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2021
- Due to the pandemic the Executive Committee met just online until the September Joint Meeting. In September the first physical meeting after March 2020 takes place, in Copenhagen, hosted by MS Denmark.
- During the year Alliance bodies regularly meet online: TNWG meets online in April; a meeting of ADC and RE-Group (together with the EC) takes place in June 2021; ERC met online in August. All bodies meet physically in Copenhagen, in September.
- 68 volunteers, representing 28 member organisations, based in 19 countries, were involved in the network bodies.
- A RE-Group (former 4 year Task Force) is active and elaborates ideas for the development of a new network structure. These ideas culminate into several proposals, all adopted by the GA 2021. The proposals mainly consist in creating new Alliance bodies: Alliance WGs and Committees as well as the Management Committee cease to exist in 2021. Instead, Needed Action Groups (NAGs) and Communities of Interest Action (COIs) are established. The first are in charge of implementing the actions essential for the network survival and are voted every year by the GA. The others can pop up freely during the year and are meant to be agents implementing thematic actions like projects or campaigns, bringing Alliance ideas and values forward, but not essential to ensure the network survival.The Additional Member 2022 is in charge of acting as Interface, a new position responsible of coordinating and connecting the new bodies (COIs). 2022 is a transition year into the new Alliance structure, to fully be in place by 2024.
- The Technical Meeting takes place online during the first week of March. Several workshops are organised while different turns of bilaterals are eased and proposed to the members, in March, April and May.
- The Long Term Training Course, a workplan financed by the European Youth Fundation, is finalized online. 10 participants complete the training cycle, started with a first physical activity in February 2020.
- EYou.net, an E+ KA1 project coordinated by MS Denmark, is finalized. The first activity (January Joint Meeting) is implemented online on 28th and 29th January, the second (September Joint Meeting), takes place in Copenhagen, hosted by MS Denmark, from 11th to 13th September. Thanks to the project, new ideas to rejuvenate the Pool of Trainers are developed; Alliance members’ educational needs are assessed; the RE-Group shares their ideas about the network restructuring with several activists.
- proMOTION, an international activity granted by the European Youth Foundation, is implemented by Mauro Carta, Alliance Course Director, together with the co-trainers Giada Martin and Isabel McLean as well as with Tilemachos Boni as the advocacy expert. The activity aims to develop a Pool of Ambassadors, meaning a group of Alliance activists empowered to use advocacy and communication tools to advocate for workcamps, youth work and non formal education recognition.
- During 2021, the Alliance participates to common projects as IVS4Peace (on the involvement of young people with migrant and asylum seeking background in IVS). The meetings of this project are held online, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A final Conference takes place in July 2021. We are also part of Tme2Team, an E+ KA2 project coordinated by Concordia France, aiming at sharing and developing good practice within the Alliance in order to work within the ESC programme, in particular the Volunteering Teams frame.
- The Alliance holds its yearly General Assembly online, from 8th to 10th of November. More than 70 people attend the event, representing Alliance members and IVS sister networks.
- The GA 2021 elects Jannika Mumme (IBG) as the new Alliance President. We say goodbye to Anthony Crochu (Concordia France) as Treasurer, Lasse Jensen (MS Denmark) as President, and Rosa Garcia Fruitós (Cocat) as Additional Member. We welcome in the EC team Aylin Bekem (De Amicitia) as VicePresident, Aleksandr Kurushev (Estyes) as VPER, Renārs Manuilovs (Youth for Smile) as Additional Member. Simon Geeraert (CBB) passes from the VPER to the Treasurer position.
- Meaningful outcomes of the GA 2021 are the adoption of all the proposals developed by the RE-Group for the network transition into the new structure; the adoption of a Strategic Direction document guiding the network for the year 2022; the adoption of a call to be launched in order to identify “EC peers” in 2022, the adoption of a proposal that sees the Alliance becoming fully owner of Plato (Alliance Placement Tool), and, last but not least, various changes in the ADIH (Alliance Data Interchange Handbook).
- Alliance Secretary Serena Verlato leaves the position on 31.12.2021. A new Secretary is hired: Barış Bilim, working at the premises of the new host of Alliance Secretariat – Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği (GHD), based in Istanbul, Turkey.
2022
- EC Meetings; EC meeting of February 2022, hosted by Egyesek, in Holloko, Hungary, EC meeting of March 2022, hosted by Est-YES in Estonia (prior to the Technical Meeting), EC meeting of June 2022, Hosted by CBB in Belgium, EC meeting of September 2022, hosted by CBB in Belgium prior to the September Joint Meeting, EC meeting of October 2022, hosted by Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği in Türkiye prior to Alliance online GA
- To sum up Alliance was involved in these projects in 2022;
- DSITEV : Erasmus+ project coordinated by ELIX (A4AWG training on inclusion and accessibility)
- Time 2 Team: Erasmus+ KA2 project coordinated by Concordia France (Working methods and tools for the development of ESC volunteering team activities within the IVS movement)
- K-SPACE :Erasmus+ KA2 project coordinated by INEX SDA (How to keep volunteers who participated in a first workcamp engaged and involve them in other volunteering projects and solidarity actions)
- Decolonising IVS :Erasmus+ Project he Alliance is associated partner and represented in the project through the member organization SJ. (Understand how international volunteering is still influenced by colonial structures and what is needed to address these issues, in order to move towards a more inclusive and representative IVS)
- EYF Study Session 2022, Alliance Project, granted by EYF (Increasing youth participation in volunteering projects by increasing the capacities of our members’ youth workers in the recruitment/marketing/ visibility fields)
- The first Alliance Joint Meeting in 2022, had been held between 24 March – 02 February 2022 hosted by Egyesek in Hollókő, Hungary. 21 participants from 10 member organisations joined to the meeting physically and online!
- After 2 years of break due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Alliance Technical Meeting has taken place physically between 31 March – 05 April 2022 hosted by EstYES in Tallinn, Estonia.74 participants from 38
member, partner and guest organisations of Alliance joined the TM!
- September Joint Meeting (SJM) was organized in Liège, Belgium hosted by our member organisation Compagnons Bâtisseurs from the 1st till the 5th of September.
- On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of November, the 40th Alliance General Assembly (GA) took place in Antalya, Türkiye hosted by our member organisation Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği. 46 delegates from 26 member organisations took part in the GA and made decisions that will shape our network starting from 2023.
- In 2022 Alliance representative Tilemachos Boni was re-elected as a member of the Advisory Council on Youth of CoE where he leads the portfolios on North-South Center and its Universities, portfolio that is under CoE priority number 3, Peaceful and Inclusive Societies, as well a second newly created portfolio on Artificial Intelligence. He was also sitting in the Programming Committee (CJP), the body monitoring the programme of the European Youth Foundation (EYF) and the European Youth Centres of Strasbourg and Budapest.
- Frame(v)work was an Erasmus+ KA2 project coordinated by CCIVS, involving different regional networks within the IVS movement. Jannika Mumme, Alliance Vice-President, joined two meetings of Frame(v)work project, the only that it was possible to implement, before the Covid-19 spread. – 20-25 November 2019: kick-off meeting in Hollókő, Hungary, hosted by
Egyesek. – 18-25 February 2020: European Lab in Hollókő, Hungary, hosted by Egyesek.
- In 2022 staff position was covered by Barış Bilim, working in İstanbul, Türkiye at the premises of Aliance member organisation Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği, hosting the network Secretariat.
2023
- It was the first year of the new structure of Alliance Network with 30 members for 8 TEAMs (Data, Education, External Affairs, Interface, Internal Affairs, Knowledge Hub, Monitoring&Evaulation, Financial Management), and NAGs and COIs.
- In 2023 the TEAMs held the following T-REX meetings:
- 1. T-REX meeting of March 2023, (online)
2. T-REX meeting of May 2023, hosted by hosted by Egyesek, in Holloko, Hungary
3. T-REX meeting of July 2023, (online)
4. T-REX meeting of October 2023, (online)
5. T-REX meeting of October 2023, (online)
6. T-REX meeting of November 2023, hosted by SIW, in Overasselt, the Netherlands in prior to Alliance GA
- Between the 12th and 16th of January, 27 participants who are involved in different Alliance bodies came together for the first Joint Meeting of the network in Prague, Czechia hosted by our member organisation INEX – SDA.
- We concluded the Alliance Technical Meeting hosted by Youth4Smile between the 1st-6th of March in Riga, Latvia .
- September Joint Meeting was held in Brighton, UK between 1-6 September hosted by Concordia UK.
- On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November, the 41st Alliance General Assembly (GA) took place in Overasselt, the Netherlands hosted by our member organisation SIW Internationale Vrijwilligersprojecten that celebrates 70th anniversary.
- Giada Martin (Team External Affairs) has been representing the Alliance in European Youth Forum Exhange Group which it belongs, that aims to strengthen the cooperation between organizations which advocate for mobility, intercultural understanding and youth participation.
- The European Youth Forum – COMEM (Council of Members) convened in Berlin on 17-18 November 2023. Our secretary, Nihat Yücel, took part in the meeting as a delegate for the Alliance.
- From 20th to 25th November, SCI Hellas hosted in Loutraki four events in one: the Evaluation Meeting of Frame[v]work project, CCIVS General Conference, an Hybrid Open Conference on Decolonising IVS and CCIVS General Assembly that saw strong participation and active engagement of the Alliance and its member organisations. Giada Martin (Team External Affairs), Simon Geeraert (Team Financial Management & Treasurer) and Nihat Yücel (Alliance Secretary) attended the meeting as representatives of Alliance.
- Tine2Team project has finalized. As a result of the project the consortium have produced common guidelines for ESC Volunteering Teams exchanges in Alliance, policy recommendations to external stakeholders and, good practices / inspiring stories from previous ESC Volunteering Teams experiences.
- The Alliance Work Plan 2023 is concluded and shared the Final Publication, containing all details of our long learning journey started in February and aimed at equipping 27 participants with project management skills.
- K-SPACE Project’s first part has completed. There were three organizations involved in the project: INEX, IBG and Egyesek. Alliance is supporting the promotion of the project The project had two outputs: Strategy (based on research – questionnaires, in-depth interviews) and Toolbox (session plans, set of post-arrival activities).
- Frame(v)work Project which was coordinated by an Alliance member organisation, Egyesek from Hungary. “Frame[v]work” aims at improving the quality of volunteer exchange within the IVS movement, in order to reinforce the concepts of international voluntarism, active participation and international solidarity. Labs were held in; Asian Lab : 27 March – 3 April 2023, in Indonesia – American Lab : 26 June-5 July 2023, in San Jone, Costa Rica – African Lab : 18-27 September 2023, in Zimbabwe.
- Decolonise IVS !Project had seek to go to the heart of the debare around decolonisation by bringing together 15 International Voluntary service (IVS) organisations and 5 associated partners to improve the quality of transnational cooperation by jointly developing tools, policies, and guidelines to transform power structures, processes, and mindsets among 6 of the most prominent networks in the field. As a part of the Decolonise IVS! Project of CCIVS, we participated and sent people to the project during 2023 and we will continue to be part of the project in 2024.
- The Alliance’s Secretariat consisted of two staff positions: an Alliance Secreary (AS), and an Alliance Financial Assistant (AFA).
- In 2023, Barış Bilim, our previous Alliance Secretary, handed over his position to Nihat Yücel in February 2023. Since that time, Alliance Secretary (AS) position was covered by Nihat Yücel, working in İstanbul, Türkiye at the premises of Alliance member organisation Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği.
- Alliance Financial Assisstant (AFA) Position was covered by Grégory Van de Put, working in Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium at the premises of Alliance member organisation Compagnons Bâtisseurs Belgium.
2024
- It was the second year of the new structure of Alliance Network with 24 members for 8 TEAMs (Data, Education, External Affairs, Interface, Internal Affairs, Knowledge Hub, Monitoring&Evaulation, Financial Management), and 44 members in total for 17 NAGs and 2 COIs.
- In 2024 the TEAMs held the following T-REX meetings:
1. T-REX meeting of January 2024, hosted by Egyesek, in Holloko, Hungary
2. T-REX meeting of of January 2024, hosted by Egyesek, in Holloko, Hungary
3. T-REX meeting of May 2024, hosted by Grenzenlos, in Vienne, Austria
4. T-REX meeting of June 2024, hosted by INEX-SDA, in Prague, Czechia
5. T-REX meeting of October 2024, hosted by LEGAMBIENTE, in Grosseto,Italy.
- The Alliance Staff Training 2024 for placement officers took place in Hollókő, Hungary from 15 to 19 January, hosted by EGYESEK.The three-day training brought together 25 participants preparing for the 2024 workcamp season. Attendees included staff and volunteers from various organizations, including Allianssi (Finland), ANEC (France), CBB (Belgium), Concordia France, DeAmicitia (Spain), Elix (Greece), GHD (Turkey), Grenzenlos (Austria), IBG (Germany), IJGD (Germany), InformaGiovani (Italy), Lunaria (Italy), NIG (Germany), SIW (Netherlands), VJF (Germany), WCIA (UK), and YRS (Serbia).
- The January Joint Meeting (JJM), the first gathering of the new
year, took place from 19 to 23 January, hosted by Egyesek. This meeting provided an essential platform for all Alliance Teams, National Advisory Groups (NAGs), and Committees of Interest (CoIs) to convene in person and plan their collaborative work for 2024.
- The Technical Meeting (TM) 2024 took place in Barcelona from 20 to 25 February, hosted by COCAT. The event brought together 110 representatives from over 50 member organizations, fostering collaboration and strengthening the network. In addition to bilateral meetings, 16 productive workshops were conducted by participating organizations, contributing to knowledge sharing and collective growth.
- All T-REX meetings held in 2024 were in person. The first and second T-REX meeting of the year was hosted by Egyesek in Hollókő, Hungary, in January. The third T-REX meeting took place in May, hosted by Grenzenlos in Vienna, Austria. In June, the fourth T-REX meeting was hosted by INEX-SDA in Prague, Czechia. The final, fifth T-REX meeting of the year was held in October, hosted by LEGAMBIENTE in Grosseto, Italy.
- The first Staff Meeting took place alongside the Technical Meeting (TM) in February, in Barcelona hosted by COCAT, bringing together all staff members and representatives from Team Education, Team Internal Affairs, Team Financial Management, and Team Monitoring & Evaluation. The second Staff Meeting was hosted by Grenzenlos in Vienna, Austria, following the T-REX and Congress kick-off meetings in May.
- The September Joint Meeting (SJM) 2024 was held from 1-6 September in Prague, Czechia, hosted by INEX-SDA. It brought together Alliance Teams, NAGs (National Action Groups), COIs (Communities of Interest), and new members for strategic planning, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
- From 20-24 October 2024, the 2nd Congress of the Alliance took place in Tuscany, Italy, hosted by LEGAMBIENTE. Around 85 participants from member organizations came together for five inspiring days of discussions, collaboration, and forward-looking strategy.
- On the 25th, 26th, and 27th of October, the 4ndt Alliance General Assembly (GA) took place in Tuscany, Italy hosted by our member organisation LEGAMBIENTE. 30 delegates and 62 participants from member and associate member organisations took part in the GA and made decisions that will shape our network starting from 2025. At the General Assembly Aylin Bekem was elected once again as General Secretary of Alliance, Simon Geeraert from CBB handed over the Treasurer position to Aleksandr Krushev from EstYes.
- Within the YFJ framework, Alliance was actively involved together with other International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations (INGYOs) in a shadow evaluation of the European Youth programmes, particularly Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. The last months saw the strengthening of the cooperation with Service Civil International (SCI) at the Youth Forum. Attendance at all statutory meetings:- Ex COMEM | online, 9 March 2024 , GA | Mollina (Spain), 16-18 May 2024, GA II | Ghent (Belgium), 22-23 November 2024.
- Alliance delegations attended LevelUp!, an event held at the European Parliament in Brussels (12-13 April), co-organised by YFJ, which aimed to amplify young people’s voices and provide a space for networking and exchanging ideas ahead of the European elections.
- At the beginning of the year, we co-wrote DECO 2.0: On the Move – From Rhetoric to Action – Decolonising IVS NOW (Erasmus+ KA2 Partnerships for Cooperation Partnerships in the fields of Education and Training, and Youth) which was submitted in March 2024 to continue the work we’ve been doing over the past few years as part of Decolonise IVS!, but unfortunately it was rejected. It is planned to apply again in 2025.
- Constant updates from the Alliance’s representatives in the CCIVS Executive Committee (Veronica Markova, elected at the CCIVS General Assembly 2023) and in the CCIVS Youth Committee (Daniel Mapatac)
- Alliance is also represented by Daniela Fellinger (Grenzenlos) and Tiina Hokkanen (Allianssi) in SALTO European Solidarity Corps Resource Center Advisory Group aimed to strategically reflect on the European Solidarity Corps programme’s developments, shares expertise, proposes priorities, creates synergies, and identifies challenges to support the advocacy work of the Resource Centre.
- In 2024, 3 new positions were created, making the Alliance secretariat a team of 5 people. Positions are;
- Secretary of Internal Procedures (SIP)is a full-time position whose role is to support the organization of all the initiatives and activities of the network. Secretary of Internal Procedures (SIP) position was covered by Nihat Yücel, working in İstanbul, Türkiye hosted by our member organisation Gönüllü Hizmetler Derneği.
- Alliance Financial Manager (AFM) is a part-time position whose role is to support the organization of all financial issues. Alliance Financial Manager (AFM) position was covered by Lenka Sobotova until
August 2024 then she handed over the position to Jaroslava Vanjo. Jaroslava Manjo is working in Bratislava, Slovakia hosted by our member organisation INEX-Slovakia.
- Alliance Communications and External Affairs Officer (CEAO) is a part-time position whose role is to support the organization of all external affairs and communications issues. Alliance Communication and External Affairs Officer (SIP) position was covered by Giada Martin, working in Torino, Italy hosted by our member organisation Lunaria.
- Alliance Project Manager (APM) is a part-time position whose role is to support the organization of all grant applications, implementation and report issues. Alliance Project Manager (APM) position was covered by Pujiarti until November 2024 then she handed over the position to Veronika Marková. Veronika Marková is working in Prague, Czechia hosted by our member organisation INEX-SDA.
- Alliance IT Coordinator (ITC) is a part-time position whose role is to support the organisation of all digital tools and placement tools. Alliance IT Coordinator (ITC) position was covered by Kemal Abiska. His hosting
organisation was Jeunesse et Reconstruction in France.
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