Key to Europe 99/00

KEY TO EUROPE

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1999-2000

Contents

greetings

aegee is

Structure & Network

Working Groups

the faces of aegee

The CD

Life in BXL

Some Top Antennae

People of the Past and the Present

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06

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37

29

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21 countdown

History and Projects

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

outlook

I M P R I N T

publisherAEGEE-Europe PO Box 72, B-1040

Bruxelles-Etterbeek 1phone +32-2-245 23 00

fax +32-2-245 62 60e-mail [email protected] http://www.aegee.org

key teamGrandpa Bear Chief Editor Gunnar Erth;

Editing revelation of the Millennium Ivana Vukov;Little Red Pen Corinne Cordina;

Whats the design of the Key? Marta V. Kosters; With tonnes of help from my friend Erik Krier; Smiling Marcus Khoury; cartoonist: Pablo Gels

special thanks to:Fani Zarifopolou and Mauro Schiavon

(for finding money and for being so kind),the nicest computer cooker Sebastian Klsener

and all those who have contributed to make us feel at home in rainy Brussels.

printingCirculation: 27,000 copies

Special thanks to all the contributors and sponsors

AEGEE-Europe, 2000.All rights reserved.

ISSN 1026-227X

t h r e e 03

18

GREETINGSI t is with great pleasure that I take this opportuni-ty to address the members of AEGEE. It is myconviction that student associations operating allacross the continent are an essential element of theEuropean civil society that is currently developing. Iam grateful for the contribution that you havealready made to the endeavour of shaping a Europeof the peoples just as I look forward to your futureactions in this perspective.

We stand at a crossroads in the history of theEuropean integration process. With the completionof the grand tasks of the past the achievements ofthe Single Market and the introduction of the Euro we have entered a new stage in the making ofEurope. Enlargement, which will eventually recon-cile the continent with itself, is one of the mostimportant tasks ahead. Virtually everyone agrees onthis subject and it is already being prepared. Thefundamental challenge for Europe today is toreform itself internally. The original institutions,their functioning and their internal logic of the sys-tem were designed for six member states. They can-not possibly hold twenty or even twentyseven.We are faced with the following alternative: eitherto water the European project down to the featuresof a free trade zone of the luxury class, or to finallycreate the institutional preconditions for a politicalUnion embracing all those members of the Euro-pean family that want to be part of it. No lesserperspective will do.

It is in this context that I expect a significant con-tribution from youth and student organisations. Theyoung Europeans of today, especially those who arehighly educated, are indeed already European citi-zens. For you, the traditional division lines have noimportance any more, and looking at AEGEE and itspanEuropean network of local antennae, I am com-forted in the belief that organisations like yours arethe backbone of tomorrows civil society in Europe.That civil society must be the main target of the poli-cies that are being shaped today: acceptance of apolitical Europe by an informed civil society is themarketing policy that we have to adopt. The Euro-peans must want the political Union, or else it isdoomed to fail. AEGEE is a truly European organisa-tion, which has already greatly contributed to theacceptance policy that I have just mentioned, and Iam convinced the importance of organisations suchas yours will increase in the years to come.

I wish you all the possible success in your futureefforts to bring Europe closer to students and thusto citizens all over the continent. Your work isappreciated, and its value can never be expressed innumbers.

Jacques Santer

Jacques Santer, former President of the European Commission, is patron of AEGEE.

f o u r 0 4

Looking back on the past year compels us to reflecton the relatively fast way the association hasdeveloped, the challenges we undertook and theinnovative ideas we implemented. The year 1999 didhave an undeniably great impact on AEGEE and oneach of us. The activities we engaged in were intenseand diverse, shaped through our major projects whatwe call in AEGEE jargon, the Yearplan Projects.

An initiative of AEGEE members, in particularGreek and Turkish students, made 1999 the Year ofPeace for European youth. The Peace Academy Year-plan Project involved more than 25 antennae in a seriesof conferences, Summer Universities and Case StudyTrips, dealing with the different aspects of Peace.

But while young people in Europe were dis-cussing peace, the conflicts in Kosovo put in ques-tion our beliefs in this goal at the dawn of the 21stcentury. The Spring Presidents Meeting of AEGEEtook place in Novi Sad only some weeks before thebombing on the very same city started.

Nevertheless we held on to our beliefs, one ofwhich is for the youth of Europe to discover a com-mon European identity, which respects cultural dif-ferences. The Summer University Project, encom-passing 87 events in 1999, enabled 2,300 young peo-ple to participate in multinational twoweek coursesdealing with diverse topics, held by students for stu-dents. In addition, AEGEE has begun to fully focuson a new long term Internal Education programme,which aims at educating our members in general andalso in specific fields, such as Public Relations or IT.

Taking advantage of the location of our headof-fice in Brussels, our relations with the Europeaninstitutions, international organisations, and otherNGOs, have improved significantly. AEGEE partic-ipated actively in the programme of the EuropeanYouth Forum and established strong contacts withother student organisations. Most importantly,AEGEE tried to be in a position to lobby in the Euro-pean Commission and make the name of our associa-tion better known. To this end, our first conferenceheld in the European Parliament with the title Edu-cation 2020, brought together students and highofficials of the institutions, politicians and academicsto discuss about the future of higher education.

The year 1999 started well with a new office andhouse in Brussels for AEGEE-Europe. This was def-initely an important step to a better life and moreeffective work for the nine CD members who liveand work full time in Brussels for AEGEE. The endof this year will find AEGEE ready to celebrate its15th anniversary and to face the new millenniumstronger than ever before. And we know that the endof the next year will only prove us right!

Fan Zarifopolouf i v e 0 5

Fan Zarifopolou has been President of AEGEE-Europe since November 1999.

a network of european friends, aegee promotes the idea of a common europe.

AEGEE stands for Association des Etats Gnraux des Etu-diants de lEurope European Students Forum. It is oneof Europes largest interdisciplinary student associations.AEGEE takes its name from one of the birthplaces of democracy,the Aegean Sea, and the first parliament at the dawn of the FrenchRevolution Les Etats Gnraux. It promotes co-operation, com-munication and integration amongst students and young gradu-ates on the continent, assisted by an unmatched network of Euro-pean friends. Through critical and active confrontation with theEurope of today, AEGEE strives to develop an open and tolerantsociety for tomorrow. As a non-governmental, politically inde-pendent and secular, non-profit organisation, AEGEE is open forstudents from all faculties. According to official estimates, AEGEEtoday has 20,000 members in 42 European countries. Since its cre-ation, more than 100,000 young Europeans have become mem-bers of the AEGEE network.

AEGEE turns its call for European integration into reality. Sum-mer Universities are held every year by a multitude of anten-nae, teaching the hosting countrys language and culture. Simi-larly, conferences are organised on topics as diverse as Arts andScience, European Security and Environmental Protection.

Being truly European, AEGEE does not make use of nation-al administrative structures. Instead, AEGEE works in parallelon the local and the European level. The latter consists of sev-eral European Working Groups and a European Board of Direc-tors, the Comit Directeur. The local level provides the core forall activities and offers the opportunity for regular social meet-ings. Thus the AEGEE members are given plenty of opportuni-ties to train their organisational and social skills. Furthermore,Erasmus students are often hosted by AEGEE members, andprofessionals are often invited to lecture on European issues andother topics of interest.

The European institutions such as the European Commis-sion, the Council of Europe and UNESCO are natural partnersfor AEGEE in the never-ending quest for accelerating the inte-gration process. From 2001, AEGEE will enjoy consulting Sta-tus at UNESCO.

s i x 0 6

from paris to the whole continent:the history of aegee

A EGEE was founded in Paris in 1985.This foundation resulted from the out-come of a huge conference, EGEE 1,which was organised in co-operation amongstthe five Grands Ecoles in Paris. Their aim wasto create a platform for young Europeans to dis-cuss European matters and present their ideasto both the European and national institutions.Due to the uniqueness of the idea, EGEE wasable to stimulate many students to establishantennal in their cities.

AEGEE had to face a major debate in 1990,in the times of change in Central and EasternEurope. The question was whether AEGEEshould limit itself to merely the EC countriesas it had done since the beginning, or if itshould open itself to the whole of Europe. Thenetwork decided with an absolute majority toexpand towards Central and Eastern Europe,and incorporate the EFTA countries. The deci-sion taken by the East-West Working Groupand the Comit Directeur the Quo Vadisteam led to an extensive growth of the net-work. Previously, in the 1980s, AEGEEs exter-nal relations were dedicated mostly to the Euro-pean Union: AEGEE promoted the placementof the Erasmus programme as well as the Tem-pus project. This self-restrictive approach wasabandoned when AEGEE opened itself to thewhole continent. Consequently, AEGEEbecame a candidate member at the Council ofEurope as a non-governmental organisation. In1996, the AEGEE headquarters moved to Brus-sels, giving up their temporary domicile inDelft and bringing AEGEE closer to the Euro-pean institutions.

HistoryAegee is

Pizza party in the park: Summer Universities are only one of the many activities in AEGEE.

questionnaires and interviews. AEGEEs network has theappropriate structure to ensure the success of such anevent: not only people from several antennae participate,but all the antennae in the region which is studied areactively involved. In AEGEE, successful Case Study Tripshave been conducted since 1993, the first of whichexplored Albania. In 1999, the second Case Study Trip tothe countries of former Yugoslavia took place, travellingfrom Ljubljana to Skopje.

ProjectsProjects are most often a series of conferences, semi-

nars and Case Study Trips, which focus on a certain topic.Results derived from scientific research are used by deci-sion makers as reference material for their policies. In1999, there were three big projects, namely Peace Acad-emy, Building a Social Europe and 10 Years of Tran-sition.

with more than 80 summer universities, 100 congresses, study visits and projects, there is hardly any weekend during which the aegeeworld takes a rest; and these are only theeuropean activities.

Summer UniversitiesA Summer University may involve learning French

in Montpellier, Turkish culture in Istanbul or sailing inthe Adriatic Sea. Numerous European languages and allkinds of history or cultural topics are offered by theseprogrammes, which usually last for two weeks. Howev-er, attending a Summer University does not only meanlearning a foreign language, it is also an opportunity toincrease awareness of the international scene. By gaininga deepened knowledge of the visited country, as well asof the cultures of other participants, the Summer Uni-versities are the best way of putting the term Europeanintegration into practice. It is general policy that thecourses are made as inexpensive as possible, such that aceiling of 100 Euros, including lodging and food, is notexceeded. A total of 87 Summer Universities were heldin 1999, this number rising to 93 in 2000.

ConferencesNearly every weekend an antenna organises a confer-

ence in some part of Europe. During conferences peoplefrom all over Europe, students and professionals, meetand discuss important topics to exchange ideas, knowledgeand impressions on a variety of subjects. Since AEGEE isan interdisciplinary organisation, the conferences covera wide range of topics, such as Pragues Students Mobil-ity, Artspotting at Venice and Treviso, and Space Tech-nology held in Delft.

Case Study TripsThe Case Study Trip is a perfect way to learn more

about a specific region in Europe. 20 students go on a tourthrough one or several countries, doing field studies with

s e v e n 07

Activities

There are many ways for AEGEE members to becomeactive in Europe: such as working in internationalteams like the Working Groups and Project Teams,being delegates at Agoras and Presidents Meetings orsteering AEGEE through the commissions at European lev-el or the Comit Directeur.

AntennaeAntenna is the name given to an AEGEE local group.

An antenna organises at least one European event per yearas well as a number of local activities. Currently there are261 local groups and contacts in AEGEE, from Moscow toLondon, Stockholm to Valletta.

AgoraThe Agora, AEGEEs general

assembly, meets twice a year usu-ally in April and November. Up to1,100 AEGEE members gather forour days to discuss proposals andprojects, take decisions and set upthe guidelines for the future.

Presidents MeetingAt the Presidents Meeting del-

egates from local boards meet to dis-cuss the ongoing work of AEGEE. Itis also a preparatory meeting for theAgora and as such takes place twicea year, in March and September.

Comit DirecteurThe Comit Directeur (CD), the

board of the directors, consists of amaximum of nine persons from atleast four countries. Every memberof the board has his or her own areaof responsibility. As a whole, theCD is the administrative and repre-sentative body of AEGEE, beingresponsible for contacts with theEuropean Union, the Council ofEurope, and UNESCO, amongstothers, as well as other students as-sociations and the media.

Working GroupsThe Working Groups are the

thematic backbone of AEGEE.They are multinational groups ofAEGEE members which organiseevents on a specific topic, such aseducation policy, minorities inEurope and EastWest relations.

The CommissionsThe commissions are the supporting or controlling

bodies of the CD. They consist of the Audit Commission,the Members Commission, the Juridical Commission andthe Network Commission.

Project TeamsThe Project Teams co-ordinate the work of the Euro-

pean-wide projects of AEGEE. The teams, consisting ofmembers from different participating locals, handle theseries of conferences and other activities being organisedon a particular subject.

e i g h t 08

Structure

No national level: the supranational structure is the strength of the AEGEE network.

n i n e 09

t e n 1 0

aegee still growing strong in the east

The AEGEE network is still developing and chang-ing dramatically. In the past five years, the numberof antennae, contact antennae and contacts rose by63 percent: from 160 to 261 by the end of 1999. I amimpressed by this growth, says Michal Pesta, responsiblefor the network in the Comit Directeur. Currently, thebiggest part of the growth is occurring in Central andEastern Europe. Since the idea of Europe and Europeanintegration here is new and fresh, the reality of it is verymuch desired, he adds. We can see this happening in, forexample, Belarus, Poland and Ukraine.

Many local groups have also appeared in Turkey lately.The fact that AEGEE-Adana organised a very successfulPresidents Meeting in September 1999, is a perfect exam-ple to show how active this country, bordering Asia, is.Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are also develop-ing significantly, states Michal. We finally have enthusi-astic people in Banja Luka, Tuzla and Sarajevo, once again.

This means that there is hardly any country in Europeleft where AEGEE does not exist. We have antennae inmost of the larger university cities in 42 countries, con-tinues Michal. In the past, it has not always been like this.In the first four years of its existence, AEGEE restricteditself to the member states of the European Union. In fact,in 1988, AEGEE existed only in nine countries. This sit-uation was regarded unsatisfactory, so AEGEE undertookefforts to enlarge the network. In the late 1980s, the firstlocal groups in EFTA countries were founded.

Immediately after the revolutionary changes in Cen-tral and Eastern Europe occurred in 1989, AEGEE madeits first contact with CEEC students. The first antenna in

The network of AEGEE unites people from many nationalities under one common roof.

that area was AEGEE-Leipzig, quickly followed by localgroups in Budapest, Praha and Warszawa. AEGEE is theforerunner of development. The European institutions didthis step much later, stresses Michal Pesta.

Today, AEGEEs strongest points are in the Nether-lands. 21 percent of the members are living there. Italy isanother influential part of the network. They organise thehighest number of Summer Universities and leisureevents, explains the network responsible. With 12 activelocals, my home country, Poland, has the best organisedCentral European network.

However, the network also has its weak points, especiallyin the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Michal points out:These students unfortunately have little interest in AEGEE.Nearly all antennae there are established and run by conti-nental AEGEE members visiting the country on Erasmus pro-grammes. Scandinavia and the Baltic countries are equallyproblematic zones. They suffer from distance problems insidetheir region. France is also a weak area, but is the focus ofAEGEEs network development plans. The total number ofantennae in the network went down a bit compared to lastyear, but that is because we deleted the local groups that haveno members anymore. In total, the network is still growing,and we trust that this will continue.

In the year 2000, AEGEE wants to develop its networkwith particular influence in Denmark, France and Belgium.

Network Development

190 branches and 70 contacts: Over the past years the AEGEEnetwork has grown a lot.

eleven11

We are planning to make presentations at the most out-standing Belgian universities in order to establish newantennae in Brussels and surroundings, says the net-work responsible in the CD. During the PresidentsMeeting in Skopje, held in March 2000, the participantsalso discussed the question of the borders in Europe.Should European territories such as French Guyana andcountries such as Iceland be regarded as potentialAEGEE countries? And what about the countries that areclose to the European mentality, such as Israel? Thisquestion still has not been resolved. However, due totheir interest in Europe and them being approved bymany European institutions, the Presidents Meetingagreed that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia should beincluded in the network. In the future we want to takebetter care of the quality of the network, not only look-ing at the number of antennae, stresses Michal.

Each AEGEE antennae has to organise at least oneEuropean event per year. Who knows, maybe in thenext years we will welcome to our network the firstAEGEE locals in the Caucasian capitals of Baku, Yerevanand Tbilisi.

Go East: In the past decade the AEGEE net-work has grown tremendously, from 30branches in 1988 to 191 branches today.AEGEE exists in 42 European countries -there is hardly any area without. To thisday the strong growth in Central and East-ern Europe continues, especially in theBalkans.In ddition, there are 70 contactgroups.

Working Groupsthe thematic backbone of aegee

Working Groups consist of AEGEE students from allover Europe who have the same interests. They discusstopics such as human rights and education and organiseevents accordingly. This makes them the thematic back-bone of AEGEE. They are a pool of international compe-tence, since their members come from many countries, see-ing issues from different perspectives. One extra benefit isthat the members learn how to work in a multi-nationalteam. Moreover, there are also so-called supporting work-ing groups that deal with public relations and internal edu-cation, amongst others.

cultural working groupOur aim is to improve multi-

culturalism within AEGEE, saysCultural Working Group (CWG)speaker, Sezen Sekmen. The CWGwas founded in 1996. It approachesvarious locals which are organising

cultural events and helps promoting them. One such exam-ple is the Summer University of Ankara: WARS: Destinyof Anatolia. Another project is the Portrait of Europe. Thedelegates of the Agora in Poznan of 1999 were asked to illus-trate their ideas. This shall be continued. Additionally, theCWG is co-operating on a music conference in Maastrichton a creativity conference in Bonn.

east-west working groupThe East-West Working Group

(EWWG) was the first workinggroup in the history of AEGEE.Established in April 1988, it playeda decisive role for AEGEEs devel-opment in the CEEC. Today, the

EWWG regularly issues a booklet on visa regulations inEurope. At the moment it contains 46 pages featuring dif-ferent countries, says editor Sasha Mirskikh. We are nowimproving the concept and saving most of the informationin a database. Moreover, the latest proposal of the EWWGis the Year-Plan Project on Borderless Europe, to be carriedout in the year 2000.

education working groupThe Education Working Group (EWG) was founded in

November 1994, as the unification of the Erasmus WorkingGroup and the Tempus Working Group. The EWG suppliesinformation on the Socrates Mobility Programme, and is cur-rently working on the Manual for Incoming and Outgo-ing Students. The working group is planning to get involvedin other Socrates activities and actions. One such event isthe Ljubljana conference taking place in February 2000, enti-tled Erasmus power: Studying Abroad is Possible, explainsBarbara Bolta, speaker of the EWG.

human rights working group One of the many actions of

the Human Rights WorkingGroup (HRWG), founded in1994, was its campaign to abol-

ish the death penalty. We also worked on a collection of fur-niture to be sent to Moldova, the preparation of the BalkanAction event in Udine and the collection of toys for orphans,adds Alex Zucconi, HRWG president. Currently, we areready to engage in the International Criminal Court Ratifi-cation Movement, asking for the creation of an internationalcourt judging war criminals. The HRWG will also be pres-ent at the antiracism Summer University in Barcelona.

international politics working groupThe year 1999 was a busy one for the International Pol-

itics Working Group (IPWG): founded in 1997, it organisedthe series of conferences entitled Ten Years of Transition,the Summer University WarsDestiny of Anatolya inAnkara, and three other congresses. With 102 members, theIPWG is the biggest among the AEGEE working groups. Inthe year 2000, the IPWG will be involved in the Balkan-action Youth for Democracy project, organised by AEGEE-Udine. It will also be organising a seminar in Budapest onthe resolution of the Kosovo crisis, amongst others.

public relations working groupWhat is an event without a good poster, flyer or media

promotion? Not much, says Bert Rsch, speaker of the Pub-lic Relations Working Group (PRWG). Therefore we trainAEGEE members in PR. Before 1998, there had been noclear approach in AEGEE to transfer knowledge from onegeneration of members to another. This changed when, in1999, Bert Rschs team and local organisers set up two Pub-lic Relations European Schools, called PRES, in Groningenand Karlsruhe. We mean to continue in the year 2000 withtwo more PR schools.

aegee academyThe Internal Education Working Group (IEWG), betterknown as AEGEE Academy, is the youngest child inAEGEEs family of working groups. It was founded inApril 1999, after a successful European School in Gieen.Now we have developed a set of different training eventsfor beginners and experienced people, for local boards, fortrainers and for Summer University organisers, saysAcademy speaker Bernhard Mller from Augsburg. For theyear 2000, therefore, five European Schools have beenscheduled, plus several other training events.

t w e l v e 12

THE FACES OF

AEGEE

The CDLife in BXLSome Top AntennaePeople of the Past

and Present

A t the general assembly held in Barcelonain spring 1999, the delegates of over 200AEGEE locals elected the following stu-dents into the European board of directors:

Lszl Fss, law student in Szeged, Hungary,was elected President and stayed in the position tillthe next Agora, held in Poland. He was born 1976in Debrecen, but lived for a certain period of timein the United States. Born in the Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia in 1972, information tech-nology student in Ankara, Refet Saban, took overthe co-ordination of the European projects. FanZarifopolou, born 1975 in Athina and law grad-uate in 1999, was initially elected to hold respon-sibility for external relations. After the Agora ofautumn 1999, she became the 21st President of theassociation.

Marcus Khoury, born in Lebanon in 1972,studied law at the Universities of Kln, Paris andMnchen, from which he graduated in 1999. Histask deals with matters of public relations. WhereasLinda Baan, born in 1974 and responsible for con-tacts with the European institutions, is a humangeography student from Groningen, her colleague

Aliki Louvrou, born 1976 in Corfu and law stu-dent at Thessaloniki, is in charge of the challeng-ing task of treasurer of AEGEE-Europe.

The secretary of AEGEE-Europe is OanaMailatescu, marketing student from Cluj-Napoca,Romania, born in 1975. A younger member com-ing from the league of former network commis-sioners is Michal Pesta, political science studentfrom AEGEE-Gdansk, born in 1977. BernhardMller, business student from Augsburg, born in1970, is responsible for focusing on matters of inter-nal education; in other words the training of mem-bers in developing organisational skills.

After the Agora in Poznan, the associationsboard was enriched by the presence of threeexceptional AEGEE members as successors to Ls-zl, Refet and Bernhard. Warszawa mathematicsstudent, Krzysztof Szczygielski, born in 1975,took over the task of Internal Education. MauroSchiavon from Treviso became one of the threevice presidents as responsible for external rela-tions. Finally, Sebastian Klsener, geographystudent from Heidelberg, also born in 1975, isfollowing Refets steps in co-ordinating the Euro-pean projects within AEGEE.

f o u r t e e n 14

The CDs

Nine CD members, ten chicken: The European board of AEGEE-Europe has special guests in the garden. TheCD members, as elected in April 1999 (from left): Refet Saban, Michal Pesta, Aliki Louvrou, Fani Zarifopolou,Oana Mailatescu, Marcus Khoury, Linda Baan, Bernhard Mller and Lszl Fss.

The Comit Directeurfrom spring agora1999 until now

f i f t e e n 1 5

Life in BXL

I t is about seven in the morning, Linda isenjoying the calm in the office, while all theothers are still sleeping. It must have been along night for many of them. Marcus eventuallycomes down the stairs wearing his tennis shoesand jogging suit. Off they go together, runningthrough the wet streets of Brussels, close to thehouse they have moved into as members of theComit Directeur. Some knew each other quitewell beforehand, others not at all; and yet theyall decided to share their private and workinglives together under the same roof. Even theirhouse is exceptional because it used to be amuseum for Belgian underwear.

In the meantime, more people have woken up,and the office is getting livelier by the minute.People are talking and sometimes even shoutingin a variety of languages. The phones are ringing,faxes are being sent, the printer is working. Anelectrician has to come, the lock of the door hasto be fixed, both showers are leaking. SometimesAliki says this house is a time bomb waiting toexplode.

At this moment things are getting really stress-ful. An application for a grant has to be made pre-sentable and handed in on time. The printer how-ever, decides to go either berserk or on strike. Fani,believing strongly that the thing has a soul, triescaressing it so that it does what they say. Unfor-tunately, Mr. Kyocera shows no mercy today, tak-ing revenge on everyone by printing incompre-hensible Chinese letters just one hour before theclosing time of all post offices. The CD is like a family, but their members

hardly know anybody living in this city. Theyneed to take the time to get to know each otherfirst, to learn how to enjoy and have fun togeth-er. Dinner for everyone is usually prepared by atleast one person living in the house, everyevening. It is almost a holy event, includingmost of the guests, who are also asked to givetheir contribution at least once during their stay.

The more food is left over, the better for thechicken in the garden. If the hectic lifestylemakes the CD members forget to feed them,they manage to sneak out of their cage and actu-ally line up in protest in front of the kitchendoor, demanding their food.

It may be past midnight, but there is still lifein the office. The calm atmosphere at the end ofa tiring day helps to settle some of the argu-ments and misunderstandings of the day. Aftersome time, those that are losing their battleagainst sleep, give up and go to bed. Marcus isalmost always the last of these, wonderingwhether the Belgian weather will permit him togo jogging the next day.

Behind the office there is a big garden that is justwaiting for the CD members to take a rest. Dinner isa social event in which everyone in the office takespart. The frequent guests are also welcome.

AEGEE-Istanbul

the spirit of europe away from themainland

Sometimes it is necessary to go away fromEuropes mainland to catch the real Euro-pean spirit. This is the case with AEGEE-Valletta. Founded in October 1997, AEGEE-Valletta quickly grew in popularity for the hos-pitality and enthusiasm of the local members.Moreover, its achievements have also beenrecognised on the national scale: the associationreceives support of the Department for Youthand Sport in Malta. AEGEE Valletta has beennominated by the latter as one of the mostactive student organisation of 1999, saysCorinne Cordina, current president of theantenna. AEGEE-Valletta has also establishedgood contacts with the University of Malta Stu-dent Council and the Socrates Office. Ouractivities are not just about student politics.Since travelling is rather difficult for us, we doour best to create an entertaining environmentfor our local students, with activities such as

selling roses and cakes on Valentines Day,adds Roger Bugeja, founder of AEGEE-Valletta.In October 1999, AEGEE-Valletta organised itsfirst European Conference on Peace. Now weare planning other projects such as a conferenceon Student Mobility, says Corinne. Ourdream is to someday organise an event for sev-eral hundred participants, like the PresidentsMeeting in 2001. For more info checkhttp://aegeevalletta.webjump.com

the inter-continental antenna

I stanbul: the city that bridges continents.AEGEE-Istanbul, founded in 1992, gathers130 students. The conference New World(Dis)Order of 1994 gave the kick-start to thisinter-continental antenna. Many events havefollowed, among them nine Summer Universi-ties. Their most outstanding event ever was ajointly organised Travelling Summer Universi-ty organised by the AEGEE antennae in Skop-je, Thessaloniki and Istanbul, bringing togetherthese difficult neighbours in 1996 (photo). Fol-lowing this path of reconciliation, AEGEE-Athina and AEGEE-Istanbul organised ex-change programmes. In 1999, the antennae ofAthina, Ankara and Istanbul were the drivingforces behind the Peace Academy Year-PlanProject. AEGEE-Istanbul also focuses on theSocrates Programme. For the past four years,the Education Working Group of AEGEE-Istan-bul has taken over an increasing load of work in

order to have Turkey included in the EU pro-grams of Socrates, Leonardo and Youth forEurope, states Yigit Aksakoglu. The weeklymeetings of AEGEE-Istanbul feature academicsand experts on the civil society with whom thepresent members discuss relevant topics. Yigit:Visit http://www.aegee-istanbul.org.

AEGEE-Valletta

s i x t e e n 1 6

s e v e n t e e n 17

Some Top Antennae

from politics to olympic games

Gdansk is known for its openness to theworld and its hospitality. The locals havenever been afraid of making their dreamsand ideas come true. AEGEE-Gdansk, founded in1996, tries to make the most of the spirit of thiscity. Having started as a group of friends withfounding president Jacek Wasilewski, it has todayover 80 members. The enthusiastic attitude of itsmembers resulted in four European conferencesfocusing on the development of Poland and onGerman-Polish reconciliation. Although organis-ing these events meant stress and unexpected situations, we always shared the feeling that itwas worth it. It gives us great pleasure and sa-tisfaction when we see the participants comingback to Gdansk, says Joanna Lompart, third presi-dent of AEGEE-Gdansk. For the year 2000 weare planning a Summer University that will givethe participants the chance to get in shape beforethe Olympic Games in Sidney, states Joanna.

AEGEE-Gdansk also organised a number oflocal events, such as the Refugees Day and theEuro Campaign. We also organise ChristmasEve parties for orphanages, adds Piotr Podsiad-lo, current president of AEGEE-Gdansk.

More information there:http://www.aegee-gdansk.z.pl

female charm and european minds

I t is the second largest antenna in the network:AEGEE-Utrecht. Founded in 1987, the varietyof events the antenna has organised ranges

from a European job fair to the alcohol congress 99%VOL (photo). At the moment AEGEE-Utrecht hasabout 300 members. President Berber Hettinga:There are two options in Utrecht: either you dontknow that AEGEE exists - or you love it. In 1993,AEGEE-Utrecht hosted its first Agora. Organisingthe Agora for the second time in May 2000, will bethe largest event in the history of the antenna. Fur-thermore, the active members are also working onEuropean projects and Working Groups. In addition,a number of local committees are involved in allkinds of activities: cooking events, balls, the localbulletin, promotion of European events, the organi-sation of the Summer Universities and more. Arecurring event in Dutch student life is the intro-duction-week for new students. Traditionally, afemale board member goes around town dressed in aEuropean flag and wearing blue gloves. Berber:Female charm is a nice way to attract new membersand AEGEE-Utrecht is known to have a lot of that.More info at http://www.uu.nl/~aegee/

AEGEE-Gdansk

AEGEE-Utrecht

e i g h t e e n 18

3franck biancheri1. 11th of March 1961 in Nice,

France.2. Political sciences at the Institut

dEtudes Politiques in Paris.3. I am president of two founda-

tions and consultant to severalorganisations and institutions.

4. I founded AEGEE-Europe be-cause I felt there could be nofuture for us if Europe does notbecome a political reality. Fur-thermore, this reality can onlycome into being by young edu-cated citizens and students.

5. My main achievement was toconceive the idea of AEGEE. Istruggled with several groups of

friends for four years from 1984to 1988 in order to develop it.My main pride rests in the factthat with AEGEEs 15th anni-versary, we shall bring togethertwo generations.

6. It means my roots, my past.AEGEE changed my life asmuch as it did for thousands ofother European students. It dra-gged me into the European di-mension. The experience alsohelped me in developing metho-dologies to create linkages bet-ween Europe and other conti-nents. It definitely also meansmy present to AEGEE by cele-brating its 15th anniversary.

4david stulk1.20th of September 1972 in Pra-

ha.2.I finished Economics at SGH-

Warsaw School of Economics,then I studied sociology at theCentral European University.

3.Im a soldier of peace. I do civilservice, since I believe in a civilsociety. I am doing my ownfighting as editor-in-chief of thevery first magazine in my coun-try, which deals with Europeanintegration.

4.I was homesick. The foundersof AEGEE-Warszawa had toldme that there were some con-tacts in Czechoslovakia.

5..Gradually, I became vice-presi-dent of AEGEE-Warszawa,then speaker of the East-WestWorking Group. Later, I hadnothing better to do than to jointhe Comit Directeur as vicepresident in charge of projects.

6.Everything. AEGEE is the sym-bol of life! AEGEE is myfriends, my experience. It meansfun, love, sorrow, success. It isthe playground of real life. It isa chariot, which needs to bepushed ahead, always thinkingit could be pushed even further.So you stay until you realisethat you are getting older andneed successors you trust.

3angele postolle1. 8th of March 1970 in Montpellier.2. I like collecting diplomas: my

highlights are a Master in peacestudies in Dublin and a PhD inpolitical science in Montpellierand Prague.

3. After teaching human rights inKazakstan, I am teaching inter-national relations in Moscow.

4. I joined AEGEE in 1992, whenI joined a member of AEGEE-Montpellier on a public rela-tions mission in Russia.

5 I was vice president of AEGEE-Montpellier and flying ambas-sador in Central and Eastern

Europe. I have co-organisedSummer Universities and theAgora in Montpellier in 94. Ialso founded AEGEE-Dublin.

6. My dearest AEGEE: you chan-ged my life. You made me Euro-pean, introduced me to somegreat people, let me share a glassand a smart discussion withthem. You took me out of sleepySouthern France to lively SlavicEurope. You created a Europeanparadise for us. After a wonder-ful six-year relationship, I had toleave you. Dont be sad, I willalways defend your values: de-mocracy and fraternity.

Franck Biancheri

David Stulk

Angele Postolle

People of the Past

n i n e t e e n 19

3gerhard kress1. In Wiesbaden, Germany on 18th March

1970.2. Theoretical physics in Mainz; interna-

tional relations and European studies inBudapest.

3. I am currently working as a ManagementConsultant for McKinsey & Company,one of the leading management consult-ing firms in the world.

4. I wanted to help Erasmus students at theUniversity of Mainz. During the follow-ing months I realised how nice AEGEEmembers were.

5. I quickly became president of the antennain Mainz/Wiesbaden. In 1996, I joinedthe Comit Directeur as network respon-sible. Finally I became president, leadingAEGEE for six months.

6. AEGEE showed me that Europe is a wordwith a real meaning. In AEGEE we defineourselves by antennae, not by national-ity, thus eliminating borders. Europeexists in the daily interaction of all theAEGEE members, not only as an abstractpolitical concept. AEGEE lives Europe,and it even influences the political con-cept of some of our governments. Fur-thermore, AEGEE is also a concept ofcivil society, where all citizens caninvolve themselves and have a voice inpolitical matters.

4ulla bisgaard1. On 29th of May, 1970 in Sonderborg,

Denmark. 2. A variety of disciplines from French

philology to international relations andsociology.

3. I am working at UNICEF headquarters inNew York. Our projects include a followup to the UN World Conferences andUNICEFs policy making in the area ofgender mainstreaming, womens humanrights and womens health.

4. During a Student Fair in Brussels in1991, I bumped into the AEGEE stand.They had a map of Europe without Den-mark on it. I confronted the people there,then became member the same day.

5. I founded AEGEE-Aalborg. In Novem-ber 1992, I joined the Comit Directeuras vice-president and was responsible forrelations with the EU, Council of Europeand OSCE. In total, I spent 7 years inAEGEE.

6. AEGEE is a unique opportunity to live afirst-hand experience of a fast changing,and globalised European reality. It ena-bled me to develop skills I draw on in myprofessional life, such as interculturalcommunication, lobbying, and alliancebuilding - and I had lots of fun.

3suzanne govers1. On 15th of November 1972 in Nuenen,

the Netherlands.2. I am specialised in international law.3. I am working for the Immigration and

Naturalisation Service in Rijswijk, whichis an executive body of the Dutch Min-istry of Justice. My main task is to reviewthe applications from foreigners who wantto reside in the Netherlands. However, Iam planning to move to Barcelona to learnSpanish.

4. When I got to know about AEGEE, Icould not resist - the people, the eventsand, of course, the idea of buildingbridges across Europe was too intriguing!

5. I was elected secretary of the CD in April1995. At that time the head-office was

based in Delft, meaning that I got to knowthe bus and train schedules Utrecht-Delftby heart. Later on, I became member ofthe Juridical Commission.

6. Through AEGEE I learned to work withpeople from different countries and I gotto know many incredibly nice people.There were of course some tough times,but I am very happy to have experiencedAEGEE.

Gerhard Kress

Ulla Bisgaard

Suzanne Govers

q u e s t i o n s1. when and where were you born?2. what did you study?3. what are you doing now?

4. why did you join aegee?5. what did you do in aegee?6. what does aegee mean to you?

4katerina tsaligopoulou

Katerina (23), owns a com-pany making ceramics and dec-orations. During a SummerUniversity (SU) of AEGEE-Athina, she lodged five par-ticipants, who afterwards tookher to the SU in Crete. Sincethen, she says: AEGEE runsin my blood! Katerina is pres-ident of AEGEE-Athina and Members Comission member.She has been Network Commissioner, organiser of the Euro-pean School and Summer University 99 in Athina, organ-ised a BASE conference, tutored at the ESs of Zielona Goraand Izmir. To her, AEGEE is a different world, a dreamland!

3barbara bolta

Barbara (24), studiesFrench and international re-lations at the University ofLjubljana. In 1996, a friendtold her about an organisationthat provides low-cost holi-days; she became member andsoon realised that there ismuch more to AEGEE than

cheap travel. She became treasurer of AEGEE-Ljubljana,co-organiser of two SUs and two congresses. Currentlyshe is vice-president of AEGEE-Ljubljana and speaker ofthe EWG. AEGEE, she says, is one of her biggest addic-tions.

4agnieszka wilk

Agnieszka (22), hopes tohave a job one day that wouldreflect her beliefs. She heardabout AEGEE at the univer-sity and quickly started toorganise events and travelaround. She became secretaryand then president of AEGEE-Poznan and responsible for theAutumn Agora 99. Currently, she is treasurer of theAEGEE Academy, and responsible for the ES in Amster-dam. AEGEE a unity of difference and network of friends,is how she describes the association.

3alex glos

Alex (25), joined AEGEEbecause his friend MichaelReiling, already an AEGEEmember, spoke to him forhours about AEGEE on a coldwinter night, outside a pub,while Alex really wanted togo home. Alex was treasurerof AEGEE Passau, co-organ-

ised two congresses, was member of the Audit Commis-sion, and is now President of the Juridical Commission andmember of the Members Commission. Alex met his wifeAnia in AEGEE, whom he married last year.

4peter tennekes

Peter (21), got involved inAEGEE-Utrecht as editor oftheir local newsletter. Cur-rently, he is board member ofAEGEE-Utrecht, responsiblefor European events. AEGEEis a way to discover other cul-tures and their peoples in aunique way. The AEGEE net-work gives me the possibility to meet other cultures fromthe inside instead of seeing the surface as a tourist. Beingactive in AEGEE is the way to be a European citizen, saysPeter.

3alex zucconi

Alex (20), one day foundan AEGEE flyer on theground in his University;soon after became Public Rela-tions officer and then vice-president of AEGEE-Roma,PR responsible of the HRWGand then president. He is alsovice-president of Alba Iula.

Nobody knows how many languages the alternative rocksinger speaks - at least six. For Alex, AEGEE means fun,integration, a way to realise his own ideals, and the chanceto gain many friends!

t w e n t y 20

Katerina Tsaligopoulou Barbara Bolta

Agnieszka Wilk Alex Glos

Peter Tennekes Alex Zucconi

...and People of the Present

COUNTDOWN

HI S TO RYA N D PR O J E C T S

WI N T E RSP R I N GSU M M E RAU T U M N

January1 beograd, bratislava,brescia, ljubljana, passau,roma, zagreb: New YearCelebration8-10 poznan: Lets Dance12-17 ivano-frankivsk:Skiing & Drugs AmongYouth30-31 heidelberg: 6thMasked Ball

February3-7 delft: Space-Tech4-14 tampere: Snow Uni-versity 19995-7 istanbul: Peace Concept5-7 arnhem: Arnhems-gewijs11-14 venice/treviso:Carnival11-14 groningen: Immi-gration Policy12-14 rijeka: Carnival12-14 izmir: RegionalMeeting19-22 enschede: AncientCivilisations20/2-03/3 former yugos-lavia: Case Study Trip inFormer Yugoslavia21-27 oradea: MultiCul-turalism25-28 kln: Ideas for Hi-gher Education26/2-3/3 timisoara: Banat,Model of Interculturality

March5-7 novi sad: Spring PM9-14 szeged: War andPeace in Arts. Film Festival12-14 lodz: Regional Meet-ing12-14 treviso/venezia:Regional Meeting 18-21 sibiu: RegionalMeeting22-26 sevilla: EuropeanWeek25-27 brussels: Educationfor 202025-27 strasbourg: Tradi-tions in Alsace26-28 praha: EuropeanStudent Mobility

April2-4 zagreb: Croatian Easterculture5-11 giessen: EuropeanSchool15-17 cluj-napoca: Euro-pean Communication in 2020

15-18 milano: CulturalSpring Weekend20-21 timisoara: AEGEEand other Student NGOs 22-25 berlin: At theCrossroads of the EuropeanIntegration Process22-27 cagliari: SardinianCulture22-25 udine: A Glance atthe East23-25 warszawa: BASEFinal Conference.25-27 maastricht: Mana-ging Europe28-30 amsterdam:Queens day30/4-2/5 barcelona:Spring Agora

May3-5 zaragoza: Intercul-tural Couples6-9 amsterdam: Sustain-able Growth8-9 aachen and europe:One European Night14-16 ljubljana: Rafting14-16 passau: RegionalMeeting19-23 lund: Conflict and aEuropean Perspective.21-24 utrecht: 99%VOL-aLoaded Experience26-30 groningen: PublicRelations School28-31 erlangen/nr-nberg: Peace in Europe

June3-6 eindhoven: ExploringTime3-6 salzburg: Hiking10-13 passau: EuropeanGames Marathon11-13 wien: 5th Anniver-sary/Ball12-13 glasgow: RegionalMeeting11-13 keele: Peace inNorthern Ireland16-17 berlin: Democraticopposition in Yugoslavia28/6-2/7 strasbourg:Introduction to Multimedia

July1-3 minsk: Regional Train-ing Course

3-11 athina: EuropeanSchool11-15 athina: Unemploy-ment-BASE Congress30/7-1/8 mnchen: SalsaCourse

August6-16 donetsk/kazantip:Reactor Party10-20 constanta: Euro-pean School11/12 karlsruhe: TotalEclipse13-29 minsk: Summer ArtsAcademy - Carpe Diem -Seize the Hour22-25 udine: AEGEEStrategy Meeting about theBalkan Region

September1 europe: Peace Action Day4-11 zielona gora: Euro-pean School6-12 augsburg: In touchwith Joan Mir14-28 turkey: Pre - PMBus trip by AEGEE-Warszawa24-26 adana: AutumnPresidents Meeting 24-26 mnchen: Oktober-fest Weekend

October1-3 pavia: Wine Tasting7-11 blagoevgrad:Nationalism and Peace inthe Balkans13-17 eindhoven: 10thAnniversary21-24 mnster: EuropeanIdentity 22-24: genova: RegionalMeeting28/10-3/11 karlsruhe:PR European School28/10-2/11 valletta: Peacein the Mediterranean29/10-1/11 freiburg: ThePower of NGOs29/10-1/11 barcelona:Regional Meeting

November4-7 poznan: AutumnAgora8-10 gdansk: AEGEEOlympic Games

10-17 beograd, vis, novisad:

How does it look to be awinner!12-14 leiden: The Powerof Diplomacy12-14 arnhem: The Futureof Internal Education; 20thAnniversary Festival18-20 rotterdam: FinalConference Peace Academy18-21 budapest: Leisureand Pleisure25-28 heidelberg: Franceand Germany - Seminar.25-28 treviso/venezia:Artspotting26/11-1/12 timisoara:Ten Years of Transition inRomania29/11-5/12 budapestBridges to Kosov@ - Semi-nar

December2-5 ldz: All RightsReserved2-3 ploiesti: The StudentsVisions on Europe 20203-5 turku/abo: RegionalMeeting 4-5 ploiesti: RegionalMeeting Ploiesti5-12 berlin&gdansk: TenYears of Transition; Polandand Germany 1989-199910-11 ljubljana: Sloven-ian Traditional Drinks 12-18 enschede: IT-School28/12-2/1 Eindhoven:Start Your Millennium inLieshout!29/12-2/1 zagreb: TheUltimate Party-Year Cele-bration29/12-3/1 roma: 2000Years After: MilleniumDelirium29/12-4/1 skopje: SkiWeek29/12-3/1 udine: GoodMorning 2000!!!30/12-2/1 paris: NewYear 2000

t w e n t y t w o 22

1999 Events

from carnival in venezia to peace conferences: a total of 187 aegee events took place in 1999. this is a selection of 101 congresses, leavingout the 86 summer universities of the year.

History and projects

AEGEE at the European Parliament: Hight - ranking experts such as Otto vonder Gablentz contributed to the conference on Education 2020

The year 1999, the dawn of the new milleni-um, left an indelible mark in our memories,significantly due to the heightened tensionsarising in the Balkans.

The Peace Project Academy started officially inFebruary with the conference Peace Concept, inIstanbul. Soon after, the International PoliticsWorking Group invited students from all overEurope on a Case Study Trip through formerYugoslavia. Only a few days before, the SpringPresidents Meeting (PM) in Novi Sad was attend-ed by 250 AEGEE members, despite the fears ofthe looming outbreak of a conflict. In April, thethree bridges in Novi Sad were damaged by airstrikes in response to the crackdown in Kosovo.After the PM, AEGEE members expressed theiropinions on the war by e-mail and chat messagesduring a transmission of the German TV stationZDF. AEGEE - Groningen launched a poster cam-paign entitled I am the enemy you will kill, myfriend to fight the popular prejudice against theSerbian civilian society.

Nevertheless, our focus on education was notforgotten. After three years of resistance, theEuropean Parliament Committee on Educationfinally reacted in favour of Turkeys participationin EU Education and Youth Programmes. This hadbeen the result of the extensive work and lobby-ing by AEGEE-Istanbul and Ankara. Furthermore,a conference on Education for 2020 was held inMarch in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Preceding this event was the resignation of theentire European Commission in Brussels. The par-ticipants of At the Crossroads of the European Inte-gration Process, held in April in Berlin, saw thismotion as a chance to start over with a clean slate.

Internally, LAMA v1.00, a computer programallowing AEGEE antennae to manage local mem-bers data, was developed by Lucas Wartenburgerfrom AEGEE - Mnchen. Back in March, a fruit-ful discussion on the current status of the ComitDirecteur, started. The reasons why all boardmembers had to move to Brussels and the impactthis had on their private lives was contemplatedthoroughly.

At the following Agora in Barcelona, held inApril, this topic was revived and a new board ofdirectors was elected. A fresh new spirit wasbrought into the association that led to the settingup of new priorities. The concept of a Borderless

Europe was chosen to be one of the Year - Plan topics forthe following year.

Europe was under an unlucky star when struck byseveral earthquakes during the summer. A wave of con-cern and sympathy followed when members of AEGEE-Istanbul did voluntary work in tent camps and crisis cen-tres. Likewise, the passing away of AEGEE patronMikhail Gorbatchevs wife, Raissa, was mourned all overthe network. The last Presidents Meeting of the mille-nium, held in Adana, aimed to prepare the final Agoraof the year taking place in Poznan, under the patronageof Polish President Kwasniewski. Three new membersjoined the European Board.

In the meantime, Romano Prodi and his new com-mission were approved of in Strasbourg, where, only fewdays after, AEGEE members took part in the organisationof a Youth Parliament. At the end of the year, AEGEE tookpart in the Citizens Summit in Tampere. The issues dis-cussed by the 1,000 delegates, mirrored the issues whichdominated the agenda at the European Council - with spe-cial reference to the topic of enlargement, which is to bediscussed at the next AEGEE conference in the EuropeanParliament in June 2000.

t w e n t y t h r e e 23

pulling down the iron curtain

Overcoming the division of the continent: the year1989 meant a significant change not only for Europein general but also for AEGEE: contacts with EastGerman students were already being made in 1989. Today,a significant part of the members lives and studies in coun-tries such as Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary.

The importance of the changes in the East and themeaning these changes had for our organisation made itimpossible to neglect this topic. So we formulated a seriesof conferences entitled Ten Years of Transition, explainsproject co-ordinator Frank Burgdrfer. To this end:

8AEGEE-Lviv organised a Summer University in acountry in transition but outside the scope of the insti-tutionalised European Integration. Having been part ofthe Soviet Union, the country has problems from powershortage to a lack of democratic culture.

8Prywit Ukraine - Ukraine where are you now?gave young Europeans from more than ten differentcountries, impressions of a country still trying to findand define itself.

8AEGEE-Timisoara held a conference entitled TheBirthpains of Democracy. Since democracy in this coun-try was not reached by peaceful protests, the changes thatoccurred did not lead to the results people had hoped forand they are now disillusioned. Despite the doubts intheir capabilities of doing so, their aim now is to proceedon the path towards European integration.

8AEGEE-Gdansk provided the strongest contrastpossible to this. Pride was the dominant feeling theorganisers conveyed to the participants. Being the fore-runner of protests such as the ones of Timisoara in Roma-nia, Gdansk became a symbol for a peaceful change. Since1989, a functioning political system has been established,the economy is growing persistently, NATO membershiphas been achieved and EU membership is within reach.

8AEGEE-Berlin helped with understanding the veryspecial conditions in Germany. The city of the wall whichsymbolises the division of the continent became onceagain the capital of a leading European country. In thecity of Berlin, and in Germany, two societies merged,leading to a confrontation of different mentalities, expe-riences and educational backgrounds.

The project has shown once more how common aspectsin general and significant differences in detail can go handin hand in Europe, summarises Frank Burgdrfer. Animportant peculiarity emerged: while hardly anybody seri-ously thinks about leaving Poland today, a significant por-tion, comprising in particular the very best students incountries such as Romania and Ukraine, plans to emigrateto countries in the EU or to North America.

Frank adds: However, despite any doubts or problemsthat may have arisen, nobody has questioned the generalaim of these countries to become a stable and prosperouselement of an integrated Europe.

peace academy: giving hope for the future

C reating a strong basis for a peaceful world oftomorrow: this is the aim behind the Peace Acad-emy, AEGEEs biggest project ever - and thedominating series of events which took place in 1999. 25AEGEE antennae plus several working groups have col-laborated to analyse conflicts and consider ways and toolsto prevent them. Despite the fact that the Cold War isover, there are many wars going on in the whole worldthis very minute, says project co-ordinator DijanAlbayrak from AEGEE-Istanbul. The 20th century hasbeen the most dismal one throughout history, with allkinds of conflicts: hot, cold, local, global, nuclear, prim-itive, ethnic, religious and ideological ones.

Is there no way to prevent this deadlock in the thirdMillenium? Of course there are ways!, affirms Dijan.And our generation has an important role to play. Becauseif our open-minded generation cannot identify a waytowards reconciliation, how can we expect our politiciansto perceive one and implement it? The prevalent need tomake this project happen created an unmatched networkof co-operation, resulting in 11 congresses, three SummerUniversities, one film festival, one case study trip and sev-eral smaller seminars. Being integrated in the Year-Plan ofAEGEE with the slogan European Youths give Peace aChance, this series of events became the main project for1999. The project was co-ordinated by the AEGEE anten-nal in Athina, Istanbul and Ankara.

The starting point for the events was the congress calledPeace Concept, which took place in February 1999 inTurkey. The events that followed in Berlin, Gdansk, Bla-goevgrad and many others cities, did not only focus on par-ticular aspects such as diplomacy, nationalism or the roleof NGOs. They also stressed the specific situation of their

own region. In August 2000, the project will be concludedwith a Peace Summit taking place both on the Greek andthe Turkish side of the Aegean Sea. The 200 participantswill set up a peace concept based on mutual understand-ing and cross-cultural skills they gain during these twoweeks, summarises Dijan.

Peace Academy 10 Years of Transition

dijan albayrak

Dijan Albayrak is head ofthe team that manages theAEGEE Peace Academy. Born in1977, she studies statistics inAnkara.

AEGEE-Ankara was organ-ising the Agora in 1997, right at the time when Ibecame a member, she remembers. This experi-ence was more than enough for my first massivepush into AEGEE. Dijan was mainly managing theactivities of AEGEE-Ankara in the field of educa-tion as Socrates Responsible.

She has been working on this Year-Plan projectfor more than two years now. Dijan, who wants toremain active in the field of peace research, states:AEGEE was and still is a real challenge for me,besides being fun. I cannot think of a better envi-ronment to get some knowledge about what isgoing on around us. Personally, I learnt a lot aboutteamwork, project implementation and manage-ment, and also made a lot of real friends all over.

frank burgdrfer

Frank Burgdrfer just wantedto take part in a Summer Univer-sity, when Bodo Lieberam fromAEGEE-Gieen persuaded him tojoin AEGEE - and to becomeactively involved.

28-year old Frank, who grad-uated in business administration, economics andpolitical science, works at the Centre for AppliedPolicy Research, a Mnchen-based think-tank. Fortwo years Frank has been responsible for the Inter-national Politics Working Group. Being an oldie, Inow focus on a few projects related to South East-ern Europe, he says. AEGEE is the living proofthat the possibility for a common Europe is real.

peace academy - the events

5-7 February 1999Peace ConceptIstanbul

20 February - 3 March 1999Case Study TripFormer Yugoslavia

11-14 March 1999War and Peace in the ArtsSzeged

22-25 April 1999Crossroads of European Inte-grationBerlin

9-23 May 1999Conflicts and Conflict Resolu-tion in a European PerspectiveLund

28-31 May 1999

Peace in EuropeErlangen/Nrnberg

17 July - 1 August 1999Place where Three CountriesMeet - Summer University Freiburg

26 July - 11 Aug. 1999Wars: Destiny of Anatolia -Summer UniversityAnkara

12-23 September 1999Ukraine after the Fall of theIron Curtain - SU.Lviv/Rivne

8-10 October 1999

Nationalism and Peace in theBalkansBlagoevgrad

28-31 October 1999The Power of NGOsFreiburg

29 Oct. - 2 Nov. 1999Peace within the Mediter-ranean RegionValletta

9-12 November 1999The Fall of CommunismGdansk11-14 November 1999The Future of DiplomacyLeiden

26-28 November 1999Germany and FranceHeidelberg

26-28 November 1999Ten Years of Transition inRomania.Timisoara

18-20 November 1999International OrganisationsManaging ConflictRotterdam

12-27 August 2000Peace SummitGreece/Turkey

t w e n t y f o u r 24 t w e n t y f i v e 25

13-29 September 1999Prywit Ukraine - Ukrainewhere are you now?Summer University Plus byAEGEE-Lviv

26-28 November 1999The Birth Pains of RomanianDemocracyConference by AEGEE-Timisoara

5-8 December 1999,in Berlin9-12 December 1999,in Gdansk

Ten Years of Transition inEastern Germany and PolandTwin-conference byAEGEE-Berlin andAEGEE-Gdansk

ten years of transition: the events

Poet of liberty in Lviv: Taras Shevchenko. The Ukranian antenna organised asummer unervisity on the transition of the country.

the borders are gone - the problems stay

The borders have disappeared, but social topics aremore than ever an issue in Europe: In order toanalyse aspects of the society such as education orsustainable development, AEGEE initiated a series ofconferences entitled Building a Social Europe (BASE).Especially because of disappearing frontiers, it is impor-tant to highlight some issues in society like unemploy-ment and crime, states Vera Sanne Haaksma fromAEGEE-Enschede, BASE co-ordinator. Our nine eventsshould give young people all over Europe the chance tobe involved in the construction of the European housewhich should be based on social foundations.

In a profound discussion, AEGEE intended to comparethe different social structures in order to contribute to theirimprovement. It is time for young European citizens to statetheir opinion and define which problems and possible solu-tions they envisage, says Vera. First of all BASE wanted toinform young people all over Europe of the social situa-tion existing in their own countries and in others; who thenconducted discussions on the various possibilities with recog-nised experts and other students. During the interactiveworkshops and simulation games which were held, the stu-dents were confronted with the challenges of today.

The project dealt with five main topics: Educationand Employment, Security and Criminality, Sustain-able Development, Equal Chances and Individuals inEurope. In total, nine conferences and seminars tookplace in the East and the West of Europe, in order toanalyse the problems from both sides. In addition, theevent organisers improved their skills during a trainingcourse in Eger, Hungary. Furthermore, during a study

visit to the multicultural region of Banat in Romania,students had the chance to talk with different ethnicgroups with a variety of problems.

The events took place within a year. Starting in April1998 in Amsterdam, the first conference was entitledFortress Europe, and dealt with security in Europe.BASE ended in April 1999 with a final conference inWarszawa entitled A Welfare State - Luxury or Necessi-ty, discussing all the outcomes of the events. Verastates: Apart from summarising the results of the previ-ous eight events, this was a nice chance to hold a reunionof the organisers and participants.

two weeks in europe for 100 eurossummer universities: 87 faces to the continent

Europe on the move: 2300students took part in the87 AEGEE Summer Uni-versities of 1999. AEGEE localgroups have been, since 1988,offering the opportunity to takepart in language and thematiccourses during the summermonths - from the life of thevikings in Kiel and Lund to pol-itics in Ukraine. In 1999, theevents took place in nearly 30countries.

Summer Universities offerthe best way to take a glance at a new country, pointsout Gavino Paolini from the Summer University Co-ordination Team (SUCT). This is because the partici-pants - numbering 20 to 30 - never come as tourists, butas friends.

The most offered language courses are in German,Italian and Spanish, but the participants also have theopportunity to learn Russian or a few words of Hungar-ian. However, although the total number of courses isalways on the increase, the number of languages has thisyear gone down to 28, the lowest amount since 1990.The last two years have brought about a big shift fromlanguage to cultural Summer Universities, giving an

insight into traditions, politicsand the social aspects of therespective place or region,says Gavino. This is largelydue to the rapid growth ofthe network in the East.While Western organisersprefer to make languagecourses, organisers fromSlavic countries, andothers, are more thanglad to present theircultures and tradi-tions.

Moreover, neverbefore have so ma-ny Summer Uni-versities been or-ganised jointlyby several ante-nnae. In total,more than 100

antennae were involved, that is, more than 60 percent ofthe network.

We had 4131 applications - nearly twice as many as theavailable places, says Philipp von Klitzing from AEGEE-Aachen, who supervised the technical aspect of the appli-cation procedure. The most popular Summer Universitywas the one in Helsinki and Tampere with 128 applications,followed by Palermo with 119 applications, Maastricht with118 and Amsterdam with 113 applications.

Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of AEGEE isvisible in the range of applicants, who among them, studya variety of more than 40 different subjects at their homeuniversity - with a majority of 20 percent studying eco-nomics; 11 percent doing law, and another 11 percentstudying languages.

For the first time all applications were processed viaa computer program called Lama, purposely created forthis use. Despite the fact that such a new programme hadsome flaws when it was used for the first time, Philippregarded it as a major step forward towards a fairer andfaster distribution of applicants on the events.

All these developments since the first 11 Summer Uni-versities which took place in 1988 are outstanding. How-ever, one thing has remained unchanged over the years:the standard fee of 100 Euros which comprise lodging,tuition, excursions and at least one meal per day. Gavinostresses: Due to the low fee, even students from poorerEuropean countries have the chance to participate.

t w e n t y s e v e n 27

Building a Social Europe Summer Universities

vera sanne haaksmaVera Sanne Haaksma started her

AEGEE career as editor of Euro-news, the local bulletin of AEGEE-Enschede. The 24-year old girl stud-ies mechanical engineering andjoined AEGEE in 1994. Later shebecame treasurer of her antenna.Marijke Moed from AEGEE-Maas-tricht persuaded me to embark on the project calledBuilding a Social Europe in 1997, Vera remembers.AEGEE meant an opportunity for me to discover myqualities and interests in other cultures and people,she says. I learnt to organise and lead people, and tospeak in front of a large audience. All these thingsare preparing me for the real business world. Vera isstill a member of our local Audit Committee andBoard of Advisers of AEGEE - Enschede.

t w e n t y s i x 26

10-12 April 1998How Safe is Fortress Europe?Amsterdam

21-26 May 1998Quest for CompetenceEnschede

31 August - 2 Septem-ber 1998Globalisation of Small andMedium EnterprisesTreviso

11-13 September 1998WASTEing our FutureAugsburg

14-20 September 1998Training course - How toOrganise a BASE EventEger

29 October - 1 Novem-ber 1998Chances for a SustainableSocietyHeidelberg

11-14 February 1999Immigration Policy - ASearch for Balance in EuropeGroningen

26 February - 3 March1999Banat - Model of Inter-culturalityTimisoara

23-25 April 1999The Welfare State - Luxuryor NecessityWarszawa

building a social europe the events

How social is Europe? The congresses falling under theumbrella of the BASE project tried to give an answer.

Jump! Summer Universities are the ideal combination of fun and learning.Whilst during the daytime the participants were busy with their languagetextbooks, they enjoyed the international company during the leisure time,making friends from all over Europe. Like above is the Summer Univer-sity in Chisinau, Moldova.

the borders are gone - the problems stay

The borders have disappeared, but social topics aremore than ever an issue in Europe: In order toanalyse aspects of the society such as education orsustainable development, AEGEE initiated a series ofconferences entitled Building a Social Europe (BASE).Especially because of disappearing frontiers, it is impor-tant to highlight some issues in society like unemploy-ment and crime, states Vera Sanne Haaksma fromAEGEE-Enschede, BASE co-ordinator. Our nine eventsshould give young people all over Europe the chance tobe involved in the construction of the European housewhich should be based on social foundations.

In a profound discussion, AEGEE intended to comparethe different social structures in order to contribute to theirimprovement. It is time for young European citizens to statetheir opinion and define which problems and possible solu-tions they envisage, says Vera. First of all BASE wanted toinform young people all over Europe of the social situa-tion existing in their own countries and in others; who thenconducted discussions on the various possibilities with recog-nised experts and other students. During the interactiveworkshops and simulation games which were held, the stu-dents were confronted with the challenges of today.

The project dealt with five main topics: Educationand Employment, Security and Criminality, Sustain-able Development, Equal Chances and Individuals inEurope. In total, nine conferences and seminars tookplace in the East and the West of Europe, in order toanalyse the problems from both sides. In addition, theevent organisers improved their skills during a trainingcourse in Eger, Hungary. Furthermore, during a study

visit to the multicultural region of Banat in Romania,students had the chance to talk with different ethnicgroups with a variety of problems.

The events took place within a year. Starting in April1998 in Amsterdam, the first conference was entitledFortress Europe, and dealt with security in Europe.BASE ended in April 1999 with a final conference inWarszawa entitled A Welfare State - Luxury or Necessi-ty, discussing all the outcomes of the events. Verastates: Apart from summarising the results of the previ-ous eight events, this was a nice chance to hold a reunionof the organisers and participants.

two weeks in europe for 100 eurossummer universities: 87 faces to the continent

Europe on the move: 2300students took part in the87 AEGEE Summer Uni-versities of 1999. AEGEE localgroups have been, since 1988,offering the opportunity to takepart in language and thematiccourses during the summermonths - from the life of thevikings in Kiel and Lund to pol-itics in Ukraine. In 1999, theevents took place in nearly 30countries.

Summer Universities offerthe best way to take a glance at a new country, pointsout Gavino Paolini from the Summer University Co-ordination Team (SUCT). This is because the partici-pants - numbering 20 to 30 - never come as tourists, butas friends.

The most offered language courses are in German,Italian and Spanish, but the participants also have theopportunity to learn Russian or a few words of Hungar-ian. However, although the total number of courses isalways on the increase, the number of languages has thisyear gone down to 28, the lowest amount since 1990.The

Key to Europe 99/00

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