CEV published its 2016 Annual Report, highlighting its projects, member initiatives, EV Capital Winners, and impact on volunteering and solidarity in Europe. To read the report click here.



Over 100 representatives from CEV member organisations and other volunteer-involving organisations from across Europe gathered together the 6-7 April in London for DEVS Days to develop a Handbook for use across Europe by governments, local authorities, volunteer centres, volunteer organisations and companies.
This Handbook will be important in order to develop better volunteering strategies with clearly identified policy objectives, indicators, methodologies for implementation and impact measurement, as well as a properly supported and functioning volunteering infrastructure.
To see the Handbook and final Report of DEVS Days click here.


On 4, 5, 6 of October 2017 the CEV Autumn Volunteering Congress will take place in collaboration with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection in Vienna, Austria. To REGISTER AND SEE THE PROGRAMME click

The CEV team, several hundreds of other representatives of NGOs and other organizations interested in engaging with EU Solidarity Corps projects, participated in the European Solidarity Corps Stakeholder Forum on 12 April, 2017 in Brussels. This exciting event was a chance for all stakeholders to exchange advice and the best ideas across Europe to create solidarity. The CEV Director was the rapporteur for the working group on 'how to make the ESC an attractive option'. To see the highlights of the event click here.
 

On 3 May 2017 CEV Director Gabriella Civico spoke at the conference "Overcoming youth marginalisation: best practices to prevent marginalisation and criminalisation of youth in state of vulnerability”, organized by the Human Rights Youth Organisation (H.R.Y.O) in partnership with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Rights of the Child. The conference brought together relevant policy-makers, civil servants, experts and civil society representatives with the aim to discuss ways of tackling exclusion and marginalisation in order to prevent radicalisation and criminalisation. Ms. Civico stressed the role of volunteering for the personal development of young people particularly in terms of soft skills and its contribution to social inclusion at both the local and the European level. She also presented the results of the CEV Policy Conference 2015 PIPE: promoting inclusion-preventing extremism.

The 4 - 5 May 2017, the conference “Europe at the Crossroads” in Berlin organised by BBE in partnership with CEV took place. This conference discussed the importance of civil society contributions to the integration of Refugees in Europe. It highlighted the critical importance  of volunteering for achieving solidarity in Europe. The need for stronger measures against hate speech, the impact of building a solid network of organisations in order to share and develop common practices, and the relevance of consulting beneficiaries in order to develop better frameworks in policy making were too emphasised. The President of BBE stated that “volunteering is the very root of our community.” #europeatthecrossroads2017

CEV Director Gabriella Civico participated  in Zagreb, Croatia the 27 April, 2017 at the conference held under the IPA project '' The expansion of the cooperation - corporate volunteering as an innovative form of philanthropy and resource for the development of civil society " implemented by the Volunteer Center Zagreb (VCZ) in partnership with the Volunteer Center Osijek and Association" MI "- Split and Foundation Kajo Dadic. The aim of the project is through volunteering business sector more strongly connect the business sector and civil society to jointly contribute to building a strong, cohesive and human communities.The project is financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs. Learn more here.

CEV Project and Policy officer ESC trainee Giulia, took part in the EU Open Days 2017 at the European Solidarity Corps Stand at the EC Berlaymont building with representatives of European Commission and volunteers also  ESC members. She had the chance to share her experience with young people and to answer inquiries concerning ESC.
 

Last month the European Commission launched an online survey to all participants of projects and activities co-financed by the Europe for Citizens programme 2014-2016, in order to collect all opinions, proposals, ideas and critiques on the impact of those projects. The parameters of the evaluation were: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value. CEV has contributed to the development of a position paper promoted by the Task Force on the Europe for Citizens Programme within the framework of Civil Society Europe. The complete recommendations can be found here.

On 25 April 2017, CEV attended the information day for  “Key Action 3: Support for policy reform social inclusion through education, training & youth”. It was the occasion to explore all possible project opportunities under KA3 as based on the White Paper on the Future of EU. Read more about the conclusions of this conference here.

The conference "Innovation and Learning for UN Volunteers" will be a one and a half day event that will take place at UNV in Bonn, on 1-2 June 2017. participants with a background in learning/training/career development/learning technology interested in innovative ways to deliver learning and grow talent for people working in the field are invited to attend.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CEV Members:

 
Arlene Isaacs-Lowe has been named the new President of EVEN member, The Moody’s Foundation, succeeding Fran Laserson who has retired after leading the organisation since its establishment in 2002. Arlene will continue the Foundation’s core mission of philanthropy and service; “The Moody’s Foundation has made a real impact on many lives through its charitable giving and community service volunteering programs, and I look forward to continuing this work in a way that complements Moody’s expanding global presence”. For more information about the Foundation’s initiatives click here.
 

Nonprofit celebrated their one year anniversary and reflected on the importance of an online portal which focuses on the main challenges in the third sector. CEV Director Gabriella Civico and other third sector leaders contributed their thoughts on this issue and the significance of Nonprofit which can be read here.
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EU News:

LIFE Preparatory Projects for the European Solidarity Corps
Following the feedback received in response to the call launched on the 7th of December 2016, the Commission has decided to publish a second call for proposals to support the European Solidarity Corps (ESC). The scope of supported activities will be environmental protection, nature conservation and restoration of natural areas and ecosystems, mainly the Natura 2000 network. For this second call some requirements have been modified, e.g. the minimum number of volunteers to be engaged in the ESC is one hundred (100) and the execution period may last up to three years (36 months).
LIFE Preparatory projects to support deployment of European Solidarity Corps (sub-programme for Environment) contribute to strengthening the Union's capacity to provide volunteering services for young people across the European Union. It focuses mainly on conservation of Natura 2000 sites, environmental protection, restoration of natural areas and ecosystems and on capacity building on voluntary services among ongoing LIFE projects. Contact ENV-LIFESELECTION@ec.europa.eu.
 

Registration for the Civil Society Days 2017, which will take place in Brussels 25-26 June, is now open. This year’s theme, "The Europe we strive for", will highlight civil society's call for a new political impulse to relaunch the EU on the basis of our values and roots and also give a clear commitment of civil society organisations to forge ahead. To register and learn more about this event click here.
 

The EESC launched the e-version of the European Passport to Active Citizenship this month. It is designed to assist and guide citizens in making their voice heard by encouraging them to ask some basic questions about timing (when should you take action?), teams (who should you join forces with?) and tools (which available participatory instrument should you use?) when it comes to active citizenship and participatory democracy in the EU. Moreover, the electronic version offers plenty of additional interactive elements: quick links, quizzes and infographics to illustrate the information and give insight into citizen's rights at a glance. It can be found here.

The fifth annual European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI) Day took place 11 April, 2017 in Brussels bringing to light the success stories of the ECI that attest to the considerable evolution of the concept of European citizenship. The ECI Day is an important meeting place and platform where registered and future ECI organisers and stakeholders can exchange information and experiences and present their ECI and activities to the public. Read more…

On 5 April, EU Aid Volunteers launched a call for proposals for new projects and initiatives. EU Aid Volunteers brings together volunteers and organisations from different countries, providing practical support to humanitarian aid projects and contributing to strengthening the local capacity and resilience of disaster-affected communities. The EU Aid Volunteers networking platform, soon to be launched, supports partnerships and collaboration between projects, it houses the online volunteering activities and it allows EU Aid Volunteers to share their stories from the field. To learn more and propose a project click here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other News:

The Western Development Commission has announced that it is to provide €10,000 investment to the European Volunteering Capital 2017. The financial support will be used to highlight and promote the volunteering work that is being done in the West of Ireland, as demonstrated by the designation of Sligo as European Volunteering Capital for 2017. “Volunteering grows people and communities, and, as such, the WDC are proud to be working with Sligo in its delivery of the European Volunteering Capital programme.” Read more...
 

---

Education#inFocus International Conference will be held on 20-23 June, 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland. #inFocus is a series of events on addressing social innovations’ issues, considering volunteering as a wheel for social transformation. This year the programme of the Conference will be focused on social innovations for improving the quality and increasing availability of education in accordance with present-day realities. To register and to learn more about the conference click here.
 

---

The final conference of the IVO4ALL initiative,  “Removing barriers to international volunteering to improve youth social inclusion”, will take place the 6 June, 2017 at the EESC in Brussels. To register click here.
 

---