At the international level, CSV is
influential in
- building volunteer exchanges across the world
- developing thinking on voluntary action
- facilitating governmental co-operation
- exchanging best practice in the voluntary sector
- promoting social inclusion
- encouraging active citizenship
CSV's international work is promoted by its various international programmes and by its European Office based in London.
Click on the links below to find out more about:
European Development
Third Sector European Network
Active Communities & European Development
Monitoring
European Network of Older Volunteers
Age Europe
European Development
One of CSV’s main aims is to play a part in the social development of Europe and to encourage active European citizenship, particularly among disadvantaged young people. In addition to helping CSV access funds from European sources, the European Office supports that aim by:
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promoting CSV’s vision of active citizenship to Her Majesty’s Government and to European institutions
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building links with other voluntary organisations to ensure that CSV’s ideas and policies inform European social thinking
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promoting the transfer of best practice and knowledge between CSV and other European voluntary organisations
European Networking
CSV's European Office provides the secretariat for two networks:
1. Volonteurope, a Europe-wide network of voluntary organisations which meets annually to exchange know-how and best practice and which campaigns for the inclusion of voluntary and community policy on the European agenda.
2. Third Sector European Network (TSEN), a lobbying group formed of regional networks of UK voluntary and community organisations which receive European funding. TSEN also occupies a seat on the English National Monitoring Committee, which monitors ESF policy and practice in the UK. CSV is also a member of the European Network of Older Volunteers (see below).
Active Communities & European Development
The European Union (EU) Structural Funds could have a key role to play in strengthening citizen involvement in national, regional and local development and in overcoming social exclusion and creating social cohesion, and should complement Member States’ government policy in the next funding period (2007-2014). This would benefit community groups and individuals across the EU and therefore needs to be tackled at national government and European levels.
The negotiation of the EU budget including the new Structural Funds, coincident with the elaboration of a new constitutional treaty, offers the opportunity to introduce actions into the Structural Funds’ regulations that express and embody clearer principles of building civil society, building social capital and promoting the role of the third sector.
CSV has recently teamed up with the Community Development Foundation to initiate the ACED project, which seeks to ensure that the next post-2006 Structural Funds programme includes clear requirements and guidelines to strengthen social capital and civil society.
For further information please contact Sandra at CSV on sturner@csv.org.uk
Monitoring
CSV's European Office also provides support, information, monitoring and evaluation for CSV projects with ESF grants. These projects provide basic skills and vocational training - as well as media and IT training - to unemployed people from a disadvantaged background, such as adults with learning difficulties and mental illness, people with English as a second language and young people who have been excluded from school.
Funding is also administered to a national media project, which runs CSV Media Clubhouses and 39 CSV Action Desks in local BBC radio stations across the country.
European Network of Older Volunteers (ENOV)
ENOV grew out of countries working together during the 1993 European Year of Older People and Solidarity Between Generations. It is a strong network and has links and contacts with NGOs, governments and organisations involved with older volunteering throughout Western and Eastern Europe.
Older people can be a vital force in promoting social inclusion
ENOV members believe that the wisdom, skills and experience of older people can be a vital force in promoting social inclusion. Older people have the opportunity to give of their time and are generous in their approach to the disadvantaged and excluded. ENOV's role is to promote this contribution across the European Union.
Twenty-eight countries were represented at the September 1998 conference in London entitled 'Impact of Older Volunteers Across Europe', held in conjunction with EURAG.
The research project, conducted by ENOV, 'Alone but not Isolated', which reported at the conference, demonstrates ENOV's priority theme of promoting social inclusion.
The 2000 ENOV Conference 'What Role' was held in Prague and attracted 150 participants from twelve different countries.
British, French and Irish members of ENOV now want to create a formal legal identity for the organisation so that ENOV can engage with the European Union and help to provide support on older volunteering to the access countries.
AGE Europe
RSVP is a member of AGE.
AGE is the 'Platform' set up by Brussels with EU support to represent organisations in Europe concerned with older people.
The limited resources of AGE are mainly dedicated to lobbying on European Directives on pensions, age discrimination and EU enlargement.
We have links with various groups of Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme volunteers in America and a regular link to the Senior Volunteer Corps administrators in Washington D.C.
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