After months of online work, on the 22nd and 23rd of July we hosted the representatives of CAP-Solidaire (France) and ART SQUARE (Luxemburg) in Cinisello Balsamo for the meeting of the project “VOLEM”. The project was founded by the ERASMUS+ program, and it aims at strengthening the recognition of key skills acquired by the young people during the voluntary activities, enhancing their impact on both the local development and on their entry in the labour market.
The meeting was useful to keep on developing useful tools to support young people and organizations in recognizing the learned skills.
During the two days of work we discussed the work previously done by each organization at a local level; in particular, the first project output was finalized (which will be published shortly), represented by a booklet in which good practices are presented in the context of national volunteering program in Italy, France and Luxembourg, as well as collecting data and interviews with volunteers and tutors from the three countries. It was also an opportunity to coordinate the partnership on the next steps to be implemented and on the new timing of the project, which after receiving a 6 months extension will end in mid 2022.
Currently, the project partners are developing the beta version of a digital diary useful for volunteers to keep track of all the experiences and activities made, relating them to the skills acquired.
Interactive games have also been crated to be offered to young people and organizations: thanks to these non-formal activities, young people will be able to understand the importance of volunteering and how much it can give them on a personal and educational level.
During the first day of the meeting the project staff tested the initial version of the games, including the volunteers of the Universal Civil Service of the Europe Office: it was interesting to collect feedback and impressions from different people with different visions, ages and expectations.
The next meeting will take place in France before the end of 2021.
