Project name:
G.I.L.D. – “Get Involved in Local Democracy”
Project number:
HR-21-11-2012-R2
Project duration:
01.08.2012-30.10.2013
Coordinating/host organisation:
LDA Local Democracy Agency Verteneglio
Grad Buje – Buie (City of Buje – Buie)
Partner/Sending Organisation:
GIOSEF – GIOVANI SENZA FRONTIERE, Italy
Asociación para la Integración y Progreso de las Culturas, Pandora, Spain
Youth Development and Integration Association STRIM, Poland
Mladiinfo – FRJS MK, Macedonia
Volunteers:
Jasna Petrovska
Teresa Ortyl
Oscar Fernandez Gutierre
Federica Ercoli
Francesca Scappini
Dawid Cierocki
The project G.I.L.D. was focused on the improvement of the volunteers’ skills by raising competitiveness and strengthening talents to higher their rate of success in the labor market, on increasing the level of understanding of cultural diversity and the European Union membership within the Istrian region. Ultimately, the main priorities was the inclusion of youngsters in the decision-making organs and authorities to enhance their active citizenship. Consequently, the volunteers took part into the implementation of EVS and other projects that were useful for the development of the local society, such as holding presentations and meetings in order to introduce EVS project and Erasmus+ programme to educate local young people about European opportunities. They also contributed to the creation of promotional material, writing articles about the activities they performed and their experiences. These articles were published on the website of both the SO and HO. Through these activities, they helped the Agency to prepare the local youth for the Croatian admission to the EU. Further objectives were to stimulate the consciousness of local people and institutions about solidarity with and tolerance for people coming from other backgrounds, specifically to foster social cohesion in the European Union; the promotion of European cooperation, in particular in the youth field. In these regards, volunteers collaborated with local institutions, such as the Municipality, the Italian Community, the kindergarten and the primary school, to build on partnerships that had been established by the previous volunteers. These collaborations allowed the volunteers to work on their personal skills and develop different matters along with the staff involved in these organisations. For instance, volunteers working in the nursery and the school had the opportunity to prepare different activities, as well as organise important events about the International Day of Peace and the Day of Bread. The work broadened to include the local tourist office, which organises events all around the region to promote the Brtonigla-Verteneglio territory and its typical products. This includes local festivals – such as “Malvasia Festival”, “Grape Days”, “Carnival Parade”, “Christmas Fair”, “Mushroom Day” and others. On the other hand, in order to contribute to European cooperation in particular in the youth field, volunteers collaborated with the Youth Council and other NGOs to find new topics and, eventually, new projects to develop. In the meantime, volunteers had the opportunity to collaborate on the implementation of the EVS project in their countries, through their SO. Hence, the volunteers spent a large part of their time creating many different materials aimed at young people interested in inter-cultural topics and exchanges related to mobility, Youth in Action projects, participation in seminars, education, round tables, visits and youth projects in general. This included the creation of a calendar, highlighting many important European and international days, posters promoting the EVS programme and a radio show, which the volunteers produced on a regular basis with a local radio station to provide information about the EVS programme and youth projects.