Voluntariado europeo en centro cultural en Maribor (Eslovenia)

Vacancy for EVS Volunteer in Maribor

At Maribor we want to host volunteers who are enthusiastic, sociable, creative and open for different opportunities and collaborations.

We are looking for two volunteers (from February 2017 to January 2018) for our host project Do the (r) evolution! vol.3, , latest by 22nd of August 2016.

Description of organisation:

Hosting organisation, is a non-governmental, non-profit institution, founded in 1997 as an organisation for encouraging, supporting programme and project cooperation among individuals and groups conducting cultural, educational, research, informative and humanitarian activities as well as for granting assistance in solving their short-term residential needs for creative spaces. Our organisation is small, we work with a team of paid staff (3 fte) and with co-workers and local volunteers.

Programme-wise our organisation works in three main areas: independent culture, youth/volunteer work and civil engagement.

Our cultural programme includes organisation, co-organisation, promotion and realization of non-profit cultural events, mainly from the fields of visual arts, films, photography, theater of the oppressed, which find it harder to gain recognition within the established environment and are actually shaping the distinct programme image of the Cultural Centre Pekarna, paying special attention to the idea and message behind them.

Within the institution, the Youth Informative-Counselling Centre is active in providing the public with the youth programmes. Its basic activity is providing free information, counselling and non-formal education programmes for the young, aged between 15 and 29 (children, students, employed and unemployed young people) and for all, who live and work with them and to the interested public (teachers, parents, counsellors, youth-workers …), with the focus on volunteer and community work. We have been organizing volunteer programmes for young volunteers for sixteen years now. The programmes, which our volunteers are working on, are providing free instructions for pupils, weekly educational and creative workshops with children with fewer opportunities, different informational initiatives, creative writing sessions for elementary school pupils, in the form of active citizenship youth projects/initiatives and different prevention workshops for school-children.

EVS experience:

In our organisation we’ve been developing and performing the EVS programme since 2004. Till now we have hosted 33 volunteers from various countries. With their implementation into various activities, they have greatly contributed to recognition of voluntary work, youth work and activities of our organisation. We also function as a sending organization and till now, we have send 25 EVS volunteers abroad.

Project environment:

Hosting organisation is an independent cultural center in northwest Slovenia, Maribor. Maribor is the second largest city of Slovenia with about 96,000 inhabitants and the capital of Stajerska, the Slovenian Styria and is embraced by Pohorje forests.

Maribor is as well an university and sociable city. Spoken English is on the level of other European countries in the nearby region, but most of the public events are in Slovene language, nevertheless we will offer Slovene language courses.
Volunteers can live within striking distance of Pekarna Cultural Centre in rental flat (single room). Flats are furnished and provide with all basic devices for cooking and living good and healthily in Maribor.

The project description:

The main aim of the project Do the (r) evolution! vol.3 is to develop high quality activities for young people in the fields of art, creation and civil engagement with the help of informal and non formal learning.  The project will last for 11 months and give them the possibility to participate in the formation of cultural, youth, youth-information, volunteer and social activities of hosting organisation.

What are EVS volunteers doing in our organisation?

In our organisation we try to include EVS volunteers in all organisation’s activities, that seem interesting to them or that they want to learn, and we actively encourage them in creating and performing their own projects. Volunteers actively participate in creating cultural, art, youth, informative, social and civic activities, and through their work also promote EVS among young people in our environment. Through their activities and living they gain the feeling of belonging to organisation as well as belonging to community and local environment, they grow personally, spread and develop their fields of interest, and also continually learn during the process.

Among many things volunteers learn the strategies and techniques of self-organising and planning cultural, youth and other events, and gain the required abilities to work in a group of people with different cultural and social backgrounds. During that process they learn about the projects and workings of non-government, non-profit organisation and perform publicly renowned projects in the fields of culture, art, music and activism. Each EVS volunteer is precious to a hosting organisation, because they bring difference, novelty, fresh perspective, experience and knowledge to work, relationships and projects.

Proposed activities for EVS volunteers:

We are looking for two volunteers to be involved in our youth and cultural activities. Here are just few of them:
– DOBIŠ DAŠ; the program is about organization and implementation of various educational and leisure activities for the social excluded youth,
– Potopisi – Pekama Travelogue; the program is about a different type of travelogue, where we are “breaking stereotypes” about other countries, ethnicities, social groups etc. and the concept of a “tourist travel” itself,
– Zine Pizda! the program is to make “zine”, writing critical articles, illustrations, taking photos, edit zine … Zine is a small circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts,
– helping with cultural program (Gallery K18),
– helping with StopTrik, stop-motion animation festival,
– helping with theatre of the oppressed workshops, performances,
– Guest Room Maribor, artists in residence platform,
– helping with marketing – designing posters, flyers and banners for events,
– processing and creating your own projects and workshops that are within our organization’s mission and purpose (we really support this side of EVS).

How to apply