Report on the [ex]change in Kiev
Kiev, Ukraine - 5-13 February 2011
2011 is the European Year of Volunteering. In the European Union, millions of young people make positive contributions to their community by investing some of their free time in civil society organisations: Volunteering is an active expression of civic participation and strengthens common European values such as solidarity and social cohesion.
During the multilateral project [ex]change (5 until 13 February 2011) young motivated people from ten different countries gathered together in Kiev, Ukraine, to experience an intercultural exchange on the topic of volunteering. The [ex]change took place in line with the Youth in Action programme of the European Commission and has been organised by JEF-Europe in cooperation with eight partner organisations: Eurooppanuoret (JEF-Finland), Europeisk Ungdom (JEF-Norway), Les Jeunes Europeens France (JEF-France), Avrupa Gençler Harekette Derneği (JEF-Turkey), JEF-Moldova, “Civic Forum” ngo (JEF-Armenia), YPA “New Group” (Belarus), Youth Club “Public Union” from Azerbaijan and the host organisation All-Ukrainian union of Youth and Children organisations “Ukrainian Youth Forum”.
During the seven days lasting [ex]change the participants were encouraged to exchange their ideas and views on volunteering and the importance of civil society in the democratization process. Various creative, non-formal and interactive methods have been used to enable participants to not only learn from each others past experiences in volunteering but also to understand how volunteering can be differently perceived in different countries and to identify common values despite different cultural, political and historical backgrounds.
We experienced clear differences in the level of volunteering between the participating countries.Many participants in the European Neighbourhood Countries such as Belarus or Armenia are facing an unfavourable environment in which they are struggling under authoritarian regimes. Participatory democracy isn’t yet part of society and the concept of a well functioning civil society still needs to be developed. This implies that the voluntary sector is still emerging or poorly developed. In contrast, certain represented countries such as France and Norway have longstanding traditions in volunteering and enjoy well developed voluntary sectors. Other topics on which [ex]change has shed a light were ways of volunteering and the challenges associated with voluntary work.
The key element of the applied working methods has been active participation and inclusion of all participants. Small working groups composed of a cultural mix of participants offered space for active interactions. In most cases, a creative component has been added concerning the way in which the outcomes of group work are being presented to the rest of the group, such as picture taking or theatre plays.
In order to raise wider awareness on the importance of volunteering among the Ukrainian public, a street actions in form of a « Freezing Flashmob » has been organised by the participants. The flashmob with the slogan « Without Volunteers the World Would Freeze » has been implemented in the centre of Kiev. Meanwhile, a smaller group of participants invested some of their time in voluntary work and visited an orphanage. Our participants had the chance to get to know the children and to play some thematic games with them. This has been a very enjoyable and unique experiences for both sides.
One of the most important aspects of [ex]change is evidentially cultural learning. The [ex]change is the perfect context to get to know cultural differences which comes along with becoming more cultural aware and tolerant towards people of various ethnic backgrounds. Besides the daily interaction of people with different cultural backgrounds, so called international evenings have been organisedwhere participants presented traditions (food, drinks, traditional clothing, dances, habits etc.) of their home countries.
The [ex]change in Kiev has been an interesting and inspiring week for all participants. The project enabled young people to create their own vision on volunteering and on how to make a difference in their community in the most inspiring way.
You can also get some impressions of the [ex]change through the pictures.
Click here to see the video on the [ex]change.
Toolkits of Best Practices
As a direct outcome of the exchange project, some toolkits of best practices (communication, fundraising, activities, creating a new section) have been developed as such initiative was valued highly by the participants, in order for them to get support in taking up an active role in society.
Creating local sections
[ex]change project in Kiev accepted!
JEF-Europe is happy to announce that its multilateral youth exchange, applied for with the Youth in Action programme of the European Commission, has been approved. The exchange, entitled [ex]change, will be organised by JEF-Europe in cooperation with Eurooppanuoret ry (JEF-Finland), Europeisk Ungdom (JEF-Norway), Les Jeunes Europeens France (JEF-France), Avrupa Gencler Harekette Dernegi (JEF-Turkey), JEF-Moldova, JEFArmenia, “New Group” (SCI-Belarus), the “Youth Club PU” from Azerbaijan and All-Ukrainian union of Youth and Children organisations “Ukrainian Youth Forum”.
[ex]change will take place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev from 5th to 13th February 2011. The content of the seven days long programme aims to raise awareness about the importance of volunteering and t o give incentives to the development of civil society organisations in the five Neighbouring Partner Countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine), as well as providing the participants from five Programme Countries (Belgium, France, Finland, Norway and Turkey) with insights on the situation of political youth work in European Neighbourhood Policy countries. Further objectives of the project include fostering exchange and mutual understanding between young people from different cultural, ethnic and religious background, encouraging young people to become active citizens, and developing intercultural dialogue.
JEF-Europe