European Year of Volunteering 04- WHAT IS VOLUNTEERING? “Volunteering can be described as giving your time and energy freely and by choice without concern for financial gain. It can describe hundreds of different activities that people choose to do to benefit or support others in the community. The word volunteering is used for a range of activities such as community service, self-help, charity, neighbourliness, citizenship, public service, community action, community involvement, trustee, member, helper.” Source: Volunteering Wales KEY FACTS ON VOLUNTEERING According to the Final Report on Volunteering in the EU from 2010, there are around 92 to 94 million adults involved in volunteering in the EU. This in turn implies that around 22% to 23% of Europeans aged over 15 years are engaged in voluntary work. 1 Number of volunteers % adult population Year Data coverage Austria 3,040,000* 43.8% 2006 Population aged 15+ Belgium 1,166,000 13.5%* 2004 Population aged 15+ Bulgaria 403,000* 6% 2002 Population aged 15+ Cyprus 122,000* 18.7% 2008 Population aged 15+ Czech Republic 1,215,363 14%* 2007 Population aged 15+ Denmark 1,477,000 35% 2004 Population aged 16-85 Estonia 285,000 27% 2009 Population aged 15-74 Finland 1,300,000 37% 2002 Population aged 15-74 France 14,000,000 27%* 2007 Population aged 15+ Germany 25,484,000* 36% 2004 Population aged 15+ Greece 32,000 0.3%* 2009 Population aged 1 Note: These figures should be treated with caution due to differences in definitions, methodologies and survey samples. The figures marked with a * (star) sign are calculated on the basis of the percentage or a number of volunteers provided by the national study/survey and Eurostat population figures for the population aged 15+, although a small number of studies are based on volunteering figures for an age group 15-64/75. Europe Direct Training Seminar 1/6
Transcript
European Yearof Volunteering 04-
WHAT IS VOLUNTEERING?
“Volunteering can be described as giving your time and energy freely and by choice without concern for financial gain. It can describe hundreds of different activities that people choose to do to benefit or support others in the community. The word volunteering is used for a range of activities such as community service, self-help, charity, neighbourliness, citizenship, public service, community action, community involvement, trustee, member, helper.”Source: Volunteering Wales
KEY FACTS ON VOLUNTEERING
According to the Final Report on Volunteering in the EU from 2010, there are around 92 to 94 million adults involved in volunteering in the EU. This in turn implies that around 22% to 23% of Europeans aged over 15 years are engaged in voluntary work.1
Number of volunteers % adult population Year Data coverage
Austria 3,040,000* 43.8% 2006 Population aged 15+
Belgium 1,166,000 13.5%* 2004 Population aged 15+
Bulgaria 403,000* 6% 2002 Population aged 15+
Cyprus 122,000* 18.7% 2008 Population aged 15+
Czech Republic 1,215,363 14%* 2007 Population aged 15+
Denmark 1,477,000 35% 2004 Population aged 16-85
Estonia 285,000 27% 2009 Population aged 15-74
Finland 1,300,000 37% 2002 Population aged 15-74
France 14,000,000 27%* 2007 Population aged 15+
Germany 25,484,000* 36% 2004 Population aged 15+
Greece 32,000 0.3%* 2009 Population aged 15+
Hungary 472,000 5.5%* 2007 Population aged 15+
Ireland 553,255 16.4% 2006 Population aged 15+
Italy 1,125,000 2.23%* 2006 Population aged 15+
Latvia 477,000* 24.3% 2007 Population aged 15+
Lithuania 85,200* 3% 2005 Population aged 15+
Luxembourg 107,000* 30% 2001 Population aged 15/16+
Malta 41,000* 12% 2008 Population aged 15+
Netherlands 5,300,000 42% 2008 n.a.
Poland 4,200,000* 13.2% 2007 Population aged 15+
Number of volunteers % adult population Year Data coverage
Portugal 1,100,000* 12.3% 2001 Population aged 15+
1 Note: These figures should be treated with caution due to differences in definitions, methodologies and survey samples. The figures marked with a * (star) sign are calculated on the basis of the percentage or a number of volunteers provided by the national study/survey and Eurostat population figures for the population aged 15+, although a small number of studies are based on volunteering figures for an age group 15-64/75.
Main sectors reported by national reports are: Sport and exercise Social / Welfare / Health Religious organisations Culture Recreation / leisure Education / training / research
Similar results brought Eurobarometer survey of organisations volunteered in made on 2006: Sport club / outdoor activities club (13%) Education, arts, music or cultural associations (8%) Religious or church association (6%) Charity organisations / social aid organisations (5%) Trade unions (4%)
Volunteering in the most volunteerd sector – sport – represents a significant share of the adult population in Finland (16%), Ireland (15%), the Netherlands (12-14%), Denmark (11%), Germany (10.9%) and Malta (9.2%). Conversely, in Estonia (1.1%), Greece (0.5%), Lithuania (0.1%), Latvia and Romania (less than 0.1%) volunteering in sport does not appear to be a common practice.
LEGAL DEFINITION OF VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering is legally defined only in Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. However, the definitions slightly differ in each country and therefore it is very difficult to make common survey on volunteering.
TRENDS IN NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS (OVER THE PAST DECADE, PRIOR TO THE ECONOMICAL CRISIS)
Stable / fluctuation Bulgaria, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden
Decline Slovakia
Unclear / No information Cyprus, Portugal, United Kingdom
GENDERS
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Greater number of female volunteers Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Malta, Slovakia, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland and Scotland)
Greater number of male volunteers Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden
Equal participation between men and women
Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania
No or contradictory information Greece, Latvia, Spain
In many countries a gender dimension is more apparent in specific sectors (e.g. sport, health, social and rescue services) and voluntary roles (e.g. managerial and operational roles) rather than in overall participation rates in volunteering.
AGE STRUCTURE
Adults most active (30 – 50 years) Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden
Relatively high levels of volunteering across all age groups Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK
Increasing participation of older people Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCALIZATION
Greater level of volunteering in rural areas (including smaller cities, towns and villages) Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden
Greater level of volunteering in urban areas / big cities Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia
No difference / uneven distribution Cyprus, Czech Republic, Romania
Opposing views held by different stakeholders Bulgaria
EDUCATION LEVELS
Clear correlation between level of volunteering and educational attainment
No comparable information Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia
EMPLOYMENT LEVELS
Employed individuals most active volunteers (Austria), Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom
Students/pupils the most active group Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Spain
Unemployed or other non-working population more active than employed
Belgium, Hungary, the Netherlands
No information Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal
Source: Study on Volunteering in the European Union at http://europa.eu/volunteering/
WHY 2011 IS DEDICATED TO BE THE EUROPEAN YEAR OF VOLUNTEERING?
In the European Union, millions of citizens are volunteering. People of all ages make a positive contribution totheir community by investing some of their free time in:
civil society organisations youth clubs hospitals schools sport clubs, etc.
For the Commission, volunteering is an active expression of civic participation and strengthens common European values such as solidarity and social cohesion. Volunteering also provides important learning opportunities, because involvement in voluntary activities can provide people with new skills and competences and can even improve their employability. This is particularly important in this time of economic crisis. Volunteering plays an important role in sectors as varied and diverse as:
education youth culture sport environment health social care consumer protection humanitarian aid development policy research equal opportunities and external relations.
Volunteering has a great, but so far under-exploited, potential for the social and economic development of Europe. Dedicating 2011 to the topic of volunteering will help Member States, regional and local communities and civil society achieve the following objectives:
1. Work towards an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU;2. Empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering; 3. Reward and recognise volunteering activities;4. Raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.
The Commission expects that the European Year of Volunteering will lead to an increase in volunteeringand to greater awareness of its added value, and that it will highlight the link between voluntary engagement at local level and its significance in the wider European context. The European Year of Volunteering should help volunteers and volunteering organisations from everywhere in Europe to meet and to learn what is done best in other countries. The public authorities will be able to learnmore about volunteers and making volunteering easier. Citizens who do not know much about volunteering should find out more about it, and maybe become volunteers one day themselves. And finally, the EuropeanYear should give recognition to the volunteers.The Commission proposes to allocate a budget of 6 million Euros for the European Year and an additional amount of 2 million Euros for the preparatory actions starting in 2010.
The proposed activities should focus on communication and awareness-raising measures, such as conferences, seminars, exchange of experience and publications. Similar activities shall be run in the Member States through national coordination structures. The emphasis will be placed on funding projects with a volunteering dimension in the EU's action programmes, such as the 'Youth in Action Programme', for example. The aim is to involve all levels – European, national, regional and local. The ownership of the European Year shall remain with the volunteers and the volunteer organisations, and many activities and celebrations will be organised from the bottom-up.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu
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PEAK COMMUNICATION EVENTS
The European Volunteer Center (CEV) organised a symposium in Valencia, Spain, from 27-30 April 2010, on communicating and preparing the countdown towards the European Year of Volunteering 2011.
A website as a portal for agendas, events calendars, material, video clips and the logo Goodwill ambassadors of the year Conferences A truck tour, to highlight volunteering in the different regions of Europe Four thematic quarters which are volunteering in sport, education and training, environmental protection
and sustainable energy and in the last quarter social inclusion
EUROBAROMETER
A new Eurobarometer was carried out from 5 to 28 May 2010; it was fielded in 32 countries or territories: the 27 European Union Member States, the three candidate countries (Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey), Iceland, and the Turkish Cypriot Community in the part of the country that is not controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
10 % of Europeans currently participate actively in or do voluntary work for a sports club or club for outdoor activities (recreation organisation), 5% for a charity organisation or social aid organisation and in religious or church organization, 2 % in an international organization such as development aid organisation or human rights and in a consumer organization, 2 % participate in an organisation defending the interest of patients and/or disabled and in other interest groups for specific causes such as women, people with specific sexual orientation, local issues, etc. 1 % in an organisation for the defence of elderly rights.
66 % of Europeans do not currently participate actively in or do voluntary work. 34 % of Europeans consider that volunteering plays an important role in solidarity and humanitarian aid,
24% consider that volunteering plays an important role in health care, 7 % in consumer protection, 11 % of Europeans consider volunteering to play an important role in culture and only 2 % consider that volunteering plays an important role in the construction of European identity
Annexe: Eurobarometer 73 report
VOLUNTEERING AS AN ACTIVE INGREDIENT OF THE EU 2020 STRATEGY
The EU is now devising the EU 2020 Strategy in order to achieve a sustainable social, smarter and greener economy. The European Commission hopes that this new strategy should enable the EU to make a full recovery from the crisis and help speed up the move towards a greener, more sustainable, and more innovative economy. The Commission has identified that the key drivers of the EU 2020 Strategy should focus on the following priorities:
• Creating value by using growth on knowledge• Empowering people in inclusive societies• Creating a competitive, connected and greener economy
Volonteurope, the European network of hundreds of volunteer-involving organisations and agencies, promoting volunteering, active citizenship and social cohesion, recognises the importance of the above priorities. However, Volonteurope also urges that new strategy should aim to effectively address the problems of the disadvantaged groups in the Union.
Moreover, in each of the drivers identified by the European Commission, the voluntary sector and volunteers should be recognised as equal partners that can help to achieve the ambitious goal of a sustainable social market, smart and green EU economy, by 2020. It is necessary to recognise that voluntary activity is an important creator of social capital: its value encompasses the provision of services and advocacy, the desire to contribute to the common good and to help shape European society; it promotes solidarity, a value which is not only in great need in the current economic and social climate, but also one upon which the European Union has been built.
Piotr SadowskiVolonteurope General Secretary, on behalf of the Volonteurope Board
There are several ways to actively take part in the European Year of Volunteering and in the European campaign.
ORGANISATIONS CAN:
Support the objectives of the EYV 2011 by publishing banners, using links, publishing articles on their websiteJoin the Year on the social networks (Facebook)Organise an activity to promote the objectives of the YearA conditional use of the logo, of some key communication products, and be given visibility on the EYV 2011 website is possible.
INDIVIDUALS CAN:
Join the Year on the social networksJoin an organisation in their country that takes part in the EYV 2011Take part in or organise an event in their region
