"Context/background of the project: Before the beginning of the project the project partners were involved in topics as Volunteer Management and recognition of competences gained in volunteering. They have observed in their work with volunteers and volunteer organisations that there is a need of inclusive volunteering especially in the field of youth. They have noticed the organisations involving volunteers needed to get certain knowledge in volunteer management of vulnerable youth - since young people with fewer opportunities are the target group which was not often participating in volunteer activities. There were stereotypes and prejudices on the side of volunteer organisations towards this target group as well as fear and doubts on the side of vulnerable youth when thinking about being involved in volunteering. Partners have seen the need to create specific training and guidelines for managing young volunteers from vulnerable groups. On the other hand all partners were aware of the fact that young people (especially those with fewer opportunities) can be motivated for volunteering also for reasons to get competences they can use in their future personal and professional lives. They needed to create or adapt tools - specifically online tools which would prove the skills and competences enhanced while volunteering. These tools had to follow specifics of the respective countries´ legislation. These tools enable young people already volunteering at the end of the volunteering to get a certificate of the enhanced competences which they can use on labor market. For creating and adapting such tools partners also need to observe the processes of validation of competences in other countries of Europe. Objectives: - to include young people from vulnerable groups in Croatia, Romania, and Slovakia to various volunteering activities and thus, integrate them into society,- to recognize competencies and skills acquired through volunteering and - to increase the employability of young people, and to inform about tools for recognition and validation of skills and competencies gained through volunteering already existing within Europe.Number and profile of participating organisations: The project was based on the cooperation among NGOs, especially volunteer centres and educational institutions in three countries: Slovakia, Romania, and Croatia. There were 6 partners involved, two from each country. Description of undertaken main activities: In the project we have trained 46 volunteer coordinators in all partner countries who are prepared to coordinate young volunteersfrom vulnerable groups. We have develop training materials and tailored training for volunteer coordinators working with young peoplefrom vulnerable groups. We have created a website www.civcil.eu providing information about already existing tools for recognition and validation of competences acquired through volunteering in Europe, and created and improved online tools for recognition and validationof competences gained through volunteering in partner countries. We have involved 75 young volunteers with fewer opportunities into volunteering in partner countries and then created recommendations about inclusive volunteering - about specifics of involvement of young people with fewer opportunities into volunteering. Results and impact attained - The main results of the project are: 1. Publication ""Be Volunteer Inclusive! Recommendations about How to Work with Young Volunteers with Fewer Opportunities"" which describes proper environment, cooperation of different stakeholders and volunteer management of vulnerable youth needed for inclusive volunteering as well as results of involvement of 75 young volunteers from vulnerable groups into volunteering. 2. Training materials for trainers and participants of the Volunteer Management of Vulnerable Youth Training. 3. Website www.civcil.eu: overview of recognition and validation tools of skills enhanced in volunteering in European countries 4. Created and adapted online tools for recognition and validation of competences gained while volunteering in Romania, Slovakia and Croatia: SK: http://dzrucnosti.dobrovolnickecentra.sk RO: www.hartavoluntariatului.roHR: http://kompetencije.volontiram.info/Longer-term benefits: All materials (publications) and tools have an European perspective and can be used as guideline for involvement of vulnerable youth in volunteering or for creating validation tools in all European countries. They are public and can be widely use by educational non-formal and formal institutions. Online tools will be used by volunteers and volunteer organisations after the end of project in all project countries."

The importance of youth volunteering for social inclusion and active citizenship is evidenced in the EU (Volunteering in the European Union, GHK 2010). Furthermore, by participating in voluntary activities, young people acquire new knowledge, skills and competences, that support their personal development and employability. Thus conclude studies such as ‘Voluntary Action in 2018’ (PVE) and ‘Intergenerational volunteering and solidarity’ (Eurobarometer 2011), among others.The EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 encourages Member States to promote the participation of young people in voluntary activities and highlights the importance of promoting good practices. Most European, national and regional programmes to support youth volunteering include, as an objective, the promotion of good practices but they do not define what is a ‘good practice’ or establish objective criteria for their identification. This is the conclusion from the study carried out by the partners of this project, after reviewing youth volunteering support programmes in 15 countries.Youth volunteering remains one of the few sectors without European Quality Standards. The definition of such Standards would facilitate the identification, promotion and development of good practices in all relevant areas of young volunteering and would therefore significantly contribute to the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027.In this context, in order to respond to this European need, this project aims to define and disseminate across the EU the first European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering.The first project activity will be to carry out a consultation in all EU countries in order to identify the most commonly used quality standards in the youth volunteering sector in each country. Based on the consultation results, the first version of the European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering will be defined. Subsequently, in order to assess how the recently defined European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering are understood and accepted within the European youth voluntary sector, the project partners will carry out a transnational testing. In order to motivate the participation of a large number of voluntary organisations across the EU, the testing will be organised as an award or contest: European Youth Volunteering Award. The jury will apply, for the first time, the European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering to assess the submitted projects and select the winner. Once finished the transnational testing, and based on the feedback from the testers, the project partners will define the necessary improvements to be implemented on the European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering.The definition and dissemination across the EU of the first European Quality Standards in Youth Volunteering will have a huge impact because:- it will contribute to improving the quality of the youth volunteering activities and therefore, the participation of young people in voluntary activities, promoting the EU civic life and youth initiative;- it will improve the capacities of people working in the youth field to develop quality activities;- it will quantitative and qualitative increase the offer of innovative resources for youth workers in the EU;- it will facilitate the selection, promotion and development of good practices in all relevant areas of youth volunteering;- it will contribute to the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, particularly to the objective of promoting the participation of young people in voluntary activities and promoting good practices.This project will be developed and implemented by a transnational and transectorial partnership composed by voluntary organisation and quality experts from seven countries of the EU.