After months of work online and three face-to-face meetings, the results of the Volem project are becoming more and more concrete and tangible. Volem’s main goal is to boost the recognition of key skills acquired by young volunteers during their year of service, and to enhance their impact both for local development and for their entrance into the labor market.

From the 10th to the 15th of June 2022, a group of seven former volunteers of the Civil Service at the Municipality of Cinisello Balsamo, headed off to Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg to continue the project activities, together with the partners Cap Solidaire (France) and Art Square (Luxembourg).
The young participants shared the experience with six volunteers from the French program equivalent to the Italian Servizio Civile Universale, the "Service Civique," having the opportunity to compare their journey with them on the experience just completed.

During their stay in Luxembourg, the Italian and French participants took part in numerous activities, including workshops, Design Thinking and playful activities aimed at the creation of Open Badges capable of certifying the acquisition of skills acquired during volunteering, also making them visible on digital platforms accessible to all (especially to potential recruiters).
The first days marked by an introduction to Design Thinking, an innovative approach based on the ability to solve complex problems using a creative approach. Were introduced to the participants the 8 key competencies of the European Union and the YouthPass. The program continued with the designing of Open Badges: the participants, divided into 3 working groups, carried out several activities before arriving at the final result. The first was to create an ideal profile of a volunteer, once the characteristics of this ideal person were identified each group created a story boarding about the activities carried out by the ideal volunteer. Finally, each group identified the method they believed to be the most efficient in recognizing the key skills they had achieved. On the last day, they presented their final reflections, compared their results, and exchanged feedback.

This meeting and working sessions were crucial for us and for the partners. The participants, putting themselves out there, allowed us to see and hear their point of view. The work they produced as a group also turned out to be of very good quality, and will surely be an inspiration for the implementation of the open badges.