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. We organise the annual Volonteurope conference and Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards. 

Our work with our European partners focuses on:

• Promoting CSV’s vision of active citizenship to government and to European institutions
• Building links with other voluntary organisations to ensure that CSV’s ideas and policies inform European social thinking
• Promoting the transfer of best practice and knowledge between CSV and other European voluntary organisations.

We are delighted to announce that thanks to two years of intensive campaigning from CSV and our European partners, 2011 will be the European Year of Volunteering. For full details, see the European Commission website.

Volonteurope

CSV holds the Secretariat for Volonteurope, the Europe-wide network of volunteer-involving organisations and individual volunteers.

Volonteurope campaigns for the inclusion of voluntary and community policies in European and national agendas, producing research, resources, delivering Annual Conferences and tailored seminars. Click here to read more about the seminar held in Amsterdam.

Volonteurope is one of the founding members of the Alliance of European NGOs that successfully campaigned for the European Year of Volunteering in 2011. It is also one of six winners of the 2009 European Economic and Social Committee Prize for Organised Civil Society. Volonteurope is supported by the European Commission’s Europe for Citizens Programme.

Annual Volonteurope Conference

The 20th Annual Volonteurope Conference will take place 20-23 October 2011, as a direct co-operation between Volonteurope Secretariat and CSV in Scotland.

The conference will bring at least 140 participants, local and international, from nearly all EU Member States.

Delivered in the framework of EYV 2011, the event, which has already secured direct input from the European Commission, the Alliance for EYV 2011 and other civil society, public and private sector actors, will give participants an opportunity to interact in 20 thematic Master Classes, ranging from participative democracy to youth and senior volunteering, active ageing and intergenerational solidarity, participation of women and disadvantaged groups in the society, volunteering as part of the EU 2020 strategy, cross-border learning and support to new EU Member States.

There will be roundtables, visits to local NGOs, volunteering activities and the celebration of the 5th Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards. The conference will develop a sense of European identity amongst the participants and enjoy wide media coverage. The robust post-conference communication and networking, as well as the knowledge exchanged and new models developed at the event, will be widely disseminated across tens of thousands of beneficiaries in the EU.

The Conference participation fee is £290 (€330) and covers all elements of the programme of the event, including the Opening Ceremony with Reception, ACE Awards Dinner, participation in Master Classes, refreshments, lunches, project visits and volunteering activity.

There is also a daily rate of £60.00 for participants resident in Scotland, meaning you can choose which days of the conference, and therefore which events, you prefer to attend.

For visitors to Edinburgh, we have pre-reserved the Edinburgh Capital Best Western, where we have secured a special rate of £75 per person (bed & breakfast) per night. Participants can reserve their rooms at www.edinburghcapitalhotel.co.uk/volonteurope-2011.

Please note: in order to ensure a secure and straight-forward process, we ask you to first login or register as a user here on the CSV website before registering for this year's conference.

Once you have registered on the CSV website you will be immediately redirected to the conference registration form.

For more information about the 20th Volonteurope Conference, please visit www.volonteurope.org.

Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards

The 5th Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards will be celebrated at a Gala Awards Ceremony in Edinburgh on 21 October 2011, during the 20th Annual Volonteurope Conference.

The Awards will recognise the invaluable contribution of individual volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations to social cohesion and Active Citizenship in Europe.

We are now accepting nominations from across Europe for individuals or organisations who have proven to be outstanding pioneers in voluntary action and Active Citizenship. The ACE Awards will recognise their achievements in improving the lives of their communities, either locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

Click here to nominate an individual or organisation for an ACE Award. The closing date is Friday 19 August 2011.

For more information about the ACE Awards, please visit www.volonteurope.org.