About the European Volunteering Capitals

The European Volunteering Capital is a competition organised by the European Volunteer Center (CEV) and co-funded by the 'Europe for Citizens' programme which aims to promote volunteering at the local level by giving recognition to municipalities that support and strengthen partnerships with volunteer centres and organisations involving volunteers and that celebrate and promote volunteering and its societal impact. The title of European Volunteering Capital is used to raise awareness about volunteering and volunteer-related activities at local, national, regional and EU levels.

The awarded municipalities are chosen among the candidates by an international jury of key personalities linked to volunteering, representing civil society, private and for-profit sectors, as well as EU institutions. The award criteria correspond to recommendations set in the PAVE (The Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe), developed during the 2011 European Year of Volunteering. Are selected the municipalities that create an enabling environment for volunteering through a sustained commitment to supporting volunteering infrastructures.

Winners from the previous editions were Lisbon (2015 European Volunteering Capital) and Barcelona (2014 European Volunteering Capital).

The competing municipalities for 2016 and 2017

This year, municipalities were competing for the titles of 2016 European Volunteering Capital and/or 2017 European Volunteering Capital. Municipalities could indeed apply to both competitions. There were 11 candidates from 5 countries for 2016 and 8 candidates from 5 countries for 2017:

• Belfast (2016, 2017)
• Bruges (2016, 2017)
• Cagliari (2016, 2017)
• Cascais (2016)
• Edinburgh (2016)
• London (2016, 2017)
• Lucca (2016)
• Perm (2016, 2017)
• Rome (2016)
• Sligo (2017)
• Varese (2016, 2017)
• Viterbo (2016, 2017).

The two winning municipalities were announced on the 4 December 2015, in Lisbon (Portugal) i.e. the 2015 European Volunteering Capital, on the eve of the International Volunteer Day.

London, the 2016 European Volunteering Capital

(c) CEV

The jury concluded that London’s approach to funding and resourcing volunteer organisations and infrastructure organisations was creative and sought to not only focus on direct support that can be provided through range of different types and sizes of grants but also in helping volunteer organisations in accessing and activating other funds from alternative sources.

The jury also noticed that technology had also been harnessed to reduce barriers to volunteering with several good practice examples presented and that the importance of refunding volunteers’ expenses was stressed. Organisations were offered training in how to recruit, retain and support volunteers from hard to reach groups.

Best practice examples of training, development and recognition of volunteers were highlighted, as well as different methods used to promote and encourage volunteering such as open days, social media campaigns, the engagement of ‘celebrities’ and the ‘alumni’ of different programmes and organisations acting as ambassadors.

The jury observed that the links to education were strong and that London's strategy in the field of volunteering was well connected to  employability, health and well being and social inclusion strategies.

SLIGO, the 2017 European Volunteering Capital

(c) CEV

The jury concluded that Sligo clearly made supporting volunteering infrastructure a priority with the centre’s tenth anniversary in 2017, but also through project and core grants of different sizes and types made available to organisations, or through support to one-off and unique events for the public good that needed volunteer support.

The jury acknowledged that a significant support to reduce barriers was demonstrated by this municipality. It noticed that volunteer organisations were also trained in the rights and responsibilities of volunteers in order to build their capacity to improve access to people from disadvantaged groups.

The jury observed that volunteering strategies were included as part of broader Sligo's strategies related to overall development and that the volunteering infrastructure organisations made the connections between them and worked to improve the synergies.

It noted that Sligo supported the national quality standards and that the volunteer centre had achieved the national quality award. Several campaigns promoted and encouraged volunteering especially to vulnerable and marginalised groups. There were clear, strong links to all levels of formal education and the role of volunteering in active ageing and life-long learning was well understood. The volunteering strategy and efforts were clearly linked to employability, health and well being and social inclusion strategies.