Gather Together in Brussels for the European Training Courses

The Comité Directeur 2016-2017 introduced a new concept for trainings in their Activity Plan: the European Training Courses. These trainings are aimed at those members who want to be more active in the European bodies of AEGEE. Their perk? They take place in the AEGEE house for only a weekend. We spoke with Project and Communication Director Joanna Pankowska to learn more about this learning opportunity in our Network. 

The AEGEEan: What is a European Training Course?
Joanna: It is a weekend-long event taking place at the AEGEE house in Brussels.

What is the aim of it?
The aim is to prepare AEGEEans for taking active roles in the European bodies of AEGEE. The concept is related to European Schools and Leadership Trainings, but the most important aspect is that it is very cheap (15 Euros), taking place in the easily reachable Brussels and only one weekend long, so we hope it will make it much more accessible for everybody. It will also happen more then once a year, to make sure that everybody can find a feasible date for attending. We hope that, as a results of the event, we will see not only the increase in managing skills and understanding of AEGEE, but also, and first of all, the increase in motivation and inspiration to take up tasks of responsibility in the European Bodies of AEGEE.photo_2017-01-12_14-45-44 (1)

Why just eight participants?
First of all, we want to ensure the quality of the event and the personal relation between trainers and participants, which should result in long-term mentoring. The other reason is more pragmatic – the only way to make such a cheap event without putting efforts into FR is to host it at the AEGEE house, which, as many of you know, faces space constraints.

What is the strongest point of the ETC?
The personal relation that would be built as a results of a weekend with a small group of very motivated AEGEEans. We hope that this relation would be beneficial for both – the participants, who would feel more encouraged to take up responsibilities, and the CD, who would be more in touch with the current and future leaders of AEGEE.

When will the next ETC be organised?
The next one will take place from the 17th to the 19th of February (you can apply until the 22nd of January).
You can find more information on the Members’ Portal or Facebook event. After that, we will have one from the 27th of March to the 2nd of April, which will be ETC + aka Leadership Training (longer version) and another from the 16th to the 18th of June.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona