The project builds on the need to foster an international dimension in order to, on one hand, motivate young people to engage and, on the other hand, enable youth workers to develop key competences, sense of initiative and civic participation through one of successful strategies wide spread in the world, service-learning. Service-learning strategy has been developed abroad within nonformal and also formal education since long and the project partners have gained experience in its development. The potential of the strategy in Central and Eastern European countries has still not been used enough, because of the missing structures, lack of competence and experience in development of the strategy.General objective of the project is to enhance the competencies and opportunities of youth to fully participate in its society (local, regional, country and EU level), both economically and socially. The specific objective of the project are to improve the quality and relevance of the education offer in the field of implementation of the service-learning strategy in youth work through development of a training curriculum and related documents and manuals adapted to the context of Central and Eastern European countries; to enhance capacities of organizations and youth workers in implementing service-learning concept in practice and possibilities of its implementation in cooperation with local as well as international youth volunteers; to increase the quality of youth work primary in area of youth volunteering; to increase awareness about volunteering as an educational experience and to create better connection between solidarity service and learning in volunteering experiences of young people. The project is based upon experience and expertise of partners from 5 EU and 1 non -EU country (associated partner) in the field of service-learning implementation, putting forward new international, innovative and so far unrealized outcomes. The project coordinator is Platform of Volunteer Centers and Organizations, which will cooperate closely with the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia). Project partners come from Romania, Croatia, Poland and Hungary There is more than 400 participants presumably involved in the project. The number include young people, youth workers, educator, target groups in the communities, conference participants. There will be at least 115 individuals lacking opportunities. The project activities consist of creating, testing and spreading innovative outcomes used during the realization of the project and upon its completion in order to develop and spread the service-learning strategy in the field of youth work and outside it, fostering quality of youth work and volunteering. Among main innovative outcomes of the project there are: 1) training for youth workers in service learning and a guide for trainers, 2) manual for implementation of the service learning strategy in the youth work, 3) manual for youth – how to implement service-learning projects and 4) Webinar - graphically facilitated introduction in Service Learning. The outcomes of this kind have not been produced so far but they are of key importance for service-learning development and implementation. The outputs will be published in English as well as in 5 national languages. All outcomes will be available online on the project website. There are 5 transnational working sessions planned within the project and training of trainers in service-learning, centered on the conception of intellectual outcomes and steering of the project. Steering activities include project management, monitoring, evaluation, dissemination, communication and follow-up. The key dissemination activity will be a 2-day international conference. All project outcomes are planned so as to be usable upon the project completion. Apart from partner institutions, youth workers and involved young people, the project will have impact on local communities. It will show in broadening cooperation between actors and decision-makers of various kind – a civic society, citizens and public bodies.

<< Background >>We want to enable young people with few or no qualifications as well as adults over 45 who are looking for jobs to integrate socially and professionally thanks to an innovative programme. The mixing of these two groups allows for the creation of intergenerational links through mutual mentoring, but also, since they are looking for work, to help them discover a sector and professions of the future. This pathway will focus on discovering and learning about the social and sustainable economy, through theory in workshops, and through practice by getting involved with NGOs. Through mentoring, pro bono missions and learning modules, we want to open up the field of possibilities, make them aware of their skills and facilitate their access to employment in sectors of the future.<< Objectives >>Through this project, we want young and low-skilled jobseekers and those over 45 years old to - Acquire knowledge about the social and sustainable economy, - Identify and become aware of their skills,- Identify the professions of the social and sustainable economy and that this will awaken vocations in some, - Feel useful and capable thanks to the collective and individual pro bono missions (skills-based volunteering),- Mention/value this volunteering experience in their CV, during an interview, on Linkedin for example,- Are (more) open to exchanges with people of other generations,- Find a job in the months following the course or enrol in a training course to reorient themselves or develop other skills.<< Implementation >>To achieve our objectives, we will:1. Carry out a survey that will allow the publication of a report on the needs, desires and motivations of young and low-skilled jobseekers as well as those over 45 years old. The results will make it possible to raise the awareness of the general public as well as public and private institutions about the situation of these two profiles of job seekers. We want to make a statement, identify the elements on which we can act and encourage other actors and/or consortium to do so.2. To create tools to set up an employability pathway focused on the discovery of the social and sustainable economy. This pathway will be set up and tested in 4 countries to anticipate different situations and environments. It will include : - Intergenerational reciprocal mentoring with the creation of duos of low-skilled jobseekers and over 45s- Awareness-raising workshops on the social and sustainable economy (especially on the ecological and digital transition)- Awareness and skills identification workshops - Practical application through skills-based engagement missions (collective and individual missions)3. To create complementary tools to facilitate the duplication and dissemination of the project for the actors accompanying jobseekers, those involved in mentoring and those in volunteering. To this end, we will produce - A practical online guide with details of the step-by-step process and recommendations by type of actor - A booklet listing innovative projects in the social and sustainable economy and the jobs they offer- A mapping of mentoring actors in Europe to complement the existing mapping of pro bono actors and thus allow the identification of the organisations needed to create partnerships and duplicate this project<< Results >>This project will also have an impact on 1. The NGOs that will receive help from the jobseekers. They should, thanks to this pathway:- Solve a need that they could not solve without external help or save time on a task,- Discover new volunteer profiles,- Be able to raise awareness of their cause among new people.2. Institutions that support jobseekers, mentoring and pro bono actors. They should through this pathway: - Discover a new support pathway or have the elements to enrich their own,- Obtain turnkey tools to support their beneficiaries,- Obtain tools to create new partnerships in line with their issues,- To have elements of communication on the situation of some of their beneficiaries.3. More broadly, in our territories, we wish to : - To allow the social and professional integration of young people with few qualifications and of job seekers over 45 years old,- Allow the creation of links between different generations facing similar problems,- To create innovative territorial initiatives in the service of employment,- To create innovative territorial initiatives for the development of the social and sustainable economy,- To facilitate the creation of partnerships between complementary actors,- To equip the actors who accompany the job seekers or who allow their engagement within associative projects.

This project aimed to increase the quality of volunteerism in general and in the youth filed in particular by taking volunteer management to the next quality level based on tailor-made occupational profile, comprehensive training curricula and competence validation procedure for experienced volunteer managers according to the new occupational profile, quality standards for volunteer management, and creation of support structures in the form of professional communities for volunteer managers. The project objectives have been: # to enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offer in the field of volunteer management in general and volunteer management in the youth field in particular through the development of tailored training curricula based on a competence based occupational profile, the development of quality standards in volunteer management, and the development of validation instruments for competences acquired in non-formal or informal learning; # to increase the use of European reference tools for recognition, validation and transparency of competences and qualifications in the field of volunteer management by stimulating the volunteer managers in 5 countries to use the available and appropriate Europass tools; # to improve the capacities of the 5 resource organizations involved in the project in the area of quality of services and targeted activities for specific groups (namely volunteer managers), project management and internationalization, enhancing the dynamic, committed and professional environment within the organizations. The project included activities that contributed to strengthening the cooperation between resource organizations from 5 European countries (Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, and Latvia) with a view to # exchange good practices in volunteer management, # develop, test and implement innovative practices in relation to volunteer management in general and volunteer management in the youth field in particular, and # facilitate recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and competences acquired through formal, non-formal and informal learning. The project resulted in professionalization and professional development of volunteer managers in general and youth volunteer managers in particular because of its activities of developing training curricula, delivering training, developing validation instruments and applying them to volunteer managers, exchanging experiences and practices between resource organizations in the countries involved. The project produced four main outputs:O1: Volunteer Manager Occupational Profile O2: Quality Standards for Volunteer ManagementO3: Training Curricula for Volunteer ManagersO4: Instrument for Validation of Competences as Volunteer Manager (according to the occupational profile) All the outputs are available in English and the 5 languages of the participating partners (Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Hungarian and Latvian) on the webpages of each project partner and the Erasmus Plus Project results Platform. .

The project ‘Ways to enhance active aging through volunteering – WEActiveVol” responded to the current needs to undertake active actions in relation to the challenges of an ageing society. It was about keeping people over 50 in activity and using their potential in the area of social and civic activities. Volunteering is a great example of how to effectively use and strengthen the potential of people in their mature age. In addition, volunteering is recognized as an example of non-formal learning activity, which develops skills and key competences (communication, social and civil competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, learning to learn). Unfortunately, due to the insufficient promotion of volunteering and lack of habit on community involvement among seniors, volunteering in this group still remains an under-utilized form of activity.Therefore, the main aim of the WEActiveVol project was to strengthen volunteering among the over 50 people. The other goals were are aimed at: 1)getting familiar with some basic law regulations and statistic data on volunteering in the partner countries; 2)exploring the methods of work with the Over 50s volunteers; 3)learning about obstacles that may limit volunteering among the Over 50s; 4)gaining information about attitude of entities organizing voluntary work towards the Over 50s volunteers; 4)promoting volunteering in partner countries through promoting events, leaflet and brochure of good practices.The partner group of the project was composed of 6 organizations from the following countries: Poland, France, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania (mainly non-governmental organizations and public entity). During the eighteen – month long cooperation, the staff of the partner organizations was exploring the theme of volunteering by sharing ideas, knowledge, experience and good practices. This group consisted of educators/trainers/coaches active in the adult education sector, volunteer coordinators, project managers, practitioners working in the field of volunteering and active ageing, advisors, decision-makers from the participating organizations. Partnership at European level enabled to share good practices around Europe, and to get familiar with new ideas and approaches on how to empower volunteering amongst the over 50 people.The project activities were concerned with: preparing the official project website www.weactivevol.eu; publishing the information leaflet; participating in the transnational project meetings; developing two questionnaires and carrying out two survey polls in partner countries; organizing events aimed at promoting volunteering and active citizenship; developing and disseminating the brochure containing the descriptions of good practices in the field of the Over 50s volunteering. Thanks to the project the following results were developed: project website, meeting minutes, ppt, thematic workshops for the meeting participants, leaflet, questionnaire for the assessment of predisposition to perform volunteering, two different questionnaires for opinion polls, set of recommendations about the scope of a comprehensive training course in the field of volunteering, dissemination activities aimed at promoting volunteering and active citizenship, final report, brochure with good practice examples. The project impact on the participating staff was concerned with, among others, acquiring knowledge and competences that enable to increase the participation of people in their mature age in volunteering (especially in the field of recruitment and training); learning about new solutions on how to improve the 50+ competences; exchanging ideas and good practices in the field of volunteering of people from this age range. On the other hand, the impact of the project on the participating organizations was primarily related to increasing their visibility at the local level and to strengthening the position of active actors supporting development of volunteering. The project enabled to establish and to strengthen the local partnerships, as each partner organization cooperated with different relevant stakeholders in own country (groups of local experts). The project impact on organizations also referred to the exchange of good practices among the involved partners, the gaining of knowledge about approaches and solutions used by other organizations to find out the best ways to mobilize seniors.In the long-term perspective, the project will contribute to the interest of mature adults in volunteering. In this way, the possibility of strengthening and using their potential in frame of the social and civic activity will be ensured. And also, the promotion of active aging and development of skills and competences will be provided. The indicated elements are part of the catalog of activities that are to solve the problem of the ageing of society through creating a framework for active participation of people over 50 in society.

The social sector in the CEE region needs improvement and adaptation to changing social needs, one possible way is to realise and learn to utilize the untapped potential that lies in the cooperation with the local community. With the intention to enable social institutions (run by a government or local government) to develop and implement volunteer programmes involving local citizens into their operations thus enabling them to provide higher quality services to a wider range of clients 6 NGO volunteer-involving started to cooperate. Within the frame of the Erasmus + project, so-called SoVol, the project partner organizations aimed to strengthen the capacity of social institutions through the involvement of volunteers. In order to encourage social institutions to make the best use of the benefits and the added value volunteers can bring, tailor-made volunteer strategy, effective volunteer management, new competencies and skills are needed. Therefore a methodology tool kit - covering all areas of implementing successful volunteer programs into social institutions - were created for those employees of social institutions who are open and willing to undertake the adventure of building up and maintaining a volunteer programme in their institution for the benefit of all parties. The methodology tool kit was actualized in the form of a series of handbooks as follows:A detailed step-by-step guidebook on how to set up volunteer programmes in social institutions.The handbook on measurement and communication of the impact of volunteering in social institutions aims to provide the social institutions with practical knowledge on how to measure the impact of volunteering and how to best communicate about volunteering in order to raise the public awareness on the value that volunteers bring to the social institutions services and to the overall society. Several handbooks were created for the trainers training employees of social institutions in order to raise awareness and teach new competencies and skills to them: Trainers’ Handbook on the benefits of volunteering in social institutions (How to deliver sensitizing workshops for beneficiaries of social institutions, for employees of social institutions and for members of community/ stakeholders)Trainers’ Handbook on how to train volunteer managers of social institutions enabling them to design and maintain volunteer programmesTrainers’ Handbook on how to train volunteer guides of social institutions enabling them to be the intermediary link between the volunteers, clients and volunteer manager. Trainers’ Handbook on how to train volunteers of social institutions with a focus on clients such as elderly, children living in foster care, addicts, homeless people, disabled people, and psychiatric patients.The background to create the methodology tool kit has been a longterm experience of project partners in managing volunteers and previous collaborations. Another input was the desk research, performed in the first realisation phase of the SOVOL project by means of a questionnaire. 316 social institutions took part in the research in 6 countries, to integrate the know-how of European countries. In the frame of a study visit to the Netherlands – where the integration of volunteers into social care institutions was already tackled – the best example methods and approaches were comprised in the tool kit. The first version of the handbooks and training courses were tested in 5 social institutions in 5 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Croatia). At a chosen social institution a volunteer program was launched and mentored to test the tool kit. The results of the testing were implemented in the final form of the handbooks.Finally, national dissemination events were organised in the following countries: PL,CR,SL,RO. An international conference took place in Budapest to spread the possibility of capacity building of the social sector through volunteering, as well as to expose current and future volunteer organizations and social sector leaders to a vibrant learning experience that promotes best practices, innovative thinking, and awareness of the possible cooperation’s. All partners elaborated follow up plans for the future usage and dissemination of the results. As a result of the project the number and the quality of volunteer programs increased, employees of social institutions were trained however a longer term effect is that stakeholders around social institutions in Central and Easter Europe gained new connections, ideas and inspiration on how to boost their capacities. As a result of the project- on national as well as international level - different stakeholders were connected, new bridges were built between the volunteer and the social sector which could add to a more responsive modern society.