4th
Meeting of the European University of Voluntary Service
June 27-30, 2001 in Freiburg i.Br., Germany
300 Attendees from 36
Countries; 135 Foreign Participants
The 4th
EVSU Convention adopted existing traditions and policies in continuing to
promote the 3rd Convention’s achievements. Entitled “Journeying
together into the 3rd Millennium – Voluntarism, the Cultural
Obligation,” it was held in Santiago de Compostela in October 1999.
Segismundo
Pinto, professor of the College for Social Affairs in Lisbon and vice
chancellor of the EFU officially extended the invitation to attend the fifth
convention, to be held in Coimbra, Portugal in 2003.
1. The
European University of Voluntary Service
1.1 The
Structure of the EFU – A “University on the Move”
The European
University of Voluntary Service (EFU) was founded in Brussels in 1993 during a
plenary session of the European Association of Volunteers (Association pour le
Voluntariat a l’acte gratuite en Europe – AVE) by representatives from
universities in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Its inspiration and
initiator was Prof. Dr. Albert Coupe, former Belgian minister of labor and
president of the AVE.
The EFU is not
a stationary university with various faculties at a fixed abode. Rather, it is
a “university on the move” modeled on the medieval itinerant universities. It
convenes about every two years in a European country for degree-level
discussion of questions and developments in volunteer service, honorary service
positions and public activism. The EVSU is an international amalgamation of
professors with teaching positions on various faculties and from volunteer organizations
in several countries. Professors from 17 nations attended the previous
conventions in Barcelona, Lyon, Santiago de Compostela, and, most recently,
Freiburg.
1.2 Goals
and Target Groups of the European University of Voluntary Service
The EFU focuses on the deliberation, discussion and advancement of
voluntarism in a changing society. It
-
offers
volunteers and professionals a means of acquiring internationally recognized
degrees in voluntary service;
-
promotes
exchange projects in voluntary service research;
-
establishes an
international forum for the discussion of volunteer experiences;
-
contributes to
the development of public engagement and European unity;
-
emphasizes
subjects important both to individual volunteers and to volunteer
organizations;
-
facilitates
the active interchange of ideas and experiences.
Entities
targeted by the EVSU are professionals in organizations, associations,
professors, participants in volunteer research projects (including students,
post graduates, and doctoral candidates and others), workers in voluntary
service centers, agencies and volunteer-oriented citizens.
2. Assignments
and Statistics Ensuing from the 4th Convention of the EFU
2.1 Co-Responsibilities
AVE called
upon the German Caritas Association Society (DCV) to organize the 4th
Convention of the EVSU in this International Year of the Volunteer. The
Catholic University of Applied Sciences for Welfare, Religious Education, and
Care, the Department of Pedagogy and Catechism in the Theological Faculty of
the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg and the Caritas Association of the
Archdiocese of Freiburg provided valuable assistance and support as co-sponsors
of the EFU with the German Caritas Association (DCV).
The German
Co-Responsibilities organized and managed the EFU in partnership with
Asociatión Española de Voluntariado (AEVOL) of Madrid, the National Centre of
Volunteering (NCV) of London, the Vorarlberg Caritas (Austria), the National
Council for Voluntarism of Tel Aviv, Israel, the Servicios de Asuntos Sociales,
Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, and other domestic and foreign partners.
2.2. Synopsis of Participants and Conference Languages
Three hundred
participants from 26 countries registered for the 4th EFU
Convention, of whom 130 came from outside Germany. Thirty participants
represented 10 eastern European countries, including Russia (St. Petersburg and
Novosibirsk), the Baltic States, Georgia and the Balkan countries. Spain
delegated 20 persons – the largest overseas group. There were also participants
from outside Europe. All attendees participated enthusiastically. Experts
chaired seminars and gave presentations on subjects where they were not panel
members. 70 Experts from 17 countries contributed presentations.
Official
conference languages were English, German, Spanish and, in certain instances,
French and sign language.
2.3 Volunteers
and Professionals Organize and Run the EVSU Convention Together
Some 60
volunteers were employed in staging and managing the 4th EFU
Convention. One important need filled by volunteers was to have the EVSU
program and the experts’ statements ready in English, German and Spanish for
the participants. A pool of foreign and home-based translators contributed
their services via E-Mail. Other voluntary services included organizational and
administrative support, graphic design and compilation of reports. Experts
contributed their services to the EFU gratis. Just as at previous conventions,
participants were awarded certificates.
2.4 Financial
Aid
The 4th
EFU Convention was financed by private and public donations. Contributions were
gratefully received from the following German corporations: Aktion Mensch
(Operation Human), Bonn; Bruderhilfe und Familienfuersorge (Fraternal Aid and
Family Welfare), Kassel; the Federal Ministry of Family, Women, Senior Citizens
and Youth, Berlin/Bonn (BMFFSJ); the Caritas Society of the Archdiocese of
Freiburg; the German Caritas Association (DCV); the Druckerei (Printing House)
Rebholz; the “YOUTH for Europe” – German agency for the EC’s Operation YOUTH,
Bonn; the Ministry of Social Services of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg; the
Sparkasse (Savings Bank) of Freiburg and Northern Breisgau; the Robert Bosch
Foundation, Stuttgart; and the Unser Foundation, Frankfurt. The German
organizers and their domestic and foreign partners also gave financial and
material aid and contributed their valuable time.
3. The
Substance of the 4th EFU Convention
3.1. Four Lectures on the Fundamentals of Voluntary Service
Four lectures
addressed the basic aspects of voluntarism and public involvement:
Konrad Deufel,
Chairman of the German Association for Public and Private Welfare, Frankfurt,
spoke on how significant the innovations in the volunteer sector were to civil
society. He stressed that the GCS had succeeded in its aim of mobilizing
existing volunteers to service through the Volunteer Centers it founded. He
also emphasized the importance of international debate in the field of
voluntarism, the DCV (via the EFU) being the only advocate of such in Germany
during the International Year of the Volunteers.
Alfred
Grosser, political scientist and commentator on current affairs in Paris, took
up the subjects of the 3rd Convention in his lecture “Voluntarism as
a Cultural Challenge.” He emphasized, among other things, the contributions volunteers
make toward peace and understanding. He highlighted the great social
achievements in our civilization of volunteers past and present.
Leo J. Penta,
Berlin and New York, examined the effectiveness of churches as civil activists
and at the extent of their influence in society. Drawing on his experiences in
Brooklyn, New York, he emphasized the opportunities a diaconal church might
have if its parishes will work in their neighborhoods to mold society, improve
the quality of life and integrate fringe groups.
The subject of
Lord Ralph Dahrendorf’s concluding lecture was “Citizens’ contributions to the
defining of Europe.” According to Lord Dahrendorf, civil society is a “breath
of freedom” – a unifying force that extends beyond national frontiers and eclipses
mere nationalism. It would be wise, he postulated, for volunteer operations to
preserve a modicum of societal chaos, since an absolutely disciplined society
would sound the death knell of creative voluntarism.
3.2. Six Segments on International Practical Experience
The
international forum exchanged success stories of their various experiences in
different countries. The discussion took the form of six segments, each
containing from four to six project examples:
How complex
voluntary service is – and demands come at volunteers from all directions. A
structured syllabus would appear to be increasingly desirable if volunteers are
to retain some level of enthusiasm. Such a syllabus ought not be restricted to
volunteers only but also include the professionals with whom they will work.
The latter would include associates in companies that already sponsor corporate
voluntarism.
The need for
training is being met by other countries in a variety of ways: in Tel Aviv,
Israel, there is a state-run training center. Caritas Milan in Italy began
offering degree-level courses ten years ago at the instigation of volunteer
associations. Special courses then offered at the university, became the very
naissance of the Volunteer University of Milan, in fact. In Salamanca, Spain,
the student-run Volunteer Center (Plataforma del Voluntariado) offers
preparatory courses. Cologne, Germany has courses for certain types of
endeavor, for example its voluntary service degrees available through the Labor
Association’s voluntary international service and development aid
(AGEH/fiD-Servicestelle).
Project 2: Social Involvement of Businesses
Not only
individuals but also institutions and corporations are eligible to provide
voluntary service. The following prerequisites for involvement were stipulated:
that companies possess a sensitivity for social issues, that their involvement
be locally, nationally and globally focused, and that they possess adequate
information on the opportunities for corporate volunteering. This places a key
responsibility squarely on the volunteer centers.
Examples
included: EL AL, which offers free flights to children at risk arranged by the
Volunteer Council in Tel Aviv; the StoAG company of Waldshut, Germany
cooperates with the Volunteer Center Waldshut in offering job application
assistance to disadvantaged women. Employees of the Deutsche Bank and Dresdner
Bank in England are given two hours a month to use on social projects offered
and managed by the Borough of Tower Hamlets. In addition to organizing
opportunities for service, the London borough also provides instructional
materials and employee training for such services.
Volunteer work
in church communities increases the quality of life in local neighborhoods. It
is most successful when churches of various faiths join with the municipality
to improve the habitat of its citizens.
Examples: Church communities foster interaction between like-minded
people and bring together those in different social strata (e.g. Ecumenical
Inner-City Church Operation in Cologne, Germany). Churches cultivate
spirituality and calm in charged, hectic environments (e.g. the Elizabethan
Open Church, Basel, Switzerland). And they promote improvements in municipal
districts that increasingly find themselves accommodating the poor, the
unemployed, the destitute, and foreign migrants (e.g. St. Peter’s in
Duisburg/Marxloh, Germany). The Church and Community Project in Brighton &
Hove, England has developed an appropriate ecumenical/community organization
within its boundaries that has led to noticeable improvements in the lifestyles
of the disadvantaged.
The
handicapped are not the only people blessed by the assistance of volunteers –
the activists themselves benefit too. Voluntary service helps the disabled
contribute more to society. This becomes a simple proposition when disabled and
able persons work together, as they do in America. The deaf are included when
sign language, their method of communication, is more widely available – this
is currently being tried in Augsburg, Germany. Disabled persons with a trade or
skill often find it difficult to get a job. When a way is opened for the
disabled to use their skills in voluntary service, they really do put their
talents to the test. As an example, deaf volunteers in London successfully
donate their talents to a veterinary project. Providing the disabled with equal
access to social opportunities includes, for example, attending practical
courses at community colleges or evening institutes. In West Sussex, England
“Volunteer Buddies,” helped the disabled be successful. Visiting city museums
together – a project solved in an exemplary manner in Navarra, Spain.
Volunteers
must bridge the gap between the “normal” demands of everyday professional life
and the restrictions with which the disabled must contend. Volunteers
strengthen the resolve of the disabled in confronting the realities of society.
Organizations
and associations occupy a key role in facilitating and promoting voluntary
service. Those who need help benefit when professionals in welfare associations
work closely with volunteers. The same is true for volunteers who take the
opportunity to work with experts. Here are examples:
Successful
cooperation between volunteers and professionals is being achieved in the
time-honored manner as, for example, in the German-Italian Hospital Visitation
Service. New approaches have been adopted by volunteer centers in various
countries (e.g. the video project between Germany and the Czech Republic).
Collaboration between volunteers and professionals is also the focus of new projects
submitted for approval such as the Project for the Abatement of Female
Unemployment in Paris, France.
A performance
equal to the task is required of professionals whose voluntary time is mainly
subordinate to their professional obligations. Care is taken to provide
volunteers with maximum opportunity to design and participate in programs.
Project 6: Voluntary Service – Acquiring and Using the Solidarity
Voluntary
service is a type of civil duty that is especially attractive to youths between
high school and college or between vocational training and the pursuit of a
career. Voluntary service quickly gets youths involved with foreign cultures
and different lifestyles – and it often requires personal sacrifice. Voluntary
service promotes understanding between cultures, creates sensitivity towards
the poor and socially outcast, combines personal service and an institutional
way of working, and motivates others, mainly youngsters, to recognize their
obligations.
For example,
there is a never-ending demand for foreign voluntary service. Service
opportunities organized by religious orders (like the Salesian Monk Don Bosco)
provide youths with important teamwork experience. Former volunteers generously
donate their time to prepare prospective volunteers for unpaid service and even
accompany them on their assignments. These workers often are confronted with
severe social deprivation and segregation. Such service is organized at home
and abroad by a dedicated network of volunteers in parishes and wards, their efforts
being supported by associations and institutions (e.g. Germany/Austria;
Ecuador/Peru). In remote field locations like the Pyrenees the use of young
people is a ray of hope that persuades indigenous youth not to move away.
Getting foreign youth volunteers to work in Germany is a particular challenge
(e.g. Russia/Germany).
3.3.
Research Projects and General Regulations – Eight Seminars
International
discussions on the results of studies and research projects in voluntarism were
hosted in a series of eight seminars. One seminar centered its theme on
political conditions existing in various countries. Another was absorbed with
the volunteer situation in Eastern Europe.
In his introduction, J. M. Gleich of Cologne, Germany propounded the
social significance of corporate citizenship. Questions raised by companies on
voluntary and social activism were introduced from Barcelona, Spain (P.
Meseguer), where companies already had been canvassed extensively in 1998 for
their opinions on voluntarism, and from Germany where more than 500 employees
in 120 companies are currently being consulted. These have revealed a sense of
responsibility towards social problems and a definite willingness to
participate in volunteering (U. Theisen, Catholic University of Applied
Sciences of Northrhine-Westphalia).
Petrol Venezuela is an independent association that has built its own
unique volunteer organization. Several thousand employees and nearly all
retirees have involved themselves in the volunteer effort. They also engage in
projects in conjunction with students from Caracas University and from Caritas
Venezuela (C. E. Dini).
The Institute for Volunteering Research, London, England, conducts
seminars with corporate executives on the issues of corporate volunteering, and
identifies ways of becoming involved. (S. Howlett)
Seminar 2: Public Activism and Charity Work in Local Regions
In laying the
groundwork for the subject, M. Lehner of Linz, Austria emphasized the
historical relationship between Christian charity and public activism: up until
the 17th century these were classified as identical endeavors under
“Christian Charity.” They were first separated with the advent of the
absolutist state. Eligible regional projects agreed: the Baden-Wuerttemberg
State Network (P. S. Ross), with its accent on a public-motivating
administration; the courses in community charity projects offered by the GCS’s
Academy for Further Education (I. Klein) include counseling for professionals
cooperating with volunteers on environmental projects; the Living World
Projects at Essen University and its operations in the social sphere motivate
those affected and others to action (G. Grimm).
The central
role of professionals active in the social field whose avocation is the
promotion of volunteer projects for the needy was discussed. State-mandated
mobilization was criticized, since public activism is supposed to come from
“the bottom up.”
In their introduction,
T. Bock of Viersen and A. Sturm of Herne (both Germany) outlined the
contribution of volunteers to the public well being. Programs and service
opportunities exist for a “welfare cocktail” of volunteers and professionals to
address needs in society.
M. Geller of
Dortmund and R. A. Roth of Augsburg introduced a German initiative, “Social
Activism Among Women,” a joint effort with the founding Network of Volunteer
Centers under the auspices of the German Caritas Association. L. Burns of
Scotland and C. Salvisberg-Sigg of Geneva reported on their many years’
experience in providing professional motivation and support to volunteers. They
reported on the 100-year ecumenical service of churches in railway stations – a
traditional “welfare cocktail” of honorary and professional workers.
Participants
in the 4th EFU Meeting also had the opportunity to visit practical
projects underway in Freiburg and to discuss them with voluntary and professional
workers on site. Attendees from eastern countries were especially eager to take
advantage of the opportunity. They gathered information on the work of
Freiburg’s Volunteer Agency (Responsibility: DPWV), on the current
opportunities for projects by and for pensioners in the Heinrich-Hansjakob-Haus
(Responsibility: Operation Education, AgeConcern and the Caritas Society of the
City of Freiburg). Other projects visited included the “Plaster Parlor,” a
breakfast parlor with a walk-in clinic for Freiburg’s homeless (Responsibility:
Caritas Society of the City of Freiburg), and “Street Friends,” a proactive
group in which unpaid volunteers, church communities and cloistered orders all
serve the homeless.
Seminar 5: Voluntary Service – Acquiring and Implementing the Team
Spirit
The
significance of voluntary service for associations, churches and society were
emphasized in W. Tzscheetzsch’s opening remarks. A feasibility study was
ordered by the GCS to assess the situation on the ground with domestic and foreign
volunteer services. An investigation was to be launched into the possibilities
of expanding existing facilities.
U. Beckers
(Youth for Europe, Bonn) presented the results of volunteer and sponsor surveys
that formed part of the pilot phase of the European Voluntary Service. Astrid
Patsch (UNV) depicted the experiences of the United Nations Volunteer
contingents worldwide. M. Schmiedle (InVia) expounded on the results of ISS
research that is studying the International Year of the Volunteer. K. Hassinger
and H. Abs drew a picture of the scientific aspects of voluntary work.
The federal
Secretary of State for Family, Women, Senior Citizens and Youth, Mr. Peter
Haupt, introduced the topic of this seminar, the legal position towards
voluntarism under German law. He stressed that Germany did not possess an
actual law on voluntarism, which is addressed in various other legislation
(such as tax law). He saw a need to regulate in law the insurance aspects
(injury and liability coverage) and volunteer services themselves.
G. Gerstberger
(Robert Bosch Foundation) presented arguments speaking for fresh volunteer
legislation in Germany, the core demand being the creation of a basis in law to
cover the widespread volunteer service of young people in Germany.
F. Moreno,
Madrid, explained the volunteer laws of Spain (dating from 1996), and the
experiences with this law of volunteers and associations. He criticized the
fact that while the law indeed legislated on important aspects, the means of
putting the regulations into effect were meager.
Jose Alli,
Secretary of State in the Ministry of Social Affairs in Navarra, using
volunteer laws as a basis, summarized the state’s 5-year plan for the promotion
of volunteer activity. Navarra province has developed special programs that
promote voluntary service among the youth and elderly. A competition was
mounted in Navarra to stimulate new ideas – applications being received even
from foreign associations.
G. Zavaglia
gave details of the Italian volunteer laws.
Liz Burns from
Scotland spoke out against government regulation but nonetheless championed
state-sponsored schemes, using examples of incentive programs from her native
land.
J. M.
Canayelles of Barcelona stated that Catalonia formerly was opposed to Spanish
legislation and had enacted its own provincial laws to establish a Department
of Voluntary Service within the Catalonian Ministry of Social Affairs. This
institution assists Catalonian volunteer associations in implementing the
Spanish laws governing voluntarism.
Center stage
in this seminar was occupied by the development of properly qualified curricula
to instruct in the basic tenets of voluntarism. Alongside was the relationship
between general and specialist knowledge in the context of further education in
voluntarism. In his address, F. Molina of Lleida, Spain, pleaded the case for a
universal education scheme along the lines of professional training that would
address volunteer causes. There is evident need for auxiliary courses in
support of a main curriculum that gives formal, qualified status to voluntary
service.
M. N. Ebertz
of Freiburg, Germany, gave his expert opinion on the first two basic courses on
“Social Courage.” Courses offered in the summer term 2000 and the winter term
2000/01 at the Catholic Universitie of Applied Sciencies in Freiburg in
collaboration with Freiburg’s Caritas societies for the benefit of “students of
all faculties.”
An interesting
concept for a degree in voluntary social interaction was demonstrated by the
Certification Course of the parish Caritas Association in Vorarlberg, Austria:
An added feature is the running review of projects issued to volunteers during
the academic year (A. Stoeckeler).
M. Appman of
“Aktion Gemeinsinn” (”Operation Common Cause”), Bonn, spoke on the eligibility
of volunteers for service. The classic means of qualifying, of course, is via
training and further education. But a variety of other avenues is available:
public campaigns, handbills, advertisements, articles and letters in
newspapers, conferences, think tanks – to name a few. Enhanced awareness of the
availability and capabilities of volunteers and a deepening of the public
consciousness on particular matters of concern are urgent goals of this
Operation. K. Sverdrup of Madrid, Spain, mirrored the foregoing in his remarks,
waxing eloquent on the subject of staging international congresses to position
voluntarism in the public eye internationally and bringing its concerns to
public debate
As the title
suggests, this session busied itself with the condition of voluntarism in the
east of our continent. Using the situation in Poland as a background, H.
Matusiewicz of Warsaw painted a picture of a reawakening of the volunteer
spirit in Eastern Europe. The ideological monopoly on all volunteer activity
during the communist era meant overcoming a huge initial skepticism among the
people. The obstacles to a revitalization of honorary service also occupied the
central spot of H. Pompey’s (of Freiburg) contribution.
The Robert
Bosch Foundation sponsors voluntarism and public engagement in eastern
countries. E. Erb of Stuttgart, Germany gave an overview of its activities.
O. Sozanska,
Prague, spoke on a new wave: following ten years of stark individualism, people
are rediscovering their desires to serve the human community, values they can
contribute very readily to voluntary service. The volunteer centers support
this sea change by motivating people toward service.
3.4. Information about the IYV in Germany, Europe and Around the World
Astrid Patsch
of United Nations Volunteers detailed the goals of the International Year of
the Volunteer and gave a report at the half-way mark on the world-wide results
of voluntarism; Theo van Loon from the Netherlands outlined Results and
Impressions from the General Opening Conference of the IYV held in Amsterdam in
January, 2001. Gertrud Casel (BMFFSJ) explained the German federal government’s
interest in the IYV.
Further
insight into the multifaceted nature of voluntary service was afforded by the
BMFFSJ’s mobile exhibition entitled “Volunteering: for Myself – for Ourselves –
for Others.” Successful volunteer projects certainly are a sought after
commodity.
3.5. Words of Welcome at the Political, Religious and Cultural
Reception
The cultural
tone was set in an Evening of Welcome hosted by the German Caritas Society. His
Grace Suffragen Bishop P. Wehrle led a service in Freiburg’s magnificent
medieval cathedral, with the accompaniment furnished by the impressive Youth
Choir of Valencia, Spain. In the reception held in Freiburg’s historic Imperial
Audience Chamber following the cathedral service, prominent political and
community figures offered welcoming addresses.
Opening
addresses at the 4th Meeting of the EFU were delivered by the
following:
H. Puschmann, President of the
German Caritas Society
S. Pinto, Lisbon, Portugal, Dean of
the EFU
Mme. S. Barbasetti, President of
AVE, Rome, Italy
S. Maso, Vice President of AEVOL,
Madrid, Spain
President of
the Legislature Mr. Ungern-Sternberg offered an official greeting on behalf of
the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the City of Freiburg.
Written
greetings were received from the EFU of Bonn/New York, Washington and Berlin.
Sharon Capeling-Alakija (Executive Coordinator of United Nations Volunteers,
New York/Bonn) viewed the 4th Convention as a major step in the
strengthening of voluntary service in Europe. She also lauded the
internationalization of research in volunteer affairs. Kenn Allen, World
President of IAVE, Washington, D.C., congratulated the host community on the
first nationwide and international congress of volunteers to be hosted in
Germany. He expressed the hope that further international conventions would
follow. German Federal Minister Christine Bergmann used her greeting to
emphasize that the EFU had been successful in elevating the perception of the
volunteer sector, which all too often is seen as irrelevant and unprofessional.
The EFU, in combining research and formal instruction, had given credence to
voluntary service.
4. Results of the 4th EFU Convention
Dr. Eugen
Baldas recorded the essentials of the proceedings and the details of the
various seminars. The concluding summary of the 4th Convention’s
principle achievements included perspectives from “Practical Experience” (Prof.
Dr. Teresa Bock), “Education in the Social Professions” (Prof. Helmut Schwalb),
and “Research” (Prof. Dr. Werner Tzscheetzsch): In view of the complexities of
volunteer work it has become increasingly important that a structured,
qualified array of courses be made available. The EFU, with its international,
university-level establishment, is but one instrument among many – albeit a
very suitable and interesting one. Examples show how important is the role of
companies in achieving public awareness, and the role of the church in
mobilizing work in the neighborhoods. Possibilities exist for involving
handicapped people in volunteer work too. Volunteer associations occupy a key
position for promoting active voluntarism. The political establishment carries
the responsibility to provide appropriate conditions in law that foster
honorary and voluntary engagement. Voluntary efforts must, however, be
competent. Germany would do well to aspire to the highly regarded level of
education available in other countries. General and specialist courses are
offered in many countries with accompanying review sessions and supervision. It
is generally accepted that well-qualified voluntary service should be combined
with the existing system of professional social services. Finally, it became
apparent that a considerable need exists for research into all aspects of
voluntarism. Far-off expertise is waiting in the wings to be called forward and
so are studies in supporting scientific projects.
5. Outlook: International Alliance for Research into
Voluntarism
The future
participants of the 5th EFU Convention are already planning
cross-border research projects. Professors and students in colleges should be
making progress finding innovative subject matter. They will no doubt be
collaborating with volunteer organizations and centers to have results ready
for presentation to the 5th EFU Convention. An internationally
agreeable procedure should be promoted by European and international
organizations such as the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE)
and the Centre Europeen du Voluntariat (C.E.V.), to name but a couple. The many
contacts and experiences acquired from networking internationally should help
colleges take advantage of opportunities to work with diverse partners in
European and overseas countries. Working together on supra-national projects
without regard to borders helps people of diverse backgrounds to learn from one
another in matters of voluntarism. And the best aspects of country-specific
practices must be included in a future European standard manual on voluntarism.
Publications:
Contributions of the EVSU2001 appear in the new “Caritas” and are available in
book form from the publisher, Lambertus Verlag. The “Report” and the “Words of
Greeting” will be made available on the Internet; the comments of experts and
other texts appear as a handbook of materials in the series “Materials of the
Network of Volunteer Centers.” Publications are available in bookstores and
from the DCV.
Translation:
Peter Strub