A sunny, clear day welcomed me to Valladolid on Wednesday 18^th of September. As I was picking up my backpack from the bus, I found myself wondering what those five days would bring me. I wasn’t sure about what to expect. I did not yet realize how some of my thoughts and points of view about Europe would change in such a short period of time. I wasn’t aware of what amazing people I would meet…

The scenery of this magic long-weekend, as I mentioned above, was Valladolid. The aim was the “Y Vote” Program, developed by AEGEE-Europe and the YVote2014 Project Team. As you may imagine, the purpose of the event was to provide 25 students and youngsters from nine different countries with the tools to promote the voting among the youngest people for the next European Elections. In this context, the participation of people between 18 and 24 years old was less than the 25% in 2009. However, the meeting was about much more. Apart from discussing issues strictly related to the elections, we tackled different other points, focusing on youth participation and involvement in Europe. The time flew by and without noticing, I found myself diving into the ins and outs of Europe, debating things that the day before I had no idea about. I was learning, discovering not only Europe, but also myself, and even teaching, all at once in a vibrant young atmosphere. Sharing with the rest of the participants (by now my friends) our ideas and our concerns proved to be very engaging. We even debated with a Member of the European Parliament, as well as assisted to many brilliant, motivating speeches.

Organisers from AEGEE-Valladolid

Despite the fact that the content was really interesting, the best part of the event was the feeling I got. You could only have felt what I did if you had been there, in those rooms: the way we got involved despite the tiredness, the way we participated in every workshop, no matter if we had slept only a couple of hours. It was actually as if we could change something, as if we really had a say, and the recommendations we wrote were the finest example. The program itself was exhausting, sometimes challenging and even exasperating, especially when you realized the limitations of what we can do in Europe, but that’s exactly how life is. That was the best part: feeling that we can take part in our future, that we have a say instead of being mere spectators.

I wouldn’t like to end this article without thanking all the participants, organizers and trainers (some of them I call friends now) for their spirit and effort. It was really inspiring to share those 5 days with you guys. You are the ones who made it life changing, not the program or the content. Without you, this wouldn’t have had any sense.

I remembering hearing this phrase during the event and it sums everything up perfectly: “We all have different opinions, and that’s OK. We are not telling you to like Europe, but if you don’t vote in the European Elections, you won’t have a say!”

Now it is your turn.

Written by Javier Uceda, AEGEE-Madrid

Recently we published the article giving you an insight into the story behind 2^nd place winner of the Events Committee’s (EvC) Facebook competition. Now it is time to reveal the winner which includes not only AEGEE-Oviedo but also AEGEE-Yerevan and the Eastern Partnership Project Team.

The winning photo

The Peace Building in Europe took place in Gijón last year, and the EvC’s competition has granted us the opportunity to get to know more about the event, how it came about, and the significance of exchanges among AEGEE antennae. Several of the participants of the event took their time to contribute to an interesting interview which you can read below.

Congratulations on winning the competition, why did you take part in it?

Tereza Tokmajyan (AEGEE-Yerevan) Thanks! It all begins with checking the dozens of AEGEE-emails in my inbox. I know every AEGEEan feel this every day and every week.  And while I was reading the info about what we need for participating in this great competition, the photo of our crazy event came out. I just wanted everyone to know all the amazing people who have organised this project.

What does it make you feel that you managed to win?

Gerardo García Díaz (AEGEE-Oviedo): I’m really happy and also proud because we managed to win, and because we won just for “being ourselves”.

Panagiotis Barlampas (AEGEE-Athina): Friends from the Network  helped us spread the joy

Tereza: And it was like: HELL YES we did it.

Take us back to the event, who came up with the idea to organize a YiA project between AEGEE-Yerevan and AEGEE-Oviedo?

Tereza: As far as I know, it was not directly the idea of AEGEE-Yerevan or AEGEE-Oviedo. The project was proposed by the AEGEE Eastern Partnership Project Team (EaP) back in summer 2011. Armenak Minasyants, who at that time was member of that team, developed and reshaped the project with the AEGEE EaP Team. Later on AEGEE-Oviedo was approached and to be honest, for the first application in 2011 the guys failed and the project got the rejection and lots of people thought that it was the big ned of a cooperation that had not even really started yet. It was a big disappointment. Amazingly, Armenak,  AEGEE-Yerevan’s ex-president, and Alberto Cuesta Noriega, from AEGEE-Oviedo, with the big support of AEGEE EaP Project Manager Alla Resheten, found totally new motivation and inspiring hope for rechecking the whole application, making plenty new amendments to it, developing a new agenda and concept and of course applying for the EU Youth in Action funding. It took from the both of lots of hard work, patience and dedication but in the end of the day the result you may already see on your own.

When asked why the choice of AEGEE-Yerevan and AEGEE-Oviedo for the project Tereza said with a smile “Maybe we are the marvelous, absolutely fabulous antennae in AEGEE Network?” and continued “But if we talk more seriously, the partnership was firstly based on the big personal trust of our above mentioned main organisers. Additionally it should be mentioned that the participants were not only from AEGEE-Oviedo or AEGEE-Yerevan. The organisers have involved as the partner promoters AEGEE-Athina, AEGEE-Tbilisi, AEGEE-Kyiv, AEGEE-Budapest, and Moldavian National Youth Council. In the end we got totally crazy and motivated participants plus awesome trainers’ team”.

What did you do in Oviedo?

Gerardo: Actually the event took place in Gijón. Oviedo is the Capital of the Principality of Asturias and the University of Asturias is the University of Oviedo. But the largest city on the region and the biggest campus of this University in is Gijón.

Armenak Minasyants (AEGEE-Yerevan): It was a great selection of the location: Atlantic Ocean on your one side, beautiful Asturian forests and nature on the other side… What could be better place for making such a project?

Christos Gkagkas (AEGEE-Patra): We had trainings on conflicts and different stereotypes, we learn how to recognize them and work on them in order to be able and overcome them. I think we manage to see that each culture is important and respectful.

Tereza: Adding to that in spite of this was a YIA project and we had non-AEGEE members we did not forget to show them all what AEGEE Spirit is.

Panagiotis: Which is why in the end, we left everyone speechless by our awesomeness.

What did you like about the event?

Panagiotis: In seven days we made friends from six different countries and learned about their culture, conflicts (internal, external), and language!

Christos: I liked most the conversations we had after the trainings, in which we found out that each culture is sharing something with other cultures and some of them are strongly connected.

Tereza: We had super great trainers. Every session was interesting and unique itself, even the ice-breaking games were amazing.

Gerardo: It was an awesome group of awesome people, and we had a really good time together.

Gerardo from Oviedo

In AEGEE we focus a lot on cultural exchanges and this was indeed one of those. Would you encourage others to take part/organise exchanges?

Tereza: As a person who has directly participated to such type of the project, I would not only encourage but, as the Vice-President and HR of my local, even officially suggest on the behalf of AEGEE-Yerevan to organise such exchanges as much as possible! Through such exchanges we are getting a quite unique chance not only to get familiar with other people’s culture, but also to represent ours.

Gerardo: There’s no better way to get to know other cultures and ways of thinking than actually living with people from other places and getting immersed in their stuff. Even that this event was short in time, lessons learnt will last forever.

Christos: I will give you one example. Before the event in Gijon I did not know where Armenia was but I fell in love with my Armenian friends and after this event I wanted to learn more about their ways of living so I applied and went to another YiA in Yerevan.

Panagiotis: For sure when you will come home after an event like this you will be a little different, more open minded.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Covilhã is located in the mountainside of the biggest mountain in continental Portugal: Serra da Estrela. The mountain has the biggest natural park in Portugal and one of the most beautiful landscapes in the interior of Portugal. During the winter there are many events such as snowboard competitions and the famous “Carnaval da Neve” (Snow Carnival). People can either do winter sports or just stay in and enjoy a hot chocolate in front of the fireplace in one of the many rural and cosy coffee shops. But this is not only a winter town. During the summer, the mountain also has a lot to offer – beautiful waterfalls, lagoons and hiking courses. It is the perfect place for rock climbing lovers!

Covilhã is also known for its university – it has highly active student groups and the university itself has a strong bond with local enterprises and even some international ones. As a small city and university in the interior, it is hard to make a stand against the bigger universities in Portugal, but thanks to student projects and the always supportive university administration, it is making major improvements. “The best fragrances come in small bottles. It’s exactly like Covilhã. Small town, but so much to offer”, this is how the Erasmus friends of the founders of contact Covilhã described the city. Exactly for being such a small city, Covilhã offers foreign students the chance to get a real contact with the locals. This is the place where Erasmus students do not tend to walk in groups of people from their own countries, but in big mixed groups of Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Estonian, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian and Turkish people. Covilhã becomes a melting pot of tolerance, friendship and diversity where we all turn into a big family.

Picture courtesy of Francisco Esgalhado

It is guaranteed that no one could ever leave this town without experiencing the true meaning of saudade, a feeling that comes in the process of looking back and remembering the times spent in this special place, between the mountains of Serra da Estrela.

The city sounds perfect and has only missed one thing up until now: AEGEE. A group of students from different areas of interest. At the moment, they are a team of 20 creative and responsible people interested in taking part in this project. A team formed by students of Political Science and International Relations, Informatics, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, all together for a reason: AEGEE.

The AEGEEan had a chat with Joana Vaz from Covilha about the project of bringing AEGEE to their city.

The AEGEEan: How did you hear about AEGEE?

Joana: After participating in a formation organised by AEGEE-Istanbul, within the Youth In Action programme, I thought I could build a team, bring AEGEE to my university and help other students to develop their skills in order to be more capable, competitive and active in this world. Sometimes the hardest thing is not to fight, but to find something specific to fight for. Where should we start? What are our limits? If there are limits, is it possible to overcome them? Am I alone in this? Participating in associative activities helps us to get a deeper view of ourselves, contributes to the creation of an entrepreneurial attitude, stimulates the initiative capacity and encourages us to take risks. More than taking chances, it is important for us to learn how to create our own opportunities. Furthermore, we live in a global village. Despite our different backgrounds, we all share the same piece of land. We dress in Chinese clothes, drink German beer, eat Italian food, watch British news and American films. There is no way to deny each other anymore. Truth be told, future depends on us. We are responsible for building a culture of peace with structures that are strong enough to last and only by experiencing tolerance in intercultural activities we can make it possible. These kinds of associations have a huge importance on the subject as they are an expression of life in community that protects the practice of democracy and citizenship, and develops solidarity within society.

Picture courtesy of Ricardo Casteleiro

How did you get the idea of bringing AEGEE to Covilhã?

There are only two AEGEE antennae in Portugal, which we think is not enough. Especially in this hard period of crisis and with the increase of unemployment, formal education seems to be insufficient for young people to succeed. More and more employers demands us to be different, active, flexible and dynamic. Having a leadership skill is not a feature anymore; it is an absolute need nowadays. We think that having this door to the world in such a small city with lots of students is an awesome opportunity for them to broaden their views, share international experiences in their area of studies, building themselves as global citizens and in the end they can even make the world a better place!

For how long have you been trying to get AEGEE to your city?

It was not as hard as we expected. Actually, the university was super receptive and people are getting more interested in AEGEE day by day.

So how has the university been involved?

Thankfully, our university has been fully cooperative and although a bit slow in response, it has attended to all our needs. All other student organisations have shown support, congratulated us on this new project and even invited us for partnerships and future cooperative activities. We have a strong and very active student core and our university does whatever is possible to help us.

What lies in the future of AEGEE in Covilhã?

We are just starting this amazing adventure and we are eager to learn more about everything that relates to AEGEE. Let’s say we will start from the beginning. The first step is taking part on our first international activity as members of AEGEE, by attending the next Network Meeting and getting to know our closest friends from Spain and France. Also, we are organizing a meeting with AEGEE-Valladolid in our city so they can share in a more close way their experiences and thoughts, creating strong bonds with our other two national antennae and putting some other great ideas to practice. One of our goals this year will be doing a project within Youth In Action, so students with less possibilities can also be a part of this. The subject of the project is still a secret, all we can tell you is that in a close future, our academic and AEGEEan community can expect some fantastic ideas prepared just for them!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Youth in Action is one the most important programmes which supports a variety of AEGEE activities and helps us make Europe better. Let’s look at how to increase our chances to get a project funded?

Before sending an application to any grant programme it is important to know what the project is about and what kind of activities can be supported. It might sound like this is something that is naturally done, but in reality it very often happens that projects are rejected because they are not connected with the objectives and priorities of the grant programme.

A very helpful source of information, where you can find this kind of information about the objectives of a grant are websites and programme guides of those grant programmes. So let’s check Programme Guide of Youth in Action link: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-in-action-programme/programme-guide_en.htm. We can find the description of the programme:

“The Youth in Action Programme aims to respond at European level to the needs of young people from adolescence to adulthood. It makes an important contribution to the acquisition of competences through non-formal learning as well as to the promotion of young people’s active participation in society”.

Notice the important word here: non-formal learming. The European Commission has a variety of Programmes which support formal learning, like the well-known Erasmus programme and several others, like Leonardo da Vinci, Grundwig, Comenius etc. So project submitted to the YiA programme should use non-formal learning as a main tool to achieve its aim!

Then on the next page we will find objectives and priorities. With priorities the situation is a bit more complex. YiA has four permanent priorities which don’t change with the length of the program. These are:

• European citizenship
• Participation of young people
• Cultural diversity
• Inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities

Next to these permanent priorities the Executive Agency (EACEA) presents a list of annual priorities. For 2013, the annual priorities are as following:

• Projects proposing awareness-raising activities about EU Citizenship and the rights that go with it, in the context of the European Year of Citizens.
• Projects aimed at encouraging participation in the 2014 European elections, thus enabling young people to behave as active, informed citizens.
• Projects aimed at promoting young people’s commitment towards a more inclusive growth.
• Projects stimulating young people’s spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, employability, in particular through youth initiatives.
• Projects promoting healthy behaviours, in particular through the promotion of the practice of outdoor activities and grassroots sport, as a means to promote.

Additionally, each programme country selects its own priorities. This depends on the National Agency in each country and can for example be that projects from some regions which have fewer opportunities are bonified, as well as maybe first time applicants.

A programme that wants to be supported must fit at least one permanent priority, and also it must fit in annual priorities. In the application you will be asked how your programme contributes and you will have to explain it.

If your project fits the priorities but you still didn’t get the grant, now comes the time to sell your project as the best one. You have to make sure that it fits the technical requirements which are defined in a programme guide. When the application is received, it goes through a formal control. During this all the requirements are checked and if the application doesn’t fulfil all of them, it is a reason for them to reject the application. These rejections happen no matter how good a project is! It can happen that you forget some small details. The National Agency informs you that you have a couple of working days to correct it. This is done within 10 days after submission of the application.

If your application passes the formal control, now it is time for evaluation of the content. This is done by three auditors, one person from the National Agency and two externals auditors, which are active in civil society and have experience in the youth field. This period can take up to 10 weeks, depending on the amount of applications. The selection procedure is standardised by the European Commission and each part of the application is valued on certain points. The auditor decides how much points will be given to each part of the application. The amount of points is then counted together and from this result the decision to support or not to support will be made.

At the end I would like to share a recommendation with you. Read the whole application carefully and answer all of the points. Focus on the methodology of your activities, plan a follow up and look into how you will disseminate the results of the project. Yes, projects should have some output! Also be careful with partnerships, because some National Agencies want a preliminary agreement of the partner with a submission number and they request original documents instead of copies. This is important to know and it is good to ask your National Agency about it. Here is a list of National Agencies with contact information: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth/doc152_en.htm

Good luck with your application!

Written by Pavel Zbornik, European Institutions and Communications Director

It all started with an idea to raise awareness about Europe among children in rural areas of Latvia  and to make them feel like the European citizens they are. The idea was to abolish all kinds of boundaries, both physical and psychological. AEGEE-Ogre took the initiative and came up with a project so good that it received a grant from Youth In Action (YiA). With the financial support of YIA, the idea was brought to life.

After preparing the project during the long and tiresome winter months, its accomplishment approached together with the warmth of spring. The main coordinator of the project, Irina Sadrina, together with her team, worked day and night to make their vision a reality. From March till May, members of AEGEE-Ogre, with the help of some Erasmus students from Germany, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine, visited rural schools in the Ogre district and spread the different cultures among eager-to-learn children.

Each foreign participant got to share his culture with both 4^th graders and 12^th graders. The different age groups made the project even more interesting as different activities were held for each of the groups. While the young kids got to do more hands-on projects, enjoying games and watching short films about the countries of their guest speaker, the older kids got just as involved in discussions and seminars. In the end, it was not just some boring school lecture. It was really an upbeat discussion and very much of a “show and tell” moment.

The organisers of AEGEE-Ogre helped many kids feel that they truly are part of Europe. They gave a chance to school kids to meet young foreigners who came to Latvia to gain knowledge and experience that only an international program can give you. For some, this program opened their eyes to a whole range of new possibilities, for others, it was a chance to see themselves and their place in this world from a completely different point of view.

Special thanks for the photos to Irina Sadrina and her team from AEGEE-Ogre!

Written by Olga Volovyk, AEGEE-Kyiv

On the 23^rd of November 2011, the European Commission officially presented the proposal of “Erasmus for All” (E4A), the new program that will replace our beloved “Youth in Action” for upcoming years 2014-2020, gathering the areas of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth in one same program.

As you might be aware, the current Youth in Action (which is the Program of EU Commission for 2007-2013) gives a lot of importance to Non Formal Education (NFE), active citizenship and empowerment of young people to take ownership and develop their own projects, which will contribute to the big picture of European Integration. It allows young people to manage and implement their own projects and ideas, as well as supports youth organizations and civil society entities to carry out their work by providing operational grants, like the one we receive every year for AEGEE-Europe.

The Multiannual Financial Framework presented by the European Commission for the new proposal is quite good, because there has been a huge increase in the budget.

However, there are some gaps in the European Commission’s proposal, which are not so good from young people´s point of view, specially for all of us belonging to International Youth NGOs (IYNGOs).

In few words, “E4A” is based on education and training, focusing on formal higher education in order to make young people more employable. The proposal focuses mainly on the needs of the labor market, without mentioning the importance of Non Formal Education for the development of our youth as active citizens, it removes the co-management of young people in the project, and very importantly, it removes the support of operational grants for youth organizations.

If this proposal were approved, it would mean that organizations like AEGEE-Europe would lose almost half of their annual budget, which would damage them and their work and in some cases could even make them disappear.

There is a fear for the Youth sector to disappear under the ERASMUS brand, as there is no clear separate budget line for youth in the proposal.

Here you can find some of the main differences between the two programs:

As you might know, an Advocacy Team has been formed by AEGEE-Europe in order to work on AEGEE’s opinion. AEGEE-Europe stands for an independent program for Youth with a complete separate budget. A program which will still give importance to NFE and empowerment of young Europeans, allowing them to become co-managers and have an impact on the society with their initiatives.

The process goes as following: Now the EU Commission has sent the proposal, so now it is up to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to decide whether this proposal will be accepted. AEGEE-Europe as well as most IYNGOs together with the European Youth Forum are lobbying for an INDEPENDENT YOUTH CHAPTER OR PROGRAM. Check the campaign: http://www.whereareyouthgoing.eu/

The ultimate goal is to convince the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to establish an independent program or chapter inside the current proposal that will continue the values of “Youth in Action,” assuring that young people’s implication in European issues will still be supported, both financially and socially.

So until now, the task of the Advocacy Team has been, together with locals, to contact all the Members of European Parliament (MEPs) of different countries where AEGEE is present. If we convince our national MEPs, they will later on vote for what we want in the Parliament. We were the ones who voted for them to be there. They will listen to us.

What the Advocacy Team would mostly appreciate is more help from everyone who feels that “Youth in Action” needs another chance. Having more volunteers in the Advocacy Team means more countries covered.

Until now we have the following countries covered:

Germany: Kathrin Renner (AEGEE-Passau), Holger Schmitt (AEGEE-Berlin), Max van Bahlen and Stephan Noll (AEGEE-Mannheim).

Czech Republic : Pavel Zbornik (AEGEE-Praha)

France: Lucille Rieux (AEGEE-Toulouse)

Latvia : Diana Ondža (AEGEE-Riga)

The Netherlands: Marleen Dijkhoff (AEGEE-Utrecht)

Romania: Gabriela Motroc and Olimpia Parje (AEGEE-Bucaresti)

Italy: Alfredo Sellitti and Claudia Fiorentino (AEGEE-Europe)

Bulgaria: Diana Yolova and Liliya Buyukliyska (AEGEE-Sofia)

Spain: Luis Alvarado Martínez (AEGEE- Las Palmas),Miguel Gallardo (AEGEE-Alicante) and NetCom team.

Hungary: Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Debrecen)

Greece: Manos Valasis (AEGEE-Peiraias)

What do you have to do after you offer yourself as a volunteer? Basically talk to relevant decision-makers in your country and try to convince them to be on the same boat with us. Their approvals bring us one step closer to having the independent Youth program saved.

Not to mention that your help will give AEGEE the visibility needed to really make a difference in the attempt to save “Youth in Action:” the more we talk about it, the more high-profile we get!

Can you imagine how it would be to have so many people struggling for the same cause?

We do and we want you all in!

This is the time to really fight for what we want! The voice of the Youth in Europe must be heard!

Gabriela Motroc and Luis Alvarado Martinez,

On behalf of the Advocay Team

Written by Luis Alvarado Martinez, AEGEE-Las Palmas