“AEGEE gives us so much joy and opportunities, but it also does come with challenges” – AEGEE is now addressing a topic the importance of which can hardly be overrated, personal safety. The AEGEEan has talked to the SMASH Project about their inspirations and ambitious goals.

Starting from Autumn 2017, AEGEE / European Students’ Forum has been raising awareness and tackling the problem of sexual harassment and consent inside our organisation.

In January 2019, thanks to the support of the  European Youth Foundation (Council of Europe), AEGEE launched a project titled S.M.A.S.H.: Structural Measures Against Sexual Harassment. During this project, AEGEE will be able to further increase its expertise and enlarge the pool of members who are trained to prevent, detect, and react to cases of sexual harassment (named Safe Persons).

The aim of SMASH is to create a sustainable system to prevent and tackle the problem of sexual harassment in (youth) organisations, as well as other events and activities involving youth, by using AEGEE as a pilot but ensuring the replicability, scalability, and dissemination of our activities.

In order to do so, we will train youth workers on how to prevent, detect, and react to sexual harassment in their local organisations and communities, becoming Safe Persons and creating a network of Safe Persons all over Europe.

Besides educational guidelines for youth workers on how to become a Safe Person and how to implement a system that enables tackling sexual harassment in their local organisations being produced throughout the project, a trainer’s’ toolbox to ensure the multiplier effect will also be provided.

These method will be tested in a series of events in different parts of Europe, gathering from 50 to 1000 young people, during the Spring and Summer of 2019. Thanks to the input from these events, as well as the one from an expert on sexual harassment, the guidelines will be adapted and finalised to be disseminated among AEGEE’s network and other youth organisations in a closing event in Brussels in the winter of 2019.  

To sum up, the main events of the work plan will be:

• Training for youth workers in Tbilisi, Georgia, 9-14 April
• Training for youth workers in Helsinki, Finland, xxxx
• Training for trainers at the University on Youth and Development in Mollina, Malaga, Spain, 16-22 September
• Closing event, Brussels, December

SMASH is the continuation of efforts started with the first Safe Person Project pilot during Agora Catania. We realised that while AEGEE gives so many of us much joy and opportunities, it does also come with challenges. For instance, when roughly 800 students from 40 countries come together for a party, there are going to be misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and mistakes. SMASH aims to help prevent these things from happening as well as having the right people present when it does happen. Through this project, we hope to contribute to a situation where all AEGEE events will be remembered fondly by all participants. AEGEE has been at the forefront of many societal issues and this project fits well within that spirit.

Interested in was the project does? Would like to try piloting the Safe Person method in your organisation? Feel free to contact SMASH at safe.person@aegee.eu

From the 22nd to the 27th of January, AEGEE / European Students’ Forum was in Malmö, Sweden, for the third and last training of the DIVE project!

Organised by our partner ESN Sweden, the event gathered 20 volunteers from the local, national, and European levels of ESN, JEF, AEGEE, and YES Forum. DIVErsity in European Volunteering is an Erasmus+ project that aims at making European youth organisations more inclusive. In order to do so, three trainings and three transnational meetings have been carried out up till now, developing an organisational assessment tool, outlines for educational activities, and the collection of best practices from all over Europe. You can get to know more about the DIVE project here.

In Malmö, the focus was on becoming multipliers, sharing best practices among participants, and learning how to facilitate a positive change once they are back in their local sections. Participants took part in a webinar one week before the training where the main concepts and theories regarding social inclusion were explained, with the aim of getting right into action in Malmö.

The training started by sharing the strengths and weaknesses of each organisation in order to learn how to facilitate change, where our participants could get into the role of facilitators for an afternoon. Then, they gathered some inspiration from activities from the past trainings to develop their own training session outlines, gathered feedback, and polished their ideas to be ready to share them across the networks. On the third day, through design thinking, participants developed solutions for issues and barriers they identified when it comes to social inclusion, and the fourth and last day was dedicated to action planning, and to setting a clear timeline and task division to make the change real and spread the outcomes of the training beyond the training room.   

Full of inspiration, great ideas, and tools to make them a reality, now it’s time for all of us to reflect on the outcomes and take action for social inclusion.

We would like to specially thank Ivan and Radek, the trainers that designed and made all of this possible, and Sini, Joel, and Jennifer, the organisers of the event, for their kindness and efforts in making a perfect event.

Their term starts today. A team of motivated people will officially begin their work on the 1st of August, and there are big expectations about them! It could be the new Comité Directeur (CD) 55 that we are talking about, indeed, but in this case we are referring to the brand new Working Groups, led by the newly elected Working Group Coordinators, namely Viola Bianchetti for Equal Rights, Álvaro González Pérez for European Citizenship, Svenja van der Tol for Youth Development, and Joanna Pankowska for Civic Education.

As most of you already know, the new Working Groups will ensure a fresh and successful start for the new Focus Areas of our three-year-long Strategic Plan.

Even though they still have not begun their term, they have already made history: they have received the highest amount of applications ever, with 62 applications for 28 spots (without counting the coordinators), and each of the teams have eight members (the maximum according to the CIA).

Furthermore, all of the Working Groups have already met via Skype several times and discussed their upcoming plans.  The coordinators have likewise met, in order to promote the team work among the WG themselves. One of the ideas that have come up from their meeting is the establishment of a unified newsletter and of Focus Area action months to take place in 2017/2018.

Before that, Working Groups will be present all around the Network during the NWMs and the Agora, and between September and October they will hold their live meetings. The Public Relations Committee of AEGEE is also working on the WG logos, in order to make them match and have common elements and show visually the level of coordination that wants to be achieved between the Working Groups.

That’s all by now. If you want to stay up-to-date with the news regarding the WGs, subscribe to our newsletter here! Rumors say that they are unstoppable!

Written by Álvaro González Pérez, AEGEE-Heidelberg and European Citizenship Working Group Coordinator

Special thanks to Stas Mahula, AEGEE-Kyїv, for the cover picture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click on the image to sign the petition online!

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Agora is approaching and that means it is time to elect the Comité Directeur (CD) again. One of the passionate AEGEE members who hope to move to the new CD house in Brussels is Szabina Hellinger from AEGEE-Budapest. The AEGEEan took the time to interview her and to hear about her plans, but first let us introduce Szabina to you.

Besides being a 24-year-old AEGEE-Budapest member, The AEGEEan can inform you that she is spending her time on Erasmus in Bologna (Italy) at the moment. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Studies on the Eötvös Loránd University, and now she is finishing her Masters there in the field of Adult Education, specialising in the lifelong learning process. As if that were not enough, she also has a BA in Italian linguistics and culture.

Because of her studies Szabina has experience with volunteering not only in a retirement home but also with the Hungarian Red Cross, mostly around Christmas accepting the donations for children, and when she arrived to Bologna she joined the Italian Red Cross as well. “I find volunteering my “drug”, because I see how huge successes can be achieved with small actions and how a lot of happiness can be brought, therefore I want to get and give more,” is what Szabina says about her habit of volunteering.

The AEGEEan: Why do you want to become a member of the Comité Directeur?

Szabina: I have a different attitude about it. I would put into the focus not myself, but AEGEE, meaning it is not about being a CD member, but about what I can offer to the association by my work, and the Agora will decide if it is needed or not. True, being in CD interested me since I became active but I did not dare to apply because of my lack of experience. First I thought that it was indispensable to work to get the knowledge and get the experience which is required to be effective for the association. Now after two years I have spent on the European level, I feel I am ready to accomplish the tasks of a CD member.

There are three people from AEGEE-Budapest hoping to go to Bruxelles. What makes your local such a strong local, and what does this “competition” mean in your eyes?

AEGEE-Budapest is a very strong and supportive local and they showed that in Autumn Agora Budapest. Its biggest strength is the family atmosphere, they are really open minded and welcoming to every member without making a difference between newbies, oldies or those who are there only for the Summer Universities (SUs). Since there are a lot of members, they also motivate each other with their enthusiasm – this is also evident by the number of our members active on the European level.

About your second question: it is a really funny coincidence that there are three of us from the same local running for CD. I am more than proud of my antenna because of it, but this “competition” – the way you call it – in my eyes is not different than the one we have with the other candidates, because for me it does not matter where we come from but what we want to achieve, having the same aims, and most importantly, where we want to go.

You have been involved with Project Teams and Working Groups in many ways, but can you please explain your history with them a bit?

On my first professional event in AEGEE (which was the Summer University Project School 2010) I got to learn about WGs and Projects. After going home I started checking out if there is something related to education, since this is one of my biggest interests. I found the Education Working Group (EWG) and I wrote to the former speaker (Jorge Miguel) a shy e-mail with my motivation and interests, and I got a warm welcome as an answer. After this I was the EWG’s HR responsible for half a year, and I represented it on the Autumn Agora Skopje 2011. I am really grateful for the EWG because it gave me many possibilities for work related to my studies, but mostly to unleash my potential.

During my work in the WG I met Diana Yolova, speaker of the Higher Education Days Project, who was talking to me about the project and made me really motivated in it, so I joined. Since that I am the PR responsible, and I represented it on the Spring Agora Enschede 2012, Autumn Agora Budapest 2012, and I will be the envoy of this PT at the Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar 2013 too. Currently we are focusing to the recognition of the non formal education and researching about the Bologna process (leaded by Avgustina Vasilieva).

How do you believe the cooperation can be strengthened between European level bodies?

There are some Working Groups and Projects which have similar topics, just from a different point of view, with or small differences; I would like to encourage them to organise a common event, research or program to help each other, giving each other new ideas or point of view, improving each other and themselves. Moreover I would like to encourage bodies and members to start new Working Groups or Projects according their interests.

The second step of this would happen through the members, because if we want to achieve our goals we need to catch them at most basic level, one by one, since they are the association’s future. The Fair is a perfect forum for it, but it does not reach those members who are not participating in the Agora or EBM. I would encourage the locals to promote the projects and WGs, and at the same time bring the European level closer to the members through the bodies.

There are many WGs and PTs who have trouble with activating members. What is your opinion about this and how would you help them? 

Motivation is one of the biggest problems not just for PTs, or WGs, but all the bodies, meaning not just getting new members but keeping the old ones active. To catch new members, the Fair is a great opportunity, improving their PR materials, but as I mentioned above I would also reach out to those members who are not participating. I would also strongly collaborate with the Network Commission since they have the strongest relation with the locals.

Second step would be helping in their internal HR. I would strongly collaborate with the board of a WG and PT highlight the HR responsible, encouraging them to hold personal meetings as much as possible, like on Statutory Events, or in the CD house, because Skype meetings are useful for working, but not so much for teambuilding.

You have been the Fair Manager once yourself, and mention strengthening AEGEE fair in your program. How do you think this should be done?

Obviously I would cooperate with the Fair Manager(s) as much as possible, with the Speakers too, since this is the main forum where all the bodies can represent themselves in the same time, as mentioned above. I would cooperate with the bodies asking about their needs not just in a material way but also in the sense support. I would hold a meeting before the Fair where their needs could be discussed and I would have a feedback session after it discussing their difficulties, successes, and most importantly their recommendations for improvement.

In case you are elected, you will probably be working with members who have been working together for a year already. What is your opinion about this?

First of all I admire their work and I am sure I could learn a lot of them. It would be a huge opportunity for me to receive and benefit from their experience and knowledge. But we cannot create,  improve and develop without adding anything new. Even a small change can grow into an innovation and every year is a new possibility to prove it. In case I am elected I think we could have a strong collaboration and I could provide CD with some fresh ideas.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

We are going a little bit back in time – to Friday, November the second, the day when the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) had its first official workshop in a statutory event. This workshop was titled exactly the same as this article: Are you stranger than a stranger? The word “stranger” when mentioned for the first time refers to you (potentially), and the second time it refers to a foreigner, or a person whose main crowd is “strange”. Yes, this workshop dealt with xenophobia; a serious topic, but also a topic everybody has an opinion about.
A brief introduction was given by Jonathan Mack, an activist of TernYpe, a Youth NGO for Roma and non-Roma youngsters. He explained the concept of stereotypes. After his welcome, he took part in the rest of the workshop as a participant.
Though the workshop was led by Marine Betrancourt and Maria Arends, HRWG-members Niklas Vaalgamaa and Anne Stikkers were eager to facilitate during the “World Café”. Our World Café consisted of discussion rounds in small groups, where they discussed four statements in turns. There were only a few minutes to discuss every statement, so people just had to share their first impressions. In the end, all the statements were summarized.

Statement one: “Stereotypes prevent Roma people from working”

“As all the other statements addressed in the World Café, it was vividly discussed,” says Marine Betrancourt, who facilitated the discussion of this statement. “Most of the participants agreed that stereotypes are not the cause of Roma people not working, but it is more a cultural thing where they tend to want to stay “special” and not fit in with the “normal” expectations. It has also been said that it might be about the lack of education, which prevents them from actually getting to learn about “normal” life – understood as getting a job.”

Jonathan, the speaker from TernYpe, brought an interesting input balancing the participants opinions. Although most of the participants tended to disagree on stereotypes preventing Roma people from working, some of them stated that they indeed thought that Roma people were prejudiced in their everyday life and that it could be one of the reason why they are not able to find a proper job.

Statement two: “Human rights are expensive, so they are not a priority in times of crisis”

This statement was quite radically phrased, so nobody really agreed with it. What people did think is that human rights are connected with financial matters and the poorer the country is, the harder they are to reach. On the other hand, Western countries spend a lot of money to have fair trials for criminals, which the participants thought to be a bit ironic. They also thought that human rights are absolute and we should not go backwards from what we have already achieved. They agreed on the financial influence though. Another point that was noticed is that there are some quite big cultural differences even among Europeans relating to certain topics in human rights.
Niklas Vaalgamaa led the discussion on this statement. He noticed that the process of discussing, in this case, was more important than the content itself. “Instead of the actual discussion result I think the basic discussion process was more rewarding,” he says. “First of all it made people think about human rights, but moreover it made participants understand that people think about things in really different ways and that sometimes it can be hard to accept or understand other people’s opinions. There was no arguing but hard debating,” he continues, satisfied.

Statement three: “People are immigrating to live on social support”

“Most reactions started with ‘That is not true!’ or similar remarks,” states Anne Stikkers. She made people think and debate about this topic. “Most participants did not feel like this was a big issue at all. Several people mentioned that it is unreasonable to think that people are going to leave all their family, friends, and home country behind just for the sake of receiving welfare aid from the government. Also it was mentioned frequently that people usually want to work – not having a job is depressing, not something positive. Besides that, it was recognised that in several Northern and Western European countries, this is a big political and economic concern (whether it is a valid one or not). It was concluded that in principle, everyone has the right to social aid, but people should prove that they are actually looking for a job.”

The participants thought that the government should help these unemployed people in some way, for example by providing language courses and making sure that employers do not discriminate based on national origin. In addition, this aid cannot go on forever. The  example of Sweden, where social aid for immigrants is provided for one year only, was mentioned several times. So in the end, even though most participants did not feel like this issue was a pressing one, they did seem to agree that social aid should be provided for everyone, but on a conditional basis.

Statement four: “Foreigners should learn the language of the country they are living in”

At first you might not expect so much discussion on a topic like this, but when we discussed it during our meeting in September, we discovered that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. During the workshop it was clear that people thought quite differently about this topic. “There were quite some people thinking that it was okay, and even when I asked if it was okay if there was only one person at their job that did not speak their language and if they spoke in English all the time, for this group that was no problem,” Maria Arends says. “Also there were people who did not immediately disagree, but who thought that you cannot expect from someone to learn the language. Or not to learn the language, which was also quite a hot topic. Sometimes people expect foreigners not to speak their language, when they actually do”.

The opinions differed quite a bit. Some also mentioned that you should learn the language as a sign of respect for the culture you are going to live in. One thing everyone did agree on is that it makes life a little easier for yourself if you do this.

As you see, there is a lot going on in the field of xenophobia, and it is definitely not as narrow as you may think it is. This year, it will be one of the things the HRWG wants to focus on, so if you would like to learn some more, you will get the opportunity for sure!

Written by Maria Arends, Human Rights working Group

+ Do you know what the Working Groups did in September?

+ Are you aware of what kind of tasks they develop and which topics they are tackling?

You can check the document on the Issu down here, or download from here http://goo.gl/KfQ0g

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It has been less than two months since Guillermo Garcia Tabarés moved out of the Comité Directeur (CD) house but that has not stopped him from being proactive in AEGEE. He has come up with not one, not two, not three, but four different proposals on how AEGEE could be improved in relation to Comité Directeur and the Working Groups (WGs). He believes that the Knowledge Transfer (KT) period should be shortened and the term of the CD should be from August to August. Moreover, his experience with the Working Groups has taught him that AEGEE-Academy stands out from the rest of the Working Groups and that if the different WGs had less board members, the activity would increase.

The AEGEEan had a talk with him to find out how he managed to make four proposals and why he believes they all are important.

The AEGEEan: You have four proposals for Agora Budapest. How did you find the time to work on each?

Guillermo: While I was in the Comité Directeur I had a little notebook where I would write down all the issues I would like to change. When it was time to make proposals, I reconsidered the ones that had a very good reasoning behind them. Coming back to the question, August was quite a relaxing month regarding mails and the fact that the Knowledge Transfer period was not a full month task, so I had enough time to “undust” my notebook and start working on them. Moreover, two of them are not purely mine, but shared with my other two mates. It is true that if you read the announcement of the Juridical Commission it looks like that. Still, if you open them you can check the whole list of proposers.

What are the ideas behind the different proposals?

The proposal about reducing the number of board members of the Working Groups strictly to four fixed positions is based both on integration of all the members of WGs into everyday tasks and on a more efficient work within the board.

The one about the Academy aims mainly at placing it out of the Working Groups, due to the fact that it is not a thematic body, and this causes problems every time the Working Group criteria needs to be implemented. In my opinion it is useless to have a list of musts, if then they cannot be applicable, but still some others should.

The last two proposals are related to the work of the Comité Directeur. Making the CD term last from August to August, and not from September to September would result in a better integration of the new team. Since in August both internal AEGEE work and external institutions-related work is very much nonexistent, it would allow the new team to have all their meetings and first tasks in a more relaxed environment. It would also help the outgoing board to have a month of re-introduction to life.

Finally we would like to shorten the KT period. One month is too much, and there are a lot of moments when time is consumed by unnecessary things (elected CD members waiting for tasks, less pressure, feeling lost…). We have to take into account that during this month the house is also consuming a double amount of energy, and so is our budget, not just for house costs but for subsistence costs. In addition, this year it was proven that two weeks is enough for a programme that would include both personal sessions and common ones (keep into account that as the KT would be shorter the CD members would have more time during that month to finish their work, and that if the previous proposal gets accepted the new team can have the following weeks for their internal job).

So that answers a lot of questions about the CD proposals – let us move on to the Academy. You suggest to place AEGEE-Academy outside of the Working Groups. But where should AEGEE-Academy then be placed?

(AEGEE-)Academy would become a new body of AEGEE-Europe with its own part in the CIA. If one checks the CIA now, the Academy simply does not exist apart from collaboration mentions done by other bodies.

And what would that change?

First of all, the Academy will not need to accomplish criteria that were not created for its purpose. Moreover, as it happens with Working Groups, the Academy would still be able to “upgrade” to AEGEE-Academy, becoming an independent association that needs to sign a contract linking its work to AEGEE-Europe (see Convention d’Adhésion). Right now as the Academy is in that “upgraded” state, it will have to sign a new CdA following the new rules.

It seems it is a minor change, but still quite meaningful to ease the work and changes of the Working Groups.

And then we have the Working Groups, the area that Guillermo is most passionate about. Don’t believe us? Rumor has it that Guillermo is running for speaker of the Culture Working Group (CWG) and that he is helping with the creation of a new one; but let us have a look at the proposal that could change the current situation.

You have been working with WGs for a whole year, what was your experience? What was good and what has room for improvement?

Working Groups were my little children and also the ones to have a full inbox nonstop! Jokes aside, I was really happy to work with them, having the responsibility to implement during the entire year a whole process of restructuring that resulted in a complete manual. I also had the chance to have several chats with most of the board members, in order to follow all the changes, this chance to talk to the members one-to-one is something I also like. I was able to feel the people behind the mails. I am also satisfied by the fact that now all Working Groups have the chance to work under the same structure and that this will not take more time at least in the next years, leaving more place for real action.

When it comes to improvements, I would say that the way some people see the whole picture should change. They should try to look more positively about common issues, to give suggestions and then to take the responsibility to implement them instead of just complaining. I think speakers meetings for common problems would help a lot!

All the Working Group boards are in the middle of elections, what will happen with the WGs who have elected more than four board members?

Nothing at all! If this proposal gets accepted it will only be applicable after Agora Budapest, when the elections of the Working Groups are finished, or ongoing from a process that was legally started in the previous way. On the other hand, the next board elections in 2013 would have to follow this new system.

Okay then, but another thing we are curious about is this: The WGs are currently having elections and some find it difficult to find candidates, why do you think that is the case?

This is because of the lack of active members, which is due to lack of promotion and activities.

Firstly, by promotion I do not mean sending the open call to Announce-L, but promotion of their activities and results in an attractive way, otherwise why would an AEGEE member get interested by an open call for a board without knowing even the Working Group itself? A clear example is the number of articles published in the AEGEEan. There are eight Working Groups and around two or three posts per month in total… Something is wrong there. External promotion is also needed, but once more, this has to be linked to an offer, otherwise few enthusiastic people will come on their own.

I think Working Groups need to have more activities, and share them among their members, and make sure once and again that this is happening in this way, contacting them directly, etc. All members need to be included in all the actions and to be given the possibility to be responsible for some parts of them. Only this will make them feel like a part of the Working Group willing to keep active.

In other words: the Speaker needs to guide and coordinate the Working Group to make things happen but for this we need very strong HR and PR strategies, with people that take these responsibilities as an important issue that demands their time.

Yes, time seems to be the issue and under the current structure a person cannot be speaker of more than one WG, but do you believe that a person can be a board member of two different WGs efficiently? Should this be changed as well?

Uhmm… good question! I remember that in Agora Skopje, when the Working Group reform was discussed, it was even proposed that the speaker of a WG could not be speaker anywhere else, but nobody thought about other positions… I see it, in any case, a bit different: a speaker should concentrate just on a Working Group, as he/she has to coordinate everything that happens in it, becoming more and more professional about the topics that are ongoing, or spending his/her time on it trying to look for other information and possible actions. About the other positions, they are more task-related, and while not very likely, I could see a person administering two databases, publications, etc.

In any case a person can be a member of as many WGs and develop as many actions as wanted, so my preference is to let the experience of being in the board to as many people as possible, to have a more active Network rather than a monopoly.

That definitely leaves food for thought. In any case, we hope that the four different proposals are more clear to you now than they were before and that it will help you in the fruitful discussion(s) that may happen at the Agora.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

ACT will be there, PRC will be there, EaP will be there, but the question is: “Will you be there?”. All these abbreviations might create a question mark in your mind. “What is EaP?”, “What is PRC?”, “What is ACT?” are all questions that you could be left with right now. How can you find the answer? Go to the AEGEE fair!

Of course The AEGEEan could simply tell you that EaP is the abbreviation for the Eastern Partnership Project, ACT is the abbreviation for the Action Agenda Coordination Team, and PRC is the abbreviation for the Public Relations Committee, but that does  not fully answer the question “Who are they?”. It is not often that you get to ask questions, meet the people behind the Network Commission, or have the courage to go and talk with the CD members, but if you are one of the lucky Agora participants, then you will get the opportunity to do just that. How? By attending the AEGEE fair!

The AEGEE fair is organised by CD responsible Guillermo García Tabarés and AEGEE fair manager Patricia Anthony, in close cooperation with AEGEE-Enschede and the chair team. It will take place on May 2^nd, from 10 AM to 13 PM. During those 3 hours, the participants will have the opportunity to hear grasping stories about the twin antennae bond between AEGEE-Beograd and AEGEE-Istanbul, play “Who wants to be a millionaire?” with the Network Commission, learn about the opportunities of joining the Eastern Partnership Project or the Human Resources Committee, and about how to become a journalist or proofreader for The AEGEEan. In total, there will be more than 25 bodies present at the AEGEE fair, ready to answer your questions.

The AEGEE fair booklet – Coming to a computer near you

The AEGEEan was created by the PRC, so it was an obvious choice for us to work in close cooperation on the booklet for the fair. We understand that Agora participants will already be busy reading booklet after booklet, but hope that you will also take the time to read about who will be present at the AEGEE fair. The booklet includes information about (almost) each stand, what they will do, and who will be there to answer your questions. It required a lot of hard work from the AEGEE fair team, the presenters, proofreaders and especially Network Commission candidate Réka Salamon, who took the responsibility of leading this project and making sure that each page of the booklet catches the eye and attention of the reader.

The fair is part of the AEGEE opening festival, taking place on May 2nd, from 10 AM  to 14 PM (The AEGEE fair is between 10 and 13). Now four hours may seem like a lot, but when you have to register for the Agora, take part in breaking records, visit different stands and reunite with AEGEE friends, then four hours quickly slip away. So think about it, read the booklet, and prepare yourself for an opening festival that will be legen…dary!!!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København