Volonteurope: The power of volunteering – Building social cohesion
3 May, 18:00-20:30 | Rue de Pascale 4-6, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Volonteurope would like to invite you to a celebration of its opening of an office in Brussels! Opening a Brussels office affirms Volonteurope’s commitment to its European partners and membership, and to increasing its involvement and visibility in the European space. Volonteurope is an international network promoting volunteering, active citizenship and social justice. Its mission is to work collaboratively with its members and partners to champion the role of volunteering and active citizenship as pathways for social justice in Europe and beyond.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Europe and its people are facing a plethora of challenges which are eroding the values upon which the EU was founded; communities and society are increasingly unequal and more people than ever are facing social exclusion, particularly young people. We are seeing ongoing cuts to funding and services across Europe. The original crisis of financial markets has turned into a crisis of public spending, where increasing numbers of people, including young people facing multiple challenges, are finding themselves in vulnerable situations. In this kind of challenging political and economic environment, building social cohesion is more important than ever.
On the evening of 3 May 2017 Volonteurope will touch on the impacts of these issues, and how European volunteering has the potential to ameliorate some of these same crises through encouraging cultural exchange and Europe-wide solidarity. There will be speakers from across academia, EU institutions and civil society, and the evening also will be an opportunity to form new cooperative relationships and further enhance current ones.
