Projects > CEV Members Job Shadowing project > CEV Members Job Shadowing in Brussels - 7-11 September 2009

From Monday 7 to Friday 11 September, CEV secretariat hosted a study visit for 11 representatives of CEV member organisations in its headquarters in Brussels. This visit aimed at giving a closer and more tangible overview of the work CEV does at EU level. During these days, the participants had the chance to visit some of the European institutions, to meet EU officials working in the respective fields, including their representatives in the European Parliament and regional representations, and to get an insight into EU policies and programmes, interesting for volunteer organisations.

ACTIVITIES

During this special week, the participants were given various presentations regarding the role of CEV, the European Union (EU) institutions and their functioning, the EU decision-making process and different European programmes in which CEV and its members participate through their projects: Europe for Citizens Programmes; Youth in Action programme; Lifelong learning programme; Structural Funds programme.

Other specific topics were also presented such as the implementation of European programmes of the European Year of Volunteering.In addition to these lectures, the participants had the opportunity to visit the European Commission, the European Parliament, their respective regional representations and two Belgian volunteer organisations: The Plateforme Francophone du Volontariat and Het Punt.

For a detailed overview of the activities of the week, consult the programme.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants of this Job Shadowing represented the following organisations: France Bénévolat (France), C.A.R.D.O (Slovakia), Volunteer Centre Denmark (Denmark), Volunteering England (UK), VSO (UK), Volunteer Centre North Lanarkshire (UK), CNV Lucca (Italy), CIESSEVI (Italy), BBE (Germany), Federació Catalana del Volontariat Social (Spain) and La Plateforme Francophone du Volontariat (Belgium).

In general, the expectations of the participants for this week were to gain more knowledge about the European institutions, their functioning and decision-making procedures and the funding possibilities at European level; to get in touch with members of other volunteer organisations across Europe and to exchange experiences and ideas with the other participants. According to the testimonies of several "job shadowers", these expectations were largely met!

"My expectations were completely met. It was very interesting to visit the EU institutions, to meet my regional representative, to exchange experiences and practices with all the group, to understand how volunteer supporting centres and volunteer organisations work in other countries." George, Volunteer Centre North Lanarkshire (UK) “I very much preferred the social aspect of the jobshadowing, as we had time to discuss issues that were interesting for us…and I very much preferred the lobbying activities we were part of, as it was a  first and unique opportunity…” Jana, C.A.R.D.O, Slovakia

The job shadowers reported to have mostly liked the opportunity to visit EU institutions - the European Commission and the European Parliament - and the possibility to meet their national representative in the Parliament or other representatives of their country or region based in Brussels. They gained more knowledge about the functioning of the EU institutions,  the role of CEV in the European arena, as well as the importance for volunteer organisations to be represented at this level, especially in the perspective of the coming European Year of Volunteering 2011. They also learnt how to address and lobby the EU institutions for the interest of volunteering. The participants also appreciated to gain more information about European programmes relevant to their work.

Danielle Bernardet, France Bénévolat, France

Finally, they enjoyed very much the social dimension of the job shadowing experience, the "high quality" of the group and the moments of fruitful discussions when they could share experiences and opinions with the other participants. Through these exchanges, they learnt about the different practices of volunteer centres in different European countries.

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