Key 2003/2004 - AEGEE Europe

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Key moments in AEGEE historyWorking groups in AEGEE16th April 1985The birth of AEGEE was a huge youth conferencecalled "EGEE", held in Paris. With this event,under the leadership of Franck Biancheri, fiveGrand Ecoles in the French capital create a platformfor 700 young Europeans from all EuropeanUnion countries, with the aim of influencingEuropean policy in favour of students. Starting inParis, the Association is soon present in Munich,Milan, Leiden, London and Madrid. In 1988 thename is changed from EGEE to AEGEE.1989The Berlin Wall falls, and the Agora in Salernodecides to open AEGEE to interested students inCentral and Eastern Europe. The East-West WorkingGroup starts their actions to establish AEGEE localsthere.AEGEE-Europe supports the development in Centraland Eastern Europe, especially by transferringmajor events to Eastern Europe, like the Agoras inBudapest (November 1991) and Praha (April 1993),and the Presidents' Meeting in Kraków (March1992). The extensive growth of the network in theEast changed the character of the network as wellas all members’ understanding of Europe.November 1995The Agora in Budapestdecides to move thehead office to Brussels,closer to the EuropeanInstitutions, for theEuropean board to beable to focus morestrongly on PR andEuropean-wide thematicprojects, seminars andother actions.April 1999The AEGEE Academyis founded at theAgora in Barcelona.Also called theHuman ResourcesWorking Group, theAcademy co-ordinatestraining inAEGEE, greatlyimproving AEGEE’sefficiency in thisarea.April 1986The first Agora in Munichsets up the structure ofthe association, comprisingthe AGORA,Presidents' Meeting(since 2001 PlanningMeeting), ComitéDirecteur and WorkingGroups.1993An attempt torevive the idealisticAEGEE underthe motto Mobilitywith a purpose.The introduction ofthe Yearplan. Atthe time the CDoffice is still hostedby the Universityof Delft.1996The event cycle Find Your Way educated severalhundred youth NGO leaders. AEGEE isinvited to a round-table talk on the Euro inBrussels, and as a result the 1997 projectEurope & Euro raises students’ awareness ofthe new European currency. In 1999 the PeaceAcademy promotes tolerance and understandingthrough more than 20 Europe-wide events.Actions like the Day of Europe and theSocrates Action Day were developed, where50 or more antennae organised actions on thesame day.2000 - 2002New successful projects are born: Education forDemocracy; Borderless Europe, with its highlight,the Borderless Europe Rally; Eureca, a contributionto the design of a new education programmefor the enlarging European Union; Quo VadisEurope; and the European Day of Languages.New tools are introduced - the Main Fields ofAction and the Strategy Plan, which respectivelydefine the main foci of AEGEE’s activities, and thework and development of AEGEE-Europe as awhole over a four-year period.15th March 1987Dinner with FrancoisMitterand and successfullobbying forimplementation ofthe Erasmus MobilityScheme.1994In the year of the creationof Netscape,AEGEE-Europe alreadyhas its first homepage.In March 1997 AEGEEregisters its ownInternet domain,aegee.org. In the sameyear Lotus Notes getsintroduced to administerthe databases of theNetwork.November 1996Agora in Athens, atwhich the number of CDmembers is reduced tonine. At the sameassembly the NetworkCommission is created,to improve communicationbetween antennaeand AEGEE-Europe, todevelop the networkand to support smalland new antennae.2003AEGEE decides toexpand its activitiesbeyond the traditionalborders of Europe,introducing the Europein the World year plantopic, organising theCaucasus Case StudyTrip in August 2003 andthe World Youth Summiton Globalisation inDecember 2003.International Politics Working GroupIPWG is an association of AEGEE members all over Europeinterested in international relations and politics. Since itsfoundation in 1997, IPWG has become an important pillar ofAEGEE activities by organising a wide variety of conferences,seminars and workshops on political topics. IPWG also providesspeakers and workshop leaders for events with politicalthemes, and advises AEGEE-Europe on political issues.Human Rights Working GroupHRWG represents the conscience of AEGEE and bringshuman rights violations to public notice. It addresses a widerange of issues such as civil society in South Eastern Europe,migration, prisoners of conscience, and crimes againsthumanity. It organises conferences on current human rightsissues, and its members campaign against human rights violationsin Europe and beyond.Cultural Working GroupCWG aims to enhance knowledge, understanding andrespect for the wide variety of cultures in Europe. It worksfor a natural development of cultural and artistic diversityand seeks to contribute to a vision of a common peace culturefor humanity. As such it supports antennae organisingcultural and artistic events, and promotes better mutualunderstanding between cultures within AEGEE.Education Working GroupEWG is the meeting point for students who are interested inEuropean integration in the field of Higher Education, andwho would like to contribute to its development. It campaignsfor the creation of a European Higher Education Area,promotes and suggests improvements to the Socrates programme,and disseminates information about universityexchange programmes.East-West Working GroupEWWG went into a period of flux after the successful integrationof a large part of Central Eastern Europe in AEGEE.One ongoing challenge is the further integration of the easternmostantennae in the network. Meanwhile AEGEE'sexpansion to the Caucasus presents a huge new challenge inEast-West relations. EWWG is looking for a fresh generationof highly motivated members to overcome the barriers thatremain between East and West in AEGEE.AEGEE AcademyThe Academy provides strategic support for the work of theorganisation on all levels by training and motivating membersfor AEGEE work. It organises a range of training seminarsthroughout the year all over Europe, provides trainersfor a variety of other events including local training courses,and maintains a large database of teaching materials. TheAcademy also advises AEGEE-Europe on Human Resourcesdevelopment and co-operates closely with the NetworkCommission.Public Relations Working GroupPRWG supports the Comité Directeur, Working Groups andLocal Antennae in PR activities. Twice a year it organisesPublic Relations European Schools in co-operation with theAcademy, to teach and motivate new AEGEE members to putPR theory into practice. It also develops strategies forattracting and involving members at all levels of AEGEE, andaims to develop and improve methods of communicationbetween AEGEE-Europe and the Network.Information Technology Working GroupITWG deals with all Information Technology matters withinAEGEE. It is a group of AEGEE members, who have expertisein different fields of Information Technology. Divided intodifferent taskforces, they manage the IT infrastructure ofAEGEE-Europe, train AEGEE-Europe staff to use the technologyavailable, and, in co-operation with the Academy, organiseIT European Schools to pass on IT knowledge.Visa Freedom FightersVFF campaign for the removal of all restrictions on people'smobility within Europe, including the abolition of visas withinEurope for all Europeans. They regularly publish an onlinebooklet on visa regulations, and aim to help AEGEEmembers get the visas they need.Bobigosa Working GroupBobigosa is a virtual forum where people with commonideals meet to create new and useful proposals, and spreadtheir own visions of what AEGEE should be but it is not. Pastinitiatives include informal limits on fees for events, a shortintroduction to AEGEE at every summer university, the singleYear Plan Topic, and promoting transparency and democracyin AEGEE. It is now seeking fresh people with freshideas to further develop its work.Dance Working GroupDWG believes that knowing and appreciating the historicvalues and traditions of other cultures is crucial in forging atruly unified Europe in the future. Dance is seen as animportant and effective way for people to discover andappreciate their own roots and others'.Voyage Working GroupVWG is the youngest Working Group in AEGEE. It wasestablished during the Agora Zaragoza in 2003 with theaim of gathering and disseminating information about travelby AEGEE members. This will help members to find thetravel advice they need as well as providing global statisticsabout travel within AEGEE.What AEGEE means to me Focus on training Fields of action What is AEGEE? Introduction8 Key to Europe 2003/2004 Key to Europe 2003/20049
NetworkNetworkA Great VarietyEGEE is active in over 260 academic cities, where its localAbranches are situated, bringing together students andyoung graduates from 42 European countries. Our Networkis extensive and widespread, covering the whole continentfrom Alicante to Moskva and from Lund to Istanbul."It's fascinating to see how different each local is, having itsown traditions and highlight events, but it also remains captivatingto see all those European people actively workingtogether on the realisation of our common vision. Thisensemble of personalities, experiences and cultures createsa unique fusion, which provides enriching energy for allAEGEE projects" says Karolina Wysocka, Human Resourcesand Network Development Director in the Comité Directeur.Development of the NetworkInitiationtarting in Paris in 1985, the association was soon presentSin Munich, Milan, Leiden, London and Madrid. In the firstfour years of its existence, AEGEE focused primarily on theEuropean Community member states. In this early periodAEGEE's biggest political success took place: successful lobbyingfor the implementation of the Erasmus MobilityScheme in March 1987. As early as 1988, AEGEE was establishedin 40 university cities and began to open up to theEFTA countries.Nevertheless, opening to students on the other side of theIron Curtain was not yet possible. It was only after the fallof the Berlin Wall in 1989, at the Agora in Salerno, that thedoor was opened to interested students in Central andEastern Europe. The Bonn Agora in 1990 officially welcomedthe first new “Eastern” locals and set expansion of theNetwork to the East as a priority for the years to come. Thefirst antenna to be founded outside the EC was AEGEE-Leipzig, quickly followed by local groups in Cluj-Napoca,Prague and Warsaw.PresentThe Central and Eastern European part of the Network hasdeveloped at a rapid pace and played a key role in theAssociation. It must also be noted that the level of involvementand range of activities of antennae in Turkey andRomania has always been impressive! Nonetheless, itremains a fact that the majority of AEGEE Members are EUcitizens, and that more than half of our antennae are locatedwithin the EU. In fact, the Netherlands alone is home to23% of AEGEE members, making it the strongest point inthe Network even if the general increase can be observedprimarily in Italy, Slovenia, Serbia and Russia.It has been only four months since the Agora in Zaragoza inOctober 2003, and already twelve requests to join AEGEEhave been accepted. Among the new contact-locals, thereare Flori (Italy), Fribourg (Switzerland) and Tarragona(Spain), each showing an outstanding immediate involvementand interest in AEGEE activities.FutureThe successful Case Study Trip to the Caucasus in August2003 resulted in the establishment of AEGEE contact groupsin Tbilisi and Kutaisi in Georgia. Our Georgian partners areeager to gain experience in working with European organisationsand to learn more about the European educationsystem whilst keeping a close relationship with foreign students.AEGEE is focusing on providing opportunities foryoung people from the Caucasus, whose involvement providesan inspiring challenge to other members, who cansimultaneously learn about one of the oldest European cultures!In fact, a subsequent Caucasus Case Study Trip coupledwith a series of common training seminars is alreadybeing planned, thanks to the great dedication of AlikiLouvrou, the CST Project Manager.Our next challenge is to increase the involvement of Frenchstudents in AEGEE activities, in collaboration with our strategicpartner Animafac, the umbrella organisation for Frenchstudent NGOs. Other areas where the AEGEE network isexpected to grow in the near future include Bosnia, GreatBritain and Scandinavia.Use of Information Technologyuring 19 years of its existence AEGEE has proven that itDis possible to successfully manage such a widespreadNetwork without a national level. Developing IT tools haspermitted smooth communication within the AEGEENetwork, and allowed the Comité Directeur to maintain aproper overview on the crucial aspects of our locals' work.Already in 1994, the year when Netscape was introduced,AEGEE-Europe had its first homepage. In March 1997,AEGEE registered its own domain aegee.org, and LotusNotes was introduced to administer internal databases. Oneof the most valuable achievements remains our VirtualOffice, which holds a significant pool of information with differentlevels of access. It is the use of common documents,databases and archives that helps AEGEE’s 17 000 membersto work effectively together. International workinggroups, project teams and commissions exchange hundredsof e-mails via our internal mailing-lists. Moreover, AEGEE isalready developing means of cheap voice communication.Once a year every local submits an Activity and FinancialReport, which are processed in Lotus Notes in order to providethe Comité Directeur with an overview of all operations.This can be very useful, particularly in assessing theNetwork and developing strategies for its development.However, initiating AEGEE activities is most effective whenbased on personal communication, and here a vital role isperformed by the Network Commission.International Co-operation - the Network Commissionteam of ten international co-ordinators called NetworkACommissioners, supported by about 70 subcommissioners,works to strengthen AEGEE locals and the bondsbetween them. Network Commissioners recruitvolunteers from among the most experiencedAEGEE members, in order to live up to theirmotto - "to serve and protect the Network."This team provides a bridge between the Localand European levels in AEGEE.Alexey Korostelev, the NetworkCommissioner in the “North-West” Region andthe co-ordinator for strengthening the AEGEEnetwork in France, emphasises the importanceof keeping an overview of the Network, whichought to be based on good communication so asto successfully manage an interesting anddiverse collection of locals in a region. He furtherstresses that: "An overview not only aboutyour field, but also about the work of yourneighbours and everything beyond your level.Only considering the whole context, can youstart thinking strategically and be able to actlocally in an effective way."Dana Lungu from AEGEE-Bucuresti was electedthe Speaker of the Network Commission atthe Autumn Agora 2003. She has been involved in NetComwork for three years. "The three years I have spent workingin the NetCom taught me one important thing: it is mucheasier to work as a team! Moreover, collaboration with otherbodies, Commissions and regional teams is essential. Thekey word for me in the Network Commission is CO-OPERA-TION."The fundamental importance of team work was also highlightedby Darya Tafintseva from AEGEE-Kiev, Vice-Speaker of the NetCom, in her experience as a NetworkCommissioner in the Spirit Region. She adds, "Only by doinga lot myself, can I count on feedback and motivation fromthe other side. Sometimes my efforts as a NetCommie seemto be so minor and futile, but with time, one can see someindirect signs proving that nothing is in vain, and this givesa lot of satisfaction!"Vaggelis Monoguos from AEGEE-Athina, NetworkCommissioner for the “Balkania” Region, remarks, "Thanksto being a member of the Netcom team, I have experiencedhow open-minded AEGEE members can be. Personal contactwith people who are always eager to learn, and that "serveand protect" feeling, give us the motivation to work harderto expand the Network and make it more knowledgeable. Itmakes me very happy seeing more and more people gettingto know AEGEE, making the Network growing constantly!"EGEE means a lot of different things.AMeeting new people, making Europeanfriends, opening up my mind to different cultures,and very unexpectedly: getting to knowmyself from a different point of view.What AEGEE means to me Focus on training Fields of action What is AEGEE? IntroductionSimon de Hartog (AEGEE-Enschede)10 Key to Europe 2003/2004 Key to Europe 2003/200411
Page 2: IndexKey to Europe 2003 / 2004AEGEE
Page 5: AEGEE, in which all students feel a
Page 9 and 10: Les Anciens d'AEGEE-EuropeJanina Vi
Page 11 and 12: Beyond our European ShoresThe Youth
Page 13 and 14: Think Europe Planning MeetingLeonoo
Page 15 and 16: Diplomatic SeminarIoana Muresan & O
Page 17 and 18: European Day of Languageshe Europea
Page 19 and 20: Bridge to latin AmericaJavier Irast
Page 21 and 22: Summer University Project 2003ne of
Page 23 and 24: Internal Education in AEGEEFrom Int
Page 25 and 26: European School IITraining for Trai
Page 27 and 28: Local Training CoursesTC stands for
Page 29 and 30: Cultural differences? Examples!Nata
Page 31 and 32: Outlook 2004Outlook 2004IT European

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