CENTRE EUROPEEN DU VOLONTARIAT

The Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) is the European network of over 60 organisations dedicated to the promotion of, and support to, volunteers and volunteering in Europe at European, national or regional level. It promotes and supports volunteering through advocacy, knowledge sharing and capacity building & training. CEV channels the collective priorities and concerns of its members to the institutions of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Together with other stakeholders CEV exchanges policy, practice and information in order to ensure effective and coherent follow up to European Year of Volunteering 2011 and ensure its legacy through the implementation of the Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (PAVE) and the follow-up “Helping Hands – Hope for Europe” report. ​CEV’s vision is a Europe in which volunteering is central in building a cohesive society based on solidarity and active citizenship. CEV mission is to contribute to create an enabling political, social and economic environment in Europe where the full potential of volunteering can be realised. ​Together with our members we work to: Be the representative voice for volunteering in Europe Strengthen the infrastructure for volunteering across Europe Promote volunteering as an expression of Solidarity and European values CEV main activities are implemented in the following areas: Advocacy towards the European Institutions (European Commission, DG EMPL and DG HOME) European Parliament, CULT and EMPL Committees, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions, as well as the EU Council. CEV is part of the DG EMPL EQF Advisory Group, the Europass Advisory Group, the ESC Advisory Group, the DG EMPL Civil Advisory Group and the DG HOME Civil Dialogue Group and it participate in the Expert Group on Mobility Young Volunteers and Cross-Border Solidarity; European Projects focusing on various dimension of volunteering (volunteering and sport, volunteering and integration of refugees, management of volunteers and volunteering organisations, volunteers and prisons and validation and recognition of skills acquired via volunteering; Initiatives to promote volunteering and volunteering organisations at local, national and EU level, such as the European Volunteering Capital Competition, a Europe-wide open competition that aims to promote volunteering at the local level by giving recognition to municipalities that support and strengthen partnerships with volunteer centres and volunteer-involving organisations and celebrate and promote volunteering and the impact made by volunteers. Employee volunteering via the CEV EVEN Network which aims at increasing the number of employers and volunteer-involving organisations with the capacity and willingness to implement good quality employee volunteering and give greater visibility to these initiatives; EU Campaigns and local, regional and national initiatives to celebrate volunteering and to measure the impact of volunteering on communities in terms of empowerment of EU citizens, solidarity and active citizenship, as well as on health and well-being; Platforms and projects to support and foster the integration of vulnerable and under-represented groups such as migrants and refugees in volunteering activities.