It was a YES! The Speak Up team were hoping for it, longing for the answer from the French National Agency of the Youth in Action Programme, and they said YES, and approved their project! « Speak Up – Bouge ton Europe » is not just any project. It is one which has been built and supported by members coming from all of the French antennae and joining Lucille Rieux, project manager, in this incredible adventure.
How did it all start?
A few months ago, while thinking about the situation in France, the weaknesses of the Network, and the difficulty of having young people get involved, an idea occurred. Lucille decided that what was needed was a huge project which would promote youth participation, and at the same time, would finally give a lot of visibility to AEGEE, in several cities all together.
When considering what the special thing about AEGEE is, what field of expertise they have, and what could catch the attention of French youngsters, Lucille came up with this answer: AEGEE is a learning space and the members believe in the possibility of transforming their ideas into reality, AEGEE people are Europeans and they know that whichever European country they may come from, they share the same values, and they respect each other. Moreover, AEGEE people have an understanding of the importance of raising their voice in order for their needs to be taken into account. They understand that ideas have to be shared, that young Europeans have to express themselves and get involved in what is important for the future of every single one of them, and of each one of us: Europe.
This gave Lucille the idea of making a train tour with a lot of active AEGEE members and go through several French cities, in order to encourage young people to give volunteering a chance, to participate, to get to know a new face of Europe: AEGEE-Europe.
But let us go deeper.
Imagine a train filled with 40 young AEGEEans, coming from a wide range of AEGEE antennae, crossing eight of the biggest French cities in just 15 days. These cities will be Paris, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse and Bordeaux and in each city, several activities will be organised (AEGEE presentations, participation in workshops, visits, street actions, video shooting and more) in collaboration with a local association, in order to encourage young French people to become active, to discover what it means to work in an association, and to live an experience of active participation!
Through this project, which will take place from September 15th till September 30th 2012, the Speak Up team hopes that young people will become more aware of the cultural diversity which characterizes Europe, but also that the actions which they will participate in will inspire them to continue to be locally-engaged, whether it is in AEGEE or in another association.
Now, let us go behind the scene and see WHO are those making this possible:
Together with Lucille, quite a few French AEGEE members have signed up for the experience and there is no doubt that you will meet some of the representatives soon, at the upcoming AEGEE fair of Agora Enschede, for example. The team is made up of Léa Charlette from AEGEE-Paris (Social Network Responsible), Thomas Bonnefoy from AEGEE-Lyon (Corporate Relations), Pauline Letard from AEGEE-Toulouse (Local Events Responsible), Marie Chicaud from AEGEE-Paris (PR Responsible), Youness Touzani from AEGEE-Paris (Treasurer), Nefeli Roubaka from AEGEE-Strasbourg and Mathieu Savary from AEGEE-Bruxelles (Content Development Responsible). Actually, the team keeps growing and growing. Very soon, a French volunteer service (Service Civique) will also be working on this project and helping the team to make it possible.
The team has decided to get hold of YOUTH PARTICIPATION and to increase the knowledge about it. It is one of the most important issues, being among the three thematic topics of the AEGEE strategic plan of last year. Therefore, you can be sure you will be asked for your opinion about youth participation very soon!
And now…
The team is set on working a lot harder, on searching further for funds, on developing the implementation of this very ambitious project, and on giving it some more visibility! This visibility is being increased through their Facebook page, activity on Twitter and they are also working on launching a blog in the near future. Most importantly, if you have any questions and you are one of the lucky ones going to Enschede in less than two weeks, you will have the opportunity to approach the team at the AEGEE fair, where they will have a few surprises for you!
Written by Lucille Rieux, AEGEE-Toulouse & AEGEE-Las Palmas.
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