The following years of hibernation since 1975 were characterised by significant problems both in communication and financial for EUROAVIA. Thanks to the efforts of few Local Groups still motivated to rebuild the association brought EUROAVIA to its revitalisation. Students from five different groups reunited in a congress in Kingston, UK, in September 1984 to make this possible.
First, EUROAVIA’s aims were revised, confirming old projects and activities like the EUROAVIA News, annual congresses, and expansion tasks, along with trying to reconnect with old groups that became isolated. A year later, during the 1985 congress in Delft, it became clear that EUROAVIA was on the rise again: A new annual congress was successfully organised, Local Groups’ activities had substantial positive results, and an issue of EUROAVIA News was published which was sponsored by interested companies.
However, during the search for the old Statutes which had been lost, the Local Groups realised that EUROAVIA was no longer registered as an association because of some missed payments to the Aachen Chamber of Commerce during the hibernation years. This problem would be addressed and solved later, towards the end of the decade.
This instilled heated discussions regarding the managing style that EUROAVIA should have. The two prevalent suggestions for the association’s structure were either a distribution or a centralisation of the power. Both solutions presented pros and cons. A distribution of power and authority between different Local Groups would grant great fundings and participation, but it would be difficult to maintain efficient communication and realise shared tasks efficiently. The centralisation of the power in the hands of an organ similar to the Central Committee like in previous years was instead deemed risky because it would have possibly led to the same problems EUROAVIA faced in the past, leading to the hibernation years. A hybrid approach was also suggested, with a C.C. established every year in a different Local Group, which however meant that EUROAVIA’s interests could lean towards national interests easily.
The debate remained opened until a letter by the first EUROAVIA President, Jean Roeder, impacted the discussion. He advocated in favour of an association with a predominant supranational aspect, against the national one, that would be mostly European-focused. The basis for such an association would have been commonly shared objectives among the Local Groups, that would maintain communication between them through their presidents to efficiently distribute tasks among themselves. Although this shifted the balance in the discussions, the members didn’t reach a definitive solution until the end of the decade.
By 1986, an exponential increase in participation at the annual congress testified the positive outcome of the expansion goals of EUROAVIA. Several International Events were successfully held until the end of the decade, like the visit to Le Bourget, France, organised by the Toulouse Local Group, an occasion in which they coined the term “Fly-In”. Since then, various Local Groups hosted this new type of event, which was aimed at providing the participants with a week of non-technical activities including sightseeing, laboratory and company visits, whilst paying as little as possible for their stay.
The second half of the 1980s are really dense and full of history. For this reason, we invite you to stay tuned for the next article, where we will cover the last part of the revival period of EUROAVIA, between 1987 and 1989.