Volunteering makes an invaluable contribution to society. It is an important driver of inclusive growth, which contributes to both social and human capital, and fosters intergenerational solidarity, while also offering significant economic value. Involvement in voluntary activities is a tangible expression of participatory democracy and there is a strong connection between volunteering and active citizenship and participation. According to the widely used (in EU institutions) definition of the term, "volunteering" refers to all forms of voluntary activity, whether formal or informal, undertaken of a person's own free will, choice and motivation, without concern for financial gain. It is estimated that there are 100 million volunteers in the EU, making an important contribution to the development of society, the economy and the individual. Overall, volunteering is estimated to contribute up to 5% of the GDP of the collected EU national economies. However, there are clear differences in the level of volunteering between European countries. Whilst certain EU Member States have long standing traditions in volunteering and recognition of voluntary work and well developed voluntary sectors (eg Germany, UK, Belgium), in others the voluntary sector is still emerging or poorly developed (eg Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy). (Volunteering in the EU, Final Report GHK, EAC-EA, 2010) Volunteering plays an important role in gaining skills, and improving the employability of the volunteer. As an informal and non-formal learning experience volunteering offers real opportunities to those excluded from the formal education system and also the long term unemployed. According to the Commission in its most recent communication on promoting young people's full participation in education, employment and society, voluntary activities provide a valuable non formal and informal learning experience which enables young people to acquire skills and facilitate their transition from education and social inclusion to employment. (COM, 2007, 498) The importance of volunteering has long been acknowledged by the EU. However, there is a lack of a systematic and structured EU approach towards volunteering and recognition of voluntary work. You Voice project aims to foster the inclusion, active youth participation and enhance employability of young people by the establishment of a certificate of volunteer work. In this frame, this project revolves the implementation of ECVET system for the validation of knowledge, skills and competencies of young volunteers and youth workers. Within this context, project’s objectives are: -To promote skills, competencies and knowledge that young people in participation countries and in general Europe gained through volunteer work and informal and non-formal learning processes -To foster the inclusion and employability of young people, including people with fewer opportunities and young immigrants and refugees -To support improvements in quality and innovation in youth work and volunteer work in NGOs, organizations and institutions (private and public) and further develop and train people involved in the field of youth -To foster the recognition and quality of volunteer work and promote the networking, training and exchanging of good practices among youth workers in a local, regional and European level. Voice project will establish a methodology for the development of a certification of volunteer work that consists of a number of different stages: 01. Establishment of Volunteers’ profile (O1) 02. Development of the methodology for the certification - Establishment of certification (O2) 03. Establishment of credit system (O3) 04. Pilot testing / Development of the Platform (O4) 05. Policy (O5) During the 24-month duration of this project, 6 national events, 1 international event, 1 international training and 3 transnational meetings will take place in all participating countries. Target group: volunteers, young people, youth organizations, NGOs staff members, team leaders, youth leaders, trainers, youth and social workers.
In September 2018, when the project officially began and the international partners met and got to know each other personally, there was much discussion about how invaluable the contribution that volunteering makes to society is: it is an important engine of inclusive growth, contributing to social and human capital, and promoting intergenerational solidarity, while also offering significant economic value. Involvement in voluntary activities is a tangible expression of participatory democracy and there is a strong connection between volunteering and active citizenship and participation. "Volunteering" refers to all forms of voluntary activities, whether formal or informal, undertaken out of a person's free will, choice and motivation, without concern for financial gain. It is estimated that there are 100 million volunteers in the EU, making an important contribution to the development of society, the economy and the individual. However, there remain clear differences in the level of volunteering among European countries. While some EU member states have long-standing traditions in volunteering and recognition of volunteer work and well-developed volunteer sectors (e.g. DE, UK, BE), in others the volunteer sector is still emerging or underdeveloped (e.g. GR, CY, PT, IT). The YECh project started from this very premise, with the common goal recognized by the partnership and project beneficiaries to promote inclusion, active participation and improve youth employability through the establishment of a volunteer work certificate. In this framework, this project has benefited from the ECVET system for the validation of knowledge, skills and competencies of young volunteers and youth workers. The objectives of the project were: - Promote the skills, competencies and knowledge that young people in EU acquire through voluntary work and informal and non-formal learning; - foster the inclusion and employability of young people, including people with fewer opportunities and young immigrants and refugees; - support the improvement of quality and innovation in youth work and volunteering in NGOs, organizations and institutions; - foster the recognition and quality of voluntary work and promote networking, training and exchange of good practices among youth workers at local, regional and EU level. For this reason, from the very beginning the partnership relied on a wide network of associations and organizations to support the project objectives, as well as a group of experts in training and education to ensure the excellence of its results. About 1000 people (volunteer representatives, youth organizations, NGO staff members, team leaders, youth workers, trainers, social workers) all over Europe have benefited from the project and actively participated in the activities: 14 training and education experts supported the conversion of the assessment platform modules into ECVET credits and the weighting of skills, knowledge and competencies; about 100 young volunteers responded to a statistical survey aimed at identifying the skills and experiences to be assessed; as many as 26 young people flew to Larissa, Greece, for training on a first draft of the project platform; another 140 tested the improved platform in summer 2020 and received the first certificate issued by the project; finally, a large number of other participants in dissemination activities such as 6 multiplier events and 1 final conference learned about the project results and committed themselves to disseminate and further improve them in their work areas or regions. The YECh project has established a methodology for the development of a certification of volunteer work through the definition of the profile of volunteers and the development of the certification itself, obtainable through an online pathway consisting of educational materials, open and multiple choice questions, discussion of case studies. The certification is based on a credit system inspired by the ECVET methodology and Youthpass, but it is innovative because it officially recognizes volunteer activities as an integral part of the EU training and work system, ensuring a specific focus on the various areas of volunteering (health, immigration, support to the homeless, education, etc.). Many of the certificates received have already been uploaded to the LinkedIn profiles of the project participants, and attached to their CVs, obtaining positive feedback and long-term benefits. The benefits will be guaranteed by the maintenance of the platform, which has been translated into 7 different languages, and by the commitment of the project partners to sponsor it and integrate it in their activities also in the future. Following the final conference, during which a Policy Paper was presented, representatives of EU institutions also underlined their commitment to promote the recognition of the e-learning platform and its certificate in order to make its existence official.