„This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authorand the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.“

COVOCoordination of Volunteers

a Lifelong Learning Programme -Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation

11/2007 – 10/2009

with partners from:A, DE, EE, LV, PL

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2

Coordination of Volunteers (COVO)

“ “Qualification of trainers and teachers Qualification of trainers and teachers

in vocational education for impartingin vocational education for imparting

coordination competency for working coordination competency for working

with volunteers in the field of social services.”with volunteers in the field of social services.”

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

3

6 COVO-partners:6 COVO-partners:

A: Ausbildung im Diakonie-Zentrum A: Ausbildung im Diakonie-Zentrum Salzburg Salzburg (P1)(P1)

D: Die Wille gGmbH, D: Die Wille gGmbH, Berlin Berlin (P2)(P2)

D: Seniorenstift Kaufering, D: Seniorenstift Kaufering, KauferingKaufering (P3) (P3)

EE: SOS Children’s Village AssociationEE: SOS Children’s Village Association

of Estonia, of Estonia, TallinnTallinn (P4) (P4)

LV: Diaconia Centre of Evangelical Lutheran LV: Diaconia Centre of Evangelical Lutheran

Church of Latvia, Church of Latvia, RigaRiga (P5) (P5)

PL: Powisle Community Foundation, PL: Powisle Community Foundation, Warsaw Warsaw (P6)(P6)

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

4

COVO-partner’s web-sitesCOVO-partner’s web-sites

P1: www.diakonie-zentrum.atP1: www.diakonie-zentrum.at

P2: www.diewille.deP2: www.diewille.de

P3: www.seniorenstift.kaufering.deP3: www.seniorenstift.kaufering.de

P4: www.sos-lastekyla.eeP4: www.sos-lastekyla.ee

P5: www.diakonija.lv P5: www.diakonija.lv

P6: www.pfs.plP6: www.pfs.pl

„This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authorand the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.“

COVO-coordinator/contact:Ausbildung im Diakonie-Zentrum SalzburgDr. Karl Windingk.winding@diakoniewerk.atGuggenbichler Straße 20A 5026 Salzburg, Austria+43 (0) 662-6385-922

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

6

COVO-summary COVO-summary **

((* * page 1 out of 5)page 1 out of 5)

The involvement and/or use of volunteers in many areas of social work is gaining importance: on the one hand, social institutions require the dedication of volunteers to complement their services in important and interesting ways. On the other hand, this creates valuable venues of participation for people, such as those who are no longer working. Thirdly, it offers people who are still working or studying or others numerous opportunities for an additional involvement by means of meaningful social activities – with all the advantages attached thereto ...

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

7

COVO-summary COVO-summary **

((** page 2 out of 5) page 2 out of 5)

...

Practical experiences of all the organisations represented in this partnership (from Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany and Austria) show that volunteer work can develop its full potential only when these volunteer services are coordinated in the best possible way. Volunteers cannot be treated as equivalents of staff but have different prerequisites, needs and capabilities.

...

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

8

COVO-summary COVO-summary **

((* * page 3 out of 5)page 3 out of 5)

...

How can staff in the field of social work be qualified to the optimum with respect to coordination and guidance of volunteer services? Teachers and trainers for social professions are faced with a growing challenge: the acquisition of competency for coordination and guidance of volunteer services must be tackled as a new task in social work enterprises and/or training facilities in order to develop the resource of volunteer work to its fullest potential in the long run ...

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

9

COVO-summary COVO-summary **

((* * page 4 out of 5)page 4 out of 5)

...

COVO refers to the results of the Equal Partnership “Professions and Training in the Health and Social Services”…: Under the COVO these are examined for their (mostly only implicit) contributions towards coordination competency of volunteer services and then related to the experiences of COVO project partners: the goal is to identify competencies and innovative concepts for the coordination and guidance of volunteers and their transfer to an up-to-date user-oriented curriculum ...

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

10

COVO-summary COVO-summary **

((* * page 5 out of 5)page 5 out of 5)

...

The COVO transfer products are designed to support trainers and teachers in the field of social professions in their efforts to pass on coordination competencies (gained from the transfer outlined above) to full-time staff in social services, participants in social education programmes both within formal education institutions and outside – especially in the context of lifelong learning – in a way that is well-founded and appropriate to the growing demands in this field. (End)