MAP Volunteering Values: Motivation, Action, Participation

Mollina, Spain: 12-19 September 2010

The seminar is focused on exploring and mapping core issues and values in volunteering and will gather basic materials and practices to provide a conceptual foundation for further trainings and seminars.  The seminar is organised by EEE-YFU and will take place within the framework of the University on Youth and Development , an annual space created by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to debate, train and exchange expereinces and affirmative action in global youth cooperation.

YFU organisations from around the world rely on volunteers as the backbone of their organisations, and they are involved at all levels of the entire exchange process.  Due to the diversity of YFU volunteers in Europe, this often results in very different volunteer cultures across EEE-YFU's 29 member organisations , which express themselves in different approaches and structures.  Part of EEE-YFU's educational strategy is to promote the value and recognition of volunteerism, and the benefits that it has for the volunteers and for wider society in general.  This training aims to provide the first step in this process, and will provide a strong foundation for the basis of future trainings and seminars.

The main aims of the seminar are:

• Identify diverse personal and organisational values related to volunteering;
  

• Map and collect approaches, practices and structures that different YFU organisations have to volunteering;

• Gain a deeper understanding of the impact volunteering has on society and identify links between volunteering and active citizenship;

• Explore the influence of Information & Communication Technology on new forms of volunteering;

• Develop recommendations for future trainings, seminars and meetings on volunteering.