Mark your calendar! From the 7th to the 11th of September you should really be in Leon for the AEGEE Idea Factory/Planning Meeting. The Spanish Local, in fact, will host this strategic event for our organisation. What is an AEGEE Idea Factory/Planning Meeting? It’s the moment when the Strategic Plan 2017-2020 will be drafted and new topics, those the association will be working on for the next three years, will be discussed. If you are already intrigued by the idea, read the interview with AEGEE-Leon and wait for the Open Call, which is coming soon.
The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to apply?
We are one of the strongest antennas in this moment, with members in European level, huge knowledge of Action Agenda and in organising big events. And what can be better than a Planning Meeting to show that to the entire Network? Moreover, this is a great opportunity for us to open León to the whole Europe! Since we’ve already opened Europe to León, we’re sending at least ten members to the last statutory events.
What were you doing when the Comité Directeur delivered you the news?
In May, we were attending the LTC 2 when Álvaro noticed that we received an email from the Comité Directeur. We ran to read it, and we celebrated the positive result! But we had to be quiet so that members of other antennae that attended it could not discover the news… it was a secret until Agora Bergamo!
Present your local.
AEGEE-León is one of the most active antennae. Yes, that’s a cliche, BUT WE REALLY ARE! Imagine, we have been participating in the EVS program for five years now, hosting two volunteers per year and sending an average of three people from Leon to Europe per year. We were the last best SU before the “tirany” of Catania and we had organised a SUPS, NWM, and big and important events for our region, (for more than 100 hundred people!) we focused in the AA last year, with a lot of activities and workshops that fulfil it. We work a lot with the Erasmus + programme, sending each year more members to youth exchanges and training courses than to summer universities. We have around 130 members, among which there are some who have positions in the European level. We weekly organise activities for international students and for local members, both “social” and “serious” events.
Who will be in the core team? Have you already decided?
In our fantastic Core Team there are the following lions: team of coordinators, Sergio Nistal and Álvaro Nieto. Then, we also count on the big experience of members such as Alejandro M. Moya and Marcos Mato, and the great motivation of other members such as Cristina de la Parte, Genoveva García, Andrés Diez, Mario González and Enric Baltasar. Maybe we will include some more good people.
Tell us three things that make your local special.
– We work a lot with the Erasmus + programme. We currently have two Italian EVS volunteers that work for us to make events, manage the daily tasks and find and write Erasmus + projects.
– We are probably the most active antenna in the region even though our city is the smallest one!
– We have a special link with international students who let us be in contact with people of other cultures, be able to help them and know other points of view.
And now three things that make your city special.
– For sure the awesome architecture of the city! It has a lot of history, having been a Roman installment, capital of a medieval kingdom and now capital of a province.
– Tapas!! In León they put food with your drink for FREE, and really huge tapas! You cannot miss it, (is NOT like any city you have ever been, here we have real big tapas for free) for five euros we can have dinner and even get drunk!
-The campus of the University of León is very good for this event because we will be able to go everywhere on foot. Everything is near!!
Can you give us already some sneak peaks of what we will see once there?
Even though the whole city is amazing, the most famous monument is the gothic Santa María de León Cathedral, probably the most beautiful one! It is really impressive when you see it for the first time, the second time, the third time… even old Leonese people still say so. You will also visit San Marcos and San Isidoro, which are two incredible monuments of the city you will fall in love with!
Stay tuned for the Open Call!
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona