The project objective was to carry out an European voluntary service mobility, which was held for 12 months in the Pilsen organization called Intergenerational and Volunteer Center TOTEM, z.s. 2 volunteers at the age of 19 and 24 participated in the mobility. One volunteer from Germany and the second one from Spain. Hosting organization TOTEM, z.s. spreads and promotes ideas of volunteering and intergenerational activities. Volunteers helped to ensure a smooth run of provided activities and they also broadened and enriched the center's offer for an activity which they chooseed and focused according to their interests, skills and abilities. They worked in the center mainly with groups of active seniors within social activation services, however they also had a possibility to get to know other target groups in our cooperating organizations.Regarding to our efforts in trying to support well functioning interpersonal relationships, we would like to contribute even more that we will reach across the borders. The project had a chance to boost good Czech-German relations of neighboring countries, moreover by joining another European country, Spain in this case, we encouraged getting to know also other farther European countries.

We live in a highly urbanized world. There is a need to re-establishing rural new jobs for young people, to spread the interest in youth work and to get firsthand experience. Sustainable organizations such as Veles association, offer the opportunity for a combination of new and old way of living. Our aim is to revive and update sustainable ancestral traditions and preserve cultural heritage.The main achieved objectives of the project are:- to offer the participants the opportunity experience of sustainable living and working;- to connect volunteers with good examples of green economy and to acquaint the volunteers with the procedure of the realization of a business idea;- to explore how to connect ourselves and the community with the local environment (social and natural environment), and wider - Slovenia and Europe, in a sustainable way;- to connect young people with a similar way of thinking for the exchange of information, to explore together and explore options for further cooperation;- improving the knowledge of foreign languages.Profile of participants was linked on interest in sustainable living on a farm. As an organization, we supported volunteers and enrich their knowledge and skills where it was needed.The activity of this project was EVS for 2 volunteers in two flows. Flow 1 started on 1.3.2018 and ended on 30.11.2018 for volunteer Jakub, Czech Republic. Flow 2 started on 1.5.2018 and ended on 31.10.2018 for volunteer Marina, Croatia. Most parts of the activity was held at the association of Veles, in the village called Svinjsko.Cooperating countries were Slovenia as coordinator and host and Croatia and the Checz Republic as a sending organization.EVS activity took place in the sustainable initiative farm, therefore volunteers had interaction with examples of good practice of low environmental footprint in the rural life. The schedule included various activities; both theoretical and practical from different fields of sustainable practices (permacultural farming, social entrepreneurship, natural construction, energy resources, water cycle on the estate, social permaculture).The volunteers were, depending on the motivation and interest, working in a variety of activities and projects that took place within the association. He and she also had our support and opportunities to develop their own personal projects within the framework of existing activities and projects or create a new one.The association cooperates with various sustainable organizations, both local and international, and it's a part of various networks. Therefore with our support and encouragement, the volunteers had a possibility of cooperating with networks according to their own interests.Methods used during activities were focused on experiential learning, which begins with the experience that is followed by reflection, discussion, analysis and evaluation of the experience. The methods used to develop ideas and wishes were open space, dragon dreaming and the decision-making process sociocracy. We used the evaluation and reflection on different levels to review the achievement of individual goals.Expected achieved impact on the volunteers was the acquisition of new skills and deepening her/his personal development.The participants have new perspectives on sustainable life and ability to improve and to transfer this knowledge in their local communities, where they both started with creation of own gardens for self-efficiency.With this experience, the volunteers empowered themselves, increased self-esteem, creativity, initiative and motivation for further active participation in society.The volunteers expanded their cultural awareness and intercultural communication ability, they enhanced their social skills and increased the social network and improved the level of English.The implementation of the project itself, the results and dissemination of information confirm the meaningfulness and concreteity of the project. The results that come from the participants themselves (books and workshops) have the greatest weight for their own initiative.

The project objective is to carry out a voluntary activity, which will be held for 12 months in the Pilsen organization called Intergenerational and volunteer center TOTEM. Two female volunteers both at the age of 23, one girl from Germany and the other from Spain will participate in the mobility. Hosting organization TOTEM spreads and promotes ideas of volunteering, intergenerational activities and offers social services to senior target group. Volunteers help to ensure a smooth run of provided activities and they also can broaden and enrich the center's offer for an activity which they choose and focus according to their interests, skills and abilities. The volunteers work in the center mainly with groups of active seniors within social stimulation services, however they also have a possibility to get to know other target groups in our cooperating organizations. Regarding to our efforts in trying to support well functioning interpersonal relationships, we would like to contribute even more the way we will reach out of the borders. The project has a chance to further strengthen a cross-border cooperation with Germany and set up a new partnership for future. At the same time we would also like to support more distant country that could bring the organization different cultural dimension, therefore we chose a volunteer from Spain. The impact of the project concerns both the volunteers and the target group of seniors as well as the employees of the organization. Intergenerational dynamics is very important to us for a healthy development of society, as well as cultural enrichment on each side and breaking stereotypes. The involvement of European volunteers is thus very essential for reaching these goals.

Context:The VOICE (Volunteer Organizations‘ Input to Community Education) partnership project was set up to follow on a major objective, namely: to promote Community Education (CE) and to showcase the input of volunteer and (inter)cultural centers to Community Education. As the current dominant discourse around education for the economy seems to ignore the value and impact of CE and its importance personal development and strengthening communities, partners want to address this important and innovative resource of learning. The partnership was founded by 6 volunteer/(inter)cultural/neighborhood-centers across the EU, working on local level but representing different traditions of volunteering in Europe. The VOICE partners use this Erasmus project to create a platform for exchange expertise among practitioners from different European countries. During project implementation, 6 transnational meetings were convened, involving at least 18 staff members and volunteers working in CE programs. Furthermore, each partner conducted CE programs at local level, and attracted at least 300 participants in total with at least 90 of them being disadvantaged. Additionally, partners involved other local NGOs, (adult) education providers, stakeholder on local, national and international level.The 6 transnational partnership meeting were used to explore and discuss a) the value and impact of “Community Education”, b) the role of CE providers in local communities, c) Professional development of CE practitioners d) Success factors of CE programs, e) how does CE increase the skills, confidence, networks and resources of participants, and f) how does CE contribute to tackle problems and grasp opportunities, which occur within local communities. Additionally host partners showcased good practices of them in the field of Community Education. All their discussions, results and lead to the creation of an EBook and pdf document with recommendations on how to implement Community Education programs, including partners experiences and expertise in form of ‘good practices’ collection. This eBook can be used as a guideline for promoting CE and to disseminate good practices of partners in order for others to copy them. And within this partnership most partners copied at least one good practice, which was presented by a different partner. It is published on the websites www.volunteertolearn.eu and www.professional-volunteering.eu to be used as a tool kit and inspiration for other NGOs to start their own community education programmes.It is available in English, German and Romanian.Methodology of the joint work:Tasks and activities of the project were undertaken as described in the methodology on the original project application. Upon approval, the ultimate work plan and time schedule were agreed on by the partners during the first transnational meeting (TM) in Passau-Germany when the project officially took off. A total of 6 TM were conducted, each partner hosting one TM. The transnational meetings were a platform for exchange of expertise and experience on CE between partners: The meetings also served as a think tank were ideas around providing, improving, supporting, harmonizing CE were discussed. The result was the joint EBook. Additionally, the meetings were used to monitor the progress made, plan future activities, allocate tasks and agree on the mode of operation and feedback.Parallel with the transnational meetings, partners maintain special web-section for VOICE within their designated websites. The web-section provides information about VOICE activities locally and transnational. Results of this partnership:The two year project has been successful implemented. The VOICE project met all the pre-set project objectives as presented in the original project application and within the agreed time.oThe transnational meetings were convened as planned and each led to a chapter to the eBook.oPartners were able to exchange experience and expertise on CE with a potential of further improving and harmonizing CE across Europe.oMonitoring, evaluation as well as dissemination activities were conducted by partners as initially agreed in the original application. oAn eBook on CE including an input about the community education approach in learning, practical tips on the implementation of community education programs in local communities, the role and success factors of volunteer/ neighbourhood/ intercultural centers as important providers of CE programs, as well as a collection of good practices of learning and training programs offered by the involved partners. This eBook was and will be disseminated on local, regional, national and international level in order:a) to raise awareness for the importance of CE and its contribution to the education system and community development, b) to promote the staff development of CE providers and to strengthen the expertise and skills of CE practitioners

The project „Start from yourself – Influence all!“ was focused on youthwork development, educational activities and on personal development of volunteers as well. The activities of the project which were focused on prevention and intervention, increased the responsibility in decision-making, the quality of free time of children and young people in town Púchov and its surrounding, but also to a wider community, especially socially disadvantaged people.All activities of the project were planned for 2 volunteers from Czech republic. Project took places in Púchov town in NGO ACET SR, Slovakia. Volunteers spent here nearly 12 months during their EVS (14.September 2016 – 31.August 2017). They worked in the team of experienced youth workers and local volunteers, and also individually on their own projects. They had the possibility to work in various areas. Their main service description was to be implementation of regular activities for children and young people and also organizing events in open space club - Connect Club. Volunteers helped as assistants of lector during prevention trainings and workshops for students of primary and secondary schools. Volunteers also started completely new activities: workshops and free time clubs depending on their talent and initiative (exercise for women - Connect Fit, Relax, handy crafts - Connect Creative, discussions). All activities of the project supported intercultural dialogue. Part of the work took place in primary and secondary schools and in ACET SR office – they were responsible for making posters, brochures and leaflets for ACET SR promotion and youth service. Volunteers did not visit language lessons. They had opportunity to visit a course of education and training for youth workers. Volunteers had many possibilities to got know the children and young people through regular activities but also during special events (camps, one day events, meetings).Awareness about international activities rose up through this project and young people in the town of Púchov and also volunteers, could see the meaning in starting from ourself and influence all.