The winner of Local of the Month of May is none other than AEGEE-Bergamo! The organiser of the spring Agora 2016 hosted 1000 people, a huge number of participants even for an Agora. We had a talk with the board of AEGEE-Bergamo about the challenges encountered for organising AEGEE’s biggest statutory event, about their antenna and of course, about their next plans! If you attended Spring Agora Bergamo and want to know more from the organisers’ point of view, here you can read all about it.

The AEGEEan: To begin with, congratulations for organising Spring Agora Bergamo! What was your overall impression as organisers?

AEGEE-Bergamo: First of all, it is an honour for all of us to be named Local of the Month. Organising a statutory event is a very complex goal, trying to do it hosting 1000 people is an even bigger challenge. Now that Spring Agora Bergamo 2016 is over, we, as organisers, can only say that it has been a success and we are really proud of what we achieved. We really worked hard last year preparing everything, and then, on arrival day, everything seemed to finish in the blink of an eye. It was great, especially because there were 1000 smiles surrounding us during those days.

What was the biggest challenge you faced before and also during Agora?

While we were organising the Agora, I guess the most difficult part was the FR, and not because our team was not good enough, but because we actually needed a lot of money to guarantee a unique experience for 1000 people. Actually, the FR team did an amazing job and thanks to them we did not have any problem. The problems we faced during the Agora were not enormous; the logistic team had the hardest job, especially by night when they had to deal with 1000 people who wanted to reach the club and were waiting for the buses to come, or during meals, for example.

What could you have managed to do better and why?  

Our team was very focused on small details, thanks to Paolo who did an amazing job as Main Coordinator, and due to that I think we considered all the small things, which can make the difference between a great event and an unforgettable event (which was our goal). Also, there is a thin line which separates an unforgettable event in a positive way from an unforgettable disaster. Anyway, although we did a great job, there is always something that might have been done better.

How many active members does your antenna have?

Actually we have 100 members and 40 of them are active. It is a good number and I am happy we have grown a lot in the past 2 years.

Had your antenna organised a statutory event before; if so, when?

Well, before this Agora we organised a NWM in 2013, but this was the most important event we have ever organised in the history of our Antenna. Will it be the last? We will see, but I am sure it won’t.

What would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of your antenna?

The strength of our Antenna is in the group, we can work together and we are a big family. Nevertheless, the strength and success of our projects is also due to the great help given by the City and the University. Something we can improve is our level of activity, not only at the local level, but also at the European level. We can always work harder, try to improve ourselves and our home: Europe.

What are your next plans for this year? 

After the Agora, we took a little break to relax after a year of hard work, but now AEGEE-Bergamo is coming back to work and has a lot of surprises for you all. Stay tuned, we will demonstrate to you that there is Life after Agora!

What would you recommend to antennae who want to organise a statutory event?

We were a very untrained and small group only a few years ago, but with hard work and perseverance everyone can reach any goal. My suggestion is to work on the cohesion and the strength of the group; skills are important, but unity comes first. If the organisers are well trained and work as a single body, your event can only be successful.

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

We already gave you some tips on how to be a good visitor, but how should you be a good delegate (according to us)? The Agora is a magnificent creature, but it is also very complicated to follow every single thing that happens, especially if you are a newbie. But also experienced members has some troubles from time to time. It can be long, it can be boring, but it is also an engaging opportunity to share your knowledge and to learn new things. 

Prepare yourself before the Agora. JC, CD, CT, AR, KT, SP, AA, FR, FP, MedCom, NetCom… Should we continue? Those are just some of the acronyms we use and you will hear them a lot. But also proposals, CIA, candidates… The content of an Agora can be overwhelming. Especially if there isn’t a proper preparation beforehand. Two weeks before the Agora, the Secretary General sends out booklets in which you can find all sort of information you might need. The Chair Team is also sending delegates a quiz, which you can take to test your knowledge, or an Agora for Dummies booklet. You should also organise an Agora preparation with your local, where you can study the items on the agenda and share your thoughts on what will be discussed and what will be voted.

Plenaries, prytannia and attendance. Delegates represent a local during the Agora and they are required to be present at plenaries and prytannia. If you ask, ‘what are those’, you either are at your first Agora or you never attended either of them. Plenaries are the moments when all the members of the Agora gather together, for instance, the opening plenary, the candidatures, the ratification of projects and other. Prytannia are smaller gatherings, normally used to discuss proposals or papers, which will be voted on. Delegates should be there all the time because in those moments, we discuss the present abd future of our organisation. And because your time will be counted as participation during the Agora. Be careful to scan your badge every morning before entering the plenary and state your local at the beginning of each prytanium. But most of all, make sure to be there because you want to, not because you have to.

Ask questions (to oldies). If you are at your first Agora or if you are the sole delegate of your local, and you don’t understand something, just look around and approach some more experienced members. Normally you can recognize them, because they speak a language you don’t understand or they clearly declare to have attended 10+ Agorae. They will be more than willing to listen to all your questions and to explain to you all the procedures that are obscure to you. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know them! We are AEGEEans, we simply talk to everyone.

Ask questions (on stage). If you have some doubts, another thing that can actually be very handy for you is to ask your questions straight at the source. If you like numbers and there are some figures that don’t match, or if you read a candidature and you are not entirely sure on how that thing will be implemented, take the chance to go on stage and ask a question (or more). Maybe your doubts are shared by other delegates and the discussion can be benefit by everyone. And if you are telling yourself “My English is not the best”, don’t worry! A native English speaker in AEGEE is very rare and we, generally, all speak European English, with different accents and vocabulary. As long as you can make a sentence with a subject, a verb and an object, everybody will be able to understand you.

Don’t sleep. Lack of sleep is the most common disease during the Agora and it is physiological. We sleep around three hours per night and our brains are constantly bombarded with new information in a language that is not our mother tongue. That’s why we often enable the automatic pilot and fall in the sweet arms of Morpheus. The truth is that it is not pleasant to present something you worked towards for months in front of hundreds of “sleeping beauties”. Therefore you can drink zillion of liters of coffee, energy drinks or be a rebel: skip some parties. You will find yourself rested and ready to rock.

Vote properly. Delegates have the honour to vote and give direction to the Network. Delegates should represent the will of their locals, but also they should have the future of the organisation in mind. When voting for candidates, you should focus less on the appearance, and rather on their experience and their program. When voting for a proposal, try to understand whether the entire Network can benefit from its outcome. Voting is harder than it seems, because it is not enough to just fill in a ballot or to click on ‘in favour’. Follow your conscience.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Incredible things always happen during an Agora. The AEGEEan checked old material and asked some old members for interesting stories about this issue, a funny way to approach the upcoming Spring Agora Bergamo and read some legends of the past. 

The Agora can be something legendary for those who have never been there, since they probably heard many stories before departure. For those who already experienced it at least once, it is something incredible: a thousand of people from all over Europe, a huge common commitment, great discussions, fabulous encounters, moments of sharing and great parties. For the people organising it, it is something very different. More than one year ago, I had the honour of being an organiser of Autumn Agora Cagliari. If you ask me to say what it looks like, I would probably say tiring, challenging and agitating. If you ask me why, the answer is easy: anything can happen, even if you planned it in detail.

For every organiser there is always a precise moment when s/he realises that the event started, in my case was the following episode:

On the 28^th of October 2014, a sponsor gave us two cars and a big van. They were quite big and none of us had used a van before. We drove them to pick up CD members at the airport and, after greeting them, we put the luggage inside the last one. Once ready to drive it, an alarm rang showing that the trunk was open, we closed it many times without any result and then we thought it was a van problem. Of course the reality was very different, because as soon as we had entered the highway we heard dozens of horns around us: two bags of our former president Paul Smits broke out in the street forcing uncountable cars to make extraordinary riggings and we had to walk in the middle of the street to take them back.

Anything can happen

After that moment, many stories I heard about disasters during previous Agorae came to my mind. Maybe you do not know but a lot of weird things happened during our statutory events in the past. Not all the things regarded only organisers or were bad, some of there were actually very positive. But of course at that moment I started thinking about the worst possible scenarios.

To start: one of the things to know about the Agora is that it didn’t always look like it does today, at the first ones there were not that many participants. During Agora Salerno 1989, about two or three hundred participants were present and local organisers picked them up at the train station by car! It was the very same Agora during which the Berlin wall fell down and a participant said: “We did not know about the fall of the Wall. There were no mobiles, no one saw the news. I read about it on Monday after the Agora”.

In 1994, Agora Montpellier started at a plenary hall but finished on the market square of the French city. Why? According to our source “the freshly re-elected President of AEGEE-Europe, Dorian Selz, did not accept the election result, because he got only 52% of the votes. Before a new candidate could be voted, all the members of the Agora had to leave the building since it was closing time. So they gathered in front of the building and elected the successor, Christina Thorsson, there”. Still, it was not the worst result ever for a presidential candidate. In 1998 Stefan Seidel from AEGEE-Augsburg was elected with a poor 38%. At first he did not want to accept it and said: “I will go home now”. But people convinced him to stay in office. A bad mistake since at the next Agora his CD got a vote of confidence and lost it.

The first day of the Agora in Athina in November 2002 was overshadowed by a blackout. Suddenly the plenary hall went dark. In this case, the reaction was amazing since organisers lightened a couple of hundreds of small candles and gave the Juridical Commission president, Yuriy Tokarsky, a flashlight which he held on the Agora booklet so that President Tomak Helbin could present the CD report. It was accepted with an overwhelming majority. The organisers of autumn Agora Zaragoza in 2003 had bad luck. They could not get the promised location and had to move the Agora to an old fair instead. The participants were sleeping inside that giant hall, when one of them turned on a switch, which he mistook for a light switch.

It was the switch for the ventilation and a dead bird, which had ended its life near the ventilator, fell down – right on the sleeping bag of a Dutch participant. The history had a revival in the last years when AEGEE-Zaragoza was chosen as host of the Autumn Agora 2013, some people in fact wondered if participants were going to stay in the same place again: it was not, the event was hosted in a brand new structure used for Expo Zaragoza 2008 and the organisation was simply amazing!

An incredible year: 2006!

If there is a year champion for incredible statutory events, that’s definitely 2006, since in both the Agorae which took place an incredible fact occured. At Agora Warsawa 2006, about twenty couples which found a lonely corner in a garage to spend some nice time with the respective partner: they got registered by a surveillance camera and watched live stream by the guards.

As this history can be familiar to the readers, not so known is the case of Agora Napoli 2006: in the late afternoon of the 1st of November the water boiler plant of the Fair broke down. It was the All Saint’s day, national holiday in Italy, and the same is the 2^nd of November (All Souls’ day). Organisers desperately tried to find a plumber but it resulted in an impossible mission! One of them said: “The only solution to find a plumber in Napoli on the 2^nd of November is to look for him at a cemetery”. The situation was not fixed and participants started a huge protest because of cold water in the showers.

Recent years

Lately there have not been such big cases if we exclude huge delays in the agenda, a vote of confidence, some locals which left the plenary for protest, a broken motorbike in Agora Patra 2014 or participants who had to move their luggage because of handball match (they were already informed about it). These can be considered as funny or sad thing things which happened. Except for two cases.

Most of us probably remember the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, which stopped the flight traffic from the 14^th till 23^rd of April of the same year. I guess you can imagine what happened: Agora Leiden was taking place from the 15^th till 18^th of the very same month: the perfect moment to destroy the travel plans of hundreds of AEGEEans, especially for their route back home, and create difficulties for organisers who had to take care of them.

If we also consider the CD members as organisers, since AEGEE-Europe is a partner organiser of the Agora, we cannot forget Agora Struga 2011 organised by AEGEE-Skopje. Because of an argue between the CD and local organisers, who increased the event fee one month before the event, for the last days of the event, the organisers disappeared leaving the CD and some other improvised helper managing the whole organisation – starting from the wake up till the welcome pack preparations!

The good God of AEGEE resides in Athina

It is possible that some organisers of Agora Bergamo or Autumn Agora Chisinau are getting scared while reading this article. In that case we should also remind them that AEGEE has a good God ready to solve every situation…and probably he is a member of AEGEE-Athina. Somehow the Greek local managed to solve not just a difficult situation but even two!

In the far 1992, this local organised an Agora which not took place in Athens but in Kōs, a Dodecanese island in front of the Turkish coast. You may wonder why they wanted to host the event there and the answer is quite easy: Agora was taking place in Spring, in Greece the weather is always nice so let’s gather all the participants in Athens to make a nice boat trip all together! While the organisation was running perfectly, only four days before the event an organiser switched on the TV and saw the sailor’s Labour Union president declaring started an unlimited duration strike because of high taxes. A panic attack caught the Greek organisers which started thinking about all the participants meandering around the Pireaus port and possible solutions to avoid it. One of them, was to meet the same president of the Union Labour – which they did but without results. The second solution, which now can sound very funny but probably in those moments was not, was to get an appointment with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and ask him to talk with the minister for the Defence to get a military vessel and transport all the participants to Kōs. Through some contact they succeeded to get the appointment.

At 11 am, two days before the Agora. The minister is taking part in a high level meeting with the Greek PM and the president of the Republic. Organisers are in front of the office ready to meet him, but at 11.05 they see everyone leaving the building and packing their things. They wonder why and they ask one of the officials “Is he coming?” – “No he is not coming at all, he just resigned 5 minutes ago because of disagreements on foreign policies”.

In case you wonder how participants reached the location, the story says that the greek minister of Finances (of course pure coincidence) accepted the requests of the labour union the day right before the boat departure. That’s how Agora Kōs could take place.

In case you do not believe to this story, you can download the 10th AEGEE anniversary booklet and read about it there (p. 92).

To end

Dear future Agora organisers, as you could see, also in the darkest situations there is always light and space for hope, and the people of AEGEE-Athina can confirm it for sure!

It has not been an isolated case since we also heard that while spring Agora in Barcelona 1999 was taking place overshadowed by the Nato air strikes against Serbia (with lots of people arriving late, because of many flights cancelled or rerouted), among the participants was Jasna Bogdanovic, President of AEGEE-Novi Sad. She took the opportunity to leave the country and was hosted by the President of AEGEE-Barcelona. They fell in love and got married.

So we wish you good luck and may the good God of AEGEE be with you!

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

Our statutory event is a beautiful place where we meet, discuss and share our vision of the Association. It is also a common thought that we are not living it to the fullest and the format is a bit outdated. For the past five months a task force worked on some improvements and the results can be seen in certain proposals and in the possibility to upload pictures of candidates on the system. But that is not all…

The Chair Team, who was also part of the Agora Reform task force, introduced some changes in the Agenda, switching some items from the plenaries to the prytannia, in order to have more time and fewer attendees to discuss relevant topics, such as activity reports, policy papers and financial matters.

Another new procedure is a pilot Debate for Presidents. Debates were never used in the recent years of our association, but they were organised in the past with former CD members debating with candidates. The Agora debate can be a good way to understand candidates’ vision better and to see them interact with each other opposing or defending their opinions. The Agora Bergamo debate will be held on the second day of the Agora, during the evening plenary when Réka Salamon and Pablo Hernandez Rodriguez will have 30 minutes to debate on given topics. The AEGEEan will collaborate with the Chair Team in drafting the topics, but a poll will be open in order to have members of the Agora suggest topics, ask questions and give their opinion. Therefore, stay tuned and follow The AEGEEan Facebook Page, The Chair Team Facebook Page and the Participants group.

Another big change is the new procedure of presentation for candidates of the Juridical Commission. Now the procedure for presentation is divided in three parts: the application form, a presentation in front of the Agora and questions. Taking inspiration from some parliamentary procedures, the Chair Team and the Agora Reform task force decided to try a reverse order doing a pilot on only one commission with the aim to make elections more informative as possible as well efficient time wise. For Monika Mojak, Elisa Tabby and Matteo Lai, then, the procedure will change as follows: application form online, questions and presentations, restatement of unanswered questions.

During the questions round, on Thursday the 19th of May, during the morning plenary, multiple questions can be asked to multiple candidate, thus they can change their presentations incorporating new information and adjust it based on what the network is most interested in and present it in the morning plenary on Friday the 20th of May. After their presentation, it will be still possible to ask question to candidates, but only unanswered questions will be allowed.

For more information, please download the Agora booklet here. 

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Fundraising Starts with FUN!

Written by Dariia Kogut, AEGEE-Kyiv

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

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

LGBTQ topics in Europe: what can we do?

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

My AEGEE development & White Paper in IT service

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

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

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

Our last candidate for Spring Agora Bergamo is Ivan Cvetkovic from AEGEE-Nis, who is running for the position remained vacant dung the last Autumn Agora in the Audit Commission. He is a student of Economics and currently covering the position of Audit Commission subcommissioner. Here is what he said to us…

 
The AEGEEan: Please introduce yourself.
Ivan: My name is Ivan Cvetkovic and I am a student of Economics at the University of Nis, Serbia. Twice in a row, I was named the best student of my generation. Apart from that, I am working and have worked on many projects aimed at community development and the advancement of the young people’s position in Serbia.

Which of the experiences you had do you find the most relevant to the position you are going to cover?
To me, except from the fact that I am doing my bachelor degree in Accounting, auditing and financial management, my most valuable experience for this position is being a Job Shadower. I have learned a lot, acquired practical knowledge, which is imperative for this profession. First and foremost, auditing is a practical skill and then a theory, not the other way around.

If you have to choose, what would be the main point of your program?
The main part of my program would be supporting locals with submitting their reports correctly and on time. This way the legality and good business ethics are ensured. Together with my team, we will put emphasis on educating treasurers through skype meetings, and also making a web application, which will consist of hands-on instructions for making financial reports.

You have been a subcommissioner for quite a few months. What are the insights of the work of the Audit commission that we should know?
I have to say that I am very pleased with the cooperation and the way of communication between the members of the audit commission and the subcommissioners. We are working as a team and everything is going smoothly. I have learned how to practically audit financial reports, what to pay extra attention to, how to act in the situations when a mistake (intentional or unintentional) is found.

You want to create web applications, what does it mean? What kind of applications?
The application is something that is intended to simplify and explain the whole financial report submission better. It will contain hands-on information, as well as practical examples. We will also try to do a step by step process, in which the user will be guided “step by step” through the whole process. I am sure that it will simplify the whole concept.

When would you start the Skype meeting with the locals treasures?
The first thing on the agenda will be the application. The skype meetings will be held every second week starting 3 months before the deadline for financial reports submission.

You said that locals often don’t fully understand the importance of the Financial Report. Explain in a few words, why it is important to draft (a part for the obvious antenna criteria)?
The financial reports are important, because that is a way in which our organisation informs and ensures stakeholders, that everything we do is legal and socially beneficial. Members and Job Shadowers of the Audit Commission have the responsibility to monitor the operations of AEGEE-Europe, working groups, locals and events, with the aim of making sure that ethics, moral and legality remain core principles of the organization as a whole. In that way, our organization retains the confidence and trust of all our stakeholders (EU, global, national, local partners, students, universities).

There is another candidate for a position in the Audit Commission. Why should people vote for you?
I am sure that the other candidate will approach the duties of an Audit commissioner with the professionalism too. It is true, that he possesses  more experience in the Aegee than me. However, through my involvement in other organizations, I have acquired the necessary state of mind to be in a position with so much responsibility. Apart from the experience and theoretical knowledge, the crucial part will be the commitment and hard work. Making an application is a special task, which is individual itselfP, not to mention the other responsibilities of AC members. I promise to give my all and to fulfil all the expectations.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Whether you are a delegate, a visitor or an envoy, you are definitely going to love the workshops planned for the upcoming Spring Agora Bergamo! They are new, they are fresh and interactive, aimed for new members coming as visitors, some of them being for the first time at an Agora, eager to learn valuable things, AEGEE related or not,  from trainers and members with experience. Three of them will briefly be presented in this article and are the following: “Be water, my friend!”, “I was killed by PowerPoint” and last, but not least, “Peace it Up!”. Read more to find out about each one of them and don’t forget to join one during Agora Bergamo! See you there!

Workshop I-A: Be water, my friend!

Held by the Speaker and Vice-Speaker of the Public Relations Committee (PRC), Gerardo Garcia Diaz (AEGEE-Oviedo) and former Comité Directeur (CD) member, Mayri Tiido (AEGEE-Tallin), the workshop will take place on Thursday, 19th May at 12:45 and will end at 14:15. This workshop encourages you to refresh yourself and teaches you how to adapt to different situations, to be like water, as the name suggests, through improvisation theater and role-playing. Although this workshop will be a lot of fun,  a decent level of English is required, so if you are having trouble with that, start revising!

Workshop I-B: I was killed by PowerPoint

As the name suggests, we are all sick and tired of PowerPoint presentations and dull speeches. The means used to spread education & knowledge have changed a lot, the best example for that being TEDx, with events taking place all over, featuring worldwide known trainers, experts and great leaders that inspire us with their speech and stage act. Why shouldn’t you try to be like them? Through tips and tricks presented during this workshop, you will learn how to keep the participant’s attention, leave them speechless and falling in love with your presentation. The workshop will be held by Academy trainer, Ana Potocnik (AEGEE-Ljubljana) and will take place on Thursday, 19th May between 12:45 and 14:15.

Workshop I-C: Peace it Up!

So far, the year of 2016 wasn’t too great when it comes to democracy and peace-making, considering all the terrorist attacks that happened in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul and Ankara. However, it definitely brought us together and motivated us to take our own actions to contribute to a better and more peaceful Europe. The collaboration between the “Democracy in Practice” and the “Your Vision for EUrope”
project has resulted in an interactive and meaningful workshop called “Peace it Up!”, which will offer you this great opportunity to come, share and support your thoughts and feelings about the current situation. It will be held by Noemi Lowy (AEGEE-Debrecen) on behalf of the “Democracy in Practice” project and Adonis Meggos (AEGEE-Peiraias) from the “Your Vision for EUrope” project and it will take place on Thursday, 19th May from 12:45 until 14:15.

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

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

Agora is not just about candidates and proposals, but it’s a place where members of AEGEE can share also their knowledge in different fields and they are discussing the progresses on certain topics, such as Agora or Network Development. Overall, during Spring Agora Bergamo there will be 14 workshops and 12 Progress Meetings. You can check the agenda to see when they will be delivered or the thematic booklet to see the topics. Today we are going to present you all the workshops and progress meetings you can attend on the second day of the Agora, the 19th of May, from 11.45 to 12.45. 

Agora for Newbies is hold by the Chair Team and the Comité Directeur, a session tailored to the needs of who is at his/her first Agora and wants more explanations and clarification on our statutory event.  For who has already attended an Agora and s/he now a delegate, the Chair Team and members of the Agora Reform Task Force will hold the workshop Dark Agora Army: Agora for Experts. This workshop is targeted for members of the Agora who want to deepen their knowledge on the statutory and want to live it to the fullest. The goals of this workshop is to have members to comprehend the real powers of the delegates, to understand the procedural rules of the legislative mechanism of AEGEE-Europe, to know how to propose motions which cannot be denied by the Juridical Commission, to argument yourself upon hidden CIA legal exceptions and, to ask uncomfortable questions.

As we should all know by now, Agora will be in Italy where the official language is Italian. This language is one of the most studied abroad and definitely one of the most loved. Luca Ciucci from AEGEE- Pisa and member of the Language Interest Group will deliver the workshop called The history of the Italian language: a European perspective. In this workshop, Luca will give you an overview of the Italian language, in order to understand the differences built through century of history that resulted in how Italians see themselves and how they perceive their position towards Europe.

Despite approved in Agora Patra, very few are aware of what Data privacy policy statement is, and how it will work. That’s why Atanas Nachkov, AEGEE-Sofia, and Lisette Kunst, Mediation Commission and AEGEE-Groningen, will hold the workshop MedCom Data Privacy Policy. The aim is to clarify and explain the adopted protections and limitations as well as the related procedural matters. According to the holders, after this workshop, you will learn what is the current progress of the data privacy of AEGEE-Europe and what is to come, what kind of information AEGEE-Europe collects from you and your Local, what kind of limitations apply, why the elected people must sign NDA and what it legally means,  what the OMS is, how to get anonymous statistics and what kind of requests can be done to the Mediation Commission.

It’s not a mystery that our Statutory Event has some hidden potentials which are not fully used. From Autumn Agora Kyiv, a task force have been working on this to implement it and in the progress meeting Agora Reform, held by Svenja van der Tol, Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe, and Agora Reform Task Force, these new ideas will be shared. For more than two decades, we’ve spent money on the house rent, money that could be used for other projects and for members. At least what Ander Guerrero Ruiz, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, thinks and, for this reason, he will hold the progress meeting AEGEE HQ: looking for the next 30 years. In this progress meeting, he wants to explore, with inputs from the Network, the possibility of a long term financial strategy to buy a house for the association.

You can download the blookets here (login required). 

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Elisa has been a member of AEGEE-Catania for three years now. The experience that she gained from her antenna and the European bodies that she has been involved with so far, motivated her to take the next step and become a member of the Juridical Commission (JC) for the upcoming term. Here are all the questions the AEGEEan and its readers had for the current JC SubCommissioner: 

The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a few things about yourself?

Elisa: I’m in my last year, studying Law, at the University of Catania and I hope I will be getting my degree this summer, right before the beginning of the term. I’m a very enthusiastic person and, since I like what I study, I want to put my knowledge into practice!  

What is your relevant experience for this position?

As I explained in my candidature I’ve been helping the Juridical Commission as SubCommissioner this year (term 2015/2016). My collaboration with the current members gave me a lot of valuable experience for this position.

Why did you choose to become a candidate for the Juridical Commission?

During this year I came to the conclusion, that I gained the right knowledge to continue and improve the job of the current commissioners, therefore at the moment, I have the right motivation to carry out this mission!

What is the thing that makes the Juridical Commission important according to you?

The thing that makes the JC important, is that AEGEE, beyond an association, is a real community of people, in this case European students. As every community, it needs regulations (in this case, the ones mentioned in the Corpus Iudiricum Aeegense (CIA)), which will always be evolving and be shaped along with the people. So, to me, this European body is supposed to connect students with rules, help them apply them in the right way and take care of their adaptation during the evolution of this big community!

How would you raise awareness about the CIA among the members?

Raising awareness about regulations is hard in every community. Maybe people could be bored in reading all the articles, but the fact that at every Agora there are many members who submit proposals is a proof that not all members ignore the importance of the process. In any case,  it is a reality that many members have not read it once. Maybe, the word could be spread through a brief workshop about the CIA, during a Local Training Course (LTC) or an Regional Training Course (RTC) for example, just to make people aware of the main rules of the association!

Is there something that you would like to improve in the current version (v.26.1)?

I think that CIA is constantly evolving together with the association and the changing of its needs, so yes, there’s always room for improvement.

Do you think that there’s somehow room for collaboration between other European bodies and the Juridical Commission?

Yes of course, and I think that there must be and it has to be reinforced: the JC is always open to give support and advice to every member, local and European body.

If you were elected tomorrow, what would be the first thing that you would do?

Maybe I’ll make the most recent version of the CIA more accessible: some people said that they have not read the CIA once, because they don’t really know where to find it.

What is the thing that makes you the most excited as a candidate?

Probably the challenge of answering all the questions people will ask me. I think this process is really important in order to understand what people want to see from the JC, but I also consider this as a personal feedback for my future job.

Questions from our readers:

Have you read the whole CIA? If so, what is its role in the network?

Yes, I did. The CIA is the Corpus Iuridicum Aegeense, it contains the structure of the association, all the working formats of all bodies, the Agora and all the rules to make the entire association work,  i.e. it’s the main pillar of AEGEE, because without regulations, no community can exist!

In your program, you’re mostly referring to continuing the work of the current Juridical Commission, what are some of your own ideas that could to improve the work of this European body?

Improving the work of the current Commissioners will be hard, but everything can be improved in terms of efficiency on solving issues and so on.  

How do you place yourself towards the proposals about removing the current Comité Directeur from the work of the Commission?

I think that as European bodies, we can continue with the model of “check and balances”, but sometimes more neutrality in the decisions of the Commission is needed, which in my opinion, was the aim of the proposal.

Would you continue with the idea of presenting proposals only during the Autumn Agora?

The proposal was submitted with the intention of avoiding using a lot of the time of both Agorae just for discussion on proposals. But it’s just a proposal, and it has to be voted, so it’s up to the Agora to decide!

Why do you think you’re the most eligible candidate for this position?

Because I know the work, I’m motivated, I’m enthusiastic and I can give all my time to improve and preserve the CIA, as well as, to help whoever is seeking advice. In other words: I’m ready!

You can read the full candidature here. 

Written by Theodora Giakoumelou, AEGEE-Athina