SU Bucuresti/Ploiesti: Ecomaniacs, See the Beauties Of Romania

Get to know many of Romania’s most beautiful places and learn about ecological lifestyle – this is what the Summer University “Greenie, meeny, miny, moe, Ecomania, let’s go!” of AEGEE-Bucuresti and AEGEE-Ploiesti are offering you. This amazing event will take place from 1^st till 15^th of August. “If you are adventurous, care about the environment and live for new experiences, you are welcome to join us and become Ecomaniacs”, the organisers told the Golden Times.

Golden Times: Why will the SU of AEGEE-Bucuresti be one of the best Summer Universities this year?
The answer is simple: It’s impossible not to find activities that you love in our programme: individual competitions and tasks that require teamwork, wilderness and modern city life, theory and practice. The participants will love it. We are putting a lot of effort into the details of the event so we already know that you, dear readers, will have an amazing time in Romania.

Golden Times: The title sounds a bit odd – “Greenie, meeny, miny, moe, Ecomania, let’s go!” What’s the story behind?
Indeed it is a special title which we wanted to make as catchy as possible. First we brainstormed for ideas. There is the well-known kids’ counting game called “Eenie, meenie, miney, moe”, for which we changed “Eenie” to “Greeny” to reflect our theme. Then to make it rhyme, we added: “Ecomania, let’s go!” as a kind of call for action. It was all about cooperation, sharing ideas and creating something together.

Golden Times: Why did you choose an environmental topic?
We think environmental issues affect us all, no matter the country that we live in. Wasting non-renewable resources or air pollution are real problems that we can learn to keep under control in funny interactive ways.

Golden Times: Ecology has become a hot topic in AEGEE in the past few years. Which ecological aspects do you focus on?
We focus on fun outdoor activities like hiking, swimming, biking, and discovering nature’s beauties as the Carpathian Mountains, salt lakes, salt mine or mud volcanoes. Also, through our games and workshops we want to raise awareness on environmental problems and to emphasize the importance of good eco-manners.

Golden Times: Your event is a Travelling Summer University. Which cities or places will you visit?
Oh, we made sure that our participant will see as much as possible of our country and that’s why we chose to visit seven of Romania’s many unforgettable places: Bucureşti, Mogoşoaia, Ploieşti, Slanic, Buzău, Braşov, Sinaia.

Golden Times: There are interesting spots mentioned in the programme: What is the Carpathian garden? Are mud volcanoes real volcanoes? And what are the living fires of Buzau?
All these metaphors were created to truly capture the intense impressions that these places leave on travellers. The Carpathian Garden is the nickname of the Carpathian Mountains, which contain a large part of Romania’s greenery and energizing fresh air. The Mud Volcanoes are large, bubbling crater-like natural structures that spew hot, bubbling mud to the surface like lava in a real volcano. Don’t get caught in the quickmud! The Living Fire is actually compressed gas from the depths of the Earth that rises to the surface through narrow cracks. Similar to a Diesel engine, the pressure underground is so powerful and makes the gas so unstable, that even sunlight ignites the gas, fueling endless flames that survive on its own, hence the name “Living Fire”.

Golden Times: You are also going to visit a lot of fortresses and castles: Bran, Peleş, Fagaras and lots of other historical sites. Which of them is your favourite one?
This is a difficult choice as each of these sites are very important historically and beautiful aesthetically. Almost all of us grew up in Bucureşti or have been studying here for a few years and we love this city. So, our choice is the old center of Bucureşti, which is the city’s liveliest and craziest nightlife district.

Golden Times: In your very rich programme you will also have a lot of workshops. Will they mainly deal with ecology or also other issues?
Sure, we will stick to the theme and all our activities are more or less related to it. But just searching for new solutions to ecological problems, raising awareness for them and seeing beautiful nature are not our only goals. We looked for interaction, connection and communication between the participants. We want to offer them the chance to be creative, to have an opinion and to share it, to better know themselves through each other’s experiences and to make friends for life.

Golden Times: AEGEE-Bucuresti is organizing this event together with AEGEE-Ploiesti. How is the atmosphere in your organizing team?
We get along really well and see each other relatively often as our antennae are very close to each other. The desire to have a great SU also brought us closer.

Golden Times: Will you try out outdoor programme elements together before the participants arrive?
Yes, we will try out outdoor activities together and it will probably be at least twice as fun as creating them was.

Golden Times: You will not only travel, but also spend some days in Bucuresti and Ploiesti. Which places there should the participants look most forward to?
Bucureşti offers many amazing attractions such as the Parliament Palace, the second largest building in the world and secondly, our participants will be acquainted with the old center where they will experience Romania’s wildest nightlife. In Ploiești we will visit the Palace of Culture, an impressive neoclassical French-style building and the Oil Museum of Ploieşti, which documents the history and evolution of the petroleum industry in Romania and around the world.

Golden Times: How much is the participation fee?
The participation fee is 180 Euro, and the optional fee is 30 Euro. We are using it to visit Peleș Castle in Sinaia, one of the most beautiful castles in Romania, Slănic, a spa town with salt lakes, and then have some Indiana Jones style nature activities in Aventura Parc near Braşov.

Golden Times: What else should potential participants know about the event?
These two amazing weeks will allow our participants to experience the Romanian lifestyle, culture and nature as well as help them learn how to live ”greener”. If you are adventurous, care about the environment and live for new experiences, you are welcome to join us and become Ecomaniacs!!!

More info about this event
SU website: http://ecomania2013.aegee-bucuresti.ro/ (offline)
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EcoMania2013 (offline)
Write to the organisers: ecomania2013@gmail.com