CIVIL SOCIETY: 269 PRACTICES
EERco is established in 1997 non formally and 1999 formally. EERco main-core was as a Dancetheater group of professional artists. After many years of experimentation, the professional performers became leaders of youth and new talents in arts-related professions. Since 2003, EER has extended its activities and started functioning as a non Governmental Organization with Inclusive Culture and Arts & Innovation Social Activities.
It is a common belief that behavioral patterns are fundamental as to evaluate quality of life. This program aimed to quality of life (QoL) of 1) DISABLED and disadvantaged population including them to a short environmental protection campaign with medians sport & cultural events and 2) of the volunteers' themselves introducing them to basic principles of QoL.
In the current ESC project we invited volunteers who: a) would like to support disabled population (i) to build their sociabilities profile as to be regularly socialized, (ii) to build on their self-assesment skills & competences and (iii) to be encouraged in getting involved in career challenges b) are connected to communities with disability (there is a close relative with disability, or studies in special education, work experience or volunteerism for disabled people or even high motivation to support disabled population) c) are connected to health-care background to make the difference.
The program has lasted 16nth months.
In our ESC project volunteers with fewer opportunities cooperated with disadvantaged & disabled youth and other young people with strong potentials in sports, arts and ecological activation and all together learnt & supported activities related to inclusive culture. Within the short time period of volunteering they created a facebook community for passing their experiences, ideas and hopes in the digital world, a contemporary practice for keeping a directory of the event and sharing their opinions with others. EERcomt hopefully made available to the ESC volunteers sports equipment, chairs, easels, music instruments etc. Participants that participated in our project, have received an EER certification as volunteers with advanced skills or youth workers/ leaders (4 levels available). Those training courses were beneficial for our volunteers as to strengthen their capacity and skills as youth workers and leaders. We also cooperated with several external organizations that certified youth with badgets of European recognition and we enhance our volunteers to join their seminars (eg. thecourses.eu; unicollaborationtraining.org, etc). Other certificates: -EER certification & a reference letter according to achievements.
The impact from local to international is analyzed further below:
1. LOCAL IMPACT
The ESC project had a significant impact through the EER activities regularity concerning a) arts and non discrimination in everyday life of local disadvantaged and disabled community, b) sports and arts for everybody and c) activities of social and ecological impact in local parks. Important to notice, local authorities supported us whenever we asked them to facilitate activities and events.
2. REGIONAL IMPACT
The regional associations of disabled have been invited to participate to all the public events of our planned -open to public- solidarity activities. In such of events have been informed all the NGO's, Associations and Organizations of Regional District and NGOs that host ESC or EVS volunteers (through sharing posts in Facebook communities). The most noteworthy achievement was the visit of our volunteers in several childrens' or teenagers' school or learning environments for introducing them a new way to play with the arts and start up thinking xreatively (handiedance
approach).
3. NATIONAL IMPACT
The deeper meaning of that ESC project concerned a solidarity activity where we tried to strengthen personal beliefs & the will of disabled population to enjoy their life in a more social context, smt that without support is not so easy to be managed. Supporting the notion that project's objectives have been accomplished there has been given high priority in providing and publishing those results to interested stakeholders and other associations out of the regional borders. Dissemination and exploitation of results passed the national level. The most significant activity of national nevel was the establishment of a festival for autistics, an initiation that was including the participation and major contribution of one
of our volunteers.
4. EUROPEAN IMPACT
After the solidarity activity that the volunteers have been charged of, a final report was edited and shared to several available platforms for dissemination & exploitation of ESC projects' results. The implicated NGOs encouraged the creation of a facebook community with topics, newsletters & forums related to the context of the current project.This Facebook communihas been entitled as "youthcouncil" and can be found in facebook @youthcouncil21. This FB community has worked as:
a) a data-base of the ESC project,
b) a web-space of sharing ideas,
c) a meeting place of sharing news and ideas, or even developing plans for the future, making friendships or even, building up new partnerships. Moreover, those Facebook communities sometimes lead to communities with familiar concerns across Europe. Gradually, this community has been enlarged, being joined by several youngsters and adult youth that was participating in EU mobilities and training courses that EER was participating as a sending or hosting organization.
Moreover, our two first volunteers have worked upon an innovative project in May 2021, demonstrating it in the European Youth Week. Specifically, they have constructed surveys and interviews and demonstrated gradually the results, one per day during the EU Youth Week, youth-concerns relevant. The specific activity motivated EER to utilize this baseline for suggesting a KA154 project, initiated by and based upon ideas of the ESC volunteers. The project has been approved. It is almost closing and has met full success. The final deliverable of the KA154 project, entitled as
"Rethinking Youth, the future in our hands", as it has been baptized by our ESC volunteers, was a Youth Networking Conference which took place in 5th of February 2023. One of the panelists and main speakers of the Youth Network COnference was one of the KAIZEN Youth for Health volunteers, presenting her individual project internationally (speecifically it concerned the Autism Thestival initiation).
5. INTERNATIONAL IMPACT
The current topic is of high importance internationally. The specific ESC project has been widely known being introduced to the wider youth community through participating to the the Youth Network Conference "Rethinking Youth: The Future in our Hands" which in fact, is strongly connected to the "KAIZEN Youth for Health" project initiatives. NGOs supported dissemination processing of the activities in their local community and as far as they could, in regional, national and international level. Finally, the quality of (i) "Dissemination of results", (ii) "project's sustainability" and (iii) project's internal and external evaluation" as expected, played a crucial role for the international publicity, good reputation and societal significance of the project which prioritized inclusion; equality and non-discrimination; health and wellbeing.
All the activities took place in Thessaloniki region, mainly in the West side of the city.
For the current project have worked together three organizations, ESAI EN ROI from GR, Building Bridges Association from Spain and Eurosud from Italy. Moreover, the local community that the project took place, had also actively participated, as for instance, local red cross association, schools and the school associations of parents, local cultural and sport centers and other stakeholders. Moreover, we had the support of the local social media. All of our partners worked constantly to keep engaged our volunteers and empower their motivational routes. Affiliated partners supported us for ensuring a variety of social solidarity experiences, from scouts and rescuers to social workers and entertainers. The partnership interchange enriched managerial practices and enhanced the involvement of European Youth. Local associations, municipal services and schools enriched the experiences of youth to learn rapidly about cultures and life- styles, meaning and added value of volunteering, support of several local volunteers from other associations. The fellowship of partners brought together young people to build a more inclusive society, supporting vulnerable people and responding to societal challenges. The current project offered an inspiring and empowering experience for youth who wanted to help, learn and develop solidarity activities in Thessaloniki.
YOUTH WORK & EMPOWERMENT OF VOLUNTEERISM
Europe is a changing world. European Union aims the changes to be in the direction of inclusive, innovative and reflective societies. Europe faces huge challenges in reducing inequality & social exclusion. Eighty (80) millions of people are at risk of poverty & fourteen (14) millions of young people are a "non included population" in educational, employability and traineeship frameworks that are available.Through this ESC project we achieved increased participation of Youth Workers and Volunteers for: (i) co-creation for growth and inclusion: engaging citizens, social partners, public authorities, creative sector & social entrepreneurs; (ii) Reversing inequalities through promoting our annual activities in which we tried to implement strategies of equality among disabled, disadvantaged & normal youth population;(iii) involving our volunteer(s) to be ACTIVE CITIZENS in several social activities that facilitate social diversity; as a consequence, the reflection of any currency was critical & new shapes were revealed through training our youth to find solutions & create projects that link to better social realities. Furthermore, the fact that we involved youth in solidarity activities is by its own, a practice inclusive, innovative & reflective societies among professionals & non professionals, experienced & non experienced, more and less qualified staff (administration, youth-workers, projects' experts) & volunteers. Our volunteers were involved in activities that promoted social inclusion, career orientation, professional & personal development and finally social activation as to support social security & sociopolitical engagement of young people with disabilities & consequently, support to social disadvandaged individuals.
It is a common belief that behavioral patterns are fundamental as to evaluate quality of life. We aimed to quality of life (QoL) of (1) mainly disabled population including them to a short environmental protection campaign with medians sport & cultural events and assisting them in learning processes within school, playground and outdoor environments and (2) the volunteers' themselves, introducing them to basic principles of QoL. In our ESC project our volunteers cooperated mainly with disabled youth and less with geographically and culturally disadvantage. They cooperated with other young people, mainly teachers with several specialisations and all together learned & supported activities inclusive culture
relevant. Within the short time period of volunteering they created a facebook community for passing their experiences, ideas and hopes in the digital world, a contemporary practice for keeping a directory of the event and sharing their opinions with others. EERcomt hopefully will make available to the ESC volunteers sports equipment, chairs, easels, music instruments, theatrical clothes, etc. after agreements related to the safety and good maintenance of this equipment. In the specific mobility EERcomt cooperated with the affiliated partners:
Konstantinion Research Center of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology, 4th Thessaloniki's Primary School of Special Education and Institute of Nutritional Studies and Research who served as tutors and special mentors in the field of their expertise (medical health, nutrition and dietics). The President of EERcomt, as a member of the Board of the other two associations, was the main median that engaged the partnership
SPECIFICALLY we list below the achievements of our volunteers in benefit of the organizaiton:
All participants in the beginning were writing two articles, (a) an article for presenting themself and (b) an article for presenting their country and city of residence. Below are summarized the special contributions per volunteer:
Volunteer #01 (Apr-Jun 2021)
Within his tasks and duties, he participated in:
- EURATHON project (social inclusion context) as the Project Coordinator
- EUROPEAN YOUTH WEEK activities as a leader of the youth that was implicated and by motivating other young
people to get involved
- POST GRADUATES’ ceremony of the 4th Thessaloniki’s Primary School of Disabled as an Assistant of the main
responsible of the project
- Five BIKE-ROUTES of the KARATSOU park
- Proposal for social media development in benefit of EER
- An analytical proposal of a strategic plan of EERcomt activities’ development in the neighbor-park (Karatasou park)
according to the Logical Framework Approach
- Support of a project of another volunteer concerning Thessaloniki’s outdoor hidden treasures.
- Community Empowerment Activities in Karatasou Park (cleaning a building, leading two events, an artistic and a
sport event).
- Blog editor of EER webpages
- EER general administration (social mentoring to other volunteers, office activities, general management, FB blog
support)
Emilio selected, as his main project to be a HAND-BOOK for disabled population. Emilio was the writer and editor of the English version.
Volunteer #02 (Jun-Jul 2021)
- EUROPEAN YOUTH WEEK activities as a leader of the youth that was implicated and by motivating other young people to get involved
- POST GRADUATES’ ceremony of the 4th Thessaloniki’s Primary School of Disabled as an Assistant of the main responsible of the project
- Advices for developing ESAI EN ROI
- A marketing plan of how to approach sponsors for ESAI EN ROI.
Volunteer #03 (Dec 2022-Feb 2024)
- support in European Project Management, being a contact person for dealing with Italian and Spanish partners
- social mentor of Diana Garcia Saez and responsible to introduce her to the KAIZEN Youth for Health Project.
Specifically, contact with various partners especially the Spanish and Italian ones, for the various questions they might
have and solve them.
- participation in several EU partner meetings in behalf of EER
-project management support and assistance for several EER regular activities
- assistance for designing and preparing summer youth mobilities (Reyouth project and PushAB project)
-contribute to the 1st Autism Thestival being by giving the basic idea of the festibal's construction (circular event).
Volunteer #04 (Feb-Apr 2022)
Within her tasks and duties
- public presentation of the individual project of Diana, an outdoor artistic map of Karatasou Park. It concerns a model of sports and artistic camp within the park of omens. It consists of 22 sites where 3 sports and artistic activities can be carried out in each of them. (Mar 7, 2022; during annual basilpie celebration)
- twice a week, together with other local volunteers, entertaining adult autistic youth
- twice a week, teaching Spanish dances and entertaining disabled students, aged between 6-12 years old
- special cooking lab (Spanish omelette) for the teachers of a school of disabled (Mar 18, 2022)
- support in a special Carnabal event of 5 schools (Mazaraki School Community).
-special basil pie event in Xanthi, for KDAP Platon playground with students of different religion (muslims, orthodox, etc)
- co-organize a special event of inclusive culture for 5 schools (Mazaraki School Community, Apr 8, 2022).
Volunteer #05 (Oct-Dec 2022)
Within her major contribution in benefit of her personal and professional development and in the same time, in
advantage of ESAI EN ROI, we mention below her achievements:
• • Intutitive Paintings, sport relevant, in EER office (EER support/ volunteer)
• Supporting art and sport clubs (EER support/ volunteer)
• Supporting school projects and presenting handiedance in schools through the ISOTIS FILOTIS school program) in Thessaloniki & Kavala cities
• Supporting a Social Inclusion Sports Week as an assistant in project management
• Developing an interesting plan for a Balkan Network establishment (EER support/ volunteer)
• Participating in EER projects’ planning and evaluation (EER support/ volunteer)
• Creating a catalogue of ESC candidate partners and communicating with them, inviting them for partnership (EER
admin/ volunteer)
• Track 5 running routes in Karatasou park
• Developing and applying an innovative proposal for REVITALIZATION OF KARATASOU PARK being structured
upon her special skills in business management and innovation (her project)
• Creative ways of expressing her personal development (self-evaluation every Friday)
• attending online training courses of ESC & project management, according to EER suggestions (professional
development opportunities)
