An important gathering for Portugal’s volunteer community took place on
April 18th at the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation’s Center for Social
Innovation. Out of the Box Europe took the initiative to present EVIDEMS
Multiplier Event in Évora. The National Meeting “Enhancing Impact and
Qualification in Volunteering,” was organized in collaboration with Fundação
Eugénio de Almeida and marked a significant turning point in the Portuguese
volunteering group.
The conference was a component of the EVI-DEMS project, which stands for
Enhancing Volunteer Impact & Developing European Management Standards.
The purpose of this project was to create a pilot program to empower these
professionals and to enhance knowledge of training and qualification
procedures for volunteering coordination and management throughout
Europe.
The project’s primary outcomes, which included four professional support
manuals and a proposal for a master’s degree in volunteer management,
were presented during the event. Various national stakeholders also had
fruitful discussions regarding the possibility of establishing a “Knowledge
Network in Volunteering in Portugal.”
In the event we had as a guest a representative from the Centre for
European Volunteering (CEV). Rita Pereira Marques, the Policy and Project
Officer of CEV, addressed the group in the afternoon and gave a presentation
on the Plan for European Volunteering BEV 2030. Also, a training session
was presented by Inês Gonçalves from the Social and Development Area
Volunteering Program of Fundação Eugénio de Almeida. The session was
about inclusive volunteerism, and brought the event to a close and
reaffirmed the industry’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Overall the session was fruitful and engaged multiple volunteers and
volunteer organisations from Évora, Faro, Beja and even international ones
as CEV.
