TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Andrei Popescu
1) To provide space for all those who have something to learn or share/offer in the EVS field (including multiplying the intellectual outputs realized in the project EVSification) and
2) To celebrate 20 years since the European Commission launched the European Voluntary Service program.
The event centered on EVS represented a tradition already (the 4th edition) and had the purpose to: share the experiences, the things learnt, the working techniques and create the opportunity to have a significant dialogue related to the EVS international volunteering opportunities.
EVSCamp was one of the main activities in EVSification, a Strategic Partnership Project involving partners from Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
The 120 participants at the event came from various countries such as Italia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
The participants included:
- representatives of EVS hosting, sending and coordinating organizations
- volunteer coordinators
- mentors
- Romanian EVS volunteers returned from the stage
- international EVS volunteers during their stage in Romania
- representatives of organizations interested to EVS projects in the future
- potential EVS volunteers
- bloggers, journalists
- representatives of National Agencies.
The working methodology for the was based on the Open Space Technology method. There were proposed 40 parallel workshops and 6 meetings in the plenary.
A central panel - a flip chart of 4 m / 1,5m for the display and enrolment of participants was set up in order to facilitate the organization of the 40 proposed workshops during the EVS Camp. Key speakers were invited to stress important topics in European Voluntary Service.
The volunteering centre prepared one of the intellectual outputs created during the project: the EVSification Manual, in order to be used for supporting the activities and was distributed to the organizations which attended.
Among the topics discussed during the workshops there were:
- the first steps in the EVS accreditation,
- challenges as EVS volunteer,
- mentorship in EVS: an ordinary man, with an unusual patience?,
- motivating and self-motivation of volunteers
- life before EVS,
- delegation and supervision in EVS projects,
- nonformal learningin EVS,
- volunteering in stigmatizing environments,
- EVS Network,
- EVS sending strategy in Romania,
- involvement of EVS volunteers in rural areas,
- life after EVS,
- learning in a multicultural environment,
- personal development in EVS: learning objectives,
- selection of EVS volunteers,
- how to disseminate the project’s results, -
evaluation in EVS
These are just a few examples.
Over-all facilitator of the event managing the big group facilitation.
As facilitator I was in charge with the group dynamics of the big group, leading them through the process during the three days, introduction topics and experts, animation of the event.
In facilitation activities there were engaged methods such as animation, improvization theatre or impromptu.