Project name:
Volunteering in Small Areas (V.I.S.A.)
Project number:
HR-21-9-2013-R1
Project duration:
01.09.2013 – 01.08.2014
Coorditating/host organisation:
LDA Local Democracy Agency Verteneglio
Partner organizations:
Giosef – Giovani senza frontiere, Caserta, Italy
Mladiinfo – FEJSK Macedonia, Skopje, Macedonia
Association for Democratic Prosperity, Podgorica, Montenegro
Concordia UK, Brighton, Great Britain
Volunteers:
Alessio Gheraldini
Irena Cvetikj
Monika Nišavić
Daniel Sparling
The group EVS project V.I.S.A will took place in is a small rural village Verteneglio in the Istrian Peninsula Istria in Croatia. The village has undergone a quick development fostering sustainability, youth active participation in policy making and rural tourism as emerging economy. The Local Democracy Agency works on rural development and youth policy issues closely with local institutions and NGOs and involved volunteers in these cooperation activities through the Group EVS project “V.I.S.A. – Volunteering in Small Areas”. This project was the continuation of three previous EVS projects (one individual and two group EVS). With the aim of promoting mobility and mutual understanding, four volunteers coming from Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro and Great Britain were chosen for the project. The service, with the duration of 11 months, started in at September the 1st, 2013 and ended in at August the 1st, 2014. The service gave the volunteers the possibility to take part in the activities run by LDA. Their social integration was assured by involving them in the life of local community (international evenings, outdoor activities with local youth, active participation to rural development) and they were encouraged to act as individuals sharing their experience with local population by holding meetings about their culture and their hobbies. They also got the opportunity to collaborate with local institutions (Italian Community, Tourist office, Municipality of Verteneglio and nursery “Calimero”) and worked on the creation of several materials, like brochures, newspapers articles, publications, etc. addressed to all the young people interested in intercultural topic related to mobility, Youth in Action projects, and participation in seminars, education and youth projects. Apart from this, the volunteers had an opportunity to give free language lessons to the locals, work in schools and kindergartens, promote the EVS and other mobility programs, or cooperate with the media.