The main objective of the project "Future Active Citizens: volunteering as an experience of democracy" is to raise the desire of becoming active citizens among young Europeans, informing them about the meaning and concrete practice of volunteering, based on the direct experience of civic and voluntary organisations.
The project will also allow voluntary organizations to develop a better understanding of their own action in a European framework and teachers to experiment a new form of informal learning.
The project will be divided into three phases:
1. INCREASE THE KNOWLEDGE of volunteering, active citizenship and civic participation in Europe through:
o research based on existing European studies; a seminar involving about 30 civic organisations from 7 EU Member States aimed at discussing the research results;
o the situation of volunteering in Europe (especially in the participating countries);
o identifying a common definition of volunteering.
2. AWARENESS RAISING of about 125 students in each country with respect to the concepts and concrete practice of volunteering, thanks to:
o training/awareness raising meetings with 5 different schools/classes (two 2-hours meetings with each class);
o a video contest. The students will be invited to create a video to illustrate the concept or practice of volunteering in their country. The winners will be rewarded participating in a European event organised by one of the project partners.
3. VISIBILITY AND DISSEMINATION:
o webpage in 6 languages publicising the project and all the videos;
o promotional video;
o newsletter to invite people to vote for the best video;
o DVD containing all the videos;
o celebration of the prize-giving.
Period: 2011 to date
Partners
- The world of NGO's, (Austria)
- Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, (Germania)
- Fondaca, (Italia)
- Fundation PACT, (Romania)
- Consume Protection Society, (Slovacchia)
- Zavod Nefiks, (Slovenia)
- Rutland Citizens Advice Bureau, (United Kingdom)
Materials
Seminar:
- Programme "Main features of European Citizenship and Civic Participation"
- Research on Voluuntering in Europe 1
- Research on Voluuntering in Europe 2
- Definitions
- Discussion on definitions
Kick-off partner meeting:
Handbooks fo trainers (click on the related language version to download it):