The project "Empower Volunteering Across the Continent" aims to improve youth workers' competences and volunteers' management within a network of 5 organizations from 5 different countries - Italy, Romania, Perù, Madagascar and India. The coordinator has already collaborated with project's partner organizations in short and long term volunteering. Partners generally host foreign volunteers, involving them in their local activities. The evaluation process of these experiences has emphasized some difficulties in the main phases of a volunteering cycle project - training, mentoring, elaboration of an activity plans, monitoring of the experience - and specific training of youth workers could be a first step to acquire tools and methods to manage volunteers. Therefore, the project aims to: 1) to Improve local youth workers' skills and competencies in the management of international volunteers reinforcing the international dimension of youth organizations in Partner Countries; 2) to promote the recognition of volunteering in Partner Countries 3) to develop a sustainable partnership among youth organizations from different regions of the world, creating a strong network for future collaboration.The project will target to 13 youth workers of the participating organizations' staffs and it will impact about 36 foreign volunteers in their short and long term volunteering experiences.Main project activities will be, first of all, the implementation of 3 meetings with organizations from Partner countries to carry out a field analysis on volunteering and strategies for youth social inclusion. The results of these field analysis will contribute to define the content of the training course (mobility of youth workers) for 13 people from the partner organizations. The acquired competences and skills will be tested through the management of international summer workcamps and EVS projects implemented in the organizations. All the activities will contribute to the production of an handbook with good practices, tools and methods to develop activities for youth and to manage international volunteers. The handbook will be freely accessible on line and it will be exploited in the international networks active in the same field both in Europe and in Partner countries. Participating organizations will arise the quality of their internal youth working methods and they will enforce their international dimension, their capacities to attract local volunteers and they will improve the networking at local level.Foreign volunteers will benefit of international experiences of greater quality. Future S&LMTV projects will foresee specific steps and moments to favour volunteers' adjustment to local community and culture and more scheduled activities plans.
The project "Empower Volunteering Across the Continent" aimed at improving youth workers' competences and volunteers' management within a network of 5 organizations from 5 different countries - Italy, Romania, Perù, Madagascar and India. The whole action was based on a previous collaboration among partner organizations in short and long term volunteering. The evaluation process of these experiences emphasized some difficulties in the different steps of a volunteering cycle project, such as training, mentoring, scheduling of the activity plan, monitoring and evaluation. Starting from this need assessment, partners planned a project proposal containing training and trasnational mobility in order to share and improve tools and methods to manage volunteers and to propose non formal education experiences of greater quality to local and international youth. The project implemented between November 2017 and April 2019 achieved the following results: 1) improved local youth workers' skills and competencies in the management of volunteers by reinforcing the international dimension of youth organizations in Partner Countries; 2) fostered the recognition of volunteering in Partner Countries and 3) developed a sustainable partnership among youth organizations from different regions of the world, creating a strong network for future collaboration.The project targeted to 12 youth workers and involved 33 foreign volunteers: 10 participants in EVS mobility and 23 participants in international workcamps across involved organizations. In addition to the partner organizations, further 8 local organizations met during the field meeting had benefitted of the project and increase their knowledge of the international volunteering.First project activities were 3 field visits of EU partners’ youth workers at organizations in Partner countries to carry out a field analysis on volunteering and strategies for non formal education for youth. The results of these field analysis contributed to define the content of a training course (mobility of youth workers) held in Italy in April 2018 when 12 youth workers of partner organizations met together to discuss and share methodologies and good practices in dealing with international volunteers. Youth workers and partner organizations had the opportunity to test acquired competences and skills in the management of international workcamps and EVS mobility. Final step of the project was the production of an handbook containing lessons learnt and best practices experienced by partner organizations, including tools and methods to develop activities for youth and to manage international volunteers. The handbook is freely accessible on line and it will be exploited in the international networks active in the same field both in Europe and in Partner countries. The handbook aims to be a really useful tool not only for organizations already active in the youth field but also for those CSOs and associations that are willing to start working in international volunteering and need information and guidelines to support the creation of volunteering proposals. The handbook will be exploited for the training of new youth workers, group leaders and workcamps leaders of different countries improving the quality of the proposed experience. Participating organizations increased the quality of their internal youth working methods and enforced their international dimension and networking at local and international level. Foreign volunteers benefited of international experiences of greater quality.