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Description
In 2019 we have completed a project aiming at activating the youth from Lubuskie Voivodesip in civic participation. We have noticed a new kind of problem. As result of the education reform and dismantling of middle schools, the primary schools were forced to take on the responsibility of teaching the kids about volunteering. Until now, middle schools were the place designated to teach that kind of civic engagement, because majority of children in primary schools were deemed too young. After the reform, introduction to volunteering became a new kind of challenge for the primary schools. According to surveys conducted together with Lubuskie NGOs Federation, the local youth has very little knowledge and experience with volunteering. We will address this challenge by supporting and promoting already existing School Volunteering Groups (SGW) from across Lubuskie Voivodesip. We will invite 12 groups (each from a different district), which together will create a network of SGWs for Lubuskie Voivodeship. We will facilitate workshops for 120 volunteers on how to organize a series of school events that will be attractive and engaging for other students. We will also create the “Youth Activity Town” that will be composed of two tents, sound systems, exhibits and games and other entertainment engaging in fun activities and promoting volunteering. The “town” will travel to each of the student-organized events. The SGW Network will conduct an Voivodeship-wide campaign on activating the youth and will encourage students to celebrate the International Volunteer Day. We will create a website with educational materials pertaining to the school volunteering programs – how to create a school volunteering group, legal regulations surrounding volunteering, and examples of activities and tools useful in activating potential volunteers. It will serve as a source of inspiration for both students and teachers. As part of the project, we will organize Lubuskie SGW Forum and Gala.
Summary of project results
In 2019 we have completed a project designed to civically activate students from primary schools in Lubuskie Voivodeship. We have noticed that, because of the education reform in Poland and removal of junior high schools, primary schools were faced with a challenge of educating kids about volunteering, a task that was – up to that point – tackled by the newly removed schools. From surveys conducted together with the Lubuskie Federation of NGOs we have learned that the youth from our voivodeship has very little knowledge and skill when it comes to volunteering. We addressed these problems by supporting and promoting existing School Volunteering Groups that emerged in primary schools in Lubuskie Voivodeship. We have invited 12 of those groups to the project (each from a different district) which, together, constituted the Lubuskie network.We have organized workshops focused on engaging students in organizing events promoting volunteering. We have created “Youth Activity Town” (complete with tents, a sound system, an exhibit and some games), where through different activities we have encouraged young people to activate and start contributing through volunteering. Our activity town was present during all 12 all-day events we have put together, while the accompanying exhibit promoted the individual volunteering school groups taking part in the project. Lubuskie network has conducted a voivodeship-wide campaign focused on activating the youth and encouraged students to celebrate the International Volunteer Day. We created a website with materials on school volunteering – rules for creating School Volunteering Groups, rules pertaining to volunteering, examples of actions and tools used for activating volunteers, etc. As part of the project, we have organized Lubuskie’ School Volunteering Clubs Forum with two panel discussions: “Volunteering and the School Volunteering Clubs,” and “Chaperons for School Volunteering Clubs.” The project was concluded with a gala, during which we have announced to most active School Volunteering Clubs among the participants.Thanks to our project, we managed to interest schools in engaging in volunteering initiatives and we showed them how they can support their students in these efforts. The materials we have created gave teachers new ideas and encouraged them to include younger students in volunteering, expanding the pool of engaged students. We plan on continuing our collaboration with Lubuskie’ School Volunteering Clubs.
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