"SCI's vision is a world of peace, social justice and sustainable development, where all people live together with mutual respect and without recourse to any form of violence to solve conflict. SCI's mission is to promote a culture of peace by organising international volunteering projects with local and global impact. The No-More-War group was formed in 2010 to recall and reinforce SCI's orginal commitment to help build a peaceful, anti-militarist and pacifist world, and a peaceful, worldwide volunteer movement as an alternative to military service. SCI deeply believes that all conflicts can be solved peacefully without resort to violence and this is the message that we try to convey and put into practice in our daily work.By implementing the project ""Think, Learn & Transform - The role of international voluntary service in promoting peaceful transition & solidarity in Europe"" we wanted to create a platform which provided a space for European peace activists who work in the area of international volunteering and education to develop their understanding of different aspects of the current security crisis in Europe. as well as to further educate, train and empower each other with methods how to plan, organise and implement initiatives dedicated to peace. The seminar also provided the opportunity to exchange views on current challenges which organizations face in their peace work and get new inspiration to work together as a network of likeminded peace activists.The specific aims were:- To gather together active staff & volunteers of the international voluntary service movement & equip/empower them with further knowledge, methods & comptences to deliver high-quality volunteer projects- Identify and determine the main challenges & obstacles to be addressed, as well as the particular problems & needs of the voluntary organizations & civil society actors active in the region;- Elaborate together non-violent & alternative and/or complimentary grass-root solutions to those traditionally practiced- Develop new, innovative projects in the voluntary service sector to promote real peace, sustainable development, social inclusion, active citizenship etc., as well as cross-border cooperation;- Support concrete actions in solidarity with the victims of war & violence & those suffering from discrimination & social exclusion. . The project was implemented in three stages:a) An opening thematic seminar from 17.01 - 24.01 in Berlin, Germany: ""Peace and Solidarity - Make It, Don't Break It""b) Implementation of a series of actions/activities elaborated & planned at the opening seminar (March-Sept.)c) ""Trade Fair"" from 25.09 - 02.10 in Poznan, Poland - Presentation & evaluation of the activities, new ideas for extending & enhancing the future quality of cooperationWhat mainly prompted us to take action, was the deepening military conflict in Ukraine and growing estrangement or even hostility between Russia and the European Union, increasing antagonisms within the EU as well as the growth of extreme right-wing movements & populist authoritarian governments in response to the increased influx of refugees caused by wars, human rights' violations & poverty elsewhere in the world, In the course of the project the following topics were addressed both in the trainings & the resulting activities:- Peace concepts - creating a common understanding- Culture of peace and non-violence- Peace activism – best/worst practices; aims/targets and challenges in peace work today- National identity, stereotyping, prejudice & discrimination- History, memory and reconcilliation.- Hate speach and propaganda techniques, role of propaganda in past and current international conflicts.- Peace building – current issues: conflict between Ukraine and Russia, „refugee crises”, situation in Balkans (current tensions), Brexit and EU crisis, right wing extremism in Europe, situation in the Middle East, USA elections- How to create a culture of peace and non-violence transversal to different perspectives- Implementation of gained knowlegde and experience, planning follow-up activities- Workcamps and long-term volunteering as major tools for HR & Peace work- Presentation of carried out local and international follow-up activities and exchange of practical experienceMany of the participants were personally involved in situations related to the main themes of the project, which led to vivid and emotional discussions. The confrontation of different perspectives induced deep reflection and, often, a change of mind about some controversial issues. The reflection and evaluation of these experiences became a starting point to plan future events, which took or will place next year in Poland, Germany, Finland, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Kosovo, Belgium, Georgia, Italy and Hungary. These local initiatives will try to propose a positive solution to the challenges facing Europe today as the tensions and conflicts in Europe are still growing,"

"In 'Planning Exchange and Arrange Collective Engagement' two major impulses to the work of IAL will be given.EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE - PLACEMENT OFFICER AT IAL OFFICEA volunteer at the secretariat will give solid bottom to IAL's capacity. The volunteer will help to make the exchange of volunteers to go smooth, offer support, logistically and administratively to create more engaged projects, study themes and returning volunteers. All this will give the participant improved organisational skills and raised awareness of how international voluntary work can create a better, fairer world. Additionally she will build up a network, both locally and internationally that will hopefully stimulate her to stay active for international solidarity and peace, after the program ends.EXCHANGE PLATFORM MEETINGBy organising this evaluating, inspirational and knowledge-sharing meeting in Sweden a significant contribution to development of international voluntary exchange projects will be made. It literally is a platform in the form of a seminar for youth workers responsible for organizing international voluntary projects in collaboration with local NGOs and communities, as well as youth workers who are selecting, preparing and evaluating experiences of young people joining these local projects. The European youthworkers have a need for this platform, especially regarding the young people sent to regions of the world called ""the Global South"" but also within Europe and neighbouring countries. The objectives of the platform are to exchange best practices, evaluate evaluation-tools and projects as well as to share ideas and visions for the further development of international voluntary projects and sending young people to voluntary projects in the Global South. Also it offers space to discuss the recent global refugee crises and to come up with initiatives to counter it. As outputs collections of best practices and shared tools are expected. The results of the implementation of this outputs will be a better quality and higher impact of international voluntary projects, a clearer position of non profit international volunteering organizations towards commercial offers and reinforced capacity of the partner organizations as well as personal development of participants towards a broader understanding of their every day work with young people volunteering abroad. All in all, when all elements hit the target, we hope to see more active citizenship at our target group, European youth."

"The project entitled ""A daily plate of peace and non-violence: How our values should and can be represented in our food consumption"" emerged from the need to raise awareness and promote critical reflexion of current practices of food consumption in youth exchanges and activities throughout Europe. The main objectives were to enhance the knowledge, skills & competences of youth workers on the main topics and equip them with the tools to make their activities ecologically more sustainable.The project consisted of three main activities: A training seminar in Witzenhausen (Germany) in November 2018, a further seminar at La Città dell'Utopia in Rome (Italy) in March 2019 and a final evaluation, dissemination and follow-up in Krems (Austria) in September 2019.All three activities were implemented using a broad variety of NFE methods, such as worldcafe, snowball discussions, barometar, silent exhibition, simulation games, theatre, visual harvesting, arts, energizers, teambuilding games and more.Participants created as an outcome of the project an excellent cookbook and guidelines on food consumptions in camps, trainings, seminars, meeting, workshops and youth exchanges as well as a comprehensive toolkit with NFE methods for project participants to understand the need for such consumption on youth activities and in their daily lives. They are available as an open source under the following link:http://www.sci-d.de/dailyplateThe long-term impact of the project will be to promote conscientious food production & consumption and ultimately sustainable development and healthy well-being of the young generation - as started during the project and using the tools created. The pool of 25 multipliers have been trained to pass on their new knowledge and competences to their peers in their daily work in the years to come. The project enhanced the level of networking and cooperation among the partners and additionally helped to develop new proposals and concepts for future projects together. Last not least it demonstrated the importance and advantages of NFE methods as a means to promote & active citizenship and cross-border cooperation in enhancing the aims & values of the European Union."

The project “From Small Steps to Big Changes: Tackling discrimination in everyday life”, coordinated by Service Civil International from 1.01.2018 to 31.08.2018, tackled the growing discriminatory attitudes and practices in the contemporary EU. It was a response to the rise of xenophobia and fears against refugees, migrants and generally ‘others’. Youth workers all around Europe have encountered tough challenges working to stop and turn back the growth of exclusion and discriminatory attitudes. They often are more than willing to help and act, but they lack expertise – both theoretical preparation, and practical experience.Service Civil International contributed with its expertise through a project which main aim was to increase the capacity of 10 partner organisations in becoming actors of change in their local environment and working more effectively and actively for a more inclusive and prejudice-free Europe. In the frame of the project, a training course was organised, as well as follow-up activities - local country actions, which were implemented by the participants in order to perform and multiply their competences and the results of the training.1. The training course for youth workers and leaders took place in Antwerp from 12 until 18 April 2018, and gathered youth workers coming from 9 different countries, namely from Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden - altogether 29 persons. It lasted for 7 days, including elements of both theory (what is discrimination, how to react to it), direct encounter with minorities (Human Library event), practice (practising intervention in situations of discrimination both as an individual and an organisation), and action planning (small-scale activities that project partners can do in order to prevent the growth of xenophobia and discrimination). 2. The local country actions were implemented by the participants after the training course. The participants organised educational activities in local communities and societies on the topics of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination - both Human Libraries and other events that aimed at diminishing the fear of others, and, as a result, the discrimination levels in the communities. With the country actions, SCI reached the desired multiplier effect. The working methods used were highly participatory and based on the principles of adult learning, creating a stress-free and motivating environment where the human brain has a full capacity to learn. We believe that through the project SCI contributed to a greater understanding and acceptance of ‘others’ among young people and contributed to a healthy, fact-based discourse on minorities, migration, refugees, and inclusion in the EU. On one hand the project impacted 30 training participants who increased their knowledge regarding the topics of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination and developing their skills regarding tackling discrimination. They acquired a deep knowledge and expertise on how to organise a Human Library event and became more motivated to lead activities for the benefit of marginalised and discriminated groups and individuals.On the other hand the impact on the 10 participating organisation was:- increased quality of workshops, training courses, seminars, intercultural meetings and other educational situations, through the raised quality of youth workers’ expertise and skills;- more networking opportunities among the participating organisations, basis for the future projects on similar topics;- the project was also an opportunity to involve actively members, volunteers and supporters of the hosting organisation, and are now a resource for future initiatives on behalf of the local community. The project had also impact on the local communities in 9 European countries of the partner organisations, on the participants of the workshops, Human Library events, and other non-formal and informal actions, organised by the project participants. At the European level, the project mainly aimed to contribute to a better informed and more inclusive European community: society members which do not base on stereotypes and prejudices when meeting and living with minority groups, but are open-minded, willing to discover a single person’s story, and as a result, they are not prone to use hate speech, and practice discriminatory behaviours in their life.

Bunkr o.p.s. is a regional non-profit organisation. It was established in 2003 in Trinec. Nowadays our organisation operates in three different towns in Moravian-Silesian region – Trinec, Bohumin and Novy Jicin. Bunkr o.p.s. focuses on chidren and young people and their families. We concentrate especially on those, who have to face difficult social situations or who are dealing with some kind of troubles. We are engaged in prevention, specialized social services and free time activities. We have been inviting and hosting volunteers from abroad since 2005. In this project were involved 3 organisations from Portugal, Romania and Belgium. This EVS project started in April 2015 and last volunteer left in September 2016. In this project there have been many changes and we faced many complicated situations. Only 2 of 5 volunteers finished their project, 2 volunteers partially and 1 volunteer put our project in danger.Our volunteers worked 5 days a week, mostly in the afternoon. Their activities followed three main directions:-Assisting social workers with the work with children and youth in the clubs or on Streetwork-Preperation of non-formal education activities for clients and students-Helping in community centreThe volunteers were given a wide space for self realization and use of their hobbies along with the support from Bunkr workers.