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EYV FLOW - Issue 8 - April 2011
Welcome to the 8th EYV Flow, the EYV 2011 Alliance Newsletter. If you have any suggestion about the EYV Flow or contributions for future editions please contact the EYV 2011 Alliance secretariat. In the text or through hyperlinks you can find EYV 2011 Alliance news together with profiles of the members, a "city focus" and announcements. Please subscribe on the EYV 2011 Alliance Web Portal to receive the EYV Flow directly to your e-mail and help us to map the readership.
EYV 2011 Alliance towards a European Policy Agenda on Volunteering
 Working towards the objective of the EYV 2011 Alliance European Policy Agenda on Volunteering. The 6 working groups had a 2nd meeting in Brussels in March 2011. The working groups established by the EYV 2011 Alliance involve more than 100 experts, many of them volunteers themselves. The European Policy Agenda on Volunteering will be presented to policy makers at the EC EYV 2011 closing conference. All stakeholders are invited to read the report from the 2nd meeting and contribute to the debate. Please give your input here.
EYV 2011 Alliance : 37 European Networks
In March 2011, two more European networks active in volunteering joined: International Cultural Youth Exchange - ICYE and Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union - COFACE. The EYV 2011 Alliance currently involves 37 European networks gathering over 2,000 direct member and partner organisations from all over Europe and beyond.
EYV 2011 Alliance March Meeting hosted by the EESC
 The 30 participants representing 22 EYV 2011 Alliance member organisations were welcomed to the EESC by President Nilsson who expressed his willingness to support civil society especially in the framework of EYV 2011 and reminded the group of his manifesto commitments to actively work on the Year. Read the full report here.
CEV Symposium "The future of volunteering: concepts, trends, visions"
 Registration is now open for the first CEV Symposium 2011 on "The future of volunteering: concepts, trends, visions" (4-6 May 2011, Tallinn, Estonia). The Symposium will address the many new features and developments that characterise the voluntary sector nowadays, and it will provide a space for debate on the controversies that have developed over time; it will strive to identify the core concepts and inviolable values of volunteering we want to safeguard and to develop a vision for the decades to come of how volunteering will continue to serve as a central cornerstone in all European countries. Deadline for registration: 11 April. Read more.
YFJ 2nd Youth Convention on Volunteering
 The European Youth Forum (YFJ) will organise the 2nd Youth Convention on Volunteering between 6th and 7th September in Brussels, which will be the biggest civil society event on Volunteering in Brussels in the EYV. All organisations are welcome to make this a huge success and together show that Volunteering is a Big Thing in Europe. To find out how you can benefit from this opportunity and to put your organisation in the spotlight, the European Youth Forum organises a first info and networking evening on the 13th of April in Brussels. Read more about the 2nd Youth Convention. Download provisional program. For more info, contact Elisa Quadri.
Volonteurope Conference:"Make a difference by volunteering"
 The 20th annual Volonteurope Conference, "Make a difference by volunteering", will take place in Edinburgh on 20-23 October 2011. The event, in the framework of EYV 2011, will bring together over 100 participants from more than 25 countries to debate the progress of the European Year and the developments for European policies. The event will include input from relevant representatives from EU institutions, Scottish Government, as well leading volunteering practitioners from across Europe. During the conference the 5th Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards will also be celebrated. The 20th Annual Volonteurope Conference will be held in Edinburgh, 20-23 October 2011. The Call for Proposals for Master Classes for the event has now been launched. Download the Proposal Form (deadline for submission: Friday 15 April 2011).
WAGGGS Young Women's World Forum 2011: "together we can change our world"
 Over 150 young women from across the world met in WAGGGS' four World Centres in the UK, Switzerland, India and Mexico in March. They were taking part in WAGGGS' Young Women's World Forum 2011 (YWWF 2011) – part of the global centenary celebrations of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting taking place between 2010 and  2012. The focus is the WAGGGS' Global Action Theme, girls worldwide say "together we can change our world" which focuses on the ways in which Girl Guides and Girl Scouts can speak out and take action to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through a number of voluntary activities. Read more.
Volunteering: a tool for inclusion?
 "How can we build on the strengths of volunteering yet guard against the risks of abuse in the context of current attacks on Europe's welfare State and social model?" asks EAPN in its Anti-Poverty magazine on volunteering which raises the debate about the role of volunteering in combating poverty and social exclusion. In 2011, the spotlight shifts from Poverty and Social Exclusion to Volunteering, with the baton passed from the European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion 2010 to the European Year of Volunteering 2011. Perspectives from EAPN members and EYV 2011 Alliance Members are featured as well as the issue of recognition of volunteer time as in-kind contribution as co-funding for projects and funding. Read more.
Flag Tour 2011 raises the profile of volunteering
 The flag tour of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations celebrates the valuable contribution the voluntary service has on society, communities and individuals it raises awareness and the profile of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 and the International Year of Volunteers +10 while encouraging active involvement of people within civil society. This campaign strives to strengthen European Voluntary Service Organisations to empower meaningful community volunteering. Read Press release. Read the Flag Tour blog.
FEBA celebrates its 25th anniversary & volunteering
 The European Federation of Food Banks (FEBA) is holding its annual General Meeting April 28 to 30 in Lisbon. Founded in 1986, FEBA will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. The theme of the meeting is "Volunteering". Workshops will be organized to share best practices on the recruitment of volunteers, their integration within the organisation and development of long-term commitments. Representatives of 21 country members and potential future members will be present. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and the Portuguese coordinator of EYV2011 will attend.
 Selected flagship projects in the framework of EYV 2011
From 125 eligible applications 35 EYV 2011 Flagship Projects have been chosen for co-funding by the EC. The list of chosen recipients is now available. Read more.
EYV 2011 Tour in Madrid and Athens
 The EYV tour in Madrid took place between 28 February - 5 March and the EYV tour in Athens between 17 March - 23 March 2011. Find out more about participating in the EYV 2011 tour in your country. The EYV Tour Press releases are available in our Press Kit. Check the EYV tour dates here & contact the National Coordinating Bodies in each Member State to participate in the EYV 2011 Launches. The EYV 2011 logo in 23 languages and all visual elements are available.
European Parliament interest group on volunteering
 The European Parliament interest group on volunteering met on March 30th 2011 chaired by Marian Harkin MEP. The MEPs and assistants shared ideas about how to engage with EYV 2011 at a member state level and how to co-ordinate efforts to participate in the 2nd EU thematic conference on volunteering to be addressed in a key note speech by EP President Buzek together with EC Vice President Reding and EESC President Nilsson. Some MEPs expressed the wish to bring volunteers from their own member states to the event to be held on 23rd and 24th May in Brussels.
EESC Public Hearing: "Volunteering: motivation, value and recognition"
 The EESC public hearing "Volunteering: motivation, value and recognition" was organised in the framework of the European Economic and Social Committee Coordination Group on the European Year of Volunteering 2011, chaired by Mr Pavel Trantina including an intervention on the Value of Volunteering by Tamara Flanagan, EYV 2011 Alliance, Volonteurope and on the recognition of Volunteering by Rosemary Hindle, EYV 2011 Alliance, WAGGGS. Three other public hearings on volunteering in 2011 are planned on 26th May (Volunteering infrastructure and quality of volunteering), 27th September (Legal framework for volunteering), 9th November (Employee volunteering).
CoR EPP Group Declaration on volunteering
 The EYV 2011 Alliance addressed the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions conference - "2011 European Year of Volunteering" Cities and Regions promoting sport and active citizenship for social cohesion in Europe in Hungary on 3 March 2011. The Conference adopted a declaration which can be found here.
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