Solidarités Jeunesses would like to propose a project on how voluntary projects impact the perception and representations one's have and thus on stereotypes that arise from it.Volunteering projects offer the opportunity to discover new cultures and habits through local organisations, consequently by living the daily life of the people, participating to a project serving the local communities and meeting different organisations answering local needs (environment, construction, social, etc).At the same time, volunteering offers learning opportunities while contributing to meaningful actions during the protection of cultural diversity and the improvement of living conditions.However to experience those projects led on the field by us, voluntary organisations, in many countries in the world, and to allow a change in the volunteers' perceptions of those countries, there is a need for an upstream work in terms of communication in order to increase the number of volunteers going to participate to voluntary project and consequently, supporting the implementation of projects. A great number of the young people are attracted by IVS and eager to contribute to this kind of actions. Despite this, the IVS movement are recording a dramatic decrease in the number of volunteers exchanged especially towards African countries.→ What are the causes of this phenomenon?→ Does the multiplications of other types of volunteering affect us?The will with this project is to identify key elements of our projects in order to communicate better on them for a higher recognition.For this project, we've decided to focus on the projects implemented by our partner organisations in Africa.Indeed too many times, we've noticed that the first words that come to the mind of people when thinking of Africa are: hunger, wars, poverty and refugees. The volunteers still come up with the idea that Africa needs “help”. Through the use of several methods and tools, this project aims at changing this perception and to support our partner organisations in the implementation of their projects.The objectives of the project is to:-To improve the perception of Africa and to develop a critical thinking dealing with mass media, in order to better communicate on IVS projects-To deconstruct stereotypesThose two objectives will lead us to our main one which is:-To increase the number of volunteers exchanged

#Evolve aims to enable exchange, develop new cooperation between CCIVS members and external stakeholders through an International Conference and by starting the Long Term Training programme for the IVS network by providing two trainings the ‘ABC of NGO Finances’ and ‘Communication and Marketing’ , following these we will ensure the replication of the project in Local Training Hubs based in the local communities where the 26 partners are based. It will produce 2 Open Source Toolkits on the theme of the Trainings. #Evolve is built upon the CBY KA2 - STEPS project which made an analysis of the training needs of IVS organisations, the ‘State of the Art of IVS’ was the publication issue from this project, it highlights the following; 1. organisational development is a top priority for IVS organisations, 2. The need to address the decreasing numbers of volunteers. As such #Evolve will promote networking (encouraging exchange – developing partnerships, sharing of ideas; meeting with stakeholders) and capacity building in Finances and Communication and Marketing in order to meet the needs highlighted. In face of declining numbers of volunteers #Evolve offers a space to build new partnerships, to further develop local actions and to develop key competencies to strengthen organisational structure. The Conference offers- visibility/networking/learning, the Training – new skills peer-to peer support with the trainings taking place in strategic countries with more expert members, the Local Training Hubs – multiplication with local communities improving access for 1500 young people with low basic skills and thus promoting social inclusion. The Results will include Open Source Toolkits on the themes of the Trainings and Reports.

The White Paper for International Voluntary Service (2011-2021) draws the strategic objectives for Cultural Heritage and Diversity with the vision to ‘Preserving, protecting, and promoting cultural heritage and diversity through International Voluntary Service activities in order to foster mutual understanding and respect within the global community’. With the Strategic objectives to create:A. A global community where mutual understanding and respect are brought by active citizens that preserve protect and promote cultural heritage and diversityB. Develop and expand cooperation between organisations, institutions and government bodies in the field of Cultural Heritage and DiversityC. Raise awareness about the impact of IVS in cultural heritage and diversity issuesHeritage has been an important element of local communities where IVS organisations have set up projects since 1920 (1st workcamp). Throughout the years organisations, mainly in Europe, have developed cooperation with various stakeholders, involving young and adult volunteers in the protection, preservation and valorisation of our tangible and intangible heritage. This topic has been taken until recent years in other regions of the world demonstrating the value of non-formal learning as the IVS educational approach to disseminate the values and expertise developed at the inter-governmental level to a large public and in particular to young people, based on a dynamic dialogue between the different stakeholders.The aim of this project is to work towards the strategic objectives of the White Paper and to promote the work of IVS organisations and NFL, whilst valorising local customs and the diversity of these.The world is under an increasing threat from globalisation and extremism; these two factors contribute to the breaking down of cultural norms, traditions and the destruction and loss of heritage sites. This project will celebrate both tangible and intangible heritage and to revel in the diversity of this heritage. The applicant organisations propose actions which focus on food, culture, language, cultural and natural sites indigenous traditions …. etc. The aim is to be as diverse as possible and to show the richness of this diversity and to include local people as educators, emphasizing the bottom up approach of IVS and the work in local communities and with young people with fewer opportunities.The partners are grassroots IVS organisations from Africa, Asia and Europe for a 24 month project The different actions include:• Research, analysis and preparation phase (September 2016)• Stakeholders Forum (October 2016)• Capacity building trainings on Volunteer and Heritage Management ( April/May 2017)• Local Awareness Raising Actions (June 2017 – December 2017) • Global Communication Campaign (January 2017 – March 2018) • Final evaluation and dissemination meeting (April 2018)• Finalisation of the Impact measurement results and publication (April-August 2018)

STEP to Change is a project which aims at starting an empowerment process for International Voluntary Service (IVS) organisations, bringing competences on organisational management, impact measurement and improvement, and by allowing to make a first global diagnosis of the existing needs and capacities of IVS members and regions worldwide.The proposal follows the mission of the CCIVS which is, among other functions, to empower its members and IVS orgs so that they will have better capacity to reach their goals and achieve their vision as ngo's and as a movement. The General Assembly of the CCIVS 2014 in Korea approved a plan for the CCIVS to implement an Empowerment & Monitoring system which should allow to assess the needs of IVS ngo's, provide them with support, trainings and synergies, which may turn weaknesses into strengths and opportunities.This project aims at being the start for the implementation of such a system within the CCIVS. It will also allow to complete a global Impact research on IVS.The general process, priorities and baselines will be arranged by a Steering Team (ST), which will be formed by representatives of 4 IVS networks and a team of 4 experts, in the seminar Setting the Path (France, March'17). There, experts will finetune and develop the tools, and implement a peer-training, to ensure a highlevel of quality for the next phases.The central events of this project will be the regional STEPs (Strategic Trainings for Empowerment Processes), which will happen one in each region(Africa, America, Asia, Europe), led by the team of experts. Each of these STEPs will consist on a first international training on organisational management and impact measurement, for partners in the region,which will allow also to complete a needs-assessment of the participating ngo's. The training will be followed by a field itinerary, which will lead experts to visit each of the countries of the participating ngo's, to lead training, impact measurement of IVS projects and field visits.Outcomes of the STEPs will be global/regional needs-assessment and impact measurement of ngo's in 20 countries, worldwide, and trained professionals.All these materials will be processed by the team of experts, with the help of the ST, to create a first global diagnosis of needs in the movement, and a global report of the impact of IVS.The final seminar Build the Common Path (Hungary, May'18), will have two main goals: first, to process, discuss and valorise the results of the global research-training; second, to build common strategies to set up the long term Monitoring and Empowerment programme of the CCIVS, including fundraising and sustainability strategies adapted to each region and donor.STEP to Change will leave empowered multipliers in 4 continents, trained professionals, a global report on Impact of IVS and a first global diagnosis of the IVS movement, basis for a common strategy for a long-term Empowerment & Monitoring programme for the movement.

This project is developed based on the direction of the White Paper for International Voluntary Service (IVS) 2011-2021 regarding Capacity Building and Impact, and in the decision of the General Assembly 2014 to establish a Monitoring and Empowerment System for the CCIVS. Following the 2017-2018 project STEPS to Change (www.ccivs.org/steps), the present project STEPS to the Future brought Organisational Development (OD) training and impact measurement to 20 organisations in 4 regions, allowing the building of a global and regional diagnosis on the State of the Art of the International Voluntary Service movement. Through STEPS, CCIVS aimed at expanding and consolidating the empowerment process in four regions. With the support of Erasmus+, 22 partners (including 3 international and regional networks Service Civil International, Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisation and Network for Voluntary Development in Asia) from Asia, Africa, Europe and America came together to cooperate in this project, which not only strengthened their own capacity through a series of offline and online trainings and job-shadowing in peer organisation but also benefited from their experience and contribution to the refinement of tools on Organisational Development for IVS organisations. The main objectives were to:-increase the competencies of youth professionals / youth organisations;-improve the cooperation for strategic objectives among the IVS networks;-generate high-quality tools, methods and mechanisms that support such empowerment and monitoring within the network/movement.In order to reach the objectives, the project incorporated the following four phases:1.Launching the Process:-Steering Team Meeting & Experts Seminar in Estonia hosted by EstYes, January 2019.2.Setting the Capacities:-Training for Trainers on Organisational Development in Italy hosted by YAP Italy, May 2019.3.Implement Global Empowerment-On-Field Training Exchanges & Job-shadowing in Europe, May 2019;-Diagnosis & Training on Organisational Development in Africa hosted by VWAN Nigeria and in Asia hosted by VSA Thailand;-MOOC Production Laboratory in Hungary hosted by Egysek, October 2019;-Online Course on Organisational Development for IVS Organisations (STEPS MOOC) launched, January 2020;-Webinar Series, September – November 2020.4.Consolidate and Scale-Monitoring mechanism;-Support measure on organisational sustainability;-Dissemination and future strategies meetings.The project approach and methodologies are innovative and it was a significant step in terms of the evolution and sustainable development of both CCIVS and the International Voluntary Service movement. It was CCIVS’s first time to organise a Training for Trainers on Organisational Development and develop a MOOC on Organisational Development that could reach a much larger target group. The project also mainstreamed “interculturality” throughout its process and incorporated it in the organisational development and monitoring methodology. It’s important to highlight that the consortium reacted promptly and adequately to the COVID-19 pandemic which imposed travel restriction and lockdown policies and brought a great impact on the management and organisation of youth mobility and capacity building work of many organisations and networks in the International Voluntary Service. CCIVS and its partners have actively engaged themselves to make full use of the project tools and outcomes and look for means to diffuse these products that would be beneficial to more individuals and organisations who want to increase their capacities.The project chronicle magazine gives a more detailed overview and highlights of outcomes, & available on http://bit.ly/STEPS2-chronicle.