Description
The project reacts to the low capacity of NGOs and municipalities to create partnerships in volunteering projects and to reach out to other stakeholders for collaboration and support (active volunteers, community members, private sector). The aim of the project is to promote volunteering as a tool for building active civil society and to provide the target groups with needed trainings, networking opportunities and information about positive impact of international volunteering on local communities. The target groups are regionally based NGOs, municipalities and active volunteers, who will be capacitated to create partnerships and organize new volunteering projects in their communities. Project partner, NGO AUS (Iceland), has over 50 years of experience in voluntary service and the partnership with INEX-SDA will enable both partners to share best practises, increase bilateral collaboration and promote international volunteering.
Summary of project results
The project reacted to the challenges faced often by the Czech NGOs with local or regional reach. These organizations have quite often low capacities for their activities, their collaboration with governmental bodies and/or private stakeholders is sometimes very limited or non-existent, they often have problems to attract and make use of larger group of volunteers in case they need a one-off help. The project also reflected the concurrent situation of very low participation of youth in the public affairs, being active citizens, the youth does get involved as volunteers but usually on short-term basis, irregular and the volunteers very often lack capacity to bring their ideas for volunteering projects into reality, to make them happen. Therefore the project activities focused on strengthening the active citizenship through networking among the local and regional stakeholders (NGOs, municipalities, active volunteers, companies, local community) during preparation and realization of international volunteering projects, creating a SYNERGY EFFECT, which is one feature of volunteering. Project has achieved an improvement of networking in 5 communities, where volunteering projects are already taking place. Further, it helped to create ano new educational program including one practical manual focusing on how to organize workcamp. Volunteers and NGOs, municipalities were linked, which led to creation of 12 new concepts for volunteering projects in the communities Finally, collaboration between INEX-SDA and partner from Iceland was set up, which led to creation of additional joint project and consequently to a concept of partnership in sending Czech volunteers to Iceland
Summary of bilateral results
The main achievement was improved collaboration between INEX-SDA and AUS as two partnering organisations, sharing experience, challenges, methodologies of volunteer trainings and knowledge benefited both partners. Key what INEX-SDA shared with partner AUS was how to work with volunteers on long term basis. AUS shared with INEX-SDA how to find, train and prepare volunteers to work in social services area, which is a more challenging environment. The result of the improved collaboration was a small joint project on inclusion in volunteering and concept for collaboration on sending Czech volutneers to Iceland in the future. The partnership also helped to improve the visibility of the project towards the one of the target groups, volunteers, as Iceland is very popular destiation for Czech youth, both for travelling and for volunteering. The partnership also showed to INEX-SDA Czech partners the wide international reach of our activities and network.