We are looking for 2 volunteers to join our long-term volunteering project funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps programme, for the period between September 2023 and September 2024.
What is the European Solidarity Corps?
The European Solidarity Corps is a funding programme of the European Union that creates opportunities for young people to undertake a long-term voluntary placement with the costs paid. Projects can be of community interest, in the social, environmental, or cultural field. To participate in ESC you must be aged between 18 to 30 years old and be motivated by supporting important causes, discovering other cultures and living closely with people from other countries.
Volunteers abroad receive funding to cover accommodation, food, travel, insurance and pocket money through their sending organisation.
Servizio Civile Internazionale: the hosting organization
Servizio Civile Internazionale (SCI Italia) is the Italian branch of Service Civil International network (sci.ngo), an international voluntary movement that is present in more than 80 countries around the world. It’s been promoting international volunteering projects for 100 years on the themes of peace and disarmament, conscientious objection, human rights, and international solidarity, sustainable lifestyles, social inclusion and active citizenship. In the core, there is a real commitment to make a change against inequality, injustice, and violation of human rights.
SCI Italia, founded in 1948, is an NGO recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Advisory Member of UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
It is based in Rome and it is supported by several regional and local groups of activists. The regional and the local groups support the work of the National Secretariat by dealing with trainings and the promotion of volunteering in various Italian regions.
To know more…
- Web site: sci-italia.it
- Facebook page: facebook.com/sci.italy
- Instagram page: instagram.com/sciitalia
“La Città dell’Utopia” project
SCI Italy’s project “La Città dell’Utopia” started in 2003 and it is located in the neighborhood of San Paolo (via Valeriano 3F – Rome), a popular suburban area inhabited mainly by elderly people, university students, and migrant families coming from Latin America, northeastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. The building is used to host several groups and associations working on active citizenships, especially in relation to migration, environmental sustainability, antifascism, gender, and self-determination of food and consumption.
The main activities carried out in “La Città dell’Utopia” are:
- Organizing and running awareness-raising events.
- Organizing conferences, meetings, festivals, exhibitions, thematic meals, farmers’ markets, and courses on music, languages, theatre, yoga, gardening etc…
- Organizing and hosting of international workcamps, north/south trainings, and international youth meetings (trainings, seminars, youth exchanges, and capacity building activities).
To know more…
- Web site: http://www.lacittadellutopia.org/
- Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lacitta.dellutopia.7/
- Instagram page: www.instagram.com/lacittadellutopia
Objectives
- To give volunteers a chance to actively participate in the development and implementation of a specific project, which is an opportunity for personal, professional and political growth.
- To navigate relationships and improve cooperation among different groups and associations hosted in “La Città dell’Utopia”.
- To increase political awareness working in a social hub and taking part in the collaborative construction of a cultural alternative.
- To involve young people in the promotion of international volunteering as a practice of active citizenship, intercultural education, as well as personal and social growth.
- To spread the news about different initiatives organized in Italy, in order to promote intercultural respect and international solidarity.
Activities
The volunteers will take part in the following activities, mainly in “La Città dell’Utopia”:
- Supporting the coordination of the work of the local activists to ensure that everything is running on schedule.
- Helping in the planning and organization of cultural events and workshops, especially in the levels of communication, logistics, and operation.
- Taking care of the space inside and outside (cleaning, maintenance and material organization), supporting the logistics preparation, implementation and closure of the local and international activities.
- Implementing an international dimension to the project through the coordination of international exchanges, workcamps, trainings and seminars with the network Service Civil International and the Italian branch.
- Supporting the promotion of activities taking place in “La Città dell’Utopia”.
- Facilitating the social inclusion of the people that take part in activities in “La Città dell’Utopia”.
- Running a course for the neighbourhood (language, music, IT or any other skill)
- Developing a personal project following the lines of the project and the hosting organization is an important part of the project. The volunteer must be proactive in proposing a project and SCI Italia will provide support to implement it.
- After the project finishes, the volunteers have the responsibility to organize events, as well as produce and spread materials about their experiences here.
Tasks
“La Città dell’Utopia” is a self-managed project and the volunteers’ activities consist of:
Office work:
- answering emails, answering the phone
- supporting administrative tasks (registration of members, course and event registrations, registration of expenses)
- social media management
- website updating
- newsletter
Physical work:
- cleaning the space (hostel,, kitchen, garden)
- maintenance (small works like painting walls, fixing things, creating furniture or small facilities if needed)
- setting the space for the activities
- shopping
- cooking
Work on social relations:
- partecipate in the activities and events
- partecipate in the assemblys of the activists
- partecipate in the team building and meetings with the staff
- hold a course (usually native language)
NB:
- Tasks are organized and monitored by SCI staff members.
- Activities are often during the weekend, in the evenings, and take place in “La Città dell‘Utopia” so being adaptable and flexible with working hours is a must.
Volunteer Profile
Requirements:
- good command of English;
- open mind and good social and communication skills to be able to work with several target groups;
- being responsible and proactive and take initiative towards the tasks;
- being able to work in a team;
- good aptitude for physical and manual labor;
- Strong motivation to work on voluntary local and international actions
- good computer skills (Microsoft Office, email, graphic software like canva);
- previous experience in social network communication;
- good organizational skills;
- flexible aptitude towards working hours.
- Interest on local civil society and grassroots movements around La Città dell’Utopia
- Creativity and motivation to propose new initiatives
Preferable skills:
- good command of the Italian language
- basic administrative skills
- webmastering or basic use of wordpress
The daily program consists of 6 hours 5 days a week. There will be 2 consecutive free days/ week and 2 days of holiday for each month. Some activities will take place during the weekend or evenings (usually never later than 11 a.m.). In these cases, the number of working hours done by the volunteer will be adjusted for the following weeks, by reducing working hour’s amount of taking days off so that the total number of working hours per week does not exceed 35h.
The volunteer should be legally resident in one of following Countries:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Republic of North Macedonia, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Territory of Ukraine as recognised by international law.
Project language: English, Italian
Local language: Italian
Pocket money: 300 €
Travel costs: covered according to ESC funding rules, 275€ as maximum reimburse
Visa cost: covered up to 100€
Lodging
In a separate flat in “La Città dell’Utopia”, with 3 shared double rooms (up to six international volunteers) kitchen, living room, and bathroom. The accommodation has all the basic facilities (Wi-Fi and washing machine included). The building is historic, so the accommodation is basic. There is no centralised heating or aircon, so it can be humid, cold in the winter, but also perfectly fresh in the summer. The building is surrounded by a very beautiful garden (which means mosquitos in the summer). It is located in a student area close to the metro.
Application procedure
Please send your application (CV and motivation letter in English) to esc@sci-italia.it
The deadline for applying is Sunday, 09/07/2023 h23:59
For more information please contact: esc@sci-italia.it
Your motivation letter should answer to the following questions:
- Why did you choose SCI Italia and this particular project?
- What do you expect to learn and experience during your ESC?
- What can you bring to the work of “La Città dell’Utopia”?