The project's overall aim was to promote voluntary work as a flexible, informal, and individual learning opportunity for adults by creating prerequisites for volunteering and facilitating the transfer of skills and knowledge acquired through volunteering to education and career development. Specifically, the project objectives were: - Establishing capable learning communities in project areas that unite culture, education, and volunteering. - Developing competent volunteer leaders and well-trained volunteer coordinators who actively engaged and mobilized volunteer communities in the project areas. - Implementing an e-assessment application to assess and validate voluntary work within formal education. - Ensuring that voluntary work was recognized as a valuable part of an individual's learning path.
In 2024, Tartu (EE), Bad Ischl-Salzkammergut (AU), and Bodø (NO) hold the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) title, fostering culture-driven development across education, entrepreneurship, and communities. Thousands of people, including educational institutions, businesses, and NGOs, contribute to these broader ECoC goals. This project connected cultural capitals with learning communities, building strong volunteer networks, skilled coordinators, and tools to validate voluntary work as part of education. It promotes informal, flexible learning through voluntary work, benefiting diverse groups of people. By developing training materials, guidelines, and an e-assessment tool, the project empowered volunteer coordinators and team leaders as well as organisations that are connected with volunteering. Thus the project bridged gaps between volunteering, informal and formal education, while providing sustainable solutions for European-level adoption.