"European Partnership for Volunteering" – an opportunity for the Polish EU-Council Presidency, The institute of Public Affairs (Instytut Spraw Publicznych), Authors: Jacek Kucharczyk, Agnieszka Lada, Filip Pazdersk, June 2011

SEEYN organized photo competition and exhibition „Vounteers in action" in the frame of regional project "SEE youth for European Year of Volunteering 2011".

 

The competition was opened from 1st of April till 15th of May 2011. Around 30 photographers from different European countries applied with more than 100 photos. The best 3 photos won a prize while 2 more got praise. Together with 15 more competition photos and 1 cover photo they became part of exhibition „Volunteers in action". The project is supported by European Union and Council of Europe.

 

The exhibition will be opened on 22nd of June 2011 in galery Blackbox in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will be presented in Valjevo (Serbia), Tirana (Albania), Bitola (Macedonia, Crnomelj (Slovenia) and other places in South East Europe region during 2011.

Awarded:

1. Andrija Vrdoljak, 1978, Livno - Fire extinguishing

2. Nemanja Šiljegović, 1985, Banja Luka - Volunteers in action

3. Adeline Charnet, France/Valjevo - Crayons

Acknowledgement:

Mahir Vranac,1985, Visoko/Višegrad – Aid distribution

Arnej Misirlić, 1993, Maribor/Svrake- Vogošća, BiH – Trash bags

 

You can see all exhibition photos on this link:

http://seeyn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132:exhibition-volunteers-in-action&catid=49:dynamic

 

Organizations from South East Europe have possibility to host exhibition in their places. SEEYN can send 21 printed photos prepared for exhibition. If you are interested contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

 

 

The top twenty photos, and also the winning photos of the photo competition Volunteers in action

have been chosen due to the fact that they managed to respond to the given topic from different

perspectives and in the same time showed various ways of perceiving volunteering in general.

All chosen photos had not only managed to show the voluntary action and document the activities such

as helping the children, cleaning green areas from waste, raising ecological consciousness or collecting

aid for the part of our planet that was in trouble, but they also evoked the specific atmosphere of volunteering,

collectivity and unity about a noble idea, and also showed great skills of the authors in using

technical abilities of the chosen media. Smile, caught environment, details from the behind or spontaneous

arm movement became the echoes of the original idea of voluntarism visible in these photos.

The winning photos have in common the subtle detachment from the concrete topic: Andrija Vrdoljak

managed to describe the extinguishing of fire in that way to remind us more of the oil on canvas

than of documented photography, Adeline Charnet was devoted to the details by which we

can only anticipate which activity and help could be presented, while Nemanja Šiljegović paid attention

to the serenity and content which come after work done for the benefit of the community.

Such illustrations, slightly removed from the direct representation of the action, speak much more in the

direction of what we should know about volunteers and volunteer acts: their aim is fulfilled only with good

feelings of all participants, enjoying the acting and smiles on the faces of both the helpers and those in trouble.

Sarajevo Seminar is the biggest event in the SEE region that promotes and celebrates European Year of Volunteering in 2011 and 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteering in this part of Europe. It is an opportunity that will allow for the productive interaction between enterprises, public institutions and civil society organizations coming from the South East Europe countries, the European Union, the United States as well as from international and intergovernmental organizations.

 

The ceremonial opening of the seminar is scheduled for the 21st of June 2011 at 10.00AM. The seminar participants will be addressed by the representatives of the Council of Europe, OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Embassy of Poland in Sarajevo, a country which takes over the presidency of the European Union and the organization committee of the seminar.

The importance of this topic can be reflected in the decision of European Union to declare 2011 as the European year of volunteering. Beside European Union, the Council of Europe and UN also acknowledge and recognize volunteers as one of the main resources for combating poverty, social exclusion and promotion of solidarity. For that reason we would like to use this positive tide and give incentives to regional governments, organizations and companies to contribute to better environment for the development of volunteering also in the SEE region and thus mutually invest in the future of our communities.

During four working days, seminar participants will exchange information and experience about the following topics:

- aims of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 and initiatives for celebrating this year in Europe and region of South East Europe,
- volunteering concepts and practices in the region,
- legal framework and volunteering policies on European and regional levels,
- economic value of volunteering, coorporate social responsibility and coorporative volunteering.

The participants of the seminar will also be the speakers from European Volunteer Centre, International Association for Volunteer Effort, Alliance for European Volunteer Service, European Commission Programme Youth in Action as well as the representatives of the organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, France, Italy, Hungary and USA.

This event is supported by Council of Europe - European Youth Foundation, OSCE Mission to BiH, European Commission - Youth in Action Programme, Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organization in BiH (TACSO BiH) and Civil Society Promotion Centre (CSPC).

Event program can be found at:

http://seeyn.org/images/stories/2011/see%20youth%20for%20the%20european%20year%20of%20volunteering%202011.pdf

 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL. How to express EU citizen's solidarity through volunteering: First reflections on a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, Strasbourg, 23.11.2010, COM(2010) 683 final

Fostering the dialogue between citizens, civil society organisations, National and European Institutions. An introduction to the European Year of Voluntary Activities Promoting Active Citizenship. A publication Europe for Citizens Point Italy -ECP. June 2011.

We invite all organizations from EU to get involved in the 'Discover e-volunteering' Competition as our Partners.

With your help we will be able to reach more NGOs who could participate in the Competition, as well as create more diverse and valuable base of good practices, which will allow more and more NGOs to benefit from the possibilities of combining both the potential of Internet and volunteering!

Your role as a Partner would be to support us in promotion and organization of the Competition at your national or regional level. We will supply all informational and promotional materials (in English), so that you can insert them on your Webpage, send to media and other organizations that cooperate with volunteers via the Internet and might be interested in joining the Competition.

We will insert logos and information about all Partners on the Competition website, as well as all informational and promotional materials, etc.

To become a Partner of the Competition you should read the Guidelines of cooperation between partners involved into organization of the European edition of the „Discover e-volunteering" competition (download) , and send us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) till 615h June 2011 a  letter or e-mail declaring your will to cooperate with us and accepting these guidelines.

 

more information: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/partnership/

promotional materials: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/materials/

A Picture of Volunteering in Diaconia. A publication by Eurodiaconia, May 2011.

Description: This publication is one of Eurodiaconia's activities carried out on the occasion of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 as a means to celebrate volunteering in diaconia and to promote the sharing of best practice in volunteering among Eurodiaconia's members. This publication is aimed at volunteer managers in diaconal organisations and churches and volunteering policy makers in diaconia. It is also targeted at anyone who would like to learn more about diaconia and in particular what volunteers do in diaconal organisations. The publication is also available on Eurodiaconia's website: http://www.eurodiaconia.org/publications-and-resources

European Employee Volunteering Awards Case Study Report - Increasing the employability skills of people facing barriers to work. A report published by Business in the Community (BITC), 2011.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and the National Institute of Children and Youth are very pleased to invite you to the international conference within the framework of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 – "Voluntarily across the Border - Volunteering as a Tool for Connecting and Enriching Neighboring Border Communities", 22 -23 June 2011, Prague, Czech Republic.

The aim of the conference is to support creation of new opportunities in the field of cross-border volunteering, with a close focus on the cooperation of local communities in neighboring border regions in central Europe.

What you can expect from the conference?

The conference will welcome stakeholders from different sectors: non-governmental organizations, the public administrative sector (public servants as well as politicians from regional and local levels), companies, grant agencies and other donors. This composition will enable exploration of the widest possible of cooperation. 9-12 examples of good practices in cross-border volunteering initiatives/projects will be presented. There will be an opportunity to present your organization, yourself and your network at the market of organizations. There will be facilitated time and space for initiating ideas and projects, and for finding partners to take the first steps towards creating new forms of cooperation.

Subsistence and lodging costs are covered by the organizers. There is no participation fee. Travel costs will not be reimbursed. The working language is English. Capacity is limited to 80 participants.

If you are interested to attend the conference, you can apply online http://www.nidm.cz/public-relations/international-confererence-voluntarily-across-the-border. Please register no later than May 23, 2011.