Volunteering for a vision
How to take advantage and deepen the chances for intercultural learning and the transformation of conflicts related to international voluntary service projects.

5 - 11 July 2008, Yerevan, Armenia.

For several years CCIVS has tried to identify ways to intensify the chances for intercultural learning and transform conflicts and misconceptions in voluntary service projects. We wish to provide opportunities to member organisations to deepen their reflection of some key concepts in order for them to positively influence the methodology and quality of the projects they organise.

Volunteer projects are powerful tools to influence the world vision of volunteers and local communities, if organisers are conscious of the mechanisms, and know to respond to them. Thus we wish to build the capacity of our members to perceive and respond to the issues, and hope to strengthen the impact of their projects on volunteers and local communities.

CCIVS General Conference in late 2007 was organised on "Intercultural Dialogue in a polarised world". It was a moment of reflection and outlook on the necessity to continue to focus on ways to change the perception of diversity and conflict.

After a first seminar in 2004 on "Values and violence", organised in Morocco with the support of the Council of Europe, CCIVS ran a seminar in 2006 on Cultural Diversity. The seminar led to a module "No size can fit all", which was produced as part of the "All different - all equal" campaign. The aim of the seminar and the publication was to deepen the understanding of culture as a dynamic and multiple set of elements determining the identity both of individuals and larger entities. The participants of the seminar, held in the Czech Republic, were representatives of volunteer organisations, who engaged to practically introduce the ideas, games and exercises contained in the module during the work camp season 2006. The reflections about the complexity of culture and ways to introduce the issue of cultural diversity in voluntary service projects resulting from this process led to reflections about communication and ways to mediate conflicts within a project. In 2007 CCIVS organised a seminar in Italy on "Conflict and communication" to deepen the understanding of ways to transform conflicts appearing because of cultural misunderstandings or other miscommunications related to voluntary service projects. The 2007 seminar also provided concrete ideas to finalise a publication on volunteering and conflict, which will appear in 2008.

The seminar "Volunteering for a vision" was a logical follow up and further development of these three inter-connected seminars, all supported by the Council of Europe.

It aimed at training organisations on the approaches developed and multiplying the tools presented. Based on the experience of the previous seminars, the seminar further worked on the methods to transmit and developed the capacity of our member organisations to perceive and constructively work with the situations rising in their projects, with regards to their perception of culture and ways to respond to conflict.

Report of the seminar