CEV Autumn Volunteering Congress 25-26 October 2018 Brussels, Belgium
The European Volunteer Centre (CEV) held its Autumn volunteering congress welcoming over 100 participants from more than 50 organisations and 30 countries. Opportunities for debate on current trends in the volunteer sector & youth engagement through networking sessions between representatives of civil society organisations, municipalities, and EU institutions were provided. Keynote presentations were also contributed by Silvia Kaufman (European Commission) and Lucas Meijs (Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University).
The CEV Congress was supported by Europe for Citizens, ERASMUS+, the Danish Permanent Representation to the EU and and the City of Aarhus (European Volunteering Capital 2018).
It comprised the following events:
“Opening the Gates of the Volunteering Realm EVS Realm International Conference”
“European Volunteering Capital 2018 & 2019 Updates and 2020 Candidates Presentations”
“CEV General Assembly”
“Making it Matter Seminar”
“ViS-a-ViE”- Volunteering in Solidarity - Volunteering in Europe -A European Conference to consider how volunteering promotes and supports solidarity in times of crisis.
CEV Director Gabriella Civico: “CEV events offer unique opportunities to connect and exchange ideas between decision-makers, civil society organisations and volunteers. The 2018 Congress was a perfect occasion to disseminate project results (EVS Realm), insights about current research on volunteering and inclusion of youth (Making it Matter), and to further inquire into how European Solidarity Corps can support more young people to volunteer, show solidarity and contribute to societal needs. It also provided the space for CEV members to reflect on the achievements of the network so far and to plan for the future. The Congress benefited immensely from the candidates presentations for the European Volunteering Capital 2020 title (Padova and Stirling), the 2018 title holder (Aarhus) and the 2019 winner (Kosice) all of which showed the power of supportive public policies at the local level to maximise even further the energy and expertise offered by volunteers across Europe”
*** The European Volunteer Centre (CEV) is the European network of over 60 organisations dedicated to the promotion of, and support to, volunteers and volunteering in Europe at European, national or regional level. Through our network we work together to promote and support volunteering through advocacy, knowledge sharing and capacity building & training. In this way we reach out to the many thousands of volunteers and volunteer organisations in Europe as a source of support bringing the European dimension to their work. ***
