The event will be held on 18 and 19 April at the Citi building in Dublin, Ireland organized in association with Volunteer Ireland. Ireland was chosen as the venue for this event due to the Irish Presidency of the EU and also because of the leading role that companies based in Ireland and Irish volunteer-involving organizations have played in developing and promoting the concept of Employee Volunteering in Europe. The event in Ireland will focus on training and capacity building in relation to Employee Volunteering.
CEV members highlighted in the General Assembly in May 2012 the need to increase their capacities to become credible partners promoting and delivering high quality employee volunteering opportunities in partnership with actors from other sectors. «Making things EVEN «will respond to this demand and endeavour to provide a focal point for the specific follow up of the P.A.V.E recommendations related to employee volunteering. P.A.V.E: The Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (P.A.V.E) describes the current trends relating to employee volunteering in Europe further illustrating how the recommendations included in P.A.V.E relating to employee volunteering can be carried out. CEV has made the promotion of employee volunteering a priority field with respect to the follow up on P.A.V.E. The promotion of quality employee volunteering is also highlighted in the European Commission Communication on EU Policies and Volunteering (2011).
The symposium will result in the creation of the Employee Volunteering European Network (EVEN). This network will only be open to volunteering-involving organisations and companies who have taken part in the EVEN training. Membership of EVEN and the knowledge and skills gained during the event will increase the capacity of volunteering-involving organisations to access funding and support from a wider variety of sources than they might currently have. In these times of limited possibility for state funding volunteering-involving organisations need to have the capacity to seek support from other sectors and participating in Employee Volunteering Schemes is an excellent way to do this.
EVEN Objectives:
· Increase the numbers of employers and volunteer-involving organisations with the capacity and willingness to implement good quality employee volunteering.
· Give recognition and credibility to entities from all sectors that are able to implement good quality employee volunteering projects.
· Enable members to share experiences and new developments on a regular basis and have access to reliable and competent partners for employee volunteering.
· Enable affiliate members to increase their competencies in employee volunteering by participating in EVEN training courses.
During the conference there will a permanent «Marketplace» outside the training rooms where Volunteer organizations and Companies can inform other participants about their activities and their employee volunteering programs.
The European Volunteer Centre (CEV) is the European network of nearly 100 national, regional and local volunteer centres and volunteer support agencies across Europe. CEV has, for 20 years, promoted and supported volunteering through advocacy, knowledge sharing and capacity building & training. In this way CEV reaches out to the many thousands of volunteers and volunteer organizations who look to volunteer centres a source of support and in particular bringing the European dimension to their work.
More information in http://www.cev.be even@cev.be
