It’s the closing plenary of Spring Agora Enschede 2017 and the next Spring Agora hosting local has been announced: it is AEGEE-Kraków! We reached out to them and spoke to Magdalena Barwinek, current president of the Polish local, to ask them more about their reaction to the good news and some sneak peeks. 

The AEGEEan: Why did you apply to host Spring Agora 2018?

Autumn Network Meeting 2015 in Kraków

Magdalena: Our local has lately become more and more interested in the topic of European citizenship, so that we have opened up to the international events of AEGEE. Since the moment when 40 members of AEGEE-Kraków attended the Spring Agora Bergamo 2016 (what was the biggest delegation in the history), the idea of organising Agora in Kraków started to go around in the heads of the most experienced members. The topic of hosting the biggest AEGEE event has been present in our local since I remember, but nobody had been brave enough to discuss this issue in detail and to research our logistical potential. Finally, the departing 2016/2017 board made the decision of Open space on the topic of hosting the Agora. Within few hours of discussion, we took into consideration all the pros and cons and the result was surprising. All the 37 members that gathered voted ‘for’, nobody hold off, nobody was against. This result confirmed the Board’s belief, that hosting Agora was a secret dream of all our members.

How did you react when you first heard the news that you were accepted?

With the members who had the input into writing the application form, we have the conversation on Facebook. I remember how excited we were the day before the announcement. “The day” someone woke me up half an hour before the news was supposed to come with the information that the e-mail from CD had been already sent to me. I logged in right away, but there was nothing new, so I started to refresh the page every few seconds, whereas the other people were waiting impatiently on the Facebook conversation. As I finally received the messaged, I shared it immediately with the possible core team and the reactions were more than adorable. People started to shout at their lectures, at work, walking on the street… The witnesses of these reactions could have possibly thought that we are crazy, but this is the quintessence of how badly we wanted to organise Agora!

How would you describe AEGEE-Krakow?

40 AEGEE-Kraków members at Spring Agora Bergamo 2016

AEGEE-Kraków specialises in non-formal education. We annually organise around five local projects related to developing soft and hard skills. One of the most recognisable projects is Free Language Conversations – each semester we give students the opportunity to learn a foreign language on a chosen level, free of charge. The tutors are either philology students, foreigners or any other people who speak a certain language fluently, willing to share their knowledge and gain experience at the same time. Twice a year we organise LTCs, that provide our potential new members with the knowledge about project management. Then, they get the chance to broaden their knowledge at our Management Training Course, the second level of LTC. Mentioning the other projects would take too much space, so anybody who is interested in our local activities – I recommend following our fanpage on Facebook. What I want to add about AEGEE-Kraków is that we are always trying to find a balance between hard work on the projects and the social factor of being AEGEEans. Therefore we often organise trips together to integrate or members, we keep on searching for common activities and we are very open to all kinds of exchanges with other locals. What I really love in our antenna is the Facebook group called ‘SNAP’, which aim is to post your ideas for funny and odd activities. The other members have to make up a quick decision if they want to be your companion. For instance, If I’d had an idea to hitchhike towards Berlin after our General Meeting, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have to wait more than a few minutes to find several people backing up this idea.

Who will be in the core team of Spring Agora Krakow?

AEGEE-Kraków loves hitchhiking! This time 21 members used this way of transportation to reach Triest in Italy.

As I mentioned before, there is already a group of people who were involved into the preparation of our application form and possibly they will be the members of the core team as well. If it comes to the main coordinator, as the board of AEGEE-Kraków we decided that all our members should have a real influence on this choice. So we announced an open call for this position and the coordinator will be chosen by the Plenary Assembly a few days after Agora. Having regard to the high rank of this event, we came to the common conclusion that this is the most legitimate way to select the leader. Who exactly will take the key positons in the core team is up to the future coordinator – the board will not interfere with her/his decisions. Nevertheless, we have been observing the predispositions of our members, both the experienced and the new, ambitious ones, so that we will be always ready to suggest the candidacies if the coordinator wishes to.

Does AEGEE-Kraków have any past experience in organising an event similar to the Agora?

AEGEE-Kraków has never organised an event as big as Agora, but we succeeded in preparing smaller, international events. In November 2015 we hosted 150 participants of Autumn Network Meeting – Awaken The Dragon. In April 2016 we were responsible for the logistics of 2^nd Youth 2 Youth Summit, the international conference for 100 participants related to the topics of corruption, lack of transparency and accountability and their implications on our lives. We also organised smaller events, as the AEGEE Eastern Partnership Youth Convention in 2015 and Y Vote Convention in 2014.

What do you have in mind for the facilities and the programme?

Current President, Magdalena Barwinek and ex-President, initiator of Spring Agora Kraków, Karolina Lapczyk.

Our aim is to find a place for assemblies at walking distance from the gym, very close to the city centre. We would like to use the public or private transportation as little as possible to let the participants explore the city – walking is the best way to discover the charme of the old streets in Krakow. As I attended few international events of AEGEE, I realized that there are few factors (beyond the substantive value) according to which the participants evaluate the event in general. They expect to eat well, to take a warm shower without standing in a long line and to have a steady access to the sockets and WiFi. The organisers have to bear in mind that if they do not provide the participants with those basics conveniences, even when the content is fine, people will not be fully satisfied. So we will do our best to find the proper facilities that suit these requirements.

What will be your biggest challenges in hosting the Agora?

The biggest challenge will not be organising Agora itself, but planning the activity of our whole local for the period of preparation to this big-scale event. The key to make AEGEE-Kraków still exist after Agora is to preserve the smaller, local projects and let them function within the whole “Agora preparation” period. The challenge therefore will be to divide the workforces wisely between the big, time-consuming project and the smaller, local ones. Thus, we keep in mind that an intensified recruitment process needs to be implemented in order to increase the number of our active members.

What makes Kraków attractive to visit?

Mariacki Church.

Around 20% of the people living in Cracow are students, what makes the city lively 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The historical city centre comes from the XIII century and was successfully developed within the following centuries, so that we can see a variety of architectural examples in one place. One of the most significant ones are Mariacki Church – gothic basilique in the north-eastern corner of the Main Square, Sukiennice – the Cloth Hall in the heart of the square that replaced the wooden market stalls in XIV century and the Wawel Castle, a residence of Polish kings by the Vistula river. Those examples are the absolute must-see, but there are lot more wonderful places to explore. For this reason we recommend to commit to at least one extra day beyond the official timeframe of Agora to explore the city. With a clear conscience we can assure you that in Krakow you can find everything you would expect from the hosting city of Agora – beautiful architecture, friendly people and exciting nightlife without spending a fortune! Moreover, our city is easily accessible from lots of European cities, so there is nothing more to add apart inviting you all to Spring Agora Kraków 2018! You can all feel more than welcome!

Written by Federica Soro, AEGEE-Cagliari and Maria Zwartkruis, AEGEE-Utrecht

For this article, we interviewed the Main Organizer Marina Klanjčić and the EPM Zagreb PR team. This statutory event will take place between the 23rd and the 27th of February. Listen to the EPM Zagreb PR Team to get to know everything about the motivation for organising an EPM and how EPM Zagreb is structured around the topic of populism.

The AEGEEan: Could you tell us a bit more about the history of your Local?

EPM Zagreb PR Team: AEGEE-Zagreb was founded back in 1993, and, since then, we have been getting more active and more prominent, both in Zagreb and in AEGEE, every year! While we do not rival some locals in size, with highly motivated people we have achieved a lot and we do not want to stop now – just to prove size is not all that matters [she winks, ed.].

We decided to hold the Advent event “Zagreb ADVENTure: Walking in the Christmas Wonderland” due to the fact that our city was declared the best Christmas destination in all of Europe last year, and we wanted to share this joy with the Network! Most of the members who are currently active have been in AEGEE for no more than two years, but we are already becoming pros at event organisation – even more will come, we promise you!

Why did you decide to organise an EPM?

The idea of organising a European Planning Meeting in Zagreb came years ago, when our former president, Zvonimir Canjuga, who is currently the Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, participated in EBM Valletta back in 2013.

For years and years he waited, and then last year, when he decided the Antenna was finally ready to organise an event of such magnitude, he presented his idea to the Board of AEGEE-Zagreb, who backed him fully! We were overjoyed when we received the news during Spring Agora in Bergamo! Even though we lost Zvonimir to the CD, we knew our team would be able to carry on successfully [she smiles, ed.].

How is the organisation going so far? Is everything running as expected?

This great adventure of organising an EPM is quite a challenge indeed, but nothing is impossible if you have the spirit! So, even the obstacles we face do not seem so terrifying, and every next one seems like even less of a problem if you look at those we have already overcome!

A bunch of active members in the Antenna are involved in the organisation, and that is the key of every successful project. We always offer support and help to one another whenever we need it, and this team of ours is what keeps us going strong! Together we can and will achieve greatness, just wait until February and see for yourself!

What is the thing that will make this EPM more special than the previous ones?

Without giving out our secrets, AEGEE Zagreb will definitely show you that there is more in Croatia than just the seaside, and we will bring our traditional hospitality into the organisation of the EPM, which we believe is something that was missing from the statutory events for a really long time! When we say we are a city of million hearts, we do mean it and we certainly plan to show it [she smiles, ed.].

How will you deal with the topic of the EPM “Europe under Siege: Populism and Anti-European Agitation”?

We will cooperate closely with the content managers, and there are going to be constructive discussions on the topic. The rise of populism is an actual current problem, which we believe all of us can relate to as engaged Europeans, having experienced the radicalisation of the society, making the future much different from the world we knew and grew up in. Overall, we are happy to be discussing something that many perceive as a serious threat to the kind of Europe we dream of and promote in AEGEE.

What is the one thing that participants must see or visit when they come to Zagreb?

Zagreb is often nicknamed “Little Vienna”, but that definitely does not mean we are in anyone’s shadow! While it may not be chock-full of instantaneously recognisable landmarks on every single corner, we have our fair share of unique sights that will leave you breathless! However, what you must experience in the city is its special atmosphere, due to our position on the crossroads of many different civilisations and cultures, making this area into a huge melting pot, with influences from the north, the south, the east and the west. You need to feel it to believe it!

Is there any advice you would give to Antennas that plan on hosting a future European Planning Meeting?

Our advice is to work hard, to be motivated, and, above all, to form close bonds with your entire team. To value everyone’s input and to have much fun in the process. To believe in yourself and push yourselves to the limits, and beyond. To out-best your best and to never lose your enthusiasm. To make new friends in the whole process. Those moments where you feel overwhelmed will soon pass, and you will come out of it even stronger than before. The end result, we are sure, will be well worth the sleepless nights. This was undoubtedly the right choice to make and a cause to fully commit ourselves to.

What should the participants expect after their experience of the EPM and the city of Zagreb?

The city of million hearts will keep you warm and motivated to make a change in your local for a long time after the EPM is over. We are absolutely certain that all of you will return from Zagreb with nostalgia and a wish to come back! And we will be more than happy to welcome you back!

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

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

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

Do you want to discover how the AEGEE Fair will look like at Spring Agora Bergamo? In that case you are reading the right article. The AEGEEan interviewed the organisers to show you how the next fair will look like, its scenario, its protagonists and also what kind of work lies behind all the preparation. To gather all this information two people have been interviewed: Salvo Schillaci, Fair Manager for the Public Relations Committee (PRC) and Lisa Gregis, Agora Fair responsible for AEGEE-Bergamo.

Salvo Schillaci, Member of AEGEE-Catania and PRC Fair Manager.

The AEGEEan: Many participants of Agora Bergamo probably know what the AEGEE Fair is, but not all of them. So, what is a fair and, in your opinion, which are the main reasons of organising it?

Salvo: Can you imagine a place where you’re able to meet the most active AEGEEans? Well, I do and its name is the AEGEE Fair. The fair is the place where you find the actual core of AEGEE with all its projects, committees, coordination teams and working groups. A brand new world of perspectives and possibilities where you can enrich you cultural background. This is the meaning it has to me, since the very first moment I joined the organisation. At my first Agora in Patra, I didn’t know the European greatness that lies behind AEGEE-Europe, but when I saw this world in front of me I was astonished. It was incredible and then when I realised that I could be part of it…Well, you know the rest of the story!

Who is the Fair Manager and the people involved in its organisation?

Salvo: The Fair Manager is the bridge between those who want to join the fair, which means the bodies, and the fair itself, the landmark for all those who want to say something about the fair. The Fair Manager actively collaborates with the Fair Responsible of the hosting antenna, prevents any problem and ensure the success of the event. This year I’ve been lucky, because a lot of people supported my work and I want to thank all of them: Gerardo Garcia Diaz and Mayri Tiido (PRC Speaker and Vice-Speaker), Gabriele Nicotra (PR Manager of AEGEE-Catania) and Lisa Gregis (Fair Responsible of Agora Bergamo). Without their “ausilium et consilium” my work would be way more difficult and nearly impossible.

Lisa Gregis, current Network Commissioner and AEGEE-Bergamo Fair Responsible

The Fair is always a collaboration between local organisers and a body of AEGEE-Europe, in this case the Public Relations Committee. How difficult is it to organise everything from a distance?

Lisa: The fair is just one of the pieces of the collaboration between different bodies, in fact the entire Agora is an event organised by different groups of people. For instance I’m not the only one working on it, since I have two amazing team members: Andrea and Ambra. As you said in this case, the cooperation is between local organisers and the PRC. We are working especially with Salvo who is the Fair Manager and we are very well connected. We are in daily communication and we are also able to have fun while working. I’m very happy we are working together, because I think he really understands the needs of the two sides: local organisers and AEGEE bodies.

The magnificient Donizetti Theatre, in front of which the AEGEE Fair will take place. Inside it Agora Bergamo will begin.

When and where is the fair going to take place?

Lisa: The fair is going to take place at the Bergamo city centre, on the first day of the Agora, May 18th, at 3 pm. It will be the first activity of the Agora. The place is very beautiful and it’s in front of the Donizetti Theatre, where the Opening Plenary and Opening Ceremony will take place. It’s a public open space and we will be enjoying also the city centre while attending the Agora Fair.

The open space where the fair will be held.

 Usually the fair was taking place on the second day of the Agora, this time it will be on the very first day. Why?

Lisa: We wanted to save time and try to do things differently. We thought that it could be a good way to start the event, since the fair is a moment during which people can meet, discuss and share opinions. We didn’t want to put the participants in a closed space since the beginning.

How many AEGEE bodies will be present at the fair? Can you give us a spoiler about what they will organise?

Salvo: There will be around 20 AEGEE bodies, with great projects for all the AEGEEans. I’m not a spoiler guy, I don’t want to be mean, but making a list would take so much time and this article would be a booklet. That’s why we edited one: by downloading it you can get a little preview of what is waiting for you.

AEGEEans participating at Agora Kyiv Fair

What do you expect from it and why should people visit the stands?

Salvo: Like I already said, the fair is to me the fresh start for all the AEGEEans already active on a local level,
but that also want to become even more active on the European one. So, for all the AEGEEans with great expectations and projects, for all the AEGEEans who want to be something more: this fair is addressed to all of you! I feel so lucky because from my point of view I can just see a huge family I joined two years ago, while I was wandering at my first Agora and now I’m giving my best to make all this happen again. My hope is that among you there will be another curious AEGEEan, ready to get close to us, to fall in love with our dream.

Excluding AEGEE bodies, which partners will be there? Why should we visit those stands?

Agora Fair banner. You can see the partnership of the Municipality of Bergamo.

Lisa: There will be the University of Bergamo and some of the sponsors which helped us organise the Agora. The Municipality will be there in order to let you discover all the places you can visit in the surroundings of Bergamo. And last, but not least, something
very cool: ten computers will be there in order to let you play some video games.

Finally, will it be open only to Agora participants?

Lisa: The Agora Fair is open to everyone who wants to take part in it. We also printed some promo materials and we invited all the students of the University of Bergamo.

Here you can find the Facebook Event.

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari 

Just like we did for the last Agorae, for Spring Agora Bergamo again we want to provide you with a short and easy summary of the proposals submitted for the Agora. In this first round, we will be explaining you four proposals that are aimed at changing the elections and the work of Juridical Commission, namely “Clarifying the procedure for withdrawing motions (and proposals) from the agenda of the Agora”, “Proposal to introduce a maximum fee for statutory events”, “Simplify the CIA: Case Study Trips” and “Allowing Case Shadowers for the Mediation Commission”. 

Now you may wonder: “What is this CIA you are talking about? Is AEGEE-Europe secretly American?” Simply said, the CIA (Corpus Iuridicum Aegeense) is a document with over a hundred pages containing all the rules which govern AEGEE-Europe. It is therefore considered as the legal framework of the Association, and all members are obliged to follow its provisions. Although no secret agents are involved in it, it is one of the most important documents. In the CIA, which you can read here, you can find, for example, the Statutes of AEGEE-Europe, and, in another document, also the Working Formats of the different bodies and all kind of rules (General Rules, Rules of the Network Commission, Antennae Criteria, etc.).

Clarifying the procedure for withdrawing motions (and proposals) from the agenda of the Agora

Eveline Joore, Evelien Kroon and Wietske Jousma on behalf of AEGEE-Enschede submitted the proposal that aims to clarify the procedure of withdrawing motions and proposals. AEGEE-Enschede members start from the case when motions and proposals are withdrawn by submitters during Agora without discussing them further, for example because they don’t believe in the proposal anymore or there were some amendments that changed the original proposal/motion, regardless of the possible interest in the topic by other delegates. According to the proposers, once the items on the agenda are ratified, those become Agora properties, therefore in order to withdraw a proposal/motion, original proposers must do so with the approval of the Agora which has adopted an agenda indicating that the motion will be debated. Although this proposal aims to regulate how proposals are withdrawn, the changes involves the general approval of the possibility of the Agenda modification. Now, in order to modify the order of the topics listed in the agenda a simple majority is required. If this proposal would pass, a qualified majority is required to remove topics and and votings from the proposed agenda.

Proposal to introduce a maximum fee for statutory events

Also submitted by Eveline Joore, Evelien Kroon and Wietske Jousma on behalf of AEGEE-Enschede, this proposal describes the aim to have a maximum fee for our statutory events. Currently the participation of the Agora should be free for all members (of the Agora), but, in the same article of the Working Format of the Agora, it is specified that local organisers can charge participants for some additional services and the exception must be approved by the Financial Director. The average cost of Agora participation fee in the recent years is 50 euros. The proposers argue that a maximum fee for the statutory was never agreed on and they therefore propose to set a maximum fee of 14 euros per night in order to keep the Agora affordable for every AEGEE Members. Therefore the Autumn Agora, which normally lasts from the Wednesday to the Sunday (four nights), would have a maximum fee of  56 euros. The Spring Agora, having usually one day more opening on Tuesday and having people leaving on Sunday (five nights), would have a maximum fee of 70 euros. Also, the maximum fee can be increased by a maximum percentage based on the Eurostat Euro Area annual inflation statistics of the calendar year.

Simplify the CIA: Case Study Trips

Svenja van Der Tol and Aleksandra Kluczka on behalf of the Comité Directeur and Claudio Gennaro on behalf of Juridical Commission are proposing to simplify the articles concerning the Case Study Trips. A case study trip has been used a lot in the past, for instance when AEGEE was expanding to the East. The changes now specify that the Case Study Trip has the purpose of researching in the interest of AEGEE and the complementary aim is its promotion. Participants can be from a local or from a body, replacing the old Working Group or a Supporting Committee on the European level, and they will be selected by the organising team based on their motivation. Moreover, two third of the total participants must be an AEGEE member. In case the proposal will be adopted, it is added also that after the approval of the Comité Directeur, the organising team would decide on the topic, the time schedule and the locations covered and a report with results and a financial overview should be presented within one month after the trip took place.

Allowing Case Shadowers for the Mediation Commission

This proposal is presented by Damien Latacz on behalf of the Mediation Commission (MedCom). If approved, it would change the working format of the Mediation Commission by adding a new figure to the MedCom: the case shadower. Damien Latacz argues that cases that the MedCom are handling might proceed also after a term is finished, thus forbidding the previous team to advise the new one, except from the Knowledge Transfer period. With this proposal, the MedCom would have the possibility to have case shadowers on certain cases. The shadowers can only be previous members of the MedCom and they are assigned only on a specific case, not having access to any data but only to the ones of the case they are involved with. S/he wouldn’t have voting rights and s/he would be removed from his/her position once the case would be closed (no longer than two weeks after the closing). His/her role would be merely advisory.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

The EUth Project wants to develop a new platform in order to enhance the e-participation of young people. This platform will also help AEGEE with internal communication. Even though the project started in March 2015 and it will last for three years, AEGEEans don’t know that much about it, so we asked Andrea Ferrara, Project Manager at EUth and Ander Guerrero Ruiz, the appointed member of the Comité Directeur (CD) to tell us what is this project all about and how can we benefit from it.

The AEGEEan: Tell us a little bit about the EUth Project and its aims.

Andrea: EUth – Tools and Tips for Mobile and Digital Youth Participation in and across Europe – is a project funded by the programme of research and innovation of the European Union Horizon 2020. The project is aimed at developing an online platform to enhance the e-participation of young people. This platform will facilitate their involvement in the political and social processes.

Ander: On a more internal side, the EUth project will help AEGEE internally to develop a new platform that will unify the different tools we have for internal communication and will also help with statutory events’ voting and performance. In the long term, it may be useful to change the way and place decisions are taken in AEGEE, enhancing a direct participation of the members in the decision making and fostering debates within AEGEE.

What is AEGEE’s role in this project?

Ander: The role of AEGEE is to pilot the project among young people and students around Europe. The key moment for this year will be the piloting of the project at Agora Bergamo. But, as many of you have probably saw, we have already had some sessions at the Autumn Network Meetings (NWM) and we will have much more at the spring ones and at the European Planning Meeting (EPM). Let’s be prepared!

With all the input that we will receive, AEGEE will write down some guidelines that we will be taken into consideration with the other pilots of the project when the project will be launched for implementation.

 What is your role in the project?

Andrea: I work as the Project Manager of EUth. As a project manager I need to ensure that all the activities are completed on time and that the project’s objectives are accomplished. In other words, I work on the pilot of the platform in statutory events of AEGEE-Europe together with Ander Guerrero Ruiz, the CD member appointed to work on this project.

This pilot is done on a double level: local and European. For the local level, we will involve several antennae (for the time being seven: Aachen, Bergamo, Berlin, León, Osnabrück, Oviedo and Paris). They will use this platform starting from March the 1st for internal discussion. The platform will be also tested at European level in the preparation phase of the Spring Agora 2016 in Bergamo. From April 2016 the platform will be used to upload, comment and modify proposals for our general assembly. In order to get the members familiar with the features of the platform, this will be presented during the European Planning Meeting in Leiden and during the Spring 2016 Network Meetings.

Ander: I am the appointed CD member. My task is to support and directly help the Project Manager, Andrea Ferrara, in the implementation of the project and to deal with Andrea with the rest of the partners of the consortium. Also, as Financial Director, of course I have the control of the finances of this project.

How can this project benefit AEGEE and its members?

Ander: The EUth project will answer also the interest and concern of our members in the topic of e-participation and e-democracy. As we have seen recently in many countries, the establishment of some governments is jeopardized and it is challenged by the direct participation of their citizens in taking democracy. The future is already here and we are the ones that have to take the decisions that affects us; in other words, let’s become real citizens!

Are there members involved in this project? Can they be a part of it?

Andrea: Yes, all the members of AEGEE are involved in the project! At first, the seven antennae which applied to be the first one to test the platform. Afterwards, from April, all the members can be involved, using the on-line platform, publishing and commenting proposals in view of the preparation for the Spring Agora in Bergamo.

How was this project implemented so far?

Andrea: The project lasts three year and started in March 2015. In this first year we had three meetings with the partners to define the features to be included in the platform, the activities of the pilot and promotional activities. Concerning the features of the platform, this will include a cooperative tool for text editing, discourse, delegation and voting. The organisation using this platform will have the opportunity to customize it according to the needs, to add user roles and functionalities.

AEGEE is responsible of testing the platform with our members, with the aim of involving 1800 young people. There are other three partners involved in the pilot, in France, Italy and Slovenia. During this first months of the project we agreed on the strategy to involve young people and citizens in the process, in order to get as much as possible from these tests and to contribute to better developing the platform.

We have developed a market the name (www.opin.you) and a logo for the platform.

Where can we find the last news about the project?

Andrea: We have several communication channels. The first one is the webpage of the project, where it is possible to find some general information and the main activities. Then we have social media channels, a FB page and a Twitter account.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

It is often said that the Member of the Month should be someone who “moved mountains” in our association, but there are several ways to contribute to it. Also, it is often said that there are no active people during our statutory events and boredom spreads through delegates and envoys. Our Member of the Month of March is Maarten de Groot from AEGEE-Amsterdam, who showed in the past three statutory meetings (Agora Asturias included) that it is possible to step on stage and have your voice heard.

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce yourself: who you are, your hobbies etc.
Maarten: Hey, my name is Maarten de Groot, I am 24 years old and I study (primarily political) philosophy in Amsterdam. I grew up in the east of the Netherlands, in a place called Hengelo. I like to do sports: running, cycling and sailing mostly. Moreover, I like to talk with people, ranging from casual conversations with customers of the fruit stalls at the market I’ve worked at part-time for almost 8 years, to meetings with strangers, to at times heated discussions with friends. I feel like I’ve managed to combine these two “hobbies” by making long distance cycling trips through Europe. It is a great way to explore both the diversity and the interconnectedness of our continent, in terms of its landscapes as well as the cultural mentalities and living conditions of its peoples. I also like a good party, by the way.

When, why and how you did you join AEGEE?
I joined AEGEE in September 2013. I had just moved to Amsterdam for my masters, and I more or less accidentally bumped into an AEGEEan. He seemed like a nice guy and invited me for an open social drink of AEGEE. Although, initially, I had no intention to join a student association, the social drink persuaded me that it was indeed an easy way to get to know some people in Amsterdam, so I saw no reason not to give it a try. In other words, I joined because I felt I could leave at any moment, without any harm, but right now I realize it’s a fraud: once you’re in, there’s no way back.

You were elected as Member of the Month, how do you feel?
I feel greatly honored, especially because my contribution to the European level of AEGEE is clearly rather limited up until now.

You were nominated because of your active participation during both Agora Cagliari and EPM Burgos. Why are you so involved?
Part of the reason is that I have harbored an interest in the European project since my time at high school, during which I participated in a couple of Model European Parliament conferences. Over the years, I have only become more intrigued by the question of the future of democracy, and more particularly the question of transnational, European democracy. The two statutory meeting that I attended so far have challenged me to translate some of the (rather abstract) ideas about ‘Europe’ that I have gathered over the years, into communicable form and to relate them to our student association. The other part of the reason is that, once I get excited about, and feel committed to something, I tend to get absorbed by it. I’m afraid that’s what happened.

Most of the time the participation in statutory meetings is limited to ratifying things and some sporadic questions. How important is it, in your view, to have active participation during Agorae and EPMs?
In my view, the main merit of AEGEE is that it brings students from all over Europe into contact with one another. The primary purpose of statutory events, in turn, is that it allows these people to come together and to exchange viewpoints on topics that matter to them, in ways that are respectful of each others differences, and to ensure that the institutional structure of AEGEE is such that it accommodates for this. In such a context, participation will thrive, but only as a welcome side-effect.

From a delegate perspective, why do you think one should be active and ask questions during the Agora/EPM?
First of all, if you are actively participating during the plenary sessions of these events, your chances of falling asleep drop significantly. Secondly, I think it is just way more fun: (you feel like) you’re part of the process, rather than a mere bystander. Lastly, it is a great learning experience, a balancing act: on the one hand it challenges you to get yourself heard in front of a large and diverse audience, but at the same time you try to be respectful towards others, to leave sufficient room for them, and to be aware of your own limitations.

If you could do something to enhance the participation, what would it be?
The most important condition for active participation, I would say, is to create a safe environment in which people feel free to speak up. However, this is easier said than done, especially within groups as diverse as ours during. Dutch, for example, are known for their direct style of communication, which may come across as offensive to others. Although I have neither the will nor the capacity to change the Dutch mentality, an enhanced self-awareness nonetheless allows you to be self-critical, and consequently, to adjust your style, if only by trial and error.

In Agora Cagliari you asked for 8 minutes to discuss within the delegation of your local, the motion on allowing for an exception to the rule of having a minimum of 6 weeks in between statutory events in the case of EPM Burgos and Agora Asturias. What was your idea behind this request?
The motion had been presented, questions had been asked and a general discussion had taken place for a while. Although I had a general idea about how this motion was going to be voted upon, and how I felt about it, I nevertheless felt the need to discuss it briefly with my fellow delegates before the actual vote. For I believe that it is important to have a moment at which you actively say, with your delegation “we’re going to vote such and such”. Without having such a moment, the voting can turn into something that somewhat passively overcomes you as a delegation, whereby every delegate may have made up his or her mind individually, but there’s no proper moment to turn this into a collective act.

Last but not least, let’s do a small game. Explain you and your personality using the letters that compose your name.
M from Meticulous
A from Ambitious
A from Adventurous
R from Responsible
T from Tenacious (sometimes a pain in the neck)
E from Engaged (in the social sense)
N from Nonconformist
[for the R and the N I’ve picked the same ones as last month’s member, Ruben: thanks for the suggestions!]

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

As the Agora Asturias 2015 is approaching at a high speed, our ‘Proposals for Dummies’ series is still ongoing! Today we are taking a look at three proposals which mainly concern Statutory Meetings, namely Agorae, European Planning Meetings and Network Meetings, and which aim at introducing some changes to the Antenna Criteria and the Working Format of the Agora.

The first one of the proposals that we will analyse today, Proxy voting for locals, has been proposed by Léa Charlet from AEGEE-Paris, Olga Rivero from AEGEE-Oviedo and Ruben Navarro from AEGEE-Tarragona. It addresses a problem that some of our locals are facing since some of them don’t the money, time and resources to send their delegates to the Agorae. It means that these locals cannot participate in the decisions taken at the Agora, as they are unable to cast their votes. The proposal suggests that locals who cannot attend the Agorae can delegate their votes to another antenna, who will cast it on their behalf.

The proposers argue that smaller locals often face disadvantages, as they usually have lesser chances to send delegates to Agorae. Moreover, they argue that often, the city where an Agora takes place “is also decisive for a candidate to be elected or a proposal to be approved, just because the attendance from the nearby antennae is bigger” than others.

However, this doesn’t mean that antennae who delegate their votes to others will fulfil the antenna criterion of being present at Statutory events. It will only mean that some other antenna will vote on their behalf, so they will not be in any way present in Agorae. According to the initial proposal, antennae who would like to delegate their votes would have to inform the Juridical Commission two weeks in advance, and approve their decision of delegating the vote in their own local Agora. Find the proposal here.

The second one of the proposals we will take a look at today concerns the attendance to statutory meetings, too. It aims at Changing Criteria for Representative Attendance during Meetings, referring to Agorae, European Planning Meetings (EPM) and Network Meetings (NWMs). Mario Galea (AEGEE-Valletta), on behalf of the Network Commission, proposes to change the current criterion of attendance to plenaries (currently stated as “full attendance”) and set a minimum percentage of plenary attendance instead (80% of them), and as many prytania per slot as it has representatives – so, if a local sends only two delegates, this local should send these two delegates in two prytania slots.

Concerning Network Meetings, Mario argues that the current criterion implies that locals have to send a participant at a Network Meeting, but this presence is not usually counted – meaning that participants can be free of skipping the sessions or simply visiting the city. The proposal aims to avoid this by setting a minimum percentage of the sessions to be attended in order to make this criterion fulfilled. The full proposal can be found here.

Our last daily proposal, Providing Room for Deliberation on Motions, is proposed by Gijs van Amerongen and Maarten de Groot, from AEGEE-Amsterdam. Currently, there is enough space for deliberation before voting candidatures and proposals. However, this doesn’t happen when it comes to motions, which are proposed during the Agora itself and often voted on within the same plenary session, with not enough space for discussion.

As the proposers from AEGEE-Amsterdam suggest, sometimes delegates do not have the time to deliberate and to discuss before making a decision. Because of that, they propose a minimum of three minutes during the plenary session in order to provide the delegates with some time for deliberation among one another and the members from their local. The full proposal can be found here.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

The results of the local that would host the upcoming Autumn Agora 2014 took a bit longer than usual to be announced – the deadline was extended after ZarAgora, and at that moment, AEGEE-Cagliari saw the chance to take up such a big challenge.

The support they got from many other locals, especially from the Rainbow network (Italian-speaking and Maltese locals) has been overwhelming, and Enrico Cadeddu, the president of AEGEE-Cagliari, has unveiled the first secrets from the upcoming Autumn Agora to The AEGEEan…

First of all, congratulations to AEGEE-Cagliari for being selected! This time has been especially hard to find a local to host the Agora and the deadline to present the applications was extended. What made you decide to take the step and apply for it?

Well, we were thinking about it since our board was elected. We have been talking about it for a year and day by day the idea started to become a reality without realizing it. Arriving in Zaragoza, we knew that there wasn’t any local that could host the event, so we began to think seriously about hosting it in Cagliari, giving us three days as a deadline to find an accommodation and plenary hall location. Back in Cagliari we couldn’t have imagined that in a simple 30-minute meeting we were going to get them, thanks to the municipality of Cagliari.

I think that hosting an Agora is a dream for any AEGEEan who is pretty active in his local, but the main reason that took us to apply has been the motivation of giving back the Agora in our part of the network after eight years of abstinence.

 We have heard you have received big support from locals, especially the ones from the Rainbow Region. What can you tell us about it?

When our Vice-President and now Netcommie, Mattia Abis, announced to the Rainbow Region that we had the strong intention to apply to host the Agora, almost all the antennae were delighted to hear this news.

AEGEE-Catania’s video of support

They inmediately offered us their support, signing an agreement to help us in terms of Human Resources in order to organize this Agora in the best way possible and make it unforgettable for all the AEGEEans. We received more than 20 letters of support just from Italy and several from all over Europe. I think that our candidature has generated a positive turmoil within these locals: some of them created even a support video while sending their Agreement letter (like AEGEE-Catania!)

Do you already have a team for the Agora? What have your first steps been?

Of course we do: only the Core Team is compounded by 16 people! Everyone is already taking care of an aspect of the event: Fundraising, Public Relations, Human Resources, Logistics, Food, Study Fair etc.

The coordinator of the team will be Simone Ruscica, although he’s still quite a young member, he’s really experienced in marketing, social media and event planning, even outside AEGEE. His experience led us to present the candidature, because we found in him the person that could complete the AEGEE world with perfect knowledge of our local level. He was the marketing assistant of the main Sardinian music festival “Mondo Ichnusa”, if you don’t know what I’m talking about have a look on Google or Youtube.

 What about the locations: do you have any idea where plenaries will be taking place?

Yes, of course! We already got, during the first meeting, the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari, it is in the City center and it is an awesome location for our plenaries. The other meetings, such as Prytania or Workshops will be at the University which is only 200 metres far from the theater!

And the accomodation?

The accommodation will be in the University Sport Centre of Cagliari. The participants will sleep in three gyms: two of them are in the same building and the third one is only 50 metres distance from the other two rooms. The sleeping place is only ten minutes walking distance from the Theatre but we are already planning to have buses for the laziest AEGEEans.

How many participants do you expect to have?

I don’t know, it depends on you! Considering that usually during Autumn Agora there are more participants than in the Spring one, I hope that we will accommodate 800 participants.

What makes the city of Cagliari so special?

It’s difficult to explain it and I think it would not be even fair since I’m living here, so I will use the words of a person that was capable to express what he felt when he arrived in Cagliari some years ago:

“And suddenly there is Cagliari: a naked town rising steep, golden-looking, piled naked to the sky from the plain at the head of the formless hollow bay. It is strange and rather wonderful, not a bit like Italy. It makes me think of Jerusalem: without trees, without cover, remote as if back in history, like a town in a monkish, illuminated missal. And it seems like Spain or Malta: not Italy…Lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere. Belonging to nowhere, never having belonged to anywhere. To Spain and the Arabs and the Phoenicians most. But as if it had never really had a fate. No fate. Left outside of time and history. And that is Cagliari.” (D.H.Lawrence)

If you want to know something more about Cagliari… just join the next Autumn Agora!

Is it going to be an easy city to reach for the members of our Network?

What I know about my local is that we have been always present, with a lot of members, to all of the Statutory Events since its foundation. So I can say yes! Maybe a lot of people don’t know that our Island is one of the most visited regions in Italy, the most visited even during summer. Cagliari has an international airport, one of the best connected by low cost companies (such as Ryanair and EasyJet).

Moreover, on the island there are another two airports (Alghero and Olbia) which are as well connected with many European cities. If your city is not directly connected to Sardinia you can easily reach it via other Italian airports in less than 50 minutes for all destinations!

And… don’t forget that there are ferry boats  from a lot of destinations: Barcelona, Marseille, Genova, Roma, Napoli, Palermo, Tunis etc etc. So if you want to come here in an original way, why shouldn’t you take one?

Have you received so far any support from the local institutions?

Yes, many institutions are supporting us: from the City Council that is offering us the theater and the transportation, even the university that is giving us support in terms of logistics (gyms and other facilities), passing through the Sardinian Region and Student Rights Office in financial terms.

We are even contacting other institutions and private firms but for the moment I won’t tell you anything else!

Can you tell us a bit more about AEGEE-Cagliari?

Youth European Participation event in Cagliari

We have a brilliant history: we hosted two Statutory Events (Presidents’ Meeting and Planning Meeting) and since this year we are coming of age we want to show you our maturity!

Now, AEGEE-Cagliari is the 9^th biggest local in the network, counting about 170 members. 80 of them applied for a Summer University in the last year and more than 40 of them are now active! We will try to take advantage of the possibility that an Agora offers us to get even more people active as far as it would be the perfect moment for them to meet the friends they have all over Europe.

We are really active on the local level with Seminars, Conferences, Promotional Days, Training courses, European Days, Youth in Action and of course social events like concerts and parties.

What are your next plans in the organization of the Agora?

Now, after celebrations, we don’t have so much time to organize the event (due to the fact that the deadline was extended) so we have to work harder, but we are already doing so!

We are having daily meetings with the core team, especially about Fundraising and PR Strategy, because we know we have the means to organize the best Agora ever.

Last but not least: most of the people who have been to any Statutory event will have heard your scream “OLIO!”. What can you tell to the future attendants of the Autumn Agora Cagliari about it?

… OLIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Sounds like AEGEE-Cagliari is already getting things started to organize a promising Agora… The AEGEEan wishes them the best of luck with it!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona