LEADERSHIP IS NOT ONLY AN OPTION BUT A RESPONSIBILITY

We are the witnesses of the increased number of young people who leave the country, but we are not less introduced in the work on the other side, of those who advocate for the improvement of the situation and the one that is here to listen to all problems of young people and work on their solving. On that occasion, AISEC and OPENS joined this year in the “NEW LEADERS” project which has been organised for several years by AISEC. This year’s conferences are held in eight cities across of Serbia, and we kept them in Novi Sad, European Youth Capital at StartIT centre for a minute, to get some information.

“At this conference, I have learned how to organise my time in the future. I met great people and filled myself by positive energy. I knew a lot of things in a way but now I became aware of them. I was attracted by the name of the workshop itself because I want to try leadership, improve and work on myself. Among the lecturers, I liked Tiago a lot because he is positive and I like his visions. He is someone who has a clear image of what he wants to do, and his lecture was directed to us and our success”, Danijela Ranđelović, one of the visitors says.

Since Novi Sad is European Youth Capital this year, and since that the goals of the project overlap with the goals of OPENS, the cooperation has been established.

“At this conference, OPENS has essential role because these are the places where young people gather, where they talk about their ideas. They talk about where they see the change and where they see themselves as the actors of this change. OPENS came partly to present and partly to participate in the programme of the creation of leaders. They have ideas about how to change and improve the postulates in which they live”, Stanislava Marojević, the assistant of the programme coordinator says.

AIESEC is the global network of people who believe in leadership in the 21st century is not the option, but the responsibility of all of us. They strive to the empowerment of leadership among young people across Serbia, with the purpose of motivating them to be the initiators of positive changes in their environments and thereby, the speakers at the conference were inspirational young people who tried to transfer the visitors their experiences, to encourage them and motivate them. This year, those were Tatjana Mandić-Milošević, Tiago Fereira and Dejana Bačko.

“I have come to inspire young people by my story and experience. I think that, if they believe in themselves, they can achieve everything they want. It takes effort and self-confidence to achieve ideas. I am glad that I have reached some level and that today, I can inspire people to take their own road to success”, Tiago Fereira, one of the speakers and a member of the management board of Serbia 4 Youth says.

AISEC is the global network whose operations began after the World War II in 1948 when young people from seven countries of the Western Europe decided to do everything possible to prevent these conflicts in the world. They hoped they can change the world, a person by person, and today, they stick with that.

“AISEC is the organisation focused on developing leadership among young people. Our main goal is to develop young leaders who will bring a change in the world and motivate other young people. The goal of the “NEW LEADERS” conference will also be the goal of the organisation. The point of this conference is to show that they can make success in their own cities in Serbia, that they do not have to go abroad, with the examples of successful people”, Jagoda Mladenović before AISEC says.

OPENS is there where young people are and young people are there where the change is, which is proved by joke, smiles and satisfaction of young people after the conference.