Looking for partners

European Voluntary Service (EVS) is part of the YOUTH programme, a European Union programme that promotes the mobility of young people through international activities with a non-formal education dimension such as youth exchanges, voluntary services, youth initiatives and training of youth workers.

EVS is one of the opportunities for young people to get actively involved in European project work. An EVS project gains from intercultural experience, it builds on a trans-national partnership between youth organisations and the volunteer. It promotes local project that is based on everybody's commitment. (http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/program/sos/vh_evs_en.html)

Aims of the EVS:

• To provide the opportunity for informal inter-cultural cooperation between young people, supporting their social integration and active participation, thus raising their chances in the job market and giving them to opportunity to show solidarity with others.
• To support the development of local communities.
• To establish new partnerships and exchange of experience between partner organisations.

Baikal Environmental Wave has been participating in the EVS programme since 1999. Over the past six years (1999-2005) 7 young European volunteers have worked at the organisation. We have also sent our volunteers to European organisations through the EVS scheme.

We have been working in partnership with the Germany-Russia Exchange (DRA); Experiment in International Living (EIL), Great Britain; Semper Avanti Association, Poland; Centre for Alternative Technology, Great Britain.

We 've been hosting the EVS volunteers from Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Poland.

The European volunteers have made an enormous contribution to the development of BEW's work: translations into German and English, help with grant applications, video and photographic production, participation in various 'happenings' and action, educational work, writing articles for the www site and BEW's journal, conducting surveys. As a result BEW received new ideas, experience, a view of our activities "from the outside," and strong partner contacts. After working at BEW one British volunteer helped establish a partnership between BEW and the UK organisation EIL. The volunteers themselves note that working with BEW gave them the chance to get to know Russian culture and everyday life and were able to tell about their own; they learnt different skills and a lot about the environment and sustainable development. For some, work in an environmental NGO helped determine their choice of future profession.

We are planning to develop new EVS projects and to expand our contacts in Central and Western Europe. If you are interested in co-operating with us, please contact us.

Looking for partners

STORIES

Julie Bourillon, France

Johanna Manges, Austria

Jesse Gardiner-Smith, UK

Nikola Allinger, Germany

Juliane Kunert, Germany

Iwona Frydryzhak and Anastazja Golaj, Poland

Claudia Rose, Germany

Stephanie Ward, UK

2004-1997

APPLICATION FORM