Human Resources (2013/14, 2014/present).  Her focus lies on communication and motivation of the members.

In the interview for the candidates, Anna declared: “in terms of internal communication, I want to strive for transparency and to ensure that our members are well-informed what these seven people in the CD are doing in Brussels, as well as to strengthen the dialogue with our members and locals.”

Member of Comité Directeur: Pablo Hernández (AEGEE-Alicante/AEGEE-Thessaloniki), 24 years old, considers himself as “another European citizen who wants to actively contribute to the development of our society and the defense of youth rights.”

After joining AEGEE in 2010, his evolution began quickly: from being the Secretary of AEGEE-Alicante (2011-2012) he became President the next year and in 2014, he moved to Thessaloniki and became a Member of the Advisory Board of AEGEE-Thessaloniki. He has been a Policy Officer since 2013.

In the interview for the Candidates taken by The AEGEEan, Pablo speaks about his programm: “In my candidature I have tried to transversely show three different aspects: First, I am confident about my knowledge, abilities, experience and motivation to assume the responsibilities linked to the position I am applying to. Second, as I exposed in my programme, I have ideas to improve the current organisation of this association in order to maximise our impact.” 

 Member of Comité Directeur: Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Aachen/AEGEE-Debrecen), 24 years old, defines herself as a meticulous and perfectionist person who “became the right balance of realistic-idealist over the years”

After joining AEGEE in 2011 she became the Coordinator of the ‘Europe on Track’ project 1st and 2nd edition, joined the Public Relations Committees’ Speaker Team (2012-2014) and she has been a CD-assistant three times.

She reveals her thoughts for The AEGEEan on being a CD Member: “The main role is to keep an overview of a hopefully ascending line of improvement on a certain field the CD member is responsible for.

Being one of the ‘directors’ means a constant load of intertwined tasks, from developing strategies to being in constant contact with the network and answer its needs. No matter how different things could seem in the Brussels bubble, the CD members always have to act representing the network’s opinion and keeping its best interests in mind.”

We were able to ask two questions to the elected members of the CD:

How do you feel about your new team? 

Maria Arends resigned from her position in June. After launching several Open Call, the newly elected Comité Directeur and the current one appointed Maryana Semenyak (AEGEE-Lviv) as interim member of the Comité Directeur.

 Written by Gabriela Cioată, AEGEE-București

It was a run for three, but, after the current Secretary General (SG) withdrew her candidature, only two will present themselves and both are currently in the Chair Team. Vice-Chairperson of the Agora/European Planning Meeting (EPM), Andrea Ugrinoska, is a Macedonian 22-year-old who believes AEGEE is a gift. We interviewed her to learn more about her programme.

The AEGEEan: Please introduce yourself.

Andrea: I am Andrea Ugrinoska, originally from AEGEE-Skopje, a sporty energetic person, full of enthusiasm and willing to make the world a better place for living.

What is the most relevant experience you have in AEGEE?

I would say my most relevant position is being the Vice-Chair Person in The Chair Team, responsible for facilitating our statutory events, as well as all the needed preparations before, such as participants selection and Agenda drafting, by mediating between all the relevant involved sides. Besides that, I’ve been President of AEGEE-Skopje, as well as Impact Measurement Manager of Y Vote 2014. All of the experiences have made me a competent candidate for the future Comité Directeur (CD).

You explain the general work of a Secretary General, but what is Secretary General for you?

For me, Secretary General is a very powerful position, which is many times misunderstood and underestimated by our network. Currently, I am working in the secretariat of the National Youth Council, where I have the perfect opportunity to feel the atmosphere of such an environment, namely what we in AEGEE are also aiming for. A Secretary General represents a link between the governing board and the executive body which implements the decisions which have been made. Currently, this executive body is Madalena Sousa, our employee, and she is a one-person-secretariat and is in charge of implementing the decisions of the Comité Directeur. The Secretary General has to coordinate, manage and observe the whole process, and facilitate the communication between these two organs. However, this is not only done by the SG, as we have a wide variety of Commissions and European bodies which ease the communication and implementation of decisions, as well as appointed people from the CD for a separate field. At the same time, due to our organisational arrangements, the Secretary General has to coordinate the office work, as part of the administrative tasks, of the whole Comité Directeur. Finally, the Secretary General should be here to support the President with the external representation and advocacy work of AEGEE, connecting this advocacy work to our member organisations. Now, when I explained it like this, it is pretty clear how much in need we are for highlighting the importance of the work of Madalena as well as getting more people in the secretariat, which would help us in coordinating all the paper work needed for such an implementation, and would leave bigger space for the Board of Directors to focus on the political role of decision making processes and thematic aspects. See, I am a bit passionate about the task of Secretary General, I really do appreciate it, and would put a lot of effort into it.

In your motivation you said that you have bigger plans for the association and your team. How do you think you can contribute?

I am a person who likes to think outside the box, and I believe in doing extraordinary things and leaving a unique mark on the organisation. That means, that I will do the needed work to keep the organisation running, but always invest my full energy into implementing new things and making changes which will take our organisation one step further. So far I have a couple of ideas, from the final implementation of a framework for a secretariat, to more thematic involvement on the field of civic education, following my background as a non-EU country and my wish for contribution to solutions for all the difficulties which these countries face, out of which the most important are the visa issues. I would continue with active cooperation with other organisations towards a bigger impact, as well as seriously following the track of discussion for change of our statutory events towards a higher usage of their potential. I feel like I am at the pick of my AEGEE career, having the perfect amount of knowledge, and that I am bold enough at this moments to look for opportunities where they are not so visible.

In your programme you mention “your great understanding of relevant external organisation” and you want to use it to cooperate more with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs). How would you do that?

Cooperation between organisations, firstly starts by networking with people. Getting to know different people, from different organisations, sharing experiences, exploring different ways of working as well as fostering a common ground for future cooperation are the basic steps which need to be done in order to reach a professional cooperation. With some of the organisation in Brussels, I have passed these steps, due to my high involvement in international events, as well as in national organisations. Why would I want to cooperate is a more important question, I believe. The reason I would also work on this point during my involvement, is because I believe that these cooperations are highly beneficial for AEGEE. We reach more people, have a bigger impact , learn to work together despite our differences, offer more learning opportunities for our members, develop more competent ideas. Should I continue?

Concerning the impact measurement, in your programme you want to educate our members to the importance of this tool. Do you think the network underestimates impact measurement (IM) or it is not that spread?

I don’t think that the Network is underestimating impact measurement and quality assessment, and one of the proofs for that is the high competition which is present during the Summer Universities evaluations, and the choice of the best one. I think that some people use this as a driving force throughout their AEGEE career, and I believe it’s amazing. Take this simple fact, and imagine that it comes thanks to IM. So no, our Network does not underestimate it, but just sometimes finds some difficulties for it’s implementation. As a psychology student, having to learn all the complex processes through out my studies, I perfectly understand why this is a problem. So what we need are toolkits which will ease the implementation process, and ways of putting this process in the Agenda of Trainings within AEGEE. It is true that it is still quite a new trend going around, but I believe that it can become a common practice for all of our activities very soon.

You mentioned visa issues several times. How would you increase visibility in all embassies? Would you cooperate with other bodies?

My idea for embassies is very simple and productive. Increasing the visibility of AEGEE in all of the embassies which require a visa. Send out monthly publications, constantly e-mailing them with our newsletter, sending invitations to ambassadors for our conferences and events. You may be wondering why? So that the next time they receive a request for a visa for travelling to an AEGEE event, they will know exactly what an AEGEE event is, but more importantly be introduced with our values, and therefore grant the visa easier.

You are currently the Vice-Chairperson of the Agora/EPM and your term supposedly will finish at Autumn Agora Kyïv. Why are you running while already holding another elective position?

It is true, that this is the downside of the whole situation. I spoke with some people in the network regarding this issue, and they were not happy about this fact and I perfectly understand them. But I do not feel like I am failing or quitting, and therefore would never have the intention of disappointing someone, as I am still truly in love with what I am doing at the moment in AEGEE. But now, I will say the same what I said when I was running for Chairperson. AEGEE is a student youth organisation, and if we take the “student” moment seriously, it means that we all have around four to five years to learn, progress, perform and give back what has been given to us. It’s exactly what I’ve been doing these almost four years. I took my time to observe the organisation fully, before I got completely involved. The misfortune of the two positions overlapping is indeed not the best, but it’s for the better. So not ending a term in AEGEE, in order to reach a level where I would be more productive and would have the chance to give even more , for me is not leaving a position, but rather exposing myself even more in order to give all there is. I try to see the good sides of it, which are a good knowledge transfer cycle and space for development.

What will happen if you are elected?

The main point is that the work of Comité Directeur would start in July, and even if it’s not a statutory event time in between, I am still cherishing my position, and will finally have a chance to implement all the things for which I didn’t find time due to two statutory events close to each other, that were mentioned in my programme. How I plan to do it by issuing an open call for a Vice-Chairperson position right away, and work together with this person for the next four months, implementing together my plans, and teaching this person all there is. That way, we will have an educated person, which preferably will candidate for her/his own involvement in the Chair team in the Autumn Agora, and ensure an even stronger knowledge transfer process to the team.

If you have to choose the best point of your programme what would it be?

My focus on bringing the perspective of the non-EU countries, providing them space and opportunities to develop strong thematic projects for the different regions, and bring those voices to Brussels.

What will be the first thing you will do if elected? And if you are not?

I am not sure if this is about literally the first thing I would do, but in case that is the question, if I get elected, then I will probably start crying a bit, and try to hide my tears at the same time. And then start jumping and hugging whoever comes my way! If I don’t get elected, I will try to be brave, and not show how touched and sad I actually am. Then I will pick myself up, and get on with my life.

Describe yourself and your programme in one sentence:

Me: Enthusiastic!

Programme: Limit-pushing!

One of our readers asked: You had a hard time coordinating the working group (WG) that answered positively to your open call for creating an alternative program for EPM Burgos. Given that this task only involved two WGs and the local organisers, yet it failed due to lack of communication, do you think you can handle the whole Network?

I see a couple of mistakes in this questions, to start with. So let me correct them before I give my answer. Hard Time? I don’t think I had a hard time, as when I applied to be a Chairperson, I know I was going to deal eventually with people which are not in the mood, or do not have the time to read explanatory e-mails thoroughly, and prefer to just interrupt the communication with already discussed questions. So if you ask me, I do not have a problem with re-writing e-mails, even 10 more times, when it’s needed to clear things out. This task only involved two Working Groups and Local Organisers? Again, maybe this is the image you had, and I am happy that it stayed that way, as I never wanted to show how much I am actually managing behind the scenes. But now I can clear it out, that there were more than 5 different sides, and around 10 people involved in the whole communication. All of them with different requests and wishes, and then me in the middle, mediating, trying to have everyone satisfied, climbing to the moon and back to do so… only because I always wish to do more than it’s usually done. And I enjoy doing it, I would never complain about it.

Now back to the question. In the end, it all turned out good. The EPM was fantastic, almost everyone was happy with their involvement, and we also had some alternative program too. I was willing again, on my own, to look for all the resources possible to make everyone’s wishes come true, and make the EPM an incredible experience for all the participants, with a huge variety of activities they could choose among to attend. However, not everyone is willing to put a lot of effort into things, and I understand this completely, which is why sometimes I had to back off, as I cannot do good, if I am the only one in the group that wants to passionately do it. If a little bump in the road, few misunderstood e-mails are the reason for people’s backing off, I think I can live with that, and learn when to stop pushing for more.

Finally, the alternative social programme is still something I strongly believe in, but depends very little on me at the moment. From this position, I can only initiate it, but you, the Network, are it’s driving force, as well as the Local Organisers, which are your backbone. I am still learning around it, exploring all the possibilities, and hopefully very soon my plans will become a reality. This Agora, Local Organisers wanted to undertake the social part of the Agora completely, so I was asked to stay out of it. I do not have a problem with it, as I just want to see it happening, regardless of who wishes to undertake it. So yes, now I am convinced even more, that I can handle the whole network. Hope I managed to answer your question.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

From local to European. This is the journey that every active AEGEEan dreams about and this is what Svenja van der Tol is trying to realise applying for the position of Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe. Read on to discover more about her candidature, but also about her life, experience and personality.

The AEGEEan: Introduce yourself. How old are you? Where are you from? What do you study? Future aspirations?

Svenja: Hello everyone! My name is Svenja and I’m a 22-year old girl/woman (I never know what to call myself) from the Netherlands. I finished my Bachelors in Dutch Language and Culture and now I’m working as a full-time intern for a Publishing and Marketing company. When I grow up, I would like to continue in the field of communication, preferably as a journalist or copywriter. In an ideal world I would get paid to travel and write about that, which would be a nice follow up of my AEGEE life. Since my nickname is Mommy of the Network already, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one day I want to be a real mommy and have a looooooot of kids (she said before actually having had one herself). I think my future aspirations in AEGEE became quite clear with my candidature [she laughs].

What kind of person are you? How is your character, strengths and weaknesses?

If I have to use a hashtag to describe myself, it would be #svenjaoptimism, which, fun fact, my friends actually really use. I’m a happy, optimistic, honest fluff puff girl full of energy who loves rainbow unicorns, talking, eating, laughing and travels. I like to keep myself busy, so you will find me writing, reading or working on something almost all of the time. My strengths are that I am a hard and fast worker, very enthusiastic and therefore able to motivate others, understanding and a good team player. My weaknesses are that sometimes I forget to take some time for myself because I’m so passionate about what I’m working on that I want to work on it day and night and I can be a bit impatient.

What is your experience in AEGEE?

I started my AEGEE career as the Secretary of AEGEE-Nijmegen’s board, where I got my first experience with taking minutes and administrational tasks. During and after this year I was active in different committees, including the advisory board. I’ve also given several trainings and organised events like a Network Meeting (NWM) and several Summer Universities (SUs).  After my board year, I had learned a lot more about AEGEE-Europe, and decided I want to contribute to it too. First off, I joined The AEGEEan as a journalist and proofreader, where I became Editor of the Network section not too long after. After Agora Patra, Erika Bettin (AEGEE-Venezia) and I decided to run for the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Key to Europe, and I started to help Lia Tuska (AEGEE-Sofia) and afterwards Boudewijn Steenhof as SubCom for the Dutch locals. Around that time I also joined Action Agenda Coordination Team (ACT), where I again used my love for writing and became the Project Manager of the Guidelines and ACT responsible for the Dutch locals. At Autumn Agora Cagliari I was elected as Secretary of the Agora and European Planning Meeting (EPM), meaning that as part of the Chair Team I have been preparing both the EPM and Agora and I was responsible for the report of the EPM. Last but not least, in the past month my tasks for The AEGEEan have been expanded since the current Editor-in-Chief Erika Bettin appointed me as her vice Editor-in-Chief, which is a task I very much enjoy.

Secretary General of AEGEE Europe, please explain the role. What do you find interesting about it?

Personally, I see the Secretary General as the glue that keeps the rest of the Comité Directeur together. In the different teams I have been in, I was the facilitator most of the time, making sure that everyone could do their work properly and felt good about the team too. I enjoyed this role very much, so I would like to be ‘the glue’ again. I have a strange love for creating order out of chaos so I also really look forward to working on the administrational tasks. Related to that, I want to continue exploring the possibilities of a secretariat and delve into the archives to look at opportunities to make them available to everyone. During my board years I’ve learned a lot about representation and communication with externals like the university and several other involved parties. I really enjoyed these contacts, so I look forward to being responsible for the external representation. As Secretary General you are not only working within the Network, but also on behalf of the network to share with the rest of the world how great AEGEE really is. To do that, I would like to develop a media usage strategy and work in close cooperation with The AEGEEan and Key to Europe to properly represent AEGEE-Europe to both in- and externals. As all Comité Directeur positions, the position of Secretary General is quite flexible when it comes to the exact task division. I have worked on quite diverse tasks in- and outside of AEGEE, so I am very happy that I would be working on different projects too as Secretary General. Some of the topics that I’m interested in are the (improvement of) statutory events and, as ACTie, the thematic aspect of AEGEE.

Why are you applying for this position?

After two years with the same Comité Directeur, the Agora elected on the 3rd of May the six people who are going to live in the CD house and work for the association for the next 12 months. Paul Smits (AEGEE-Enschede), Antonija Parat (AEGEE-Zadar), Aleksandra “Ola” Kluczka (AEGEE-Kraków), Holger Shmitt (AEGEE-Berlin), Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno) and Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tartu) are our new Board of Directors.

Paul Smits (AEGEE-Enschede)

Paul Smits was elected as the new President and won over two very strong candidates: Léa Charlet (AEGEE-Paris) and Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Debrecen/Aachen). After being up by only three votes, he won again in the second round against Réka Salamon by only 19 votes. Being elected brought him “a shock of happiness and relief. The Agora had been very tense and put quite some pressure on me, so I have to admit I was happy this whole election thing was over. I immediately thought about the other candidates that went through a very stressful time. Going down to Réka felt like the only right thing to do, because for her the circus ended right there. The full realisation of being elected only came when I began receiving the congratulations after the plenary session.”

Antonija Parat (AEGEE-Zadar)

Even more close was the victory of Antonija Parat, elected Secretery General, with only two votes apart. For her being elected “is an honor. I feel really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to starting my term. It took a while for me to process everything and to really understand the ways in which my life will change now. But I’m definitely excited and I can’t wait to see what the year will bring.”

The emotion to be elected was huge for everyone. “I was happy to share this moment with my friends sitting next to me. I was also really grateful that people trusted me and I thought that I want to do my best now even more”, says Ola. Holger adds “I am very grateful and very much aware of the responsibility it means to be elected by so many AEGEE members and I take this responsibility very serious. Generally I am very happy and I can ́t stop smiling, thinking about the great things to come next”.

Holger Schmitt (AEGEE-Berlin)

Building the team is the focus for all the newly elected CD members. For Antonjia “the most important thing will be knowledge transfer and teambuilding. I think it’s important for us to be fully aware of our tasks, to get to know each other and start functioning as a team. I’m really excited about getting to know everyone a bit better and starting my term. I hope it will be a great experience for our entire team, and that the Network will be happy with our work”. “I think that after some teambuilding and knowledge transfer we will work fine”, Mayri agrees. “ Also, I am more than sure that we will have a lot of fun together!”

Along with the excitement some fears may come. A part of being scared of “getting more interviews [he laughs]”, Paul only sees “interesting challenges. The only scary thing might be the high amount of these challenges, but that only means we have to plan and manage them properly.”

Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tartu)

Living abroad is a huge challenge and something will be certainly missed. For Mayri it is “hard to predict, since usually we don’t know what we miss until we don’t have it anymore. As being part of the Comité Directeur is a lot of work, most probably I will miss the amount of free time I have at the moment.” Ola is very familiar with living in Brussels since she had done her Erasmus there and she was an Intern in the CD house, but she says: “I might miss some Polish food too, but you just need to know where to find it!” Even getting used to new tradiction seems hard. “People in Brussels put their garbage on the streets on certain days of the week. It looks horrible!” jokes Ivan.

A lot of CD members were involved in other projects and committees. Holger Schmitt resigned from his position of Network Commissioner and Julia Fuss (AEGEE-Mannheim) was elected Netcom Assistant until Agora Cagliari. Holger has a huge trust in her. “She already gained a lot of experience being president of AEGEE Mannheim and being involved in the Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar and my subcommie for the Rhein-Neckar area, where she organized an RTC and visited many locals. I am very much looking forward to intensively work together with and support her wherever I can. Of course I will continue my personal relations I have in my NetCom area and I will be their contact person in Brussels”, he says.

Ivan Bielik (AEGEE-Brno)

Mayri Tiido was the Project Manager of the successful Health4Youth. “As the project has been already ongoing for one year and an haf, in Autumn Agora Cagliari this cycle of the project will end. I will give my best to finish up as many things as possible before August. After that I will kindly hand over the project until its ending to Matthijs Overhaal (AEGEE-Tartu, Public Relations Manager)”. Ola Kluzcka is the Content Manager of the YVote 2014 project and she admits that “we haven’t really discussed [the follow up] with the team yet, but I definitely hope so. It’s one of the things high on my agenda and I hope we will be able to realise this project. Especially with the results of the recent European Parliamentary elections showing that initiatives as Y Vote 2014 or the project about spreading europtimism are needed more than ever due to the low voter turnout and the rise in support for eurosceptics.”

Aleksandra Kluczka (AEGEE-Kraków)

Ivan Bielik will keep “a low profile in IPWG right now. Of course, I will continue in the initiative AEGEEDebate. Moreover, I am a researcher in EaP project right now.” Paul Smits, soon-to-be former Chaiperson of the Agora is working with the Chair Team to “finish up after Agora Patra. Soon after this is completed the newly elected Secretary of the Agora will be introduced and a call for an interim vice-Chair will be sent. Even more than before the Agora, I am convinced the Chair Team will be fine and will find someone motivated and capable to bring the team back to full strength.” Some rumours about interested people are already spreading in the Network.

The new team will have a heavy legacy from the Comité Directeur 2012-2014, but Antonija is sure that “the current CD set a great example for us, they did a lot for AEGEE in the last two years, and I’m really thankful for that. They are a very good team, and they set the bar for future CD’s pretty high, so following them is surely a challenge. But I believe our team is capable of taking on this challenge: I think we can learn from the current CD, but also develop our own vision and keep improving AEGEE in the next year.”

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

With the contribution of Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen