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Youth

EVS Accredited Organisations

2011-ES-43Esplais Catalans - Esplac

Accreditation Sending organisation, Host organisation, Co-ordinating organisation

Approval Date 24/05/2011

Validity Date 24/05/2014

Location Barcelona (Spain)

Theme 1 Children

Theme 2 Other

Inclusion Cultural differences, Disability, Economic difficulties, Educational difficulties, Geographical difficulties, Health problems, Social difficulties

Project environment

Project environment:The office of Esplac is located Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, five minutes from La Rambla and at the side of Plaa Sant Jaume (headquarter square of the municipal and autonomic governments). The fact to have a so central location allows an easy connection with different means of transport (metro, bus and train). The building where Esplac is it is, also, the headquarter of other organisations, which compose the Secular and Progressive Movement (MLP: www.mlp.cat). So, in our building there is an important associative life. In addition to Esplac, there are two other educational youth organisations, one of youth clubs (Associaci de Casals i Grups de Joves de Catalunya) and a scout federation (Acci Escolta de Catalunya). With these organisations, as well as Esplac, composed by an important amount of members who are volunteers, we have a wide cooperation strategies, synergies which benefit all of us. The office of Esplac has place for receiving to volunteers, as well as of enough equipment to satisfy their needs when implementing their tasks.We use both Spanish and the Catalan languages in our communication.Barcelona is a city that in the last decade has received an important international input. As a proof of this fact, we have can observe the establishment of international fairs, congresses and headquarters; for example, the capital status of the city in the Union for the Mediterranean. So, Barcelona can offer a wide range of social and cultural activities, and a multicultural reality which can definitely facilitate the adaptation and integration of volunteers. The fact of being close to the Pyrenees (1h by car) and of the sea, implies offering a wide range of leisure possibilities. Therefore, an European volunteer can choose between different activities according to his/her preference, in addition to meet people from different corners of Europe and the world.Moreover, European volunteers will have the chance to connect directly with the diversity of the Catalan society through collaborating with youth leaders from different sides of Catalonia. In addition to youngsters of Barcelona city - and his distinct perception of the life of neighbourhood -, volunteers will be able to contact with youth leaders of esplai from cities of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, towns and villages. At the same time, volunteers will have the opportunity to cooperate in projects of the International Cooperation Area of Esplac (like youth exchanges and training courses), educational projects (volunteering as educators with local youth leaders of the same age of them in the development of activities) and participating in leaders' meetings (like in commissions or specific working groups ).Volunteers hosted by Esplac will live in an apartment, sharing their every day life other voluntary youth leaders of Esplac.

Proposed activities for EVS volunteersWe can offer to European volunteers a positive, flexible and friendly environment which may allow him/her to properly develop his service during the stay. Besides that, the experience achieved by the IFM-SEI from 2008 receiving volunteers will be a useful help for Esplac, because we will have enough advice and support from our international federation when dealing with the process of integration of the volunteer in our "associative life". So, we have the strong willingness and motivation to build an EVS model with activities which will let us answer to the individual needs of the volunteers.Learning opportunitiesVolunteers hosted by Esplac will have a high number of learning opportunities during their stay. These opportunities include, among others:o To experience the working procedure of an educational youth association working with children, as well as its local voluntary basis organisations (esplais) directly.o To learn Spanish and Catalan, and feel comfortable living in another country.o To develop a wide range of skills related to the preparation and implementation of educational activities (basic knowledge on project development, facilitation of processes, organisational management, self-esteem and confidence in own capacities, etc.).o To develop basic communicative skills, like uploading contents in websites, producing info-letters or communicating in a new and previously unknown contexto To learn about Barcelona, Catalonia and the reality of its villages and cities (especially where esplais are settled).o To work with youth leaders from esplais with the purpose to collaborate in local projects and participate in activities as extra members of a team of youth leaders from an esplai.o To develop basic knowledges in the frame of projects being developed by international where Esplac participates.Support to volunteersVolunteers will receive the basic support of Esplac from different sides:1. Staff of Esplac. Esplac officers (ST) are going to have daily contact with the volunteers and they are going to ensure that they will have the space to develop their ideas and proposals to enrich the development of the projects in progress. We will encourage European volunteers to evaluate their service regularly and to suggest improvements.2. Group of volunteers from the International Commission. Volunteers of this commision, who are a mix of youth leaders working with children and political leaders of Esplac, will have a constant contact with the European volunteers, cooperating directly with them and doing a link with local voluntary projects. This working procedure will ensure that European volunteers will be part of a big network in which to trust in.3. EVS mentor. The figure of the mentor of the volunteer will be the officer of ST responsible of the International Cooperation Area of Esplac. The mentor will montly gather with the European volunteers to speak on the project and the possible improvements to do. In case of conflicts, the mentor will play de role of mediation.4. Educational and organisational (political) youth leaders. European volunteers won't work only with staff members of Esplac. As an association with a remarkable voluntary character, Esplac trusts in delegating most of the initiatives developed to spaces of participation leaded by volunteers, since it benefits to youth empowerment and strengthen leaderships of the organisation. The European volunteers will communicate with a lot of different people who actively participate in local projects.5. FIEEA and IFM-SEI. The visibility of our international federations in the backstage of the project, in fact organisation where most of the volunteers hosted by Esplac will come from, will let us guarantee that the European volunteer will have the support of his/her mother organisation (as well as the experience and advice of the federations as international organisation working in second level of intervention - not directly with children as target group).Role of EVS volunteers and examples of possible activitiesThe everyday tasks of the European volunteers hosted by Esplac will be divided between the participation in a local group (an esplai) from Barcelona or its metropolitan area, and the support to the International Cooperation Area of Esplac. So, European volunteers will have the chance to be involved in international projects of Esplac. Some concrete projects are:o Support to the promotion international youth exchanges project (advice to esplais, international relations, etc.).o Support to the international training course of Esplac (support to the team of trainers, contact with participants, international relations, etc.).o Support to the preparation of the international camp 2012, event that will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Esplac as federation. European volunteers will develop tasks related to the content and implementation of the program.o Support to projects leaded by the international federations where Esplac participates: inclusion project "All Together", network of educators of the project "Peers without frontiers" Millennium Development Goals, project "VAP" on poverty and child work, etc.o Assistance to Human Rights Education projects, Children Rights and Participation; projects leaded by the Pedagogical Area of Esplac.o Participation in main activities of Esplac: Assembly, Trobada General (General meeting) and meetings of youth leaders.o Support to a more stable and strong international cooperation into the Mediterranean area.Local activitiesLocal activities developed by European volunteers will complement the activities already carried out by Esplac. We have the intention to enlarge European participation among very local projects/organisations, aiming to strengthen European citizenship into local contexts where it is usually difficult to disseminate this European perspective. This task will be implemented thanks to the enthusiasm and energy of the volunteers we will host. Once the connection European volunteers - local groups will be done, the volunteers will work on the proposal and implementation of local projects. Among others, these are the potential projects:o Development of social inclusion projects. To work with local volunteers on the identification of barriers for achievement of social inclusion and work with youth leaders on the development of strategies for a more inclusive work on local contexts.o To work with local groups on the reception of contributions in the planning of the 2012 Esplac international camp.o To support youth leaders' teams developing projects and activities at local level.o To express the need to develop international youth exchanges with local groups of teenagers from esplais, as an educational strategy and as a tool to facilitate constant generational renewal of youth leaders' teams of esplais.

Schedule of tasks: 35 hours a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. From 9h to 14h (from Tuesday to Friday), from16h to 20h (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and from 18h to 21h (Wednesday). Once a month the volunteers will do a weekend trekking with the local centre where they will partially do their activity. We will count a weekend activity as 16h of task. The 12h extra it will represent, will be deducted from the ordinary schedule from Tuesday to Friday, respecting the two consecutive days of rest a week.Courses: All volunteers hosted by Esplac will receive training to allow them to develop their linguistic competences (Spanish and Catalan), to understand how the youth sector is in our context and on "Youth in Action Programme", amongst other contents that can be considered interesting according to the pedagogical contents we work in Esplac. Once the process of training would be completed and EVS feel with enough communicative autonomy and to act by themselves, we will study to the possibility to replace training sessions by other subjects or including them in other projects.

Profile of the volunteer(s) and selection process:Profile of volunteersAll candidates should have between 18 and 30 years old, and have basic competences in computing, English, Spanish and elementary knowledge on Non Formal Education. The reason why we ask for basic competences in Spanish language it is because the voluntary task with children deserves a minimum knowledge of this language. We consider more important the will and enthusiasm to learn on the suggested projects (introduced in the previous section), than the precedent qualification of the volunteers on the above mentioned fields. The EVS volunteer has to be an open person, interested and motivated to work in a context where international projects and initiatives are constantly activated. The EVS project will be always discussed with the volunteers during their stay, in order to ensure - in case of having the required economical support - that the project can become a positive learning experience. So, all parts must have the predisposition to clarify details about roles and objectives of projects by filling in the required application forms together. We also consider the possibility to leave an open gap to let volunteers contributions come in, in order to better fit the project with the interests of volunteers during their staySelection procedure and transparencyThe selection procedure of the EVS volunteers will be done by publishing open calls that will be disseminated among partner organisations of Esplac. Also, we will publish the calls in "Youth in Action" EVS section website, because it can allow to Esplac to open the doors to new partners. All youth volunteers willing to participate in the project will have to send us their curriculum vtae (CV) and a motivation letter of motivation specifying their motivation and interest to be involved in a voluntary-based project - more than their knowledges. So, our purpose it is to select excited volunteers willing to develop their competences and to contribute to project they will participate. The selection procedure will be carried out by means of a first pre-selection of a maximum of five candidates (assessment of their CV and motivation letters) and agreeing on a telephone interview or Skype conference, which will allow us select to the EVS volunteers. We understand that this is a way guarantee and open and transparent selection procedure, since it will allow us to keep volunteers informed about the process and its result.Participation of youngsters with fewer opportunitiesWe will actively work with the intention to host volunteers with fewer opportunities, since their participation in EVS it is an excellent opportunity for them to develop their self-qualification, personal autonomy and social inclusion. Some of the projects of our international federations include youth with this profile. Therefore, the recruitment of these volunteers from disadvantaged contexts who have entered to participate in local groups (in our case, esplais) are a priority as target groups of our projects. Our willingness at short/mid-term it is that volunteers will finish disseminating and multiplying their experience in their organisations, generating a high international activity by means of European projects. As a result, we expect that participants will be active not only at local level, as well in the international organisation (so, covering different fields and levels of participation). Aiming to increase sustainable inclusion, we think that youth with fewer opportunities need to feel empowered into their organisations and active in all levels of participation. This is the reason why we expect to receive the maximum applications possible of candidates with fewer opportunities to the EVS. Our office is accessible to youth with disabilities and we think that the combination of direct work with children and the implementation of educational activities at international level will be interesting for a wide range of potential volunteers.Avoiding job replacementsVolunteers will not substitute any employee. Volunteers' tasks will be very different, and will include a lot of elements focused on their personal development that are not comparable with the responsabilities of staff members of the organisation. Moreover, volunteers will have, as well, an important role on adjusting their functions and defining working areas, unusual flexibility on jobs description of employees (where tasks use to be clarified in advance. So, tasks will be focused on the personal development and learning of volunteers hosted by Esplac, as well as on the contributions we can receive from our international federations.

The task developed in the local context will be particularly different from paid job. The work done by esplais starts from the personal commitment, reason why volunteers hosted will have the opportunity to feel integrated in the local context as a peer (an equal, a youth leader plus of the youth centre) of the group of esplai where they will participate, having the chance to interact with Esplac youth leaders "peer to peer", facilitating then a natural process of integration of European volunteers. Besides, volunteers will be in contact with other volunteers and the youngsters through the events organised by Esplac (meetings of youth leaders, meetings children, training courses and federative meetings of Esplac), as well as possible meetings and training courses organised by our international federations. As well as local voluntary work is, international training courses are based on personal commitment, reason why the role EVS will play is going to be the same that our youth leaders play. EVS volunteers will have the support and advice of officers (ST) and political leaders of Esplac, voluntary youth leaders of esplais and people responsible of international federative projects.Sending organisationsEsplac is an organisation open to work with new sending organisations from the basis acceptance of our secular and progressive values. Organisations of IFM-SEI and FIEEA share, in large large extent, our principles. This is the reason why we will prioritise those associations member of our international federations. Consequently, we do hope it will allow us to do steps forward on the consolidation of the projects we share, and because it is with these organisations with whom we have passed an internal validation process that we understand it gives us the guarantees for a proper hosting process of EVS volunteers.Number of volunteers hosted:Esplac has the capacity to host two volunteers people inside EVS the project. We will work to receive extra funding to support the stay of volunteers. So extra funding possibilities will determine if we can host one volunteer or two.

Prevention of risks, security and protection:Safe life and working environmentWe will ensure a safe life and working frame to the European volunteers hosted by Esplac. We will assess and plan logistical matters referred to their lo accommodation and board, to be sure their feel in a pleasant and secure environment. We will also assume insurance deserved by activities, if that is the case. The office of Esplac has an elevator and enough space to allocate EVS volunteers.Risk and crisis preventionWe understand that the best way to tackle potential risks and manage situations of crisis is by means of the education and communication. The European volunteers will have daily contact with his/her supervisor, as well as weekly meetings with the teams where they will work. Thus, it will ensure us the possibility to detect any problem and if there is, to work it properly ensuring conflict management with the required time and rigour. The progress achieved on the voluntary work of the EVS will be regularly discussed, aiming to include modifications on the tasks if it is required, or even responsibilities if the volunteers feel overloaded. We have the intention to promote the self-assessment on each EVS volunteer; that is to say, that they involve themselves in those tasks they feel more comfortable with, as well as realistic and achievable.The person who will play the role of mentor will have the function to monthly meet with the European volunteer, in order to have the chance to provide him/her with a second level of support, in this case more distant, but also more objective.Political leaders of Esplac and the team youth leaders with whom the volunteer will be, are going to play an important role on risk and crisis prevention, too. All these members from our organisation will be in direct contact with the EVS volunteers and so, they will be able to alert the mentor of the volunteer if they see the need.

In order to ensure that the European volunteers do not feel alone and isolated in Barcelona or the neighbour city (not more far away than one hour in public transport from Barcelona) where they will develop their local voluntary task, we will plan and follow closely the process of integration of European volunteers in the local community. An special emphasis will be put at the very beginning, just after of their arrival, to guarantee that volunteers gain confidence and safety. All EVS we will host in Esplac will do language courses (Spanish and, probably, Catalan, too), and will be included in social and cultural activities in the first weeks, which will be organised by the ST of Esplac and by the local esplai where they will develop the local voluntary tasks.In case of situations of crisis, we strongly believe on direct communication as a way to proceed. As organisation working in the field of the education, we understand that we have the competences to mediate in this kind of situations. So, if it is required for the situation, we will activate all needed tools (internal, from our organisation, and external, if it is more efficient for the case to solve), ensuring that the interests of the volunteers and the projects are on the top Under 18 years old volunteers (minors)Esplac is not an organisation able to accept the presence of volunteers under 18 years old. The projects leaded by Esplac as federation are addressed to youth leaders from esplais, so minors are not the most appropriate target group, because we wouldn't be able to constantly supervise the needs that a person of this age deserves.

SPECIAL NEEDS:The project is open to volunteers with fewer opportunities, since in the own philosophy of the esplai (and Esplac), we understand youth work field (and its associations) as contexts where social inclusion is on the roots. Esplac as organisation has the capacity to mobilise resources of attention to diversity. The office of Esplac is adapted with ramps and has an elevator for people with reduced mobility. Regarding pedagogical resources, Esplac youth leaders are being trained (through basic and advanced training courses) to address special needs. So, they are able to manage the specific educational needs they can find in their centres. Besides that, territorial and pedagogical officers of Esplac can assess and support youth leaders (by giving resources and personalised consulting) and so, what a voluntary person with fewer opportunities could deserve.

Motivation and EVS experience

The description of the motivations of Esplais Catalans - Esplac to participate in the European Voluntary Service (EVS) deserve a brief historical review of our association, in order to understand the origin of the application form of the present Expression of Interest.Shortly after its birth (1982), Esplac already showed its clear internationalist vision being co-funder organisation of FIEEA (Fdration Internationale pour les changes ducatifs d'Enfants et d'Adolescents) - Educational child organisation of Mediterranean area -, in 1983. In 1986 Esplac settled the bases of its international participation becoming member of IFM-SEI (International Falcon Movement-Socialist Educational International) - world-wide organisation of the same. Between 1982 and 1996 first international activities were structured (some training courses and youth exchanges), but it wasn't until the period 1996- 2005 that Esplac began to lead international activities, especially inside the field of the international cooperation (project and commission Bosnia). From 2005 onward, Esplac has diversified the format of his international activities, consolidating cooperation projects (especially awareness rising projects: Millennium Development Goals, Children Rights and environmental education), youth exchanges, international training courses - amongst them the international training course of Esplac implements such September since 2005 with the support of the "Youth in action" programme -, and, especially, the increasing presence of youth leaders of our organisation active in the field of the international relations, thanks to the initiative and the work done with the basis in the International Commission. It is in this context that Esplac has developed, in the last years, an increasing interest on EVS, reason why we have decided to define the present EI, to give an answer to the voluntary bases of Esplac and to our partner organisations. So, main specific motivation to work on EVS action it is to offer to our voluntary youth leaders a new space of participation which can entails new learnings that can be disseminated into our organisation. Simultaneously, to participate in the EVS can let release our model of voluntary based educational association (as a method for active participation and citizenship commitment), in addition to learn about other youth work models. Finally, the experience and good results of the EVS project of IFM-SEI, has encouraged Esplac to develop the present EI. Definitely, to create a network of European volunteers will allow us to reinforce the competences of our members, develop more international projects, increase the sense of belonging to a global citizenship and reinforce our presence in the field of the international relations.Until the day of today, the voluntary people of our organisation have not participated in any EVS project. Then, the present project represents an opportunity to start participating in this program, allowing us to send and host one or two volunteers from different organisations every year, from January of 2012. Esplac can offer voluntary projects encompassing diverse fields of action: work with children at local level, presence in federative spaces of participation (commissions and working groups) and contribution to the development of international projects (youth exchanges, training courses, international relations, etc.). Finally, it is important to stand out that we will link our EI to the EVS to global initiatives promoted by our international federations, as for example the project on child poverty foreseen for 2012 "Volunteering against poverty" (VAP), that the IFM-SEI is defining and in which Esplac has been selected to participate.

Description of the organisation

Esplais Catalans - Esplac is an association born in 1982 with the aim to join esplais1, groups of youngsters and people that share interests and work for an ideological and pedagogical common project. Esplac defines itself as a secular, progressive, independent and democratic association. As a movement, it pretends to foster an integral and liberating education as a mean to achieve social transformation: we want to define a lifestyle, an attitude towards life and the society surrounding us. The training of children in values like participation, solidarity, social engagement, cooperation, social justice, etc., are on the cornerstone of the ideological substrate of our educational action. The esplai is a non-profit organisation with a clear participatory, democratic and independent components; a public community service. Esplac it is composed by 98 esplais located in more than 40 Catalan towns, mobilising 6.500 children, teenagers and youth, 1.600 youth leaders and 200 individual partner members. The activities proposed by esplais are very diverse: games, handcrafts, gymkhanas, one day excursions, weekend trips, treks, summer camps in the countryside in tents or country houses, day camps in the city, international exchanges, etc. We implement these activities mainly on Saturdays and during holiday periods, and are addressed to children and teenagers from 3 to 17 years old.Esplac has a group of staff members called Secretaria Tcnica (ST - officers team), who have the task to support youth leaders in the consolidation of the esplai in which they participate. Therefore, the target group ST of Esplac addresses its work are youth leaders (voluntary educators and political leaders), between 18 and 30 years old. The ST has a structure of 19 people: 12 in the headquarters of Esplac and 7 in the territory (part time or full time officers, depending on the needs of the projects they deal with). The intervention of the ST of Esplac is based on the work by projects, and are implemented after being approved by the assembly of Esplac and with the supervision of the Equip de Direcci (ED - highest decision-making body of the organisation composed by political leaders).The projects are implemented following a mainstreaming criteria: intervention by project in which different officers play a role with the goal stress basic aspects from different perspectives, allowing us to fulfil with the aims of the strategic plan of Esplac from different slopes. The areas of work from which Esplac articulates the mainstreaming work by projects are 5: Administration, Communication, International Cooperation, Pedagogical and Territorial.

Contact Point

Organisation:Esplais Catalans - Esplac

Address:C/ Aviny nm, 44 2n

Postal code:08002

Town:Barcelona

Country:Spain

E-mail:esplac@esplac.cat

Phone:+34 933 026 103

Fax:+34 933 020 089

Contact:Mr Marc Garcia i Cebrian