AEGEE-ATHINA AEGEE - Athina is one of the first and biggest local branches of AEGEE network. Founded in 1986 it has around 400 members. Aiming to bring European students closer and to strengthen the idea of students’ mobility and communication, AEGEE-Athina has already organised successfully three Agoras, in 1992, 1996 and 2002. It has also organised the final conference of the European Community education programme “Socrates on the move II” with the participation of 40 students and representatives of the European Community (April 2002). In the field of Internal Education two European Schools have taken place in Athens, in July 1999 and April 2001. Cultural exchanges are also a very central activity in AEGEE-Athina. Such events have been organised in cooperation with other antennas like Istanbul and Skopje and are always a good example of how people with political differences can work together. AEGEE-Athina has also organised a series of Summer Universities (every year since 1986!). Each one has been a unique chance to bring closer people from all around Europe through a 15-days experience of culture and entertainment. In the field of internal education, AEGEE-Athina organises twice a year the Athenian School, a trip introducing new members to the AEGEE spirit. Since 2004, AEGEE-Athina organises also Local Training Course (LTC) that takes place twice a year. Old and new members have the chance to learn how AEGEE events are organised and how AEGEE works in both local and European level through lectures, workshops and simulations. Finally, AEGEE-Athina publishes the EUROPOLIS magazine in order to keep new and old members informed. Working Groups keep the members active throughout the year by proposing ways of expression and types of action in the fields of human rights, environment, sports and education.
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Moral support to AEGEE-Athina has been repeatedly offered by the former President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Stefanopoulos, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Vartholomaios, the former Mayor of Athens, Mr. Avramopoulos, the former Rector of the National Technological University of Athens, Mr. Markatos, the former Rector of the Economical University Of Athens, Mr. Venieris, as well as the present Rector of the Economical University of Athens.
www.aegee-athina.gr info@aegee-athina.gr
Introduction
PEACE ACADEMY PROJECT
YEAR PLAN PROJECT OF AEGEE-EUROPE 1999 Peace Academy Project is the mother of Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue Project. AEGEE, having the aim to promote the European ideas amongst the youth in Europe accepted “Peace” as the Year Plan Topic for 1999 in the General Assembly of AEGEE on 19.04.1998 as suggested by Greek and Turkish members of AEGEE network and initiated the project “Peace Academy” covering the whole year 1999. Peace Academy developed several conferences, seminars, a case study trip, a microuniversity, summer universities and many other activities organised by AEGEE locals all over Europe, dealing with many aspects of peace. AEGEE-Ankara and AEGEE-Athina organised “the Peace Summit” in Kuşadası. The Peace Summit hosted 150 University students from all over Europe, who received an intensive training on conflict analysis and resolution throughout two weeks. The Peace Summit was declared as the official flagship event of UNESCO’s “International Year for the Culture of Peace, 2000”. The Peace Summit event and the followup efforts and contacts of the organisers and the project manager Dijan Albayrak gave birth to the Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue Project. “The idea of Peace Academy dates back to 1996, when the first exchanges among Turkish Greek locals have started. It all started when the tension between the two countries was at a very high level, in order to show that we need dialogue on the level of grassroots to overcome prejudices. Friends from both sides worked on this project for many years and made it one of the Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de L’Europe