- Corona , Student
- 04/06/2020
An online general meeting with 200 European students
Letting 200 European students choose a new board together in corona times, that’s quite a challenge. Second-year student Niek Lange, AEGEE member and currently active on the board, is up to it. This weekend, the members of this European student association will convene online to determine new policy and to choose a new board. “Paradoxically, it suddenly became easier than ever before to take part in activities in different countries during one evening.”
When Niek Lange started with his bachelor’s program Sustainable Innovation at TU/e, he had just returned from a long trip through Vietnam and felt “homesick for abroad,” as he puts it. And when he heard about AEGEE during the Intro, it didn’t take long before he fell for the enthusiastic stories about beautiful city trips, boundlessly sociable people and much adventure. AEGEE is a European interdisciplinary student organization with 13,000 members spread over 180 cities. But once he became active for the organization’s Eindhoven branch, he soon realized that the simple idea of ‘travelling through Europe’ didn’t do AEGEE justice. “I was immediately carried away by the enthusiasm and dedication of members throughout Europe, who organize exchanges, workshops and conferences for each other.”
Niek attended a workshop in Tartu (Estonia) about youth participation in the European process, “where we were actually writing proposals for the European parliament.” He was given a tour of Skopje (North Macedonia), had a wonderful vacation in Croatia, and did much more. “These travels aren’t like a regular vacation, with days at the beach and city trips, instead they often have a relevant theme. The theme of ‘sustainability’ was what led me to travel to Croatia, for example, and all my expectations were met.”
After a meeting in the Italian city of Salerno, Niek, who by that time had become president of AEGEE Eindhoven, was asked to become assistant to the chair team. A unique opportunity, he thought. His task: co-organizing an event for 800 members, in a Pan-European context, with forty nationalities. “There are specific skills you can learn that you can’t practice often. Working in an international team, making preparations for digital meetings, maintaining contact with 800 members. And then there’s the entire democratic element that needs to be respected. How do you make sure that everyone gets a chance to speak? How will the voting procedures go? What if a candidate decides to pull out?”
Time for action
But the outbreak of COVID-19 only increased the challenge. “When news came that the Agora-Europe in Yerevan (Armenia) was cancelled, things became difficult for a moment.” He had been looking forward to it so much, sleeping arrangements had already been made and the event would have been a reunion with friends from all over Europe. But Niek got down to work and started to focus on the technical aspect and the experience of the participants. “An online event brings new risks and pitfalls, and I wanted to focus on making this event run as smoothly and effortlessly as possible. I was well instructed about my tasks beforehand, most of these had to do with digital logistics and moderating the online platforms.”
In part thanks to reports on the situation of friends in Spain, Croatia and Poland, Niek was able to put the situation into perspective. The AEGEE members soon started to present their first online initiatives, such as creative activities, workshops and entirely new ideas. “There was a true revival of our borderless character, precisely because of the limitations. Paradoxically, it suddenly became easier than ever before to take part in a pub quiz in Kiev, Ukraine, only to attend an open discussion in Madrid, Spain, about domestic violence just ten minutes later.”
Hubble
The entire event was adjusted within a period of two months. “We didn’t just need to come up with completely new ways of voting, asking questions and giving presentations; a new, fully digital platform had to be made as well, which would be used for carrying all this out.”
Instead of during a meeting in Yerevan, AEGEE will hold the entire event online this weekend (between 5 and 7 June), but apart from meetings about the election of a new board and the drafting of new policy, there won’t be extra workshops or panel discussions. “All voting members will get a chance to speak and the other members can follow all sessions via livestreams. The social aspect won’t be forgotten about, since several members offer fun online activities in the evening, such as cooking classes and a music festival.”
The members in Eindhoven will meet – and maintain the appropriate distance – in one space: Hubble. “A few of our members stand for a seat and that’s very exciting. We want to be there for each other when the results come in and hopefully congratulate everyone!”
Discussion