EVÁ (3rd Round)
About the project
The EVÁ - European Volunteers in Águeda project is a European volunteering partnership project developed at the Águeda Youth Center.
This page refers to the project 2022-1-PT02-ESC51-VTJ-000080440. The individual mobility is 180 days and took place during the year 2023.
The consortium consists of:
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Service Volontaire International - Solidarites Jeunesse Vietnam - Belgium
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Volonterski Centar Skopje - North Macedonia
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Kreisjugendwerk der AWO Karlsruhe-Stadt - Germany
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Younet APS - Italy
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Association CUBIC -Cultur & Bildung im Context - Austria
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The Association of Estonian Open Youth Centers – Estonia
Needs
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Boost young people's engagement, connection and empowerment in the social, civic and democratic sphere, in order to promote their social inclusion through volunteering activities;
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Promote volunteering opportunities for the empowerment and full development of young people by recognizing their interests and ambitions;
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Raise awareness and disseminate European youth strategies and priorities, making everyone responsible for the consolidation of a strengthened European community.
Goals
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Development of volunteering actions and activities focusing on young people's social inclusion, empowerment and social, civic and democratic participation;
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Empowerment of young volunteers through the development of multiple, tailored and appealing skills and experiences;
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Raise awareness and dissemination of European strategies and priorities in the field of volunteering.
The volunteers
Project Activities
Project summarie
During the project the main activity, Individual Mobility, was accomplished:
Individual Mobility - Volunteers promoted solidarity, inclusion, tolerance and interculturality, through activities in the schools of the municipalities, in the activities of the CJA and in institutions at the level of dissemination of opportunities in the area of youth and activities to promote solidarity and interculturality for the community, with a focus on young people, but with other targets included, such as children, the elderly and animals; The volunteers also participated in enhanced mentoring sessions, technical support with weekly meeting, individual and group reflection, and involvement in the decision-making process; project monitoring and evaluation activities; online language support (OLS) and face-to-face with a teacher, development of activities in stakeholders, workshops for skills development and knowledge of programs such as Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps (ESC).
On arrival training
The initial team building activities were aimed at getting to know each other and strengthening team spirit, motivating for the project, getting to know the institution and the context, working on group cohesion, expectations and the well-being of volunteers, rights and duties. This type of activities allowed to deepen social relationships and personal knowledge through non-formal education methodologies to work on the emotional intelligence of volunteers.
This type of activities allowed to deepen social relationships and personal knowledge through non-formal education methodologies to work on the emotional intelligence of volunteers. These activities were designed and implemented by the volunteers of a project that was running at the same time, under supervision.
Linguistic Support, Mentoring and Technical Supervision
Volunteers learn the portuguese language through Online Linguistic Support (OLS) and with a Portuguese teacher for foreigners. Volunteers have constant meetings with their mentors and once a month volunteers have enhanced mentoring, in which they share expectations, manage their internal world and do dynamics to promote group cohesion and emotional well-being. Technical supervision empowers the development, implementation and evaluation of activities and every week there is a privileged moment of reflection and integration of information to promote the growth of volunteers in personal and social terms.
Language Workshops
Volunteers offer the community weekly English workshops for beginner and advanced level. The workshops are free of charge, aiming to promote interculturality and increase the language skills of the population of Águeda. There are more than 20 participants per session.
School of life
Online meetings with institutionalized elderly people that promote interculturality and intergenerationality. Volunteers meet weekly with AFA - Associação Fermentelense de Assistência a Crianças e Pessoas de Terceira Idade (Fermentelense Association for Assistance to Children and the Elderly) and monthly with Jardim Social de Travassô (Social Garden of Travassô) where they share life experiences, ask for advice and tips, discuss current issues, among other topics with the elderly.
Support in projects
The volunteers have been assisting the project managers of Psientífica and the Águeda Youth Center in the planning and implementation of Erasmus + projects (Ka1 strategic, SDG Labs, Active Youth, Innovate NOW, In a Nutshell and DIGIVOGUI) and Portugal Social Innovation (INCUBA JÁ). Being prepared for the dynamization of activities with diverse target audiences, based on Non-Formal Education.
Motocross World Cup
The Águeda Action Club - ACTIB invited volunteers to be present to assist in the preparation for the Motocross World Championship, at the Crossódromo Internacional de Águeda.
Support to d'orfeu
Volunteers assisted in the preparation and implementation of some events, such as the Autumnalities and the i! Festival, held by d'Orfeu.
Sessions in schools of the municipality
Sessions in the various schools to promote solidarity and interculturality, dissemination of the Erasmus+ program and ESC, and other topics that teachers find relevant (such as promoting entrepreneurship skills, calling for inclusion, boosting the professions fair, raising awareness of the SDGs, etc.)
Bela Vista Partnership
Starting in January 2023, volunteers collaborated weekly in 5 workshops with the children of the institution's Free Time Activities Center (CATL). During them, they had the opportunity to show children aged between 4 and 10 years old the cuisine of their country, traditional music and dance and also work with them educational stories through Non-Formal Education.
Cabeço Santo Partnership
On a weekly basis, volunteers will assist the Cabeço Santo Association - Ecological and Landscape Recovery, which aims to recover ecologically degraded areas due to inappropriate forest exploitation of exotic species and the expansion of invasive species, promoting the ecological and landscape value of these areas through the recovery and installation of native flora species and the removal of exotic species.
Águeda Living Lab
ALL is a space open to the community for the meeting of ideas, experiences, knowledge, creativity and innovation, where workshops and other technology demonstration initiatives are organized, with the aim of stimulating a perspective of real exploration and experimentation. It is also a space dedicated to the development of interactive and innovative solutions, oriented to the community. At Águeda Living Lab, volunteers learned about robotics, 3D printing and modeling and accompanied young people in their technological activities.
Personal projects
Volunteers Anouk and Andrijana created their personal Language Exchanges project, bringing together young people with different nationalities in different cafés in the region and promoting language exchange in a multicultural environment. More than 10 young people participated in each session. Volunteer Vanessza held weekly free zumba classes for the community in the upper town park, with a total of 7 participants per session.
Trainings
In addition to the regular follow-up in terms of capacity building for planning, implementing and evaluating activities, throughout the project volunteers were provided with training on:
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Erasmus+ Youth in Action
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European Solidarity Corps
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Project writing
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Planning of activities
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Formal, non-formal and informal education
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History of Portugal
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Construction of session plans
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Robotics, 3D printing and modeling
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Workshop on video editing
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Youthpass and Key Competences
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Sustainable Development Goals
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Youth Goals
Funding and support
National Erasmus+ Youth/Sport Agency and ESC
EVÁ is funded by the National Agency Erasmus+ Youth/Sport and ESC.
The National Agency Erasmus+ Youth Sport and ETUC is the mission structure that aims to ensure the management, in Portugal, of the Erasmus+ Program in the fields of youth and sport, as well as to ensure the management and implementation of activities within the European Solidarity Corps program. It also coordinates the Eurodesk information network in Portugal. The Erasmus+ Youth Sport and ETUC NA supports Youth Exchanges, European Volunteering, International Training, Strategic Partnerships and Structured Dialogue events. It provides support and information in the Sports dimension and to the Erasmus+ European Solidarity Corps.
European Solidarity Corps
The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) is the European Union's new initiative for young people, giving them the opportunity to volunteer or work on projects at home or abroad for the benefit of people and communities across Europe. After applying, participants in the European Solidarity Corps can be selected and invited to join a wide range of projects. Projects supported by the European Solidarity Corps can last between two and twelve months and are usually carried out in European Union countries. All young people participating in the project belong to the ESC.
Praça Conde de Águeda
3750 - 101 Águeda
(+351) 234 029 931
© 2023 Águeda Youth Center