24.11.2011 15:35

Launching event of EMA LGBT Network by Helena Kovac

The LGBT initiative of the Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association was officially launched in Uppsala, Sweden, during the second weekend of November. The launching tried to capture different activities although some were indeed at the mercy of the external factors, such as Uppsala Pride organization and Swedish cold weather.

Here is a day-by-day summary of the event:

Friday, November 11th: we started at 16:30 with a short welcome note by Helena Kovac, the current EMA LGBT coordinator, and around of introductions by all the members attending the launching. After formally introducing ourselves, Jean Carlos Pelicano, the president of EMA, gave a presentation of EMA, which enabled everyone to have a better overview of our student and alumni platform. EMA LGBT members were greeted and encouraged by the video message sent by the Intergroup for LGBT Rights in European Parliament. This was followed by the outline for the working Saturday and a preliminary brainstorming of ideas regarding the future possibilities within EMA LGBT. 
Further conversation and introductions along with fun and laughter continued in a cocktail bar, after a rather long walk through cold streets of Uppsala.

Saturday, November 12th: the day started with a presentation of Martin K.I. Christensen, the co-chair of ILGA-Europe. Martin gave an overview of ILGA-Europe’s work and structure and has talked about general LGBTQ concerns in Europe. As an ex-board member of International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Association (IGLYO), Jasmina Monteanu continued with a presentation of IGLYO and their work with LGBT issues. Both presentations were followed by questions and reflections. Break was served Swedish style – with coffee and sandwiches – after which we continued with a presentation of one of our EMA LGBT members, Raj Sark, who was eager to share his personal perspectives in gay-straight alliances. Morning presentations finished with one given by Helena Kovac, who shared experiences and impressions from IGLYO’s conference on Capacity Building. 
The second part of the day was all dedicated to planning and building structures within EMA LGBT. After exploring several ideas, EMA LGBT members agreed to invest efforts in defining a mission statement, identify aims and accordingly cluster possible activities. The logic of activities and aims fed into an idea of EMA LGBT structure, and there was this unavoidable element of fun which helped in carving out names of the positions within the future EMA LGBT Board. As it was agreed amongst the members who were present at the Launching event – the proposal of mission, aims, activities and structure will be open for comments and further suggestions by entire EMA LGBT network until December 6th. The final version of the Network’s mission, aims, activities and structure will be finally set in the second half of December.

For other details and more information about EMA LGBT, please feel free to contact Helena Kovac.