Youth Research Dialogue
Voices of Change: 30 Years of EU Youth Volunteering
We live streamed our second RAY Youth Research Dialogue on 30 April.
This episode took place in the context of the European Youth Week as well as this year’s celebrations for 30 years of EU Youth Volunteering.
We took a closer look at the history, impact, challenges, learnings, and future needs of volunteering activities in the context of the European youth programmes. Besides sharing insights from RAY research on this topic, we heard valuable inputs from experts from the SALTO European Solidarity Corps Resource Centre.
Discussion points included changes and challenges over time, a closer look at the different programme formats during 30 years of volunteering, the impact and effects of volunteering on individual, community and societal levels, as well as recognition of volunteering.
We also addressed implications for policy and practice and future needs for youth volunteering, including its structural recognition and requirements for the new generation of the European youth programmes.
Moderated by Tomi Kiilakoski and Domagoj Morić.
Live stream available
If you didn’t have the time to join or want to re-watch the Youth Research Dialogue again, just access the recording of the live stream here:
>> In this celebration talk, we connect insights from research and inspiring stories from 30 years of EU Youth Volunteering.
>> If you want to DIVE EVEN DEEPER into the topic, follow our social media campaign from 16 April to 14 May on both the SALTO ESC’s and RAY Network’s social media channels (RAY Facebook, RAY Instagram, RAY LinkedIn).
Speakers
>> Barbara Eglitis (SALTO ESC)
Barbara Eglitis studied Communication Science, Journalism, and Visual Media, and has built her professional path around volunteering and solidarity. She began volunteering at the age of 16 and founded a local youth culture club near the Slovenian border, later volunteering in Israel with an Arab youth NGO. She went on to mentor volunteers and take on management roles in an Austrian volunteering organization specializing in sending and hosting volunteers with disabilities worldwide.
She is strongly committed to contributing to an inclusive, fair and equal society by strengthening volunteering, which she sees as a key tool for safeguarding democracy and peace. After working as a Quality Label and Volunteering Officer at the Austrian National Agency, she joined the European Solidarity Corps Resource centre, where she focuses on supporting the quality implementation of European volunteering programmes.
>> Christine Weil (SALTO ESC)
Christine Weil studied Political Science and European Studies in Vienna, Austria. Her professional path has been closely linked to volunteering, with a strong focus on volunteer schemes and local engagement. She has been particularly involved in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, where she worked on strengthening the role of non-formal education and youth work within the Youth Red Cross.
In 2017, she became one of the first European Solidarity Corps (ESC) officers in the Austrian National Agency and contributed to the establishment of the SALTO ESC in 2018. Apart from two short breaks, she has been part of SALTO ESC ever since. Her work is driven by a continuous interest in European policy, value based volunteering and solidarity.
>> Andreas Karsten (RAY Transnational Research Coordinator)
Andreas Karsten coordinates the transnational research team of the RAY Network for the research-based analysis of European youth programmes. He works for Youth Policy Labs, a small research agency and think tank in the youth sector, where he leads an international team of participatory research, public policy and open data aficionados.
What are the Youth Research Dialogues?
The overall aim of the ‘Youth Research Dialogues’ series is to not only to make RAY research findings more accessible but also other European youth research studies and create a dialogue between researchers about their findings. The ‘Youth Research Dialogues’ series promotes different topics, e.g. inclusion and diversity, pandemic and youth work, digitalisation etc. In addition to researchers from the RAY Network, the ‘Youth Research Dialogues’ series features research colleagues from different global and European contexts and networks.