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Schuman volunteers go local
Start date: Jun 15, 2016, End date: Feb 14, 2018 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Project activities will bring together twelve volunteers and sixteen partner organizations from eleven different countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and Ukraine): this guarantees strong intercultural dimension in the project. Volunteers come from different social backgrounds, they have diverse skills and experience, which will enrich our project activities. Volunteers will participate in a series of activities that will have a positive impact on a local level, linking young people’s motivation to learn and gain new experiences by supporting three special education institutions for children and youth with disabilities and two organizations promoting projects and activities for Polish and European youth. The main aim of our project is to create a sense of identification with European values through social engagement of the volunteers on the local level in Poland. Since the project is coordinated by the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation we have entitled the project “Schuman volunteers go local”.Four volunteers will improve their knowledge of the EU and spread it among other young people - Polish students from different schools and European clubs, whom the volunteers will meet during their school visits. Volunteers will inform these young people about the EU (its structure, functioning, values and programs), current affairs important for youth, volunteering and educational opportunities. Through preparing a monthly collection of youth information volunteers will work in a team, gaining research, writing and editing skills. They will also gain project management skills by helping their ROs in other regular, non-EVS activities.Eight volunteers will have a unique opportunity to gain practical knowledge about special education and special care: while supporting teachers and assisting children with disabilities in their ROs they will deepen their awareness and knowledge of special needs. All volunteers count on improving the complex set of skills needed to work with children and practical knowledge on developmental process of children with specific disabilities.Last but not least, the volunteers will have a common task – to organize “local actions” in the communities of their accommodation. With the help of Polish Robert Schuman Foundation the volunteers will get to know their respective neighborhoods, establish contact with local stakeholders and fellow inhabitants. After establishing the needs volunteers will plan and prepare actions engaging their local communities. These activities will give volunteers an additional chance to develop their creativity and sense of initiative, improve their entrepreneurial and project management skills. We count on volunteers discovering their local communities and learning that they can contribute to it, thus learning about the concept of active citizenship. Local community members, on the other hand, will discover and possibly confront different cultures and traditions while participating in the local actions. The combination of regular EVS activities with the local ones will foster intercultural dialogue, multilingualism, tolerance and respect for diversity.On a long term perspective, this project and its additional local activities aim at creating new partnerships on the local level, along with good examples that will create a path for future cooperation and a more inclusive and tolerant environment in the hosting communities. Along with the competence gained in their ROs, volunteers should become more culturally aware and develop ability to adapt to different environments easily, which should increase their employability in the European labor market.
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