European Solidarity Corps.
European Solidarity Corps bring together young people aged 18 to 30 to build more inclusive society and to provide support to vulnerable populations as well as to respond to social challenges. Many young Europeans are willing to volunteer or work for the common good in projects where their contribution gives visible results and shows solidarity. European Solidarity Corps provide an opportunity for these young people to gain valuable experience, develop their skills and contribute to society.
European Solidarity Corps contain three types of projects:
– volunteering
– internship and employment
– solidarity projects
Through this program, young people have the opportunity to get involved in projects and activities in various fields, and their participation benefits not only them but also the citizens and society to which the activities of this program are aimed.
Argonauta and the European Solidarity Corps
Our association participates in volunteering projects. So far in Argonauta in Murter we have hosted 117 volunteers on international volunteer projects, of which 96 short-term in a 4-week program and 21 long-term in a 12-month program. As an association, we sent by now 15 volunteers to other member states/organizations.
Their tasks are really diverse, so volunteers through this program, among other things, help to design, organize and implement creative workshops and create materials on environmental protection, sea, ecosystem and biodiversity, help us promote the educational summer program for children, assist in the implementation of youth exchange projects, write smaller local / national project proposals in the field of environment, update the association’s website, assist in the administration of social networks…
In particular, the activities in which we include ESC volunteers in 2020 could be grouped by next topics;
1. Archaeological site Colentum:
– assistance in preparation for archeological excavations and conservation;
– assistance in preparation for the restoration of dry stone walls on site;
– assistance in archaeological research;
– assistance in the restoration of dry stone walls;
– actions of cleaning beaches and forests in the area of Colentum;
– assistance in the promotion of archeological sites (media production: video, newsletter, posts, articles, educational games…
2. Days of the Latin sail:
– assistance in logistical tasks (registration of participants, serving dinner …);
– translation of the official website of the Latin Sail Association into the volunteer mother tongue;
– assistance in photo and video documentation of the event;
– assistance in the international promotion of events.
Solidarity action
During activities 1 and 2, we also include users (children and youth) of the Center for Education Šubićevac from Šibenik in creative workshops related to Colentum and Latin Sail together with our ESC and local volunteers.
All project activities contribute to our continuous efforts to raise public awareness and interest in the needs of local cultural resources: the archaeological site Colentum and the traditional manifestation of maritime culture Days of the Latin Sail, their preservation and further appropriate valorization. This all adds a common component to the solidarity of community action, providing a platform for inclusion.
The work methods we use in these activities are non-formal learning methods (learning through work, workshops, games of evaluation and thinking, through assistance in the activities of organizing events).
The role of the support organization is to prepare volunteers for the volunteer team as a available partner both the volunteers and the host organization during the volunteer activity to support possible problems and act as a partner for reintegration of volunteers returning to their home countries.
The projects in which Argonauta has participated so far as part of the European Solidarity Days program are a series of projects called EVS (European Voluntary Service); Sea is Life 1-8 and Drystone wall Extravaganza 1-5 and new editions of projects within the European Solidarity Corps program, called WIN – Volunteer in Murter and Stone & Sail Extravaganza.
Our experiences
We started with the role of hosts in international youth mobility projects back in 2011 with the aim of bringing a good will, volunteerism, youth, cultural and linguistic exchange into our organization and our local community, to build tolerance so that everyone grows into better individuals., and thus a better community. Together with each new volunteer, we built our experience in coordinating volunteer work and every year we were more competent to provide volunteers with an better and richer experience of volunteering in Croatia, on a small island, in the local community, organized by civil society that nourishes activities of nature and environmental protection and sustainable development, which, we are sure, will instill new knowledge and skills in volunteers and valuable experience that they will bring further into life and which they will gladly remember.
This all prompted us to build a network of alumni of Argonauta volunteers around the world, with whom we are always happy to be in contact.
Why volunteer?
We believe that the above text has already given an answer to this question, so we will only briefly point out how participation in mobility programs and volunteering affects the marked development of soft skills among young people. Interestingly, out of six skills most sought after by employers, as many as five are developed by participating in these programs. These are communication, teamwork, decision making, organizational skills and self-confidence. For young people who have participated in non-formal educational activities abroad, this also includes the development of language, intercultural and leadership skills. In addition, participation in youth mobility programs is particularly valuable in developing social capital in terms of networking and in creating new directions in their future professional life.
For more information visit https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en
