"<< Objectives >>In our project “The Common Good"" we want to explore civil society and the positive connections between them and NGO’s. We will be answering the question of what civil organizations can do to restore cohesion and unprejudiced communication within society in order to protect democratic principles and values.<< Implementation >>This objective, we will be conducting 5 international meetings with our partnered organizations with the goal of knowledge sharing, tangible experiences such as visiting good practices of community building in each country & research exchange throughout the project. Further DE + AT will host nationally a Neighborhood event while IT will share the outcomes of the events on a multidimensional level, engaging as many different key-persons inside and outside the partnership while also preparing the<< Results >>Towards the end of the project we will gather results from past findings and design an accessible friendly E-book, interactive Micro e-learning lectures for dissemination purposes. While organizing and facilitating the ‘Nextdoor’ neighborhood event will not only share results of our outcomes, but will directly connect & strengthen communities and corporations. The result of this project can support them in growing and building cohesive connections between families, individuals and society."

"Due to the international crisis and wars, more and more refugees are seeking asylum in Europe. Lots of refugees, especially of families from Syria and a lot of unaccompanied minors, are trying to get into Europe from the Western Balkans. So suddenly border countries like Bulgaria (BG) and Romania (RO) - being among the poorest countries within the EU - had to deal with a rising number of refugees in general, but also with unaccompanied minors and school-aged children. The figures for these atypical host countries are still lower than the EU’s most popular destinations, including Sweden, France, and Germany (DE), but both countries are ill prepared for the impact of suddenly becoming a host country for refugees. They have no experience in managing larger number of refugees and have no tradition of refugee work. In contrary DE has a broad experience in dealing and working with refugees since the 70ies, in absolute numbers it is receiving the highest number of refugees within the EU. Especially volunteers and non profit organisations play a vital role in refugee work: they support refugees in the field of housing, food and clothing, but also provide learning opportunities and leisure time activities for the refugees. For RO and BG volunteering and refugee work are new developments and therefore they can benefit from the experience of a German NPO. So this is the reason, why this strategic partnership involved the volunteer organisations ""Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa"" from Germany, ""Tulip Foundation"" from Bulgaria and ""Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoca"" from Romania.The partners decided to concentrate on one problem most of the refugees in their country face: not being able to understand and speak the language of their host country. While a lot of refugees learned English or French back home or during their flight, usually German, Bulgarian and Romanian are not studied. Therefore most of the refugees arriving in DE, RO and BG do not speak the language. But only if refugees are able to communicate and to understand the language of their host country, they can express themselves directly without depending on translation services of others. Mastering the new language will empower the refugees, and will also help them to understand the cultural differences and requirements of their host country. So failing communication is an essential problem, and makes refugee work even more difficult. And this is where volunteers can help: teaching refugees their own language. The German organisation GLL has developed a good practice model for addressing this problem: it has set up a successful volunteer language mentor programme for kids and adult refugees: trained volunteers help refugees on a 1:1, face-to-face basis to learn the language, being able to communicate and understanding the culture of their new home. Additionally GLL has developed some easy to understand and use learning and teaching material for the volunteer mentors. The goal of this partnership was to transfer this successful volunteer programme and the learning material to BG and RO and to adapt the program to the needs, culture, circumstances in these two countries and through the huge expertise of the two involved volunteer organisations. Additionally partners adapted this program to attract young volunteers becoming language mentors for refugee children and youth. Additionally partners improved - with the support of young refugees and volunteers from all 3 countries - the existing teaching material, to fit the needs of the young volunteers as ""non-professional"" teachers and young mentees. Mentors and mentees collected photos on the topics they are interested in, and based on this partners developed new learning and teaching materials. Together all three partners improved the training and support of young volunteers working with young refugees and produce a freely available manual in English, German, Bulgarian & Romanian for training of young language mentors, information sessions for refugees (parents, youth), and intercultural training of the young volunteers and refugees. The final product is a physical tool box with teaching and learning material (e.g. picture cards, simple grammar book, exercises, games, maps etc.) and a language manual with 10 communication situations, which can be used in the refugee work across Europe. The overall aim of this project is to enhance the European dimension of supporting volunteers in refugee work and to improve the integration of refugees in the different European countries by giving them the opportunity to learn the language of their receiving country - especially in countries, were hosting of refugees is a new development and difficult for NGOs. We hope that our “European” model of a volunteer language mentoring programme is useful for other NGOs and will be copied by many."

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"CONTEXT One of the major issues contemporary democracies face in in Europe is the political disengagement of the young people when it comes to traditional politics or organisational membership. Young people are very engaged by in non-organisational structures, like initiatives. They have a resistance to formal membership usually, and engage more spontaneously, for a certain specific curse, time-limited, through ""passive"" support via social media (like, dislike, comment or share) and usually expect instant gratification, which is difficult in political and societal changes.The rise of the social networks have transformed the way young people become engaged. Yet, in the youth organisations there are youth professionals who are still used in working with traditional methods of participation like for example signing handwritten petitions on paper (when today everything moves into online petitions), or supporting the organisation of foot demonstrations (when most campaigns happen on the social media).With our project we wish to address the need of youth professionals for continuous professional development with a focus on competences to support the active participation of the young people. Furthermore, we wish to address the fact that traditional education and youth work methods are not attractive to modern young people; especially those with fewer opportunities (like early school leavers, and people with disadvantaged backgrounds) who are often feeling uncomfortable in formal settings. OBJECTIVES The overall aim of the project is the promotion of active youth participation through youth work. To achieve this aim, the partners will first work on the competence development of youth professionals (youth workers, youth trainers, mentors of ESC volunteers). PARTICIPANTS 12 youth professionals will complete the first iteration of the in-service training programme at the transnational training event. A further 40 youth workers will complete the in-service training, 10 in each partner country. More than 100 people representing the project stakeholders will attend the multiplier events. 45 people with fewer opportunities will be involved in the project activities. ACTIVITIES & METHODOLOGYOne international training event with a blend of methods: (1) self-driven online learning (2) non-formal education participatory methodsFour meetings per country (16 in total) with Local Stakeholder Forums.Four international online campaigns on four social issues that concern the young people.A Website and presence in all major social networks will be created and maintained for 5 years after project end.A combination of dissemination methods will support the visibility of the project, the partners, and Erasmus+. The methods include classic and social media, digital promotion and face-to-face activities such as the multiplier events, and the final conference.The Stakeholder Dialogue Model will facilitate the communication and engagement of people and entities interested in Youth.Management wise, the partners will use methods as (A) the Kanban project management methodology focusing on lean principles and a strict process (B) “PM² Project Management Methodology” of the European Commission for risk and quality management based on the deming cycle Plan, Do, Check and Act (C) Traffic Lights tool for risk assessment and many collaborative tools. RESULTS & IMPACT The partners will develop and pilot innovative tools and four main intellectual outputs:1. Research Study with the method of questionnaire surveys Research: ""European Training Strategy and the Trainer Competence Model: The political dimension of the work of youth trainers in Germany, Greece, Cyprus, and Romania"".2. Handbook ""Managing active citizenship initiatives with young voluntary coordinators and young volunteers"".3. ""UPRAISE Training toolkit"" to be used by youth professional to enhance youth participation with methods which are attractive to young people with fewer opportunities: a. Lego Serious Play, b. Photovoice, c. Theatre of the Oppressed, d. Kahoot! Quizzes; and on topics of interest to the young people. All the topics we have identified to be of interest among our target groups are related to the Human Rights: a. Democracy & human rights, b. Fighting anti-Semitism & anti-Islamism, c. Gender equality & rights to sexuality, d. Climate Change (which also has a human rights' aspect).4. ""UPRAISE Toolkit for Successful Online Campaigns and Petitions"".RESULTSThe project will equip the youth professionals with practical tools to use in their work. The youth workers will support the active participation of the young people with fewer opportunities with the aim to bring about social change.LONGER TERM IMPACTThe project will reinforce the international dimension of youth work and the capacities and international scope of the partners. Ultimately, the project will impact the influence and recognition of youth work."

<< Background >>The pandemic has shown everyone the need of upgrading digital skills, the competence and knowledge to use digital tools. In lockdown most of us had to do work and communicate online only. The volunteer sector had to adapt as well to be able to provide its services online and to reach its beneficiaries digitally. But most volunteer led NGOs were ill prepared for the digital transformation of their organisations and services. Most of them were not ready to adapt to the digital world, make use of the digital opportunities and tools or providing online services or volunteering. Social organisations and institutions need to work more professionally, efficiently and effectively, as resources are scarce and tasks are much more complex and challenging. What is missing are general trainings for digital skills development, and to be more professional and efficient in volunteering. We have developed such a training, but our professional volunteering training needs to be transformed in a digital version.But having access to such training is not enough: we need to be sure, that the ProVol training delivered will meet our quality criteria and being carried out with the right attitude and professionalism. This is why we want to create a ProVol franchise system, with ProVol competence center around Europe.And we need to use the opportunities of digitalisation offers more to promote volunteering, because digitalisation can mean an increased availability of services and voluntary activities. But beyond the quantity of opportunities provided, what counts more is the quality of volunteering, which is why we believe that in order to improve the impact that volunteering activities have on society, volunteers need to be trained, professionalised, reskilled and upskilled, and equipped with digital skills. In this sense, it is important to note that most voluntary organisations are led by elderly people, who do not have sufficient digital skills, and to keep up with the times, they need to be upskilled. Younger trainers also need re-skilling. As set out in the Digital Education Plan 2021-2027 the steps to be taken are first of all to be digitally skilled and acquire digital literacy, which can empower people to be more resilient, improve participation in democratic life, stay safe and secure online, tackle gender stereotypes and gender bias, and this is possible with a flexible and permeable lifelong learning training pathway. And digitalisation can also increase accessibility: This means, for example that more ore improved volunteer work can happen in rural areas as through digital opportunities are easily reachable. If it was impossible or extremely difficult to organise and carry on volunteer trainings or activities in rural areas, in a digitalised world, with the right digital tools, it becomes simpler and easier. Second, face-to-face events are no longer the only alternative, nor are they the first choice. Online activities are quicker to plan and there are fewer obstacles to overcome, both in terms of organisation and volunteer participation. Third, digitalisation allows us to achieve a higher level of social inclusion, as physical barriers that could prevent people with physical impairments from taking part in volunteering activities disappear. We will be closer to those unable to travel longer distances because of various reasons. And fifth, as the activities take place online and are therefore visible remotely, it becomes possible to evaluate them qualitatively, to check that the mission of the project is respected, that the message being transmitted is clear, that the educators are truly competent and that the partner organisations are capable of carrying out the objectives set.<< Objectives >>The main objective of our project is to support the volunteer organisations in Europe in digitizing their services and work and to professionalise their volunteer work and volunteer management in order to become more effective and efficient and therefore have a much wider impact through their volunteer activities. ContextVolunteering is an essential act of citizenship, it makes a big contribution to building a strong and cohesive society and for combating social exclusion. It is an important contributor to the delivery of social and public services, and it has a positive impact on volunteers themselves.But to play such an important role involving organizations (ViOs) need to be trained and equipped with a lot of skills and competences to work as effective and efficient as possible. This is even more essential as resources are scarce and tasks are much more complex and challenging.The Covid pandemic had made the situation for ViOs and non-profit NGOs even more challenging: Prior to March 2020, they relied almost exclusively on face-to-face volunteering. Covid has significantly disrupted their ability to deliver their services and reach volunteers and their beneficiaries. In response, they have to undergo a rapid digital transformation of their people engagement and service delivery models. Many will need to alter their organisation, funding and partnership models, pivoting towards new opportunities for survival beyond the pandemic. For many organisations Covid has changed digitisation from a “nice to have” to a “must have”. But many organisations were and are ill-prepared to convert their organisation, and offer their staff and volunteers the opportunity to work virtually. Many could not meet the demand for skilled volunteers & coordinators and were unable to transit their volunteer workforce to digital platforms and online services. Many of their beneficiaries, but also some volunteers could not use the digital services due to a lack of digital access and digital literacy. And also new potential volunteers couldn’t be reached/accepted as most ViOs had no concept or opportunities for virtual volunteering.For these problems our project “ProVol Digital” will develop solutions:a)For ViOs we will develop a more general training “Digitalisation in volunteering – The basics of digital work” to make them understand the need for change and see the opportunities digitalisation offers. We’ll provide recommendations of the transformation process and deliver a commented overview and toolbox of useful free or low-cost digital tools and services.b)To improve organisational development and capacity building we’ll define “Recommendations on digital volunteer (and member) management” for ViOs in form of a handbook. The handbook will include recommendations on how to utilise digital tools and services for the recruitment, placement and management of volunteers, to make use of digital volunteer platforms and use digital marketing and PR tools and services. c)To capitalise on the benefits of virtual volunteering and gaining access to a new cohort of volunteers across a diverse pool of skills and geographies we’ll produce a guideline on virtual volunteering. d)In order to improve the impact of volunteer activities volunteer coordinators need to be trained, professionalised, reskilled and upskilled, and equipped with digital skills. And in order to be more flexible we’ll transform the existing “Professional Volunteering Training” into a digital one. This way more volunteer coordinator can have access to the ProVol training and it will be much easier to transfer it to other countries as well.e)We’ll establish a ProVol network, which will deliver high quality virtual volunteering training program across Europe.<< Implementation >>Following project activities will lead to the proposed outputs, outcomes and the intended impact: a)For ViOs we will develop a more general training “Digitalisation in volunteering – The basics of digital work” to make them understand the need for change and see the opportunities digitalisation offers. We’ll provide recommendations of the transformation process and deliver a commented overview and toolbox of useful free or low-cost digital tools and services.b)To improve organisational development and capacity building we’ll define “Recommendations on digital volunteer (and member) management” for ViOs in form of a handbook. The handbook will include recommendations on how to utilise digital tools and services for the recruitment, placement and management of volunteers, to make use of digital volunteer platforms and use digital marketing and PR tools and services. c)To capitalise on the benefits of virtual volunteering and gaining access to a new cohort of volunteers across a diverse pool of skills and geographies we’ll produce a guideline on virtual volunteering. d)In order to improve the impact of volunteer activities volunteer coordinators need to be trained, professionalised, reskilled and upskilled, and equipped with digital skills. And in order to be more flexible we’ll transform the existing “Professional Volunteering Training” into a digital one. This way more volunteer coordinator can have access to the ProVol training and it will be much easier to transfer it to other countries as well.e)We’ll establish a ProVol network, which will deliver high quality virtual volunteering training program across Europe. A franchise system will be put into practice.As this is a comprehensive and complex project design all project management activities should lead to a successful implementation of the project, to achieve the planned objectives and results, and to be in line with the Erasmus+ regulations. Online and face-to-face meetings are essential for a good and smooth communication and cooperation between partners. Evaluation activities are in place to monitor and control the project activities and enable the partners to identify necessary changes or adaptions and put them into place to reach our objectives.<< Results >>We expect numerous outcomes from the implementation of this project. Firstly, In order to produce this first result, we will develop a general trainer curriculum for digital tools and methods, where the main issues which will be faced refer to how to adapt offline activities to the digital sphere and what volunteers have to be aware of at the moment they enter the digital sphere. So much must be changed, as the means used are completely different. Opportunities have multiplied, not diminished, but they must be re-discovered and used with a new creativity. 50 participants will be involved in the pilot-testing phase and a minimum of 8 external organisations will be involved.Secondly, we will produce useful recommendations for NGO and ViOs over how to keep their volunteers motivated digitally; but also, we aim at widening their range of volunteers involved, inspiring other organisations to offer the same kind of volunteering activities, involving new groups of people and we will try out new fields of volunteering. Additionally, by including people with fewer opportunities, paying attention to their limitations and needs. This Handbook will be distributed to at least 200 NGOs and 400 volunteer coordinators. Thirdly, we will have a guideline on virtual volunteering and a good practice collection of virtual volunteering. We will collect at least 20 good practice descriptions in detail, and distribute the guideline to at least200 NGOs and 400 volunteer coordinators. Fourthly, we will adapt the existing ProVol curriculum for volunteer coordinators into a digital form.The training provided should contribute to the professionalisation of volunteering, as volunteers and volunteer coordinators will be enabled to work more effectively and task-orientated in their volunteer work. Volunteers, participating in the training programme expect to gain vocational competences and professional skills in order to improve their individual employability and increase their access to jobs. All learners (pilot-tested with at least minimum of 60 from 10 organisations, 8-12 partipants per partner) will be equipped with digital competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) to live, work, learn and thrive in a world increasingly mediated by digital technologies.Fithly, we will develop a franchise system in order to allow interested organisations to become “ProVol training providers” or “ProVol coordination center points”. With this franchise system, firstly, the originality of the project is safeguarded, and secondly, the quality of the training activities is assured. And we set up a quality system of ProVol training providers in Europe. We will set up the rules, regulations and legal status of the ProVol Head Division as a subdivision of Volonteurope, and develop and apply a quality assurance and accreditation system for so called “ProVol coordination center points”. At least 4 new ProVol coordination center points will be established. Partner organisations and the new “ProVol coordination center points” will not only implement ProVol trainings, but also supervise and lead volunteer activities and ensure that they comply with the principles this partnership has established and set as a basis for the project. They are in charge of checking that organisations applying for becoming ProVol training providers have the means, capacities, spaces, contacts necessary to carry out certain activities. We will train “Super ProVol trainers” (20 participants from the external interested organisations, at least 12 of them getting accrediated). They will be able to implement our ProVol training in the given quality standard. At least 6 ProVol trainings will be implemented by them in this project.Under the umbrella of Volonteurope will establish a ProVol network of ViOs across Europe. And hopefully out of our joint work and exchange new project ideas will arise, new programmes and projects will be developed and the cooperation will last far beyond this project