VIV (Volunteering Inspired by Values)

<< Background >>The motivation for this project was rooted in the aspiration for an open, democratic and vibrant society based on the active participation and volunteer engagement and VIV project vision to bring new insights, prospective and means for strengthening the impact on volunteering on the inclusion, diversity, tolerance, solidarity and European rights and values. Over the last two decades, volunteering has progressively gained in importance around the world but it’s not recognise yet its role in the promotion of civic participation, social inclusion, strengthening of values therefore there was the need of volunteer programmes that could bring more dialogue, inclusion, diversity, tolerance, solidarity and European values into the life of the communityAt the same time not all the organizations were aware of the fact that times are changing and with them also the priorities of the volunteers, especially when we talk about young people and so it was necessary to make them reflect upon new strategies to enage new volunteers.<< Objectives >>The project objectives were focused on creating a partnership that combined and merged different expertise in the field of youth, volunteering and values, putting an emphasis on capacity building of target groups and participating organisations in regards to leadership competencies that contribute to raising the impact of volunteer programmes to be more responsive to the actual trends/challenges.In particular project VIV aimed to: 1. Raise the impact of volunteer programmes in the context of fostering inclusion, diversity, tolerance, solidarity and European values; 2. Increase the quality of work and practice of volunteer involving organisations opening to new trends and strategies for more value based volunteering; 3. Strengthen value based leadership competences and tools in creating and leading volunteer programmes for youth; 4. Strengthen transnational cooperation in evidence based practice, creating inspiring and enabling environment for youth volunteering.<< Implementation >>During the project four activities have been implemented:1. Research study “Volunteering for More Value” conducted to highlight the current state of volunteering in line with values, giving concrete conclusions and directions for development of volunteering for more value. 2. Volunteering for More Value booklet, with guidelines for volunteer involving organisations in raising the quality of their volunteer programmes in line with value-based approach, 3. Educational curriculum: From Volunteer Management to Leadership to contribute to the transformation of volunteer managers to leaders capable to create/lead volunteer programmes responsive to actual trends/challenges 4. Final event “Volunteering Inspired by Values” in Croatia in order to present the project achievements.<< Results >>- A research study was conducted to highlight the current state of volunteering. 98 organizations answered questionnaires and 63 youngsters took part in 6 focus groups.- 300 copies of the booklet “Volunteering for More Value” were published, 100 in each partners’ language, with guidelines for volunteer involving organisations to raise the quality of their volunteer programmes. The booklet were distributed to 300 organizations, 100 for each partner countries. - 3 national dialogues were organized to discuss the contents of the booklet with volunteers - 9 good practice stories were collected in videos- a volunteer diary was prepared and translated into the language of each partner to support the volunteering experience of young volunteers- 300 copies of the diary, 100 in each language were printed and distributed- The training: “From Volunteer Management to Leadership” was developed to give new competences to volunteer managers to prepare them for the new challenges of volunteering.- The curriculum, 18 hours, was piloted involving 15 organizations in each country, 45 in total.- A national conference “Volunteering Inspired by Values” was held in June in Zagreb, attended by 37 participants to present the project achievements.