Dear network,

Welcome to the latest edition of the newsletter! Here you can find the updates on AEGEE-Europe's work on this month! Check all the information and opportunities!

Your Comité Directeur 2012-2014

 The Y Vote 2014 proudly presents the Voting Guide on the European elections taking place between 22-25 May around the EU. Do you still have doubts how the EU works, why it matters to vote as well as what is the role of European Political Parties and Groups in the EU? – then have a look on our Voting Guide online and share it with other young voters who may benefit from it. Last but not least, the Guide includes interviews with representatives of every European political group.

This section will probably be the most interesting to you because in the interviews politicians state their opinion and possible policy actions on various issues and topics that concern young people. Having this information, you will be able to find out which political group’s views match with your perceptions and beliefs, and to decide who is likely to represent your interests most.

Find more:
http://aegee.org/yvote2014/voting-guide/
 

  The Europe on Track 2 has officially finished with Team Blue having their final stop      organised in Budapest, Hungary and Team Red and the coordination team presenting  in Strasbourg, France where the project was invited as the winner of the European  Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2013. What exactly happened during the final stops and  what do young people think about mobility, employment and the European Elections?  
Follow our blog on aegee.org/europeontrack!

From 30th of April to 5th of May 2014, AEGEE's Spring General Assembly took place in Patra in Greece. 500 AEGEEans gathered in an inspiring event which brought new energy and new ideas to our organisation. Highlight was, of course, the election of our new Comité Directeur, as well as other leadership positions, such as Network Commissioners and Juridical Commissioners.

The Agora also laid out the direction of AEGEE in the next year with the approval of the Action Agenda, the Secretariat Strategy, the Strategy for Non-Formal Education, the Policy Strategy, and many other documents, as well as clarified AEGEE's position on issues like the EU Neighbourhood Policy and the Seat of the European Parliament.

Find more about what happened at Agora in the official group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/626946414052200/?fref=ts.

From 2nd to 6th of April, Y Vote 2014 and AEGEE-Brussels organised the closing convention of the Y Vote Campaign, on the topic "More Europe but Which Europe?", gathering 25 AEGEEans, to discuss their views on the building of Europe, the direction this political construction is taking and drafting recommendation on how young people want to see Europe develop, as a political, geographical and social model. The list of recommendations coming from the 8 other Conventions (which took place throughout the year) were discussed and served as a base for the elaboration of the introduction of the Students' Agenda of Y Vote 2014. The Students'Agenda will be presented to MEP candidates in order to voice the concerns and expectation of young people regarding the future of Europe.
 

In only 10 days, citizens from the 28 countries of the European Union will be called to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament. Even though citizens have such a right since 1979, the participation rate dropped dramatically since then, to reach a 43% in 2009, with an even more worrying participation rate of 29% for young people. Find out which are the elections date in your country, get informed on the programmes of the different political groups, find out who is candidating in your country, convince your friends and family around you and most importantly, VOTE to make your opinion heard!
 

 

AEGEE-Europe is collaborating and giving support to the Research "Stimulating Lifelong Learning: Core competences of the Youth Worker as an Educator" that Madalena Sousa is doing on behalf of her Thesis of the Master on Educational Sciences in Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
 
3 Focus Group will be conducted approaching to gather relevant data, after data will be analysed, and compared with Literature Review and Institutional documents.Supporting research projects we are bringing to our organization evidence and knowledge-based and in this case a step further on the recognition of the youth worker that we have been working on.
 
This Research intends to identify the competences of the Youth Worker as an Educator which could bringing another approach to our Academy representatives (for example).  After all it also contributes for the recognition of the youth field and its workers binding with contributes to scientific developments. The results will be publish in September 2014.

After all it also contributes for the recognition of the youth field and its workers binding with the scientific approach which is a gap under this topic.

 

 

AEGEE-Europe was present at the European Youth event in Strasbourg 7th-11th May. Our stand in the YO!fest of the European Youth Forum attracted the attention of many young Europeans, and our sessions in the European Parliament about Europe on Track and Y Vote 2014 created interesting debates among the participants. And We had a parallel Y Vote convention and also many AEGEEans as part of other groups: National Youth Councils, local groups...
 More info: http://goo.gl/fNDzJA

U-multirank was been presented on May 13th as an innovative tool to compare universities and other Higher Education Institutions using different dimensions, according to the preferences of each user. AEGEE-Europe has participated in the development of this tool with a great potential to improve mobility opportunities for students all over the world.
Read more: http://goo.gl/PvszI2

 

Taking into consideration that the total of the AEGEE-Europe Network consists of more than 150 locals, it is no surprise that amongst these locals differences can be found. A good example of this is AEGEE-Nijmegen, which is the only local with a drama group that writes, prepares and performs their own plays every year. The AEGEEan talked to one of the Directors of the drama group, Renée Huismans, to find out more about their unique existence within the AEGEE-network. 
Read the article here!

We all love AEGEE, because it’s a multidisciplinary organization, which allows each and every one of us to bring up an idea, create a project and bring it on with the help of AEGEE members from all over the Network, with the aim to get AEGEE involved in a new field and increase the internal knowledge. However, every project has to deal with finances.  How do you deal with the budget when your project got a grant, but you won’t get the money until the project is over?
Find out more here!

It is may not come as news to you that the European Youth Event (EYE 2014) will take place at the European Parliament in Strasbourg from 9th to 11th May and will gather from 5,000 to 8,000 young people over three days to discuss ideas for a better Europe.

EYE 2014 will focus on five main themes, all very relevant to young people: youth unemployment, digital revolution, future of the European Union, sustainability and European values. There will be many high-level debates inside the European Parliament building. Whilst in front of it there will be the YO!Fest and YO!Village, organised by the European Youth Forum. As well as many stands run by youth organisations, there will also be a wide-range of workshops and political discussions.
See more here!

Your First EURES Job is an European Commission free of charge program delivered  by Gi Group with the aim to help European young people find the right job and to help  employers find the right workers in other EU countries.

 What kind of support is given to you?

Job research.
Access to funds to cover costs associated to attending face to face interviews and the relocation to your new country of employment.
If located in a small or medium enterprise (SME), preparation courses for skill development and language proficiency.
We get you in touch with potential employers to make sure you find the best option for you. Additionally, even if you’ve have already found a job (in another EU country from yours) you can still apply to our funds. Just contact us ([log in to unmask]) and we can grant you financial support to cover the costs mentioned above.

Website: Your First EURES Job

Like us on Facebook: EURESGiGroup

The Prague-based Via Foundation is launching ViabilityNet 2.0, a new international program for 2014-2016. It will offer local community leaders from Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe space to reflect, connect and grow together, along with financial resources for projects that focus on building the power of their communities. The overall aim of the program is to promote engagement within communities through support of inspiring & inclusive leadership.

Read more here!

 

Do students in different countries have varying levels of access to scientific articles? If so, how big are the discrepancies and what contributes to them? Help us to find out by participating in this study, takes just 10 mins!

Survey: http://tinyurl.com/laheoxc

 

The Erasmus Voting Assessment needs you! Please help the project by filling up this small survey, and please also share it among your friends, specially among non-AEGEEans! We need 10000 surveys to analyse the impact of mobility in creating active citizens!
Info here: http://goo.gl/mzZEwL