European Voluntary Service

The European Voluntary Service (EVS) is a European mobility project for young people under the Erasmus + program, which gives them the opportunity to travel and live abroad while contributing with their time and energy to supporting local projects and communities. This project provides an intercultural experience of non-formal learning and aims to help young people to develop social skills as well as important skills for employability.

In 2016, the University of Minho was the first Portuguese Higher Education Institution to be accredited to coordinate EVS projects and to receive and send volunteers.

The project "UMvoluntariis - Volunteer Initiatives in Higher Education" was approved in 2017 and will allow UMinho to receive three volunteers, between September and October 2018, to develop volunteer activities under the Peer Tutoring Project and in the framework of initiatives organised by the Resource Center for Cooperation and Development (CRCD).

Who can participate (institutions):

There are three main roles that organisations participating in EVS projects can play:

·        Sending Organisation (SO) - Prepares and sends the volunteer abroad.
·         Host Organisation (HO) - Receives the volunteer and organizes the EVS activity.
·         Coordinating Organisation (CO) - Responsible for applying for funding on behalf of all partners and coordinating project implementation.

All partners involved in an EVS project must be previously accredited by the ERASMUS + National Agency. Accreditation is a pre-requisite for participation in any EVS project. The same organisation can act as HO and CO or CO and SO, as long as it has accreditation for all three roles.

The program is open to organisations established in a program country or in an EU partner country. A mobility activity it is transnational and involves at least two participating organisations (SOs and HOs) from different countries.

Who can participate (volunteers):

The program is open to all young people between the ages of 17 and 30 residing in the country of their sending organisation, regardless of their social, cultural, educational or economic background.

Duration of the activity:

·         From 2 to 12 months for long term projects.
·         From 2 weeks to 2 months for short-term projects involving young people with fewer opportunities.
·         From 2 weeks to 12 months for EVS group projects involving between 10 and 30 volunteers.

At least 30 hours and a maximum of 38 hours of weekly activity, including language course attendance, must be ensured.

Selection of candidates:

The sending organisation presents several candidates, based on a certain profile, and the final selection is made by the host organisation.

Financing:

EVS has a non-profit nature. EVS should be free of charge for volunteers and therefore the host organisation must guarantee accommodation, food and local transportation to all participants.

In terms of funding, the following support is foreseen for the volunteers:

·         Travel - Contribution to participants' travel expenses.
·         Individual support - "pocket money" for personal expenses of the volunteer. Value defined based on length of stay per participant and according to the country where mobility takes place.
·         Language support
·         Support for special needs, if applicable (companions, people with disabilities).
·         Exceptional costs, if applicable (visa-related costs, participation of young people with fewer opportunities, increased costs of young people from the outermost regions).