The Partnership

#IVS4Peace, Inclusive Voluntary Service 4 Peace is a 3 years long project intended to favour the social inclusion process of young people with fewer opportunities, migrants and refugees. In order to achieve this, we aim to improve and increase the capacity of IVS organisations to provide effective opportunities for social inclusion of young people through the development and upscaling of tools and working methods.

This project is an opportunity for the IVS movement to look at ourselves and reflect upon our current practices and approaches towards Social Inclusion, to share them with each other in order to capitalize all the tools developed so far, to test and analyse them, to assess their impact, to improve them and to structure them in a way they can be upscaled to the whole IVS movement and beyond.

Besides this more internal side of the project, being financed by Erasmus+ KA3 (the key action for support to policy reform), the project provides as well a space for advocacy on the role of IVS movement in fostering Social Inclusion and to send policy recommendations that can influence the social inclusion policies at an EU level.

The partnership running the project is formed by 3 network organisations, two of them belonging to the IVS movement: CCIVS and the Alliance of European Voluntary Service organisations, one of them bringing the expertise on Social Inclusion: Youth of European Nationalities (YEN). The partnership includes grassroot organisations, who are CCIVS and/or Alliance members: Compagnons Batisseurs Belgium (CBB), Egyesek Hungary, Elix Conservation Volunteers Greece and Solidarités Jeunesses France (SJ). Besides that, thanks to the network organisations, we will count on over 200 IVS organisations to support the identification and testing phases of the project.

By interviewing community members who have been in contact with IVS projects we will end the project with testimonies in 20 countries in 4 regions, which will contribute to the global research, and add up to the 40 professionals participating in international projects and more than 100 people trained in their own countries.

The expected results of the project are:

The organisations associated and beneficiaries of the project have developed and upscaled new tools and strategies to improve the inclusion process of the target group.
Young people with fewer opportunities, migrants and refugees are more aware of personal and professional competencies developed after taking part in voluntary service
Policy recommendations are developed and disseminated in order to make institutions aware of the needs of the target group and of the potential of International Voluntary Service in the field of social inclusion.

The strategy we have traced for the 3 years consists of 3 main phases:

Identification phase: As the project leads on from the previous experience of the partner organisations, it started with a mapping of the Social Inclusion practices among the IVS movement, which were collected and analysed through a SWOT during Spring 2018.
Testing and field work phase: This phase is repeated 2 times during the project and it consists of the following actions: Laboratory (as a space to share, analyse and improve the practices), workcamps and follow-up activities (as two spaces to test the current or improved practices) all supported by an impact assessment process (as a tool to give a more scientific ground to our statements). On the first round, the practices were tested the same way they normally work and it is foreseen that the second round will be the time to test the improved version of them. This phase includes the participation of youth with fewer opportunities, migrants and refugees in workcamps in their current country of residence or abroad. At the end of the project, the workcamps, will be repeated and expanded beyond the partnership to other IVS organisations.

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) is a non-governmental, non-profit making international organisation (INGO) working for the development and coordination of voluntary service worldwide.

CCIVS’ main focus is the quest to achieve change in the minds of men and women by bringing together people of different backgrounds. It supports and develops projects based on the idea that working together on a concrete task is the most effective way of creating international friendship and understanding. The projects serve as a catalyst for dialogue as they provide an opportunity to work together according to each person’s ability and to practice living together. In such situations, national and international Volunteers experience a new reality which can challenge their habits and convictions as well as those of the Local Community.

CCIVS actions include advocacy and networking, capacity building and training, UN cooperation projects, impact measurement and quality improvement. It also coordinates two international campaigns Raising Peace and IVS for Climate Justice.

Contribution to the project:

Coordination of the project.
Expertise in impact assessment processes.
Expertise in Campaigning.

The Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations is an International Non-Governmental Youth Organisation and represents national IVS organisations that promote intercultural education, understanding and peace through voluntary service. The Alliance, founded in 1982, is presently made up of 53 full, associate and candidate member organisations, based in 31 different countries.
The Alliance’s aim is to provide its members with capacity building, networking opportunities and with reference guidelines for the implementation of high quality Workcamps. With our work, we also bring the voice of national grassroot organisations toward European institutions and stakeholders, and we advocate for a stronger recognition of volunteering and youth work.

The Network structure is made up of 8 committees and working groups, where more than 90 Volunteers are involved every year.

Working Groups and Committees, besides promoting Alliance main principles, are also responsible for the implementation of the yearly Plan on Action of the network. Among their bodies, Alliance Access4All Working Group was the one mainly involved in the IVS4Peace project and contributed by sharing inclusion tools and procedures.
At the moment of the creation of this Toolkit, the Alliance has a representative in the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.

Contribution to the project:

Mapping of the inclusion tools already existing within the IVS movement
Expertise in Social Inclusion practices in the IVS movement, providing the “Access for All Guidelines” developed by the Alliance working group on social inclusion.

Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), German “Jugend Europäischer Volksgruppen” (JEV), is the largest network of youth organisations of autochthonous – ethnic, national and linguistic – minorities in Europe. Currently (as of December 2019) 42 member organisations from 19 countries are represented in YEN.

Under the slogan “Minority Rights are Human Rights”, YEN represents the interests of young members of national, ethnic and linguistic minorities. The focus of YEN’s work is the preservation and development of the culture, language and rights of minorities. That is to be achieved through youth work and volunteering of young adults and young people. It is YEN’s aim to achieve a higher level of tolerance for different cultures within our society. YEN is against racism, discrimination and forced assimilation of any kind and, as a matter of principle, is opposed to violence in any form.

YEN is run and led by young people, for young people, and sees itself as a self-determined and self-organised youth organisation. YEN aims to foster the engagement of young people in minority (youth) organisations in Europe and therefore organises a diversified program every year. In addition to numerous engagements and exchanges with partners and other associations, the main work of YEN focuses on organising seminars and workshops.

YEN is a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), a full member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), has a consultant status in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and at the moment of the creation of this Toolkit has a representative in the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.

Contribution to the project:

Expertise in questions relating to youth from autochthonous, national and linguistic minorities.
Expertise in advocacy.

The Association des Compagnons Bâtisseurs (CBB) is a non-profit organisation recognized and financially supported as Youth Organisation by the Brussels-Wallonia Federation since 1978. It is member of the ALLIANCE of European Voluntary Service Organisations since 1997 and CCIVS networks. In Belgium, CBB is member of the federation of the pluralist and independent youth organisations.

All the actions of the organisation are based on the principles of non-formal education. Our projects aim to support the development of active citizens, capable of sense of responsibility, criticism and solidarity. They offer a space for interaction and expression of people from diverse origins and abilities, with the objectives to encourage their awareness on societal challenges (from local to global level), to raise new links of solidarity between them and between their communities, and to support their full participation in the society. In that sense, any project or activity encourages: the empowerment of free, autonomous and responsible individuals; the meetings beyond the differences, the practices of active citizenship and the promotion of volunteering and the informal and non-formal learning processes.

CBB mainly develops its action with 6 permanent programs of activities: international Workcamps, weekend Workcamps, MLTV and ESC, leisure time activities, leaders trainings and youth exchanges.

CBB is a Youth Organisation and most of our public is aged between 16 and 25 years, even if there is not upper age limit to integrate our groups of Volunteers.

Our public is diverse. Around 30 nationalities are yearly represented in our projects. We also implement strategies to facilitate the participation of people from disadvantaged economic and social background as well as of people in situation of disability.

Since 2018, with the support of the federal agency in charge of migration policy (Fedasil) and European youth programs (Erasmus+, ESC), CBB is developing a scheme to enhance the social inclusion of asylum seekers in local communities through volunteering.

Contribution to the project:

Extensive expertise in working with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees at a grassroots level.
Involvement of Volunteers on Workcamps, follow-up activities and awareness-raising actions.
Impact assessment on the Volunteers and the local communities.

Egyesek Youth Association is a community of active youth and young professionals. The aim of our activities is that young people explore their own strengths and resources, using them consciously to fulfill their personal and professional life. To achieve this, we complete youth work activities, training courses and organisational development. Our target groups are youth (with a special focus on youth at risk), the experts working with youth as well as organisations and communities.
Egyesek is a member of the Executive Committee in CCIVS, and is also a member of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations.
Youth workers of Egyesek are committed to carrying out grass-root, outreach youth work in Nógrád county in cooperation with local stakeholders. Our mission is to transform the local youth’s passion into a way to make their own living. Based on regular learning activities and voluntary actions, we contribute to the community development by enabling young people to create quality life, build strong relationships and liveable communities for themselves.

Contribution to the project:

Extensive in working with youth with fewer opportunities and from rural areas at a grassroots level.
Involvement of Volunteers on Workcamps, follow-up activities and awareness-raising actions.
Impact assessment on the Volunteers and the local communities.

ELIX – Conservation Volunteers Greece – is a non-governmental not-for-profit organisation which promotes voluntary service and education since 1987. Our main goal is the personal development of individuals as citizens of the world through active participation. Social service, environmental protection, cultural heritage conservation and culture promotion are the main thematic fields of voluntary projects. ELIX organises Workcamps where participants learn traditional restoration craft and techniques, offer voluntary work to the hosting community, organise and participate in cultural and fun activities, and share ideas and cultures. ELIX organises training seminars for youth workers and young leaders and a lot of local activities addressed to Volunteers throughout the year. ELIX is active in the sector of non-formal education and offers opportunities to all citizens to participate in programmes in Greece and abroad.

Furthermore, an essential core value and scope of ELIX work is social inclusion, with a particular focus on children and young people. In particular, we have been implementing educational projects which benefit local children coming from families with economic difficulties, as well as children and young people with disabilities. By doing so, ELIX has developed significant know-how in providing recreational/educational creative activities for children from neighborhoods and families affected by the crisis, by providing non-formal education programs through music, theater, painting and games.

Since the moment when massive migration flows arrived in Greece and after considering the long duration of refugees’ stay in our country, ELIX identified new urgent problems and needs which had to be answered. Since 2016, ELIX expanded the scope of work, by starting working towards social inclusion and empowerment of a new target group, that is, refugee children, young refugees and asylum seekers and their parents.

Contribution to the project:

Extensive in working with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees at a grassroots level.
Involvement of Volunteers on Workcamps, follow-up activities and awareness-raising actions.
Impact assessment on the Volunteers and the local communities.

Solidarités Jeunesses (SJ) is a non-formal education movement which values voluntary commitment, strong political will and solidarity as its core principles. Our course of action is influenced by our ideal vision of society, in which progress is social, respect for human beings and the environment is a fundamental and shared value, and the freedom to choose, to dream, and to resist is innate and encouraged by all.

Solidarités Jeunesses’ activities are organised for all, regardless of gender, social and cultural background, or nationality. Since its creation, SJ participates in the construction and maintenance of peace by promoting intercultural and international social connections in France and abroad. SJ works through participative pedagogy which supports initiative and personal commitment and combines the skills and intelligence of all our Volunteers and employees.

Solidarités Jeunesses is composed of one National Secretary based in Paris, seven Regional Delegations, and one partner association. Our delegations host Volunteers from France and from all around the world for short or long periods of time all year round. Furthermore, the delegations and partners host and provide assistance to young people with fewer opportunities, as part of their efforts for inclusion and solidarity.

Contribution to the project:

Extensive expertise in working with diverse profiles of youth with fewer opportunities at a grassroots level.
Involvement of Volunteers on Workcamps, follow-up activities and awareness-raising actions.
Impact assessment on the Volunteers and the local communities.