The Project:

“Volunteers as a force of solidarity in times of crisis” is a project funded by Europe for Citizens Programme. This  Project is an extension of the project "Optimising Volunteer Services in times of refugee crisis“ that was implemented during 2016/2017 and offered evidence-based recommendations for improvement of volunteering in times of crisis of which CEV was a partner.

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The project helps cooperation among organizations that work on volunteerism development and opens a space for dialogue on opinions of the role of volunteers during the refugee crisis and after, during the process of integration. The project partners have experience on organizing volunteering, developing policies on volunteering and working with refugees.

 

The objectives:

• To contribute to strengthening and promoting the role of volunteering as the impact of volunteering during the EU refugee crisis was immense.

• To gather opinions on volunteering in times of crisis and after, and to promote volunteering as a solidarity and democracy force in Europe, which is in line with EU policies and strategies. Events will discuss organized, coordinated and quality volunteer work in the times of crisis in the community.

 

Project Activities and Events:

As a part of preparatory activities, partners will question opinions on  volunteering with refugees. Surveys will be shared via social media in BEL, ITA, CRO, SER and POL and results will be presented during national events in all partner countries and during the final conference (CRO). Expert sociologists (applicant) who will guide the research process will compose the survey.

 

During the project implementation period, 3 international (CRO, BEL) and 5 national events (CRO, SER, ITA, POL) will be conducted. 

 

The VOCIS (Volunteers as a Force of Solidarity in Times of Crisis) Webinar presented the VOCIS Europe for Citizens funded project and explored the real value of volunteering during crises. University researchers, volunteers, participants and partners of the VOCIS project shared their experiences before registered participants joined working groups to explore the different aspects more deeply. The seminar, originally envisioned to take place in Padova (Italy), due to the changed regulations to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, took place online, and was available on Live Streaming on the Centre for European Volunteering Facebook page. The webinar report is available here.

 

Project outputs will be distributed to stakeholders on EU level by the Center for European Volunteering (CEV) and other partners. 

 

Through strong project promotion and dissemination (Promotional event in Croatia and Kickoff Event – World Refugee Day), the importance of volunteering, solidarity, building intercultural and open societies will be promoted as well. Cooperation with local media will be maintained.

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From September-November 2020 Francesca was a trainee at CEV within the framework of the Europe for Citizens - "VOCIS project. Find more about Francesca experience here.