Within a few months, the Corona crisis has led to developments in the field of volunteer work, which for years seemed unthinkable – it even turned the current development into the opposite and it is possible to say with certainty that voluntary work and the commitment of responsibility in civil society have gained a completely new appreciation.
People volunteer for the well-being of their neighbours, offer support to people who cannot leave the house or take on shopping services. They also take on activities that have nothing to do with their actual job: Those affected by short-time work or lack of orders are also involved as volunteers in areas outside their profession where support is urgently
needed: in care, in agriculture, or in the mobility economy.
Regardless how different in terms of professional background the volunteers are, they have one thing in common: Volunteering in times of the pandemic is an opportunity to proactively combat limited employment and loss of income, to be socially active and to feel being part of civil society. Equally important, it is also a way to gain new soft skills like team spirit, critical abilities, communication skills, intercultural competence, stress management, discipline, and self-confidence. Volunteering is an effective learning environment, especially for those people who had to realize that their professional activity is by no means systemically relevant in terms of crisis management. Strictly speaking, volunteering is a great opportunity, namely that of acquiring and validating soft skills and then being able to use it in any professional environment as an additional qualification.
Therefore, the overall objective of our strategic partnership is to provide an overview about projects, initiatives and methods for the validation of non-formal and informal learning,
through volunteering, and to identify instruments, models, and schemes which validate and clearly identify the key competences that have been gained by volunteers. Providing this
recognition could motivate volunteers to become either involved in additional learning activities or may also facilitate or improve their employability.
The before mentioned projects, initiatives and methods will be available in an interactive, searchable database on our e-platform as of late summer / automn 2021. Additionally many of them will be featured in our blog as well.
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash