About AIESEC

What we do...

In today's interlinked world, actions at on place can have an influence on seemingly distant and unconnected events in another place. This is why we need decision-makers who realise the extent of their actions and who can handle them responsibly. However: how does a young person develop into a responsible and far-sighted leader?

Whoever claims to have found the perfect solution is surely wrong. It should rather be a sum of experience, which leads in the right direction. And one element is ubiquitious: this person must be willing and able to learn. Again and again. And wihtin all these technical innovations that surround us we must not forget the main factor in the system, on which everything else depends: the other person.
This cannot be learned from textbooks. One needs opportunities to gain experience. There is no shortcut on the way to becoming a responsible leader. AIESEC wants to contribute to the development of young people. She wants to supplement academic education. AIESEC offers students a learning platform on which they can gain experience voluntarily. Our central concern is to give students the opportunity to learn thourgh interculural exchange. Few things are more effective to facilitate a learning process than to leave your familiar surroundings an enter a foreign culture. Pivots for your own actions are not valid anymore because values and customs are different in this society, so you are forced to think in new ways and question your paradigms.
Our exchange programmes are, thus, designed to give adequate guidance. To make the experience of a traineeship abroad as rewarding as possible, a preparation phase offers information on the hosting countries, help with bureaucracy and, most important, preparation seminars on topics like local and foreign cultural standards, dealing with stereotypes and cultural shocks etc. During the ensuing traineeship abroad, deep integration into the hosting culture is promoted through reception activities and events. Back home in the re-integration phase, the trainee is offered the possibility to reflect his experience and is shown different ways of applying the new knowledge. Such an Exchange Process will lead to increased openness, tolearnce and self-reliance. These are characteristics which, combined e.g. with academic qualifications, should define the key players of society.