Have you ever wonder how paradise looks like? Do you know that in the heart of the Mediterranean paradise exists? If your answer is "no" then read this carefully… Around 6000 BC old civilizations started to settle in a wild, barren and torrid territory called Sardinia, a real oasis. Different cultures from all over the planet felt in love with the most precious pearl of the Mediterranean, with countless beauties and unspoilt lands.
Sardinians love their island and foreigners too: leaving is never easy, melancholy will lead you on your way back home. Are you ready for this? If yes, continue reading, because there is a wonderful mission just waiting for you!
Once upon a time, wild animals and exotic ones lived and cooperated together to keep Sardinia unpolluted. Nowadays, seeing them is not easy: they’re little elves who works on the sly to make life better and greener and to preserve nature!

In this fabulous world, the strong and powerful hierarchy of the Sir Bone gave harmony to the ecosystem. Sir Bone was the wisest wild boar ever existed: he knew everything about nature and he kept the secrets of the Sardinian tradition. Not long ago, Sir Bone met some other sage animals, his best friends ever: the Frog, the Horse, the Pig, the Rabbit and the Cock. They started soon to explore Europe, of course thanks to AEGEE! In Istanbul and in Maribor their friendship grew up strong and they became an indivisible team.
Sir Bone ruled his reign until a tragedy occurred. The animals and the AEGEE-Cagliari team were planning the SU ‘11: wild reserves, a marine protected area and more. Their plan came down as soon as they realized that Sir Bone was missing.
What happened to the King? Did someone kidnap him? Nobody knows. AEGEE-Cagliari and Sir Bone’s fellows are desperate but ready to find him. We need him to make this SU the best of your life but we also need YOU to rescue him!
If you accept this mission, anything will be the same again as soon as you will discover the marvels of Sardinia. Remember: finding our King won’t be easy! Caribbean hot waters, wonderful woods, ancients buildings and delicious Sardinian food will tempt you... Go on!
The mission will be full of green activities, being Sardinia a natural environment rich in possibilities. Everyday will be a new day, with new goals and interesting challenges, under the hot Sardinian sun and in attractive landscapes full of mistery.
Help us to make this dream come true: the Sir Bone hunting has just begun!

«La città si ammucchia alta e nobile e quasi in miniatura [...] Ha anche qualcosa del gioiello : un nudo gioiello d'ambra che si apre improvviso , a rosa , nel profondo dell'insenatura [...] E' come una visione , un ricordo , qualcosa di tramontato.»
(David Herbert Lawrence, da Mare e Sardegna, 1921)

Cagliari, Sardinian (Casteddu) is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 160,000 inhabitants, or about 400,000 including the outlying townships (metropolitan area). An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari has seen the occupation of several civilisations. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia (which in the 1861 became the Kingdom of Italy) from 1324 to 1720 and from 1798 to 1815. Seat of the important University of Cagliari and the Primate Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sardinia, the city is an important regional cultural, educational, political and artistic centre, known for its diverse Art Nouveau architecture, vibrant nightlife and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of biggest ports in the Mediterranean sea, an international airport, and the 28th highest income rate in Italy, comparable to several Northern cities, such as Turin, Vicenza and Genoa.

Main sights

The old part of the city (called Castello, the castle) lies on top of a hill, with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Cagliari (also known as Angels Gulf). Most of its city walls are intact, and feature the two 13th century white lime-stone towers, St. Pancras Tower and the Elephant Tower. The local white lime-stone was also used to build the walls of the city and many buildings. D. H. Lawrence, in his lively memoir of a voyage to Sardinia, Sea and Sardinia, undertaken in January 1921, described the effect of the warm Mediterranean sun-light on the white lime-stone city and compared Cagliari to a "white Jerusalem". The city is said to be built on seven hills (Sant'Elia, Bonaria, Monte Urpinu, Castello, Monte Claro, Tuvixeddu and San Michele).

The Cathedral was restored in the 1930s turning the former Baroque façade into a Medieval Pisan style façade, more akin to the original appearance of the church. The bell tower is original. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with a pulpit (1159-1162)[18] sculpted for the Cathedral of Pisa but later donated to Cagliari. The crypt houses the remains of martyrs found in the Basilica of San Saturno (see below). Near the Cathedral is the palace of the Provincial Government (which used to be the island's governor's palace before 1900). In Castello is also the Sardinian Archaeological Museum, the biggest and most important regarding the prehistoric Nuragic civilisation of Sardinia. Finally, Castello hosts many craftsmen workshops in its tightened and scenic lanes.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria was built by the Aragonese in 1324-1329 during the siege to the Castle in which the Pisan had taken shelter. It has a small Gothic portal in the façade and in the interior houses a wooden statue of the Madonna, which was thrown off by a Spanish ship and landed at the feet of the Bonaria hill. The cloister of the convent is home to the Marinery Museum.

The other early districts of the town (Marina, Stampace, Villanova) retain much of their original appeal and still seem to function as distinct villages within the town.

Considerable other remains of the ancient city are still visible at Cagliari, the most striking of which are those of the Roman Amphitheatre, carved into a block of rock (the typical lime-stone on which Cagliari is built), and of an aqueduct; the latter a most important acquisition to the city, where fresh water is scarce. There exist also ancient cisterns of vast extent: the ruins of a small circular temple, and numerous sepulchres on a hill outside the modern town, which appears to have formed the necropolis of the ancient city. (Smyth's Sardinia, pp. 206, 215; Valery, Voyage en Sardaigne, c. 57.) The Amphitheatre still stages open-air operas and concerts during the summer.

Cagliari has one of the longest beaches in an Italian town. The Poetto beach stretches for 13 km and was famous for its white fine-grained sand. A recent controversial intervention to save the beach from erosion has slightly altered the original texture of the sand.

Economy

Cagliari is the main commercial and industrial center of the island, with many major Italian factories within its provincial boundaries. The Macchiareddu-Grogastru area between Cagliari and Capoterra (coadiuvated by the industrial port of Giorgino) is one of the most imporant industrial areas of Sardinia . Cagliari also has one of the largest fish markets in all of Italy with a vast array of fish for sale to both the public and trade. The communications provider Tiscali has its headquarters in town, and Cagliari also has one of the biggest container terminals on the Mediterranean sea. Many multinational corporations like Coca Cola, Heineken, Unilever, Bridgestone and Eni Group have factories in town. Tourism is also one of the major industries of the city.

Cagliari is home to the football team Cagliari Calcio, winner of the Italian league championship in 1970, with the team led by one of the greatest Italian strikers of all time, Gigi Riva. Cagliari is an ideal location for water sports such as surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing and sailing due to strong and reliable favourable winds. Hiking is also popular.

Cagliari has a Mediterranean Climate, with hot dry summers and very mild winters. Its climate is comparable to that of Southern California, but it is often refreshed by north-westerly winds. It is close to other beautiful seaside locations, such as Maddalena Beach, Chia or Villasimius, still relatively unspoilt by tourism and is also close to mountain parks, such as Monte Arcosu or Maidopis, with large forests and wildlife (Sardinian deer, wild boars, etc.).

Beaches

The main beach of Cagliari is the Poetto. It stretches for about eight kilometers, from Sella del Diavolo (the Devil's Saddle) up to the coastline of Quartu Sant'Elena. Poetto is also the name of the district located on the western stretch of the strip between the beach and Saline di Molentargius (Molentargius's Salt Mine). Another smaller beach is that of Calamosca near the Sant'Elia district.

Culture

Cagliari is home of the University of Cagliari, the first university in Sardinia, founded in 1620. Cagliari has some peculiar gastronomic traditions. Many dishes are based on the wide variety of fish and sea food available, for example, burrida. Although it is possible to trace influences from Spanish cuisine, Cagliaritanian food has a distinctive and unique character. Very good wines are also part of Cagliaritanians' dinners: excellent wines are in fact produced in the nearby vineyards of the Campidano plain.

Life in Cagliari has been vividly depicted by Sergio Atzeni, who set many of his novels and short stories, such as Bakunin's Son, in ancient and modern Cagliari.

The Basilica of Bonaria in Cagliari gives its name to Buenos Aires. The Spaniard who founded Buenos Aires visited the church of Bonaria (fair winds) and asked for help from the Mary of Bonaria, to whom the church is dedicated. The church faces the sea and was allegedly built where a sailor landed after the Mary of Bonaria appeared in the midst of a tempest and saved the sailor and his ship from sinking.

Nightlife

Cagliari is a tourist city, and especially in summer a lot of clubs and pubs are goals for youth and tourists, pubs and night-clubs are concentrated in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a narrow street in Stampace district, Marina district, near to the port and Castello district, as for clubs they are mostly on the Poetto beach (in summer), or in Viale Marconi (in winter).

• RECENT ACTIVITIES AND CONFERENCES
• HONORARY MEMBERS AND PRESIDENTS
• AEGEE CAGLIARI MEMBERS

Born in 1995, AEGEE-Cagliari has always been one of the most active antennas in Europe and especially in Italy (among the first five). Nowadays, it counts with almost 120 members and its weight in Cagliari has considerably changed thanks to many local activities, action days, conferences (most of the times in collaboration with the University of Cagliari, to make the partnership stronger and to help students to know better the European reality) and the collaboration with several international and European associations (ELSA Cagliari, ESN Cagliari, TDM 2000...). Celebrating its 15th birthday, AEGEE-Cagliari find itself totally new, absolutely motivated and always ready to join European and local events. Moreover, the number of our members has been considerably increasing in the last two years, when the antenna has been totally renewed thanks to new boards, fresh new and young members and active people ready to dedicate their time to AEGEE. Our work is not finished yet of course, as we're trying to make our antenna bigger and bigger fighting against the so called "Italians", sometimes not so open-minded and afraid to leave their country. But Sardinia is different: we live in a island, we need to travel if we want to explore new places and cultures! This is one of the main reasons why a lot of young girls and boys are joining AEGEE-Cagliari, the perfect occasion to get to know Europe having fun and becoming an active citizen at the same time.

Our multicultural mission is based on:

Cultural exchange: the focus of our association is to educate about respect and regard between people with different cultures. Every year AEGEE-Cagliari organizes a considerable number of events regarding cultural exchange.

Active citizenship: AEGEE is an independent nonpartisan organization, which cooperates with the institutions and other NGO to accomplish its goals. AEGEE tries to give voice in politics to its members at every level, organizing conferences about different topics and make the most of the results for lobby actions on European institutions.

Superior education: in addition to encourage students mobility, AEGEE-Cagliari encourages its members to embrace new languages and promotes international cooperation in the academic world.

Peace and stability: AEGEE animates democratic ideals, tolerance and mutual understanding between young people coming from communities in conflict. More than, every year a number of conferences and seminars are organized about topics which regard international politics.

• RECENT ACTIVITIES AND CONFERENCES
• HONORARY MEMBERS AND PRESIDENTS
• AEGEE CAGLIARI MEMBERS

RECENT CONFERENCES FOR THE EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

• "Europe A Land of Language's Richness" 23 novembre 2006
• "Bilinguism: one nations two faces" 13 dicembre 2007
• "Eurobabel" 11 dicembre 2008
• "Cafe dell'Europa" 2/3/4 Dicembre 2009
• "Aperitif Time?" 14 Dicembre 2010

MAIN RECENT ACTIVITIES

• "Young People to Young People: building a European identity in an enlarged Union"
  "Quali opportunità per i giovani nella nuova Europa?"
  24 February 2006
• "Allargamento europeo ad est: Bulgaria e Romania e prospettive sull'ingresso della Turchia"
  13 June 2007
• Round of courses for the training of the participants before activities such as the organization of conferences, the administration of human resources and the public relations activity.
  March-April 2008
• "Autodeterminazione: il difficile cammino di tre popoli verso l'indipendenza"
  18 April 2008
• Training course about EU policies in Bruxelles: "Cosa ha fatto l'Europa per noi?"
  3/10 May 2008
• Conferenze "Formazione Lavoro ed Europa"
  26-27 February 2009 & 4-6 March 2010
• International Exchange: "Work together, build Europe"
  27 February - 2 April 2009
• Training course "EU Institutions: Projecting Your European Future"
  29 November - 5 December 2009
• Progetto di ricerca internazionale sui giovani "Young People Meeting Europe"
  Marzo 2010
• Corso sulle istituzioni europee - Bruxelles
  19-23 Maggio 2010
• Corso di formazione "Fare impresa operazione possibile"
  11-16 Ottobre 2010
• Progetto di Ricerca, "Young People Meeting Europe"
  Novembre 2010
• European day of languages 2010
  14 Dicembre 2010
• Formazione lavoro ed Europa 2011
  4/6 Marzo 2011
• Cineforum in lingua originale
  10/31 Marzo 2011
• Summer University Action Day 2011
  9/10/28 Marzo 2011
• Corso di conversazione inglese "It’s time to speak English"
  24 Marzo 2011
• The Importance of Being European
  6 Aprile 2011

• RECENT ACTIVITIES AND CONFERENCES
• HONORARY MEMBERS AND PRESIDENTS
• AEGEE CAGLIARI MEMBERS

AEGEE (Association des Etats Généraux des Etudiants de l'Europe / European Students' Forum) is a student organisation which promotes the cooperation, communication and integration among young people in Europe. As a non-governmental, politically independent and non-profit organisation, AEGEE is open to students and young professionals from all faculties and disciplines - today it counts with 15.000 members, active in more than 240 cities in 43 European countries, making it the biggest interdisciplinary student association in Europe.

AEGEE, which was founded in 1985 in Paris, puts the idea of a unified Europe into practice. A widely spread student network provides the ideal platform where youth workers and young volunteers from 43 European countries can work together on cross border activities such as conferences, seminars, exchanges, training courses, Summer Universities, Case Study trips and Working Group meetings. By encouraging travelling and mobility, stimulating discussion and organising common projects, AEGEE attempts to overcome national, cultural and ethnic divisions and to create a vision of young people's Europe. The structure is based on an European level (a European Board of Directors working in Brussels and 4 Commissions, 11 Working Groups and 9 multinational Project Teams) and on a local level (the 240 antennae or locals: the Network).

The association main aims are:

• Promoting a unified Europe without prejudices
• Striving for creating an open and tolerant society of today and tomorrow
• Fostering democracy, human rights, tolerance, cross-boarder cooperation, mobility and European dimension in education

All the events and projects run by AEGEE are focused on four "Fields of Action" (Cultural Exchange, Active Citizenship, Higher Education, Peace & Stability) and three "Focus Areas" (European Citizenship, Global Challenges and Intercultural Dialogue).

Among AEGEE most well-known achievements there are the establishment of the Erasmus Programme (AEGEE has been directly involved in it) and its longest running project, the Summer University Project, gathering every summer thousands of volunteers who contribute to open a new perspective to the participants over the multicultural dimension of the European continent, providing high-content, high-quality and low-cost summer courses (ranging from language courses to seminars about political, cultural, environmental issues).

AEGEE has participatory status in the activities of the Council of Europe, consultative status at the United Nations, operational status at UNESCO and is at the same time a member of the European Youth Forum. The organisation has also a number of illustrious personalities amongst its general partners: Mikhael Gorbatchev, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic; Eric Froment, former President of the European University Association, Wolfgang Thierse, former President of the Bundestag and Romano Prodi, former Primeminister of Italy and President of the European Commission.