The primary aim of VOLUMEN is to encourage volunteering initiatives by creating an action plan that promotes sustainable gender equality. Our focus was identifying and analyzing existing inequality factors in volunteerism across partner nations through a needs assessment and continuous transnational collaboration. Also, we equipped youth workers with tools to enhance their efforts to implement gender mainstreaming within volunteer activities. Participants have received training tailored to the promotion of equality, gender mainstreaming and non-discrimination through a non-formal education method. We facilitated their role as advocates for gender equality work within their organizations. A key facet has been raising awareness among young people, the educational community, and the wider public about the necessity of sustainable and gender-equal volunteering practices. Both organizations also strive to offer accessible volunteer opportunities to the local community and further training that can generate a culture of equality. VOLUMEN's success depended on transnational, cross-sectoral cooperation between project partners. This was achieved through knowledge exchange and sharing best practices related to project main areas.
As leading organizations in the field of education, training, and youth, we acknowledge volunteering's role as a catalyst for human and social capital and key factors to uphold European values like social cohesion, inclusion, and active citizenship. Volunteering encompasses both formal and informal activities where volunteers freely offer assistance without seeking financial gain. Our research confirms that in Spain and Greece contexts, traditional gender roles often influence volunteering. In other words, the gendered division of tasks and responsibilities caused by unequal societal structures also extends to volunteering. Thus our project is aimed to promote equal participation in volunteering and to make gender mainstreaming practices accessible for other organizations as well. Creating and facilitating inclusive and non-discriminatory spaces increases the quality, innovation and recognition of youth work, inspiring participants to exercise active citizenship. Our mission was also to encourage NGOs to take designated initiatives to facilitate the role of young people as agents of change towards more just and inclusive societies.