The long-awaited guide for members willing to set up a new working group is finally there!
Working groups are for all AER members
All AER members can participate in working groups. Any AER member can submit a proposal for setting up a working group on a new topic.
It is possible to contribute to the work by:
- Sharing needs and topics your region would be interested to work on
- Offering expertise, flagging good practices you would like to share with AER members, proposing speakers
- Participating in events organised by the Chairs of the Working Groups
- Representing AER at thematic events: all AER members can be AER ambassadors!
To do this, contact AER Coordinator for Policy & Knowledge Transfer Johanna Pacevicius with ideas, proposals, requests.
How to propose a new Working Group
1. Identifying partner regions
Any AER member can submit a proposal for setting up a Working Group. A region, which would like to set up a working group should test the idea with other members and find supporting regions, in order to ensure there is a core group of regions that will be interested in dedicating time to exchange on the topic, and to be able to define activities that will be relevant to more than one region
Any AER member wishing to set up a Working Group should therefore find at least three supporting regions, which will contribute to shaping the activities, participate and contribute to the work. Either the AER member is already in contact with regions that could join the new Working Group, or they request the help of the AER Secretariat to contact regions that may be interested.
2. Submitting a proposal to the Executive Board
The region, which would like to set up a working group should develop a draft proposal for the focus of the Working Group and list a few potential activities to be presented to the EB together with supporting regions. The Draft Proposal for setting up the new Working Group, should:
- mention the topic of the Working Group
- clarify the focus of the exchange and dissemination of best practices
- indicate the lead region and the supporting regions
- propose a few activities which they would like to implement within the first two-years mandate
- define an objective for the work of the Working Group (what will the activities help to achieve?)
3. The EB establishes the creation of the new Working Group
Once the proposal for setting up a new Working Group has been approved by the EB, an article is published about the new Working Group including information on:
- the proposed focus
- objective
- lead region and supporting regions
- envisioned activities
Regions interested to join the new Working Group and shape activities are invited to provide inputs by email.
4. Appointing a Chair
A first meeting of the working group will be organised in person or online, to appoint a Chair and agree on joint activities. The meeting will be announced beforehand on the AER website. The meeting will be open to all AER members. During this first meeting, Working Group members will agree on implementation details and responsibilities. Each Working Group decides on its own working structure
Role of the Chair of a Working Group
The Chair is responsible for the leadership of the Working Group and liaising with the Vice-President in charge of the Working Group policy area.
Each Working Group Chair’s region is charged to appoint a seconded officer to act as working group secretariat in liaison with the AER secretariat. The seconded officer is responsible for:
- Co-organising events and projects in collaboration with the secretariat;
- Managing the content of the meetings;
- Drafting speeches and policy contributions;
- The Chair will take the responsibility for the planning of the Working Group’s activities;
The Chair of the Working Group will inform the Vice-President in charge of the related policy area about the activities organised by the Working Group.
The Vice-President in charge of the related policy area will inform the Chair of the Working Group about upcoming events or EU policy developments, which may be of interest to the Chair and where the findings of the Working Group could be shared
When the Vice-President in charge of the related policy area is invited to external events, they will mention the activities of the working group
Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash
