Summer University 2008

This year AEGEE Skopje traditionally organized the 13th Summer University” Small Step 4 U, but BIG for Europe”. From 9th till 22th July, 23 young people from 16 European countries (Netherlands, Ukraine, The Czech Republic, Turkey, Poland, Spain, Russia, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Germany and France) participated at this event.
. Introducing the participants with the Macedonian culture, history, way of living, overcoming problems of cultural diversity, cultural  tolerance, conflicts, stereotypes and also having fun, were some of our main aims for this Summer University.
During this two weeks in Skopje, Ohrid, Prespa and Bitola, the participants had chance to be a part of interesting program contained of several different parts:

Sightseeing

The participants had an opportunity to visit the most significant cultural and historical places in Macedonia: The Fortress Kale, the church of St. Spas, Skopje ’s Old Bazaar, The Stone Bridge, the Old Railway Station, City Square, the monastery of St. Jovan Bigorski, Plaoshnik, the Church Bogorodica Perivlepta, St. Jovan Kaneo, St. Naum etc.
The sightseeing was enriched with professional lectures about Macedonian tradition, history and way of life. They also learned more about the religious structure of our country, about Macedonian language, our traditional dances, food and crafts.
The participants enjoyed the Tose Proeski’s music, especially the song “Macedonia naviva za vas”, which was the hit of this SU. They also watched the movies from Milco Mancevski..  

Workshops

This year was marked from the European Parliament and the EU countries as a “European year of intercultural dialog”. Republic of Macedonia as a multicultural society has  experience in this area which could be shared with Europe. A multicultural event like this was a great opportunity for workshops and lectures with topics connected with the European dialog.

1. Communication Skills; the participants learned in a practical way how to avoid the most common mistakes which can lead to conflicts.
2. Diversity; the aim of this workshop was to focus the participants attention on the influence of the stereotypes which lead to discrimination, and how we can provide solutions for them.
3. Multicultural tolerance; at this workshop the participants learned how to raise their consciousness about their relationships, emotions, their way of acting, habits and other parts of one’s behavior which are cultural determinate.
4. Conflict management; this workshop provided knowledge and practical skills how to manage with conflicts in a peaceful way.
5. Youth mobility; the participants had a discussion and changed opinions about how they can increase their mobility and liberate the visa regime in the future. 
6. European dialog; this workshop was debate where the students had an opportunity to discus about the positive and negative aspects of EU.
7. Corruption in the high education; this workshop was a part from the collaboration between AEGEE Skopje and the Secretary for European questions of the Macedonian Government. At this workshop, the students gained knowledge how  can they protect themselves from the corruption in the education.

Parties

During the nights the participants experienced the night life in Macedonia. We had unforgettable parties, especially the boat party where they heart our traditional pleh music.
All the participants were fascinated by the beauties of Macedonia. They enjoyed the Macedonian hospitality, tradition, our “skopsko”  and “sopska”.

You can find interesting photos and videos from the SU “ Small Step 4 U, but BIG for Europe”, in the gallery.