CEV President Cristina Rigman celebrated London the European Volunteering Capital (2016) ‪#‎EVCapital2016‬ with Team London and Team London Young Ambassadors on 10 February. In her speech she thanked all Londoners who volunteer: "London’s volunteers are being celebrated as the main protagonists in ‪#‎EVCapital‬ 2016. On behalf of CEV I extend my thanks to all of them, their organisations and those that support those same organisations, financially or in-kind, to enable them to make their crucial contributions to London, and Europe more widely. We look forward to working with you this year, as holders of the Capital title, and next year as hosts of our Spring Capacity Building conference together with the 2017 European Volunteering Capital, Sligo." Read more...

On 10 March, CEV Director Gabriella Civico facilitated a discussion on employee volunteering (EV) with EV stakeholders in Czech Republic in collaboration with CEV member Hestia. European developments were shared and a presentation of the CEV EVEN workbook was delivered. This event forms part of the series of events and initiatives in the EVEN (Employee Volunteering European Network) work programme that seek to further EVEN  objectives, namely to increase the numbers and quality of employee volunteering opportunities in addition to giving better visibility to the contribution that employee volunteers make.

On 18-19 February, the CEV Board met for the first time in 2016 in Brussels, to discuss strategic actions and possible projects to further enable volunteering in Europe. Ms Lejla Šehić Relić from Volunteer Centre Osijek (Croatia) was elected CEV Vice President. Read more about the CEV Board...

The Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (PAVE) translations in Croatian provided by the Croatian Volunteer Centers Network (CVCN) and in Russian, provided by Russian National Volunteer Center, were published on the CEV website. Read more…

On 24 February CEV welcomed a group of students from Italy to speak about volunteering, European Institutions and how can young people make a difference. The visit was part of the programme “Education for European Citizenship” implemented by TGS Eurogroup.

CEV co-signed a letter sent to EC Vice-President Timmermans on 9 February calling on the EU and its Members States to develop an overarching Sustainable Development Strategy with a timeline of 2030 and a concrete implementation plan to achieve the 17 goals, 169 targets and their indicators. Read the letter here...

CEV Communications and Events Officer Andreea Nagy participated in the round table on claiming fundamental rights in Europe “Time to declare a state of democracy!“ organised jointly by European Civic Forum and European Alternatives on 18 February in Brussels. Read more...

Flemish Volunteer Centre: Flanderscounts on more than 750.000 volunteers who every day of the yeargive their best to organisations of all sizes. Some give a lot of their time andothers just a few hours a week, but they do have something in common. These thousands, that voluntarily engage themselves, are both unpaid and highly motivated sharing their talents and competencies, with a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. For 30 years, het Vlaams Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk upholds the tradition to thank these volunteers during Volunteer Week, in 2016 from the 27 February until 6 March organisations are supported in their campaign, by providing postcards, posters, e-cards, a toolbox for thanking volunteers, etc. The highlight in 2016, the 30th edition of the Flemish Volunteer Week, is the launch of the fully renewed volunteering opportunities website: www.vrijwilligerswerk.be. As from now, posting and finding volunteering vacancies in Flanders will be easier and more attractive than ever before. On 4th March the website was officially opened by the Flemish Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen. So, let’s volunteer!

CEV Members France Benevolat, Fundación Hazloposible and Volunteer Now participated in the training offered as part of the VaPoVo project (Validation policy for volunteering organisations) that aims to help participants discover each other's best practices and the new trends in non-formal learning validation policies and practice. Find pictures from the event here and read more about the project here… 

Perm Center of Volunteerism Development (PCVD) is organising the International Conference “Volunteerism-Avenue for Social Transformation” that will take place on 28-29 June 2016 at the United Nations Office in Geneva (Switzerland). Read more…

The European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2016 on skills policies for fighting youth unemployment “stresses the urgent need to promote non-formal and informal learning, which includes volunteering, and which is an invaluable resource in helping young people get the skills they need for working life”. Read the resolution here...

FoodDrinkEurope’s "Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into everyday business" publication highlights the role of employee volunteering in promoting employment opportunities, reducing unemployment, and in building stronger links & better understanding between companies and communities. Read the publication here...

The 2016 Eurydice report on “Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe” was published. The report focuses on primary education, lower and general upper secondary education and school-based initial vocational education and training. Some of the examples from different European countries consider the link between volunteering and entrepreneurship education.  Read the report here...