Youth voluntEering Certification Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth voluntEering Certification

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition (non-formal and informal learning/credits); Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

In September 2018, when the project officially began and the international partners met and got to know each other personally, there was much discussion about how invaluable the contribution that volunteering makes to society is: it is an important engine of inclusive growth, contributing to social and human capital, and promoting intergenerational solidarity, while also offering significant economic value. Involvement in voluntary activities is a tangible expression of participatory democracy and there is a strong connection between volunteering and active citizenship and participation.
“Volunteering” refers to all forms of voluntary activities, whether formal or informal, undertaken out of a person’s free will, choice and motivation, without concern for financial gain. It is estimated that there are 100 million volunteers in the EU, making an important contribution to the development of society, the economy and the individual.
However, there remain clear differences in the level of volunteering among European countries. While some EU member states have long-standing traditions in volunteering and recognition of volunteer work and well-developed volunteer sectors (e.g. DE, UK, BE), in others the volunteer sector is still emerging or underdeveloped (e.g. GR, CY, PT, IT).
The YECh project started from this very premise, with the common goal recognized by the partnership and project beneficiaries to promote inclusion, active participation and improve youth employability through the establishment of a volunteer work certificate. In this framework, this project has benefited from the ECVET system for the validation of knowledge, skills and competencies of young volunteers and youth workers.
The objectives of the project were: – Promote the skills, competencies and knowledge that young people in EU acquire through voluntary work and informal and non-formal learning; – foster the inclusion and employability of young people, including people with fewer opportunities and young immigrants and refugees; – support the improvement of quality and innovation in youth work and volunteering in NGOs, organizations and institutions; – foster the recognition and quality of voluntary work and promote networking, training and exchange of good practices among youth workers at local, regional and EU level.
For this reason, from the very beginning the partnership relied on a wide network of associations and organizations to support the project objectives, as well as a group of experts in training and education to ensure the excellence of its results. About 1000 people (volunteer representatives, youth organizations, NGO staff members, team leaders, youth workers, trainers, social workers) all over Europe have benefited from the project and actively participated in the activities: 14 training and education experts supported the conversion of the assessment platform modules into ECVET credits and the weighting of skills, knowledge and competencies; about 100 young volunteers responded to a statistical survey aimed at identifying the skills and experiences to be assessed; as many as 26 young people flew to Larissa, Greece, for training on a first draft of the project platform; another 140 tested the improved platform in summer 2020 and received the first certificate issued by the project; finally, a large number of other participants in dissemination activities such as 6 multiplier events and 1 final conference learned about the project results and committed themselves to disseminate and further improve them in their work areas or regions.
The YECh project has established a methodology for the development of a certification of volunteer work through the definition of the profile of volunteers and the development of the certification itself, obtainable through an online pathway consisting of educational materials, open and multiple choice questions, discussion of case studies. The certification is based on a credit system inspired by the ECVET methodology and Youthpass, but it is innovative because it officially recognizes volunteer activities as an integral part of the EU training and work system, ensuring a specific focus on the various areas of volunteering (health, immigration, support to the homeless, education, etc.).
Many of the certificates received have already been uploaded to the LinkedIn profiles of the project participants, and attached to their CVs, obtaining positive feedback and long-term benefits. The benefits will be guaranteed by the maintenance of the platform, which has been translated into 7 different languages, and by the commitment of the project partners to sponsor it and integrate it in their activities also in the future. Following the final conference, during which a Policy Paper was presented, representatives of EU institutions also underlined their commitment to promote the recognition of the e-learning platform and its certificate in order to make its existence official.

Project Website

http://www.yechvoice.com

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 179674,57 Eur

Project Coordinator

Italienische Handelskammer München-Stuttgart Camera di Commercio Italo-Tedesca & Country: DE

Project Partners

• INSTITUTE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
• ORGANISMOS KOINONIKIS POLITIKIS KAI DRASIS
• Global Entrepreneurs UK
• Gramigna OdV
• Rightchallenge – Associação
• OUT OF THE BOX INTERNATIONAL