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European Commission

Youth

EVS Accredited Organisations

2011-ES-43
Esplais Catalans - Esplac
Accreditation

Sending organisation, Host organisation, Coordinating organisation

Approval
Date

24/05/2011

Validity Date 24/05/2014

Location

Barcelona (Spain)

Theme 1

Children

Theme 2

Other

Inclusion

Cultural differences, Disability, Economic

difficulties, Educational difficulties,
Geographical difficulties, Health problems,
Social difficulties

Project environment
Project environment:
The office of Esplac is located Ciutat Vella district of
Barcelona, five minutes from La Rambla and at the side of
Plaa Sant Jaume (headquarter square of the municipal and
autonomic governments). The fact to have a so central

location allows an easy connection with different means of

transport (metro, bus and train). The building where Esplac is
it is, also, the headquarter of other organisations, which
compose the Secular and Progressive Movement (MLP:
www.mlp.cat). So, in our building there is an important
associative life. In addition to Esplac, there are two other
educational youth organisations, one of youth clubs
(Associaci de Casals i Grups de Joves de Catalunya) and a
scout federation (Acci Escolta de Catalunya). With these
organisations, as well as Esplac, composed by an important
amount of members who are volunteers, we have a wide
cooperation strategies, synergies which benefit all of us. The
office of Esplac has place for receiving to volunteers, as well
as of enough equipment to satisfy their needs when
implementing their tasks.
We use both Spanish and the Catalan languages in our
communication.
Barcelona is a city that in the last decade has received an
important international input. As a proof of this fact, we have
can observe the establishment of international fairs,
congresses and headquarters; for example, the capital status
of the city in the Union for the Mediterranean. So, Barcelona
can offer a wide range of social and cultural activities, and a
multicultural reality which can definitely facilitate the
adaptation and integration of volunteers. The fact of being
close to the Pyrenees (1h by car) and of the sea, implies
offering a wide range of leisure possibilities. Therefore, an
European volunteer can choose between different activities
according to his/her preference, in addition to meet people
from different corners of Europe and the world.
Moreover, European volunteers will have the chance to
connect directly with the diversity of the Catalan society

through collaborating with youth leaders from different sides

of Catalonia. In addition to youngsters of Barcelona city - and
his distinct perception of the life of neighbourhood -,
volunteers will be able to contact with youth leaders of esplai
from cities of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, towns and
villages. At the same time, volunteers will have the
opportunity to cooperate in projects of the International
Cooperation Area of Esplac (like youth exchanges and
training courses), educational projects (volunteering as
educators with local youth leaders of the same age of them in
the development of activities) and participating in leaders'
meetings (like in commissions or specific working groups ).
Volunteers hosted by Esplac will live in an apartment, sharing
their every day life other voluntary youth leaders of Esplac.

Proposed activities for EVS volunteers

We can offer to European volunteers a positive, flexible and
friendly environment which may allow him/her to properly
develop his service during the stay. Besides that, the
experience achieved by the IFM-SEI from 2008 receiving
volunteers will be a useful help for Esplac, because we will
have enough advice and support from our international
federation when dealing with the process of integration of the
volunteer in our "associative life". So, we have the strong
willingness and motivation to build an EVS model with
activities which will let us answer to the individual needs of
the volunteers.
Learning opportunities
Volunteers hosted by Esplac will have a high number of
learning opportunities during their stay. These opportunities

include, among others:

o To experience the working procedure of an educational
youth association working with children, as well as its local
voluntary basis organisations (esplais) directly.
o To learn Spanish and Catalan, and feel comfortable living in
another country.
o To develop a wide range of skills related to the preparation
and implementation of educational activities (basic
knowledge on project development, facilitation of processes,
organisational management, self-esteem and confidence in
own capacities, etc.).
o To develop basic communicative skills, like uploading
contents in websites, producing info-letters or communicating
in a new and previously unknown context
o To learn about Barcelona, Catalonia and the reality of its
villages and cities (especially where esplais are settled).
o To work with youth leaders from esplais with the purpose to
collaborate in local projects and participate in activities as
extra members of a team of youth leaders from an esplai.
o To develop basic knowledges in the frame of projects being
developed by international where Esplac participates.
Support to volunteers
Volunteers will receive the basic support of Esplac from
different sides:
1. Staff of Esplac. Esplac officers (ST) are going to have daily
contact with the volunteers and they are going to ensure that
they will have the space to develop their ideas and proposals
to enrich the development of the projects in progress. We will
encourage European volunteers to evaluate their service
regularly and to suggest improvements.
2. Group of volunteers from the International Commission.
Volunteers of this commision, who are a mix of youth leaders

working with children and political leaders of Esplac, will have

a constant contact with the European volunteers, cooperating
directly with them and doing a link with local voluntary
projects. This working procedure will ensure that European
volunteers will be part of a big network in which to trust in.
3. EVS mentor. The figure of the mentor of the volunteer will
be the officer of ST responsible of the International
Cooperation Area of Esplac. The mentor will montly gather
with the European volunteers to speak on the project and the
possible improvements to do. In case of conflicts, the mentor
will play de role of mediation.
4. Educational and organisational (political) youth leaders.
European volunteers won't work only with staff members of
Esplac. As an association with a remarkable voluntary
character, Esplac trusts in delegating most of the initiatives
developed to spaces of participation leaded by volunteers,
since it benefits to youth empowerment and strengthen
leaderships of the organisation. The European volunteers will
communicate with a lot of different people who actively
participate in local projects.
5. FIEEA and IFM-SEI. The visibility of our international
federations in the backstage of the project, in fact
organisation where most of the volunteers hosted by Esplac
will come from, will let us guarantee that the European
volunteer will have the support of his/her mother
organisation (as well as the experience and advice of the
federations as international organisation working in second
level of intervention - not directly with children as target
group).
Role of EVS volunteers and examples of possible activities
The everyday tasks of the European volunteers hosted by
Esplac will be divided between the participation in a local

group (an esplai) from Barcelona or its metropolitan area,

and the support to the International Cooperation Area of
Esplac. So, European volunteers will have the chance to be
involved in international projects of Esplac. Some concrete
projects are:
o Support to the promotion international youth exchanges
project (advice to esplais, international relations, etc.).
o Support to the international training course of Esplac
(support to the team of trainers, contact with participants,
international relations, etc.).
o Support to the preparation of the international camp 2012,
event that will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Esplac
as federation. European volunteers will develop tasks related
to the content and implementation of the program.
o Support to projects leaded by the international federations
where Esplac participates: inclusion project "All Together",
network of educators of the project "Peers without frontiers"
Millennium Development Goals, project "VAP" on poverty and
child work, etc.
o Assistance to Human Rights Education projects, Children
Rights and Participation; projects leaded by the Pedagogical
Area of Esplac.
o Participation in main activities of Esplac: Assembly, Trobada
General (General meeting) and meetings of youth leaders.
o Support to a more stable and strong international
cooperation into the Mediterranean area.
Local activities
Local activities developed by European volunteers will
complement the activities already carried out by Esplac. We
have the intention to enlarge European participation among
very local projects/organisations, aiming to strengthen
European citizenship into local contexts where it is usually

difficult to disseminate this European perspective. This task

will be implemented thanks to the enthusiasm and energy of
the volunteers we will host. Once the connection European
volunteers - local groups will be done, the volunteers will
work on the proposal and implementation of local projects.
Among others, these are the potential projects:
o Development of social inclusion projects. To work with local
volunteers on the identification of barriers for achievement of
social inclusion and work with youth leaders on the
development of strategies for a more inclusive work on local
contexts.
o To work with local groups on the reception of contributions
in the planning of the 2012 Esplac international camp.
o To support youth leaders' teams developing projects and
activities at local level.
o To express the need to develop international youth
exchanges with local groups of teenagers from esplais, as an
educational strategy and as a tool to facilitate constant
generational renewal of youth leaders' teams of esplais.
Schedule of tasks: 35 hours a week, from Tuesday to
Saturday. From 9h to 14h (from Tuesday to Friday), from16h
to 20h (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and from 18h to
21h (Wednesday). Once a month the volunteers will do a
weekend trekking with the local centre where they will
partially do their activity. We will count a weekend activity as
16h of task. The 12h extra it will represent, will be deducted
from the ordinary schedule from Tuesday to Friday,
respecting the two consecutive days of rest a week.
Courses: All volunteers hosted by Esplac will receive training
to allow them to develop their linguistic competences
(Spanish and Catalan), to understand how the youth sector is

in our context and on "Youth in Action Programme", amongst

other contents that can be considered interesting according
to the pedagogical contents we work in Esplac. Once the
process of training would be completed and EVS feel with
enough communicative autonomy and to act by themselves,
we will study to the possibility to replace training sessions by
other subjects or including them in other projects.
Profile of the volunteer(s) and selection process:
Profile of volunteers
All candidates should have between 18 and 30 years old, and
have basic competences in computing, English, Spanish and
elementary knowledge on Non Formal Education. The reason
why we ask for basic competences in Spanish language it is
because the voluntary task with children deserves a minimum
knowledge of this language. We consider more important the
will and enthusiasm to learn on the suggested projects
(introduced in the previous section), than the precedent
qualification of the volunteers on the above mentioned fields.
The EVS volunteer has to be an open person, interested and
motivated to work in a context where international projects
and initiatives are constantly activated. The EVS project will
be always discussed with the volunteers during their stay, in
order to ensure - in case of having the required economical
support - that the project can become a positive learning
experience. So, all parts must have the predisposition to
clarify details about roles and objectives of projects by filling
in the required application forms together. We also consider
the possibility to leave an open gap to let volunteers
contributions come in, in order to better fit the project with
the interests of volunteers during their stay
Selection procedure and transparency

The selection procedure of the EVS volunteers will be done by

publishing open calls that will be disseminated among partner
organisations of Esplac. Also, we will publish the calls in
"Youth in Action" EVS section website, because it can allow to
Esplac to open the doors to new partners. All youth
volunteers willing to participate in the project will have to
send us their curriculum vtae (CV) and a motivation letter of
motivation specifying their motivation and interest to be
involved in a voluntary-based project - more than their
knowledges. So, our purpose it is to select excited volunteers
willing to develop their competences and to contribute to
project they will participate. The selection procedure will be
carried out by means of a first pre-selection of a maximum of
five candidates (assessment of their CV and motivation
letters) and agreeing on a telephone interview or Skype
conference, which will allow us select to the EVS volunteers.
We understand that this is a way guarantee and open and
transparent selection procedure, since it will allow us to keep
volunteers informed about the process and its result.
Participation of youngsters with fewer opportunities
We will actively work with the intention to host volunteers
with fewer opportunities, since their participation in EVS it is
an excellent opportunity for them to develop their selfqualification, personal autonomy and social inclusion. Some
of the projects of our international federations include youth
with this profile. Therefore, the recruitment of these
volunteers from disadvantaged contexts who have entered to
participate in local groups (in our case, esplais) are a priority
as target groups of our projects. Our willingness at
short/mid-term it is that volunteers will finish disseminating
and multiplying their experience in their organisations,
generating a high international activity by means of European

projects. As a result, we expect that participants will be

active not only at local level, as well in the international
organisation (so, covering different fields and levels of
participation). Aiming to increase sustainable inclusion, we
think that youth with fewer opportunities need to feel
empowered into their organisations and active in all levels of
participation. This is the reason why we expect to receive the
maximum applications possible of candidates with fewer
opportunities to the EVS. Our office is accessible to youth
with disabilities and we think that the combination of direct
work with children and the implementation of educational
activities at international level will be interesting for a wide
range of potential volunteers.
Avoiding job replacements
Volunteers will not substitute any employee. Volunteers' tasks
will be very different, and will include a lot of elements
focused on their personal development that are not
comparable with the responsabilities of staff members of the
organisation. Moreover, volunteers will have, as well, an
important role on adjusting their functions and defining
working areas, unusual flexibility on jobs description of
employees (where tasks use to be clarified in advance. So,
tasks will be focused on the personal development and
learning of volunteers hosted by Esplac, as well as on the
contributions we can receive from our international
federations.
The task developed in the local context will be particularly
different from paid job. The work done by esplais starts from
the personal commitment, reason why volunteers hosted will
have the opportunity to feel integrated in the local context as
a peer (an equal, a youth leader plus of the youth centre) of

the group of esplai where they will participate, having the

chance to interact with Esplac youth leaders "peer to peer",
facilitating then a natural process of integration of European
volunteers. Besides, volunteers will be in contact with other
volunteers and the youngsters through the events organised
by Esplac (meetings of youth leaders, meetings children,
training courses and federative meetings of Esplac), as well
as possible meetings and training courses organised by our
international federations. As well as local voluntary work is,
international training courses are based on personal
commitment, reason why the role EVS will play is going to be
the same that our youth leaders play. EVS volunteers will
have the support and advice of officers (ST) and political
leaders of Esplac, voluntary youth leaders of esplais and
people responsible of international federative projects.
Sending organisations
Esplac is an organisation open to work with new sending
organisations from the basis acceptance of our secular and
progressive values. Organisations of IFM-SEI and FIEEA
share, in large large extent, our principles. This is the reason
why we will prioritise those associations member of our
international federations. Consequently, we do hope it will
allow us to do steps forward on the consolidation of the
projects we share, and because it is with these organisations
with whom we have passed an internal validation process
that we understand it gives us the guarantees for a proper
hosting process of EVS volunteers.
Number of volunteers hosted:
Esplac has the capacity to host two volunteers people inside
EVS the project. We will work to receive extra funding to
support the stay of volunteers. So extra funding possibilities
will determine if we can host one volunteer or two.

Prevention of risks, security and protection:

Safe life and working environment
We will ensure a safe life and working frame to the European
volunteers hosted by Esplac. We will assess and plan
logistical matters referred to their lo accommodation and
board, to be sure their feel in a pleasant and secure
environment. We will also assume insurance deserved by
activities, if that is the case. The office of Esplac has an
elevator and enough space to allocate EVS volunteers.
Risk and crisis prevention
We understand that the best way to tackle potential risks and
manage situations of crisis is by means of the education and
communication. The European volunteers will have daily
contact with his/her supervisor, as well as weekly meetings
with the teams where they will work. Thus, it will ensure us
the possibility to detect any problem and if there is, to work
it properly ensuring conflict management with the required
time and rigour. The progress achieved on the voluntary work
of the EVS will be regularly discussed, aiming to include
modifications on the tasks if it is required, or even
responsibilities if the volunteers feel overloaded. We have the
intention to promote the self-assessment on each EVS
volunteer; that is to say, that they involve themselves in
those tasks they feel more comfortable with, as well as
realistic and achievable.
The person who will play the role of mentor will have the
function to monthly meet with the European volunteer, in
order to have the chance to provide him/her with a second
level of support, in this case more distant, but also more
objective.
Political leaders of Esplac and the team youth leaders with

whom the volunteer will be, are going to play an important

role on risk and crisis prevention, too. All these members
from our organisation will be in direct contact with the EVS
volunteers and so, they will be able to alert the mentor of the
volunteer if they see the need.
In order to ensure that the European volunteers do not feel
alone and isolated in Barcelona or the neighbour city (not
more far away than one hour in public transport from
Barcelona) where they will develop their local voluntary task,
we will plan and follow closely the process of integration of
European volunteers in the local community. An special
emphasis will be put at the very beginning, just after of their
arrival, to guarantee that volunteers gain confidence and
safety. All EVS we will host in Esplac will do language courses
(Spanish and, probably, Catalan, too), and will be included in
social and cultural activities in the first weeks, which will be
organised by the ST of Esplac and by the local esplai where
they will develop the local voluntary tasks.
In case of situations of crisis, we strongly believe on direct
communication as a way to proceed. As organisation working
in the field of the education, we understand that we have the
competences to mediate in this kind of situations. So, if it is
required for the situation, we will activate all needed tools
(internal, from our organisation, and external, if it is more
efficient for the case to solve), ensuring that the interests of
the volunteers and the projects are on the top Under 18
years old volunteers (minors)
Esplac is not an organisation able to accept the presence of
volunteers under 18 years old. The projects leaded by Esplac
as federation are addressed to youth leaders from esplais, so
minors are not the most appropriate target group, because

we wouldn't be able to constantly supervise the needs that a

person of this age deserves.

SPECIAL NEEDS:
The project is open to volunteers with fewer opportunities,
since in the own philosophy of the esplai (and Esplac), we
understand youth work field (and its associations) as
contexts where social inclusion is on the roots. Esplac as
organisation has the capacity to mobilise resources of
attention to diversity. The office of Esplac is adapted with
ramps and has an elevator for people with reduced mobility.
Regarding pedagogical resources, Esplac youth leaders are
being trained (through basic and advanced training courses)
to address special needs. So, they are able to manage the
specific educational needs they can find in their centres.
Besides that, territorial and pedagogical officers of Esplac can
assess and support youth leaders (by giving resources and
personalised consulting) and so, what a voluntary person
with fewer opportunities could deserve.

Motivation and EVS experience

The description of the motivations of Esplais Catalans Esplac to participate in the European Voluntary Service (EVS)
deserve a brief historical review of our association, in order
to understand the origin of the application form of the
present Expression of Interest.
Shortly after its birth (1982), Esplac already showed its clear
internationalist vision being co-funder organisation of FIEEA
(Fdration Internationale pour les changes ducatifs

d'Enfants et d'Adolescents) - Educational child organisation of

Mediterranean area -, in 1983. In 1986 Esplac settled the
bases of its international participation becoming member of
IFM-SEI (International Falcon Movement-Socialist Educational
International) - world-wide organisation of the same.
Between 1982 and 1996 first international activities were
structured (some training courses and youth exchanges), but
it wasn't until the period 1996- 2005 that Esplac began to
lead international activities, especially inside the field of the
international cooperation (project and commission Bosnia).
From 2005 onward, Esplac has diversified the format of his
international activities, consolidating cooperation projects
(especially awareness rising projects: Millennium
Development Goals, Children Rights and environmental
education), youth exchanges, international training courses amongst them the international training course of Esplac
implements such September since 2005 with the support of
the "Youth in action" programme -, and, especially, the
increasing presence of youth leaders of our organisation
active in the field of the international relations, thanks to the
initiative and the work done with the basis in the
International Commission. It is in this context that Esplac has
developed, in the last years, an increasing interest on EVS,
reason why we have decided to define the present EI, to give
an answer to the voluntary bases of Esplac and to our
partner organisations. So, main specific motivation to work
on EVS action it is to offer to our voluntary youth leaders a
new space of participation which can entails new learnings
that can be disseminated into our organisation.
Simultaneously, to participate in the EVS can let release our
model of voluntary based educational association (as a
method for active participation and citizenship commitment),

in addition to learn about other youth work models. Finally,

the experience and good results of the EVS project of IFMSEI, has encouraged Esplac to develop the present EI.
Definitely, to create a network of European volunteers will
allow us to reinforce the competences of our members,
develop more international projects, increase the sense of
belonging to a global citizenship and reinforce our presence
in the field of the international relations.
Until the day of today, the voluntary people of our
organisation have not participated in any EVS project. Then,
the present project represents an opportunity to start
participating in this program, allowing us to send and host
one or two volunteers from different organisations every
year, from January of 2012. Esplac can offer voluntary
projects encompassing diverse fields of action: work with
children at local level, presence in federative spaces of
participation (commissions and working groups) and
contribution to the development of international projects
(youth exchanges, training courses, international relations,
etc.). Finally, it is important to stand out that we will link our
EI to the EVS to global initiatives promoted by our
international federations, as for example the project on child
poverty foreseen for 2012 "Volunteering against poverty"
(VAP), that the IFM-SEI is defining and in which Esplac has
been selected to participate.

Description of the organisation

Esplais Catalans - Esplac is an association born in 1982 with
the aim to join esplais1, groups of youngsters and people
that share interests and work for an ideological and
pedagogical common project. Esplac defines itself as a
secular, progressive, independent and democratic association.

As a movement, it pretends to foster an integral and

liberating education as a mean to achieve social
transformation: we want to define a lifestyle, an attitude
towards life and the society surrounding us. The training of
children in values like participation, solidarity, social
engagement, cooperation, social justice, etc., are on the
cornerstone of the ideological substrate of our educational
action. The esplai is a non-profit organisation with a clear
participatory, democratic and independent components; a
public community service. Esplac it is composed by 98 esplais
located in more than 40 Catalan towns, mobilising 6.500
children, teenagers and youth, 1.600 youth leaders and 200
individual partner members. The activities proposed by
esplais are very diverse: games, handcrafts, gymkhanas, one
day excursions, weekend trips, treks, summer camps in the
countryside in tents or country houses, day camps in the city,
international exchanges, etc. We implement these activities
mainly on Saturdays and during holiday periods, and are
addressed to children and teenagers from 3 to 17 years old.
Esplac has a group of staff members called Secretaria Tcnica
(ST - officers team), who have the task to support youth
leaders in the consolidation of the esplai in which they
participate. Therefore, the target group ST of Esplac
addresses its work are youth leaders (voluntary educators
and political leaders), between 18 and 30 years old. The ST
has a structure of 19 people: 12 in the headquarters of
Esplac and 7 in the territory (part time or full time officers,
depending on the needs of the projects they deal with). The
intervention of the ST of Esplac is based on the work by
projects, and are implemented after being approved by the
assembly of Esplac and with the supervision of the Equip de
Direcci (ED - highest decision-making body of the

organisation composed by political leaders).

The projects are implemented following a mainstreaming
criteria: intervention by project in which different officers
play a role with the goal stress basic aspects from different
perspectives, allowing us to fulfil with the aims of the
strategic plan of Esplac from different slopes. The areas of
work from which Esplac articulates the mainstreaming work
by projects are 5: Administration, Communication,
International Cooperation, Pedagogical and Territorial.

Contact Point
Organisation:

Esplais Catalans Esplac

Address: C/ Aviny nm, 44 2n

Postal code: 08002
Town: Barcelona
Country: Spain
E-mail: esplac@esplac.cat
Phone: +34 933 026 103
Fax: +34 933 020 089
Contact:

Mr Marc Garcia i
Cebrian