Europe on Track 7: A Green Online Journey

EoT7 Topic

It’s time after one year of intense work for the seventh edition of Europea on Track to wrap up. And what better way to do that than showing our results with which we are utmost proud of after our journey had a lot of challenges but also opportunities to explore a new innovative side of our project. But first let us remind you what our beloved project is about.

Europe on Track is a project of AEGEE, run by young volunteers who aim to raise awareness, to create a space for discussion and to capture the opinions of youth in Europe on important social issues. The seventh edition of the project even went deeper into the importance of those issues and more specifically social inclusion. As inclusion has various aspects that can be looked into and tackled, we decided to focus on gender equality and mental health. Topics that are surrounded by stigma and stereotypes and quite a lot of myths, but that motivated us, even more, to work on the topic and focus this year’s edition on it. In the past 3 years, AEGEE has been putting a lot of effort and setting a good example of highlighting the inconvenient and unspoken truths about gender issues and that having mental issues doesn’t make you crazy. 

It has been a year-long process in preparing every aspect of the project in order to reach out to young people all over Europe and raise awareness on the topic of our edition. We selected 20 AEGEE locals to host our activities and one local to organise our final conference (AEGEE-Leiden), we drafted routes and dreamed about train rides, we interviewed people from all over the world to select the 6 ambassadors to go on the one month journey around Europe, we prepared workshops on the topic and spent 11 amazing and intense days in Moscow, Russia preparing for something that never happened in the end. 

Murphy’s law states that “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” and it did. On 12 March, The World Health organisation announced COVID-19 as a global pandemic, which made travelling impossible and dangerous for everyone’s life. This was the moment for our train journey to forcibly leave our plans. However, we are still a voluntary youth-led project and in that sense, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli has been quite right in his words that “During these challenging times, young people showed their brilliance. All young people should be proud of themselves.” And we are, as raising awareness can be also done online if you believe your cause is right. We kept our undying love towards train rides and used our motivation and eagerness to show at least a glimpse of all of our planning to the AEGEE network and it was more than we ever dreamed for. It was a great opportunity to become one of the greenest editions of the greenest project of AEGEE and at the same time focus our work on the AEGEE members. The 18 locals who organised online stops with us also showed how the non-travelling issues will not stop them from gaining new knowledge on topics they find important and organise online events to interact with their international friends even though a microphone and a camera. “Europe on Track” proved as a project that talking about gender equality and mental health has been vital in times like these. Both topics have been put to great challenges from disrespecting human rights in some countries, testing the mental health of millions of people around the world who have been staying in their homes to people who have been locked down with their abusive partners with no escape.

In the graphics you can have a look at the numbers that we collected during our online session. Bear in mind, that our data is collected by the participants of our online activities and it is based on their own personal opinion and feeling about what they learned or they didn’t learn from our sessions. 

We are more than happy that the majority of the attendees got an increase of their knowledge on our topic. However, they also identified systematic problems that still exist in Europe concerning gender equality and mental health and this is just the beginning of the “fight” on making all countries on the European continent less stigmatizing in connection with the mental health of their citizens and more gender equal.

We are very proud that we manage to contribute to the efforts started by AEGEE in the past few years and we are hopeful for even bigger outreach and impact that can be produced for the future.

Last but not least, there is a new team coming up that is already preparing for Europe on Track 8 and we are very excited to introduce them in 2 days!

EoT7 Routes

In the graphics you can have a look at the numbers that we collected during our online session. Bear in mind, that our data is collected by the participants of our online activities and it is based on their own personal opinion and feeling about what they learned or they didn’t learn from our sessions. 

We are more than happy that the majority of the attendees got an increase of their knowledge on our topic. However, they also identified systematic problems that still exist in Europe concerning gender equality and mental health and this is just the beginning of the “fight” on making all countries on the European continent less stigmatizing in connection with the mental health of their citizens and more gender equal.

We are very proud that we manage to contribute to the efforts started by AEGEE in the past few years and we are hopeful for even bigger outreach and impact that can be produced for the future.

Last but not least, there is a new team coming up that is already preparing for Europea on Track 8 and we are very excited to introduce them in 2 days!

EoT7 Results
EoT7 Project Team

ELITSA

PROJECT MANAGER

Europe on Track is a journey that leaves a permanent impact in every young person that the project has been reaching out to. And at the same time impersonates everything a young volunteer like all of us do: living our passion to leave a mark in our community.

GIULIANA

ROUTE MANAGER​

Europe on Track is the opportunity to get involved in both intense and European way into AEGEE reality, an opportunity for travellers to get inspired and inspire about issues of nowadays society.

FRANCESCA

ROUTE MANAGER​

I truly believe that Europe on Track is one of the most efficient ways to have a concrete impact in society. Spreading a common and important message in different parts of Europe is a magnificent opportunity to raise awareness, face and tackle burning issues.

ALEJANDRA

CONTENT MANAGER​

I think I’m in love with this project since the first time that I heard about it, that it was when edition 2 was going to happen. Since then, I have always wanted to be involved and this was the perfect moment! The topics for this edition are really close to me, and knowing that I have the chance to work on this content for other people to spread the word around Europe while travelling by train (my favourite way of traveling!), is simply amazing.

LEONIE

CONTENT TEAM​

Europe on Track in general, and with this year’s topic in particular, is a project that has fascinated me ever since I heard about it the first time. To me it means the possibility to reach numerous young people across Europe and raise awareness of a topic that I am myself passionate about.

HANNA

COMITÉ DIRECTEUR​

This is the third time I am writing this intro and this already says everything. EoT has by now won a fixed place in my heart, as it inspires and educates young people but also listens to them and lets the voice of the youth be heard by many.

LEONARDO

DESIGN & EXTERNAL MANAGER

Europe on Track  is an opportunity, not for me but for those we will reach. This project can positively impact so many young people by teaching and bringing them to become more active within their society. We can change their future and that is just breathtaking.

FLORINA

IMPACT MEASUREMENT MANAGER​

Europe on Track made me fall in love with AEGEE and I basically owe to the project the fact that I joined this organization. As it did for me, I am convinced that it will inspire other young people to act and to bring a change in their community.

MARTINA

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER​

The first time I heard about Europe on Track I was immediately fascinated by the idea of these ambassadors travelling around Europe for a whole month. But now the feeling of making real this project that can raise the voice of hundreds of young people and represent a push to change for them is simply outstanding.

EoT7 Ambassadors

ANNE-SOPHIE​

Anne-Sophie is passionate about sports⛹️‍♀️, public health, music, coffee, sustainability🌱, and travelling. She is studying health economics in Rotterdam and she is an unstoppable enthusiast for AEGEE since 2016. Energy is obtained from meeting many different kinds of persons, taking on new challenges, and experiencing new cultures 😎

ISKANDER

Iskander got his first experience in media shere in early childhood while working on TV and radio🎙, today he is in love with blogging, photo and video production🎥. He’s always open for a new experience such as winter swimming in Bashkortostan, surfing in Portugal or hitchhiking in Romania. 🤩What about his hobbies? Definitely football, swimming and cycling. He is eager to make this trip and share jokes, stories and positivity☀️. He is our photographer for Team Red ❤️

ANDREA​

Andrea is an atypical engineer, coding but craving for adventure 😎. In his free time, he thinks of new ideas not to have free time. He lived in 3 different countries and he has the feeling that they are not still enough🏅: change makes you change until you find your right shape to shape your world! 🎯
In an alternative universe he could be a chameleon🦎 but for now is our photographer of Team Blue!

GASIA​

Gasia, our interviewer for Team Blue 💙
She’s a journalist ✒️ driven by curiosity, always looking for the next adventure and to challenge herself, doing things like zip-lining in Armenia with a group of people she just met – despite her fear of heights 😎. While generally an extrovert person, she also enjoys being alone to paint, read or play music 🎼. She’s looking forward to share this amazing journey!

DAVIDE​

Davide is communicative and calm🧘‍♂️. His friends say that he’s a good listener and full of life. His family thinks he’s sweet and eat too much pasta🍝. He likes describing himself as a little film director and also for us is the videographer of Team Blue 🎬