EVS Competences for Employability Symposium

Background information: EVS is an acronym for the European Voluntary Service – a scheme, supported by the EU ever since 1996, enabling young people (aged 17-30) to express their personal commitment through unpaid full-time voluntary service for up to 12 months in another country (within or outside the European Union). Young volunteers are given the opportunity to contribute to the daily work of organisations dealing with youth information and policies, young people's personal and socio-educational development, civic engagement, social care, inclusion of disadvantaged, environment, non-formal education programmes, ICTs and media literacy, culture and creativity, development, cooperation, etc., through which they can develop their professional, personal and linguistic competences and learn to live and function in a different cultural and social environment, which fosters solidarity and mutual understanding. EVS is currently supported through EU Erasmus+ programme under Key action 1 – Learning mobility of individuals. The international symposium “EVS competences for employability” is part of a greater process, which aims to look into the competences EVS volunteers typically develop in their EVS projects and their relevance for future employment, employability and/or entrepreneurship. The process so far consisted of national focus groups, surveys and meetings analysing this topic at national levels, while the international symposium will enable mapping national commonalities and differences in this field and gaining a broader European outlook on the topic, which will enable identifying future needs and initiatives in this area and hopefully improve communication and mutual understanding between the employment and youth sectors. Aim: The international symposium will offer an opportunity for participants to exchange on the results of the national surveys and meetings. Moreover, it aims to improve understanding between the employment and youth sectors, specifically with regard to competences developed through non-formal learning within EVS projects. The symposium will also be an opportunity to identify future needs and initiatives in this priority area. Main Objectives: • to present and discuss the results of the surveys; • to present and further work on the outcomes of the national meetings and to deepen awareness by conducting an ‘on-the-spot comparative analysis’ of the findings presented at national level; • to share success stories or testimonies of ex-EVS volunteers with regard to entrepreneurship and/or employability; • to explore and discuss the topic of inclusion from the employers perspective; • to link the project to recognition processes of non-formal learning with a particular focus on inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities; • to work on recommendations/proposals/strategies for concrete follow-up. Profile of participants: The symposium aims to bring together about 40 participants (actors and stakeholders active in the fields of EVS and employment). We are therefore looking for national delegations, consisting of up to 3 people, preferably: - 1 ex-EVS volunteer; - 1 representative of the EVS sending or hosting organisation (EVS mentor or coordinator); - 1 representative of the employment field (from HR department or with similar experience, coming from small, medium or large company) Priority will be given to participants, who have been part of the processes and researches at national levels (national meetings, focus groups or surveys). Participants will have the opportunity to present and discuss their opinions on the topics of the symposium in smaller groups and suggest future actions in this field. Venue: The symposium will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in the City hotel (http://www.cityhotel.si). The hotel is located in the city centre, only a step away from the main bus and railway station as well as the sights of Ljubljana and the old city centre. The Joze Pucnik International airport of Ljubljana is only 25 km from the hotel, and the main railway and bus station are only 400 meters away. The hotel is easy to access from all of the city’s major roads and has the advantage of being just on the edge of the pedestrian only zone (the city centre). Team: The organising team is composed of: - 1 researcher (Özgehan Senyuva, Turkey), - 2 facilitators (Darko Markovic, Serbia & Gisele Evrard, Belgium), - SALTO and National Agency staff. Website: www.salto-youth.net/evsskillsandemployability/ (Note for NAs: This project is financed by TCP 2013)