CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE SOCIAL SECTOR through the Development of Volunteer Programs at Social Institutions in the CEE Region Erasmus Project

Project Title

CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE SOCIAL SECTOR through the Development of Volunteer Programs at Social Institutions in the CEE Region

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

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 programmes
Trainers’ 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.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 285495 Eur

Project Coordinator

Önkéntes Központ Alapítvány & Country: HU

Project Partners

• Stowarzyszenie Centrum Wolontariatu
• Asociatia Pro Vobis – Centrul National de Resurse pentru Voluntariat
• Udruga za razvoj civilnog drustva SMART
• STICHTING MOVISIE
• Platforma dobrovolnickych centier a organizacii