{"id":30654,"date":"2015-05-24T16:46:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T14:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?p=30654"},"modified":"2015-05-24T16:49:13","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T14:49:13","slug":"eastern-partnership-convention-in-krakow-bringing-attention-to-the-region-helps-to-get-more-recognition-and-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/2015\/05\/24\/eastern-partnership-convention-in-krakow-bringing-attention-to-the-region-helps-to-get-more-recognition-and-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Partnership Convention in Krak\u00f3w: “Bringing attention to the region helps to get more recognition and support.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the 20th to the 24th of May, AEGEE-Krak\u00f3w in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Project of AEGEE-Europe<\/a> (EaP) will organise a convention on the Eastern Partnership in the city of Krak\u00f3w, Poland. The convention will host 23 people from all around Europe and will tackle issues such as European integration and the international relations with the countries from the Eastern Parnership. The AEGEEan spoke to\u00a0Katarzyna Kluczka, organiser of the event, and Marta Wnuk, member of the EaP.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"The AEGEEan:\u00a0Why did you decide to organise the event?
\nKatarzyna:<\/strong> AEGEE-Krak\u00f3w has quite an experience in hosting international events, so as a strong and motivated antenna, we wanted to continue this tradition. Personally, I have been interested in the Eastern Partnership Project since I came into contact with it during Network Meeting in Pozna\u0144. I have dreamt about becoming more involved, so as soon as the opportunity to coordinate this event appeared, I had to take my chance. I wanted to be part of EaP in any way possible and this position gives me and my fantastic team a chance to become part of something great. In my opinion, here and now, we can redefine the term \u201cintegration\u201d by showing our participants it is possible to create a united Europe with no political or economical borders, if only there is the will and ideas to change the current state. This vision makes me very enthusiastic and is one of the main driving forces\u00a0to be the host of the Eastern Partnership Youth Convention.<\/p>\n

Why Krak\u00f3w?
\n<\/strong>If we ask foreigners which cities in Poland are the most familiar to them, we can be sure that Krak\u00f3w will be at the top of the ranking. It attracts tourists from all over the world, offering rich history at every step \u2013 whether in words of inhabitants, or just by looking at\u00a0monuments that surround us. Krak\u00f3w has been the cultural heart of Poland for centuries. It has always been a symbol of many nations coexisting together in peace and harmony, sharing innovations and stories. Taking this into account, Krak\u00f3w is the perfect city to host the Eastern Partnership Youth Convention and boast about cultural heritage. However, there are more than this reason why our city has the privilege of inviting 23 active, young people from the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries. For centuries Krak\u00f3w was the capital of Poland and the main seat for kings. Nowadays it is called the capital of students and the little homeland for migrants. Also, I can proudly assure you, AEGEE-Krak\u00f3w is very well-prepared to organise this event, being one of the most active and strongly developed antennae. Our members believe that they are\u00a0young people who, today, can create the growth and innovation of tomorrow. To sum up: the charm of Krak\u00f3w, the city itself, being a symbol of friendly cooperation between nations and the activity of society, are the main factors why Krak\u00f3w is the best location for a project concerning the collaboration of the\u00a0European Union and Eastern Partnership countries.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What can participants expect from the event?
\n<\/strong>To begin with, a warm welcome and great enthusiasm of the organisers! We can\u2019t wait to meet these fantastic young people! I hope they will be satisfied. The workshops prepared by the Content Team sound thrilling – inspiration will be the keyword of this event. Another one can be the power of the team \u2013 I hope we will all become a well-knitted group who can learn from each other and share ideas or common experience. The location of workshops \u2013 The Embassy of Cracovians – is perfect for this kind of project \u2013 it is very cosy, well-equipped and also situated very close to the main square. You will love it! Another advantage: it is near to the One World Hostel, where the participants will be accommodated. Also, the food participants get will represent the traditional Polish cuisine \u2013 the part of our culture we are very proud of. And of course, there will be a lot of AEGEE spirit. Apart from the workshops we have planned integration activities and parties, the perfect mix for a successful event!<\/p>\n

Can you tell us what the convention is about?
\nMarta:<\/strong> The Eastern Partnership Youth Convention is an event that will gather 23 young leaders coming both from EaP countries and EU states that focuses on foreign policy and state of relations between the EU and the EaP countries with regard to current international situation.<\/p>\n

The participants will be introduced to the Eastern Partnership programme (EaP) and its main features. We want to identify the problems that the European continent is currently facing in this area, build an understanding image around them, and work on common approach to solve these problems.\u00a0 The final result of the Convention will be a set of recommendations towards the European institutions on how the EaP programme should be improved according to young experts on the topic (our participants).<\/p>\n

What is the role of the Eastern Partnership Project inside AEGEE?
\n<\/strong>The project\u2019s values are based on belief that this initiative is an important element of AEGEE\u2019s mission of bridging Europe. By our activity we would like to raise the level of knowledge about the Eastern Partnership countries and help to build understanding around issues that concern them. Our project organises various workshops during AEGEE events, writes articles and issues monthly newsletters. However, we do not restricts ourselves to delivering information. We see importance of discussion and exchange of views. We proposed the topic and helped to shape the content of EPM Burgos and right now we are in the process of organising the Convention. We see our role as advocates of the six EaP countries, which still remain an unknown part of Europe for many.<\/p>\n

Why do you think bridging Europe is important?
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s a question of European integration in fact. One of the biggest achievements of AEGEE was the decision on establishing new locals in Eastern Europe beyond borders of the EU. Now when our continent is free of the Iron Curtain there is still a need to create more links between its Western and Eastern parts. Awareness of the six EaP countries always remains an important issue to tackle. Bringing attention to the region helps to get more recognition and support.<\/p>\n

Eastern Partnership is an EU programme oriented on making links between the EU countries and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. Our project within AEGEE aims to bring this vision to AEGEEans and to build integrated Europe through the bottom-up approach, by involvement of young people.<\/p>\n

Taking in consideration the current situation of Ukraine, what can be done by AEGEEans and young people in general to make the situation better?
\n<\/strong>I believe that communication and direct contact are always the key elements in conflict situations. Common projects allowing to meet and exchange opinions in a discussion-friendly environment can lead to facilitation of mutual understanding between all sides. Young people perhaps cannot change politics in a substantial way, but they can invest in themselves by becoming more knowledgeable, aware and open-minded people and in this way becoming advocates of consensus and spread this attitude about the crisis to others.<\/p>\n

Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the 20th to the 24th of May, AEGEE-Krak\u00f3w in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Project of AEGEE-Europe (EaP) will organise a convention on the Eastern Partnership in the city of Krak\u00f3w, Poland. The convention will host 23 people from all around Europe and will tackle issues such as European integration and the international relations with the countries from the… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":30713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[495,377,28,1726,1725,1588],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30654"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30929,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30654\/revisions\/30929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}