PBA: Mountain spirit - Strategic EVS for Nature Conservation

Velebit Association Kuterevo and GAIA Kosovo are organizing a networking activity for organizations, volunteers, youth workers and activists who are or would like to be involved in nature conservation and youth volunteering activities. The PBA meeting is part of the Mountain spirit – Strategic EVS for Nature Conservation Erasmus+ project and aims at providing space for the participants to establish contacts, exchange and work on ideas and future cooperations.

Main topics include

• European Solidarity Corps – new approaches and possibilities for cooperation
• Nature protection and volunteering – examples, challenges, needs and opportunities
• Mountain spirit project – what has been done, what comes next?

The specific objectives of the PBA are

• To create space for developing new and strengthening existing strategic partnerships for nature protection projects through youth and voluntary work
• To give opportunity to the participants to share good and bad practices in their work on the topics
• To provide opportunity for partners within Mountain spirit project to meet and plan next activities
• To give an overview and details on the possibilities of the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ programmes
• To serve as a place for setting up future projects and initiatives between the participants.

Within the PBA we will be discussing and working on the following subjects:

• The new philosophy and opportunities which the European Solidarity Corps provide especially with the focus on nature protection (volunteer project, volunteer teams, solidarity projects) and cooperation with the Western Balkan partner countries
• Solidarity and nature protection
• Quality of Volunteer management
• Challenges in establishing cooperation at local and national level;
• Mountain spirit – Strategic EVS for Nature Conservation – presentation of 2018 activities and achievements, challenges, recommendation, next steps
• opportunities and role of youth organization for working in nature conservation
• Volunteering activities for nature conservation – realities (Balkan region, Central and Western European countries), needs, challenges, possibilities
• Developing new or improving existing volunteering programs – i.e. NP Sharr, NP Bjeshkët e Nemuna
• Service Civil International and nature protection
• Erasmus+ and other programs

We are looking for 25 participants (age: 18+) from both Erasmus+ program and partner countries from the Western Balkans (eligible ONLY for: EU countries, Macedonia, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia). The participants should be representatives of youth or nature conservation organizations, volunteers or activists, who have interest, motivation and energy to work on the topic, who want to establish new partnerships and develop volunteering activities for nature conservation.

Profile of suitbale organizations:

• Youth organizations with some or no experience with Erasmus+ volunteering programs willing to get familiar and active within ESC framework
• Nature conservation organizations who would like to explore the oppotunities to include international volunteers in their work
• Nature protection organizations interested to exchange experience and share knowledge
• Youth and nature protection organizations from the Western Balkan countries
• Mountain spirit project partner organizations
• Members and partners of Service Civil International

Suitable participants could be:

• Project coordinators
• Decision makers in the organizations
• Activists and volunteers with some experience in the field of nature protection, voluntary and youth work
• Active members of the organizations with long-term project ideas

If you are interested to apply, fill in the following form until January 14th. For additional questions please contact gaia.kosovo[@]gmail.com