Stepping StoneSImpact of Short Term EVS

ContentS

introduCtion 3European Voluntary Service in a Nutshell 3

Stepping StoneS 3Impact of Short Term EVS 3

impaCt of St eVS on organiSationS 4Short Term EVS is a tool enabling organisations to meet their objectives 4ST EVS enables partnership working 4ST EVS volunteers positively impact on the clients’ experience with the organisation 6Supporting ST EVS volunteers builds the motivation and knowledge of the staff team 6ST EVS volunteers provide resources for the organisation 7

impaCt of St eVS on VolunteerS 8Increased Self Confidence 8Independence and Autonomy 8Communication Skills 9Vocational Skills 10New Direction in Life 10

impaCt of St eVS on loCal CommunitieS 12Opening minds of families and peer groups 12Reaching Ethnic Minorities 12Promoting global knowledge, tolerance and diversity 13Promoting awareness of people with disabilities 13Change in Attitude towards ‘disadvantaged’ Youth 13

liSt of partiCipantS 14

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introduCtionEuropean Voluntary Service in a Nutshell

The European Voluntary Service (EVS) is part of the YOUTH programme, a European Union programme that promotes the mobility of young people through international activi-ties with a non-formal education dimension such as youth exchanges, voluntary services, youth initiatives and train-ing of youth workers.

EVS offers young people the opportunity to vol-unteer in another country, normally for a period of six to nine months. A wide variety of place-ments can be found in the social, cultural, envi-ronmental, and sports sector.

One of the most important priorities of the YOUTH programme is to give access to the ac-tivities within the Programme to young people with fewer opportunities. Whilst this target group is by no means restricted from taking part in long-term EVS projects, its access to EVS is facilitated by the possibility of short-term voluntary service projects (ST EVS).

These Short Term EVS placements last from three weeks to six months.

Stepping StoneSImpact of Short Term EVS

In May 2006, professionals from around Europe met to-gether in Finland to evaluate the impact of their work in the Short Term EVS programme. This seminar was sup-ported by CIMO, Centre for International Mobility in Fin-land.

Representatives of hosting and sending organi-sations, volunteer supervisors and mentors all shared real life stories of their own involvement in this programme since its inception in 1997.

Participants agreed that the process of telling stories enabled them to celebrate their success, highlight best practice, learn from each other and develop new projects.

The seminar showed how Short Term EVS (ST EVS) projects have a broad impact – particularly over time.

This document summarizes the findings of this seminar, highlighting the key outcomes of the ST EVS programme for organisations, volunteers and local communities by providing real life ex-amples.

The aim of the document is to provide evidence for funders, National Agencies, organisations and local authorities to encourage them to promote and support the Short Term EVS programme.

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Short Term EVS is a way for organisations that are working with disadvantaged youth are using to meet their aims:

Funds:In many countries ST EVS is the only funded programme enabling youth to take part in a sup-ported volunteer opportunity abroad. In fact a number of organisations would not exist without the Short Term EVS programme to offer young people.

‘The Short Term EVS is a key tool because it of-fers us funding to be able to offer international opportunities for working with this type of young people. It means that we can offer more to them.’ Audrey, Youth Employment Trainer, France

A unique experience for young people:‘Young people don’t have the funds to go abroad or the confidence to go abroad for a long term immedi-ately. ST EVS is a great tool to help us reach our organisational objec-tives – providing a break in their life, have the op-portunity to think life and what they want to do, and give them another perspective so that when they come back they are more ready to work with us. They are smiling, they have new ideas and motivation to study and work.’ Audrey, Youth Employment Trainer, France

‘The Short Term EVS programme enables us to achieve our goals – to give independence for people who are visually impaired and prepare them for life in regular society.’ Jutta, Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired, Sending Organisation, Finland

A structure with which to work with young people:‘When young people are taking part on ST-EVS their motivation is really high to learn skills they can use in future. This offers more possibilities than normal measures and services that the em-ployment office can offer.

We spend a lot of time preparing them for their project. They have to take responsibility of their everyday life before leaving and taking care of the practical issues like getting passports, research-ing the country and project, learning a new lan-guage. This enables us to build a strong relation-

ship with them.

When volunteers come back from their project it seems that they are more able to talk about a ‘strategy’ for their lives. As they have gained independence, had to manage their own budget and take responsibil-ity for themselves. It is then much easier for us to work with them to see where they want to go with their lives next and what other initiatives

they can take – this could be in the form of train-ing, another activity with the youth programme, a new job etc.’ Kati, Director of Youth Organi-sation, Finland

ST EVS enables partnership working

A structure to enable local organisations to work together:‘We are a youth information centre in Austria generally working with youth from 15 – 25. We are also a regional office for the youth pro-

impaCt of St eVS on organiSationS Short Term EVS is a tool enabling organisations to meet their objectives

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“Short Term EVS is a great tool to help us reach our

organisationalobjectives”

gramme. One partner that we started working with, does 6 month programmes with youth with behavioural issues. They approached us asking for an opportunity for one of their young people to do social service abroad. We sent this young man to a successful ST project. Now we are working more with this institution, looking at ST EVS as part of their programme. As we are not working directly with disadvantaged youth it is crucial that we build up relationships with or-ganisations who work with them. This improves the local networks as it is a tool in which we can work together.’ Veronika, Youth Information Centre, Austria

‘We brought together a group of experienced practitioners who decided to create a common long term strategy of how to work on ST EVS with young people who are severely disadvan-taged and wouldn’t normally be able to take part in EVS. We did this by involving local institu-tions.

We decided on a yearly cycle of work. The organ-isations found youth and social workers working with severely disadvantaged young people and invited them to accompany them on a training in International Youth Work in April. This was also an opportunity to forge deep relationships and discuss the needs of their young people. These youngsters were not yet ready for ST EVS, so the group chose to start with a youth exchange in June. An Advance Planning Visit involved the leaders who were all qualified youth and so-cial workers planning the work to fit this target

group. Part of the youth exchange involved a ST EVS project market, whereby the partners in the programme offered concrete projects to the youngsters on the exchange. Shortly after, ST EVS applications were made for these volunteers to do a project in the autumn to keep the young-sters motivated.

Allowing me to involve the social workers directly has led to a deeper understanding and respect for each others work and a more personal relation-ship. The social workers now have more ideas and new possibilities for the youth. Our organi-sation is also learning from these social workers how to work with this type of youth. It has also strengthened our partnerships as we are commit-ting to a long term strategy’. Elisabeth, Project Coordinator, Italy

A network of international partners and seminars to work with and learn from:‘Working on ST EVS has enabled us to build a network of international partners also work-ing with disadvantaged youth. We have learned through co-operation with partner new working methods and strategies. We have participated in and organised international trainings and semi-nars on the theme of ST EVS which have been funded by Action V and our National Agency. This has deepened our knowledge of how to work with this target group and strengthened partnerships and collaboration.’ Youth organi-sation, Finland

‘At first I was very suspicious of ST EVS as a tool to work with blind people. The National Agen-cy almost forced me to take part in a seminar in working with people with disabilities for Nordic Cooperation. After the seminar I was sure that it could be possible to send blind people and the National Agency said that they could provide support. The youngsters didn’t want to do short term EVS, they wanted to do Long Term EVS – as it takes time for blind people to orientate themselves in a community. So it took me two years, to send a short term EVS volunteer. But

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finally I have. It is challenging for us to convince organisations to host a blind volunteer’ Jutta, Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired, Finland

ST EVS volunteers positively impact on the clients’ experience with the organisation

New faces and new outlook on life:‘Due to the language barrier of ST EVS volun-teers, our clients have to learn new ways to com-municate. The volunteers create a new ‘family’, bringing a new spirit to the clients and breaking their daily routine. Now the clients are used to new faces, a new way of interacting. At the beginning the majority only wanted the same worker that they new. Now they are happy to meet new volunteers, they have grown.’ Anna, Disability Organisation, Italy

Encourages diversity‘A goal of our organisation is to encourage diversity. Hosting ST EVS volunteers enables us to have young people from all types of backgrounds and nationalities engage with our organisation.’ Nadia, Disability Worker, Greece

Supporting ST EVS volunteers builds the motivation and knowledge of the staff team

Promotes Team work:‘Inviting people who need extra support into our team, strengthens the team and members of our organisation. The team members are motivated to ensure the volunteer gets the most out of their

experience and know that they have to work to-gether.’ Tim, Project Coordinator, Greece

Enables new ideas and learning:‘The staff can have a negative attitude about working with the young people with disabilities, often complaining that it can be hard for them. We hosted a volunteer who used crutches to walk. She worked hard and despite her disability she could manage to push the wheelchairs of the young people. This made the staff realise that they shouldn’t be complaining!

Volunteers have a huge impact on the children and their lives. Children now have the possibili-

ties to do different activities. This also enables staff to realise that the children have more capabilities. At first we were only allowed to take the ‘best’ children out, but now af-ter some years working in project we can now take out all types of children. When we had a boy who was in a wheelchair, he motivated the children to start pushing them-selves in their own wheelchairs in-stead of asking for help.

You can see a slow gradual change of the staffs attitude towards the volunteers. Now some of the nurs-

es really appreciate the support they get from the volunteers to help them in their work.’ Nadia, Disability Organisation, Greece

Motivates staff‘The impact of my work enables me to keep go-ing with ST EVS. Success stories, the people with disabilities changing and becoming more open, volunteers who were hosted in 2000 still contacts me every 6 months. I feel like my role is making a difference in people’s lives. I really like that.’ Anna, Disability Organisation, Italy

‘It also motivates the nurses, when they have for example a blind volunteer working alongside

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“ The volunteers create a new

family, bringing a new spirit to the clients and breaking their daily routine”

them, they realise the capabilities of people with disabilities and makes them realise their own po-tential. This has also changed the opinions of the other staff of what the children are capable of.’ Nadia, Disability Organisation, Greece

ST EVS volunteers provide resources for the organisation

Promoting the work of the organisation:‘We had a Romanian ST EVS volunteer who vol-unteered in our home for young people with dis-abilities. She taught them how to make friend-ship bracelets and mosaics. She also took photos of the centre and we now have an exhibition at the entrance of the organisation that people can see when they visit’. Anna, Disability Organi-sation, Italy

Promoting ST EVS:When volunteers come back from a short term project they are motivated and energized to con-tinue work with their sending organisations

‘I work at a secondary school for people who are deaf and blind. We started working in 2001 on EVS as host. We sent our first students through

ST- EVS in 2006. There was a young boy “Den-nis”. He went to a project in Iceland. He had hearing and sight disabilities. Dennis now pro-motes ST EVS in our school. He can explain what it was really like to potential volunteers. This is a powerful way to get other students in-volved as they see that although they are deaf or blind, there are exciting life opportunities.

We will find out the impact in Autumn term when we ask how many people want to take part in ST EVS next year!’ Lahja, School for people with disabilities, Sweden

Becoming Staff:‘Five ST EVS volunteers we have hosted, went on to qualify in working with young people with disabilities and now work for the centre!

The people that we host tend to come with ex-tremely low self esteem, that no-one can love them, that they’ve never done anything positive etc. Working with people with disabilities doesn’t require any qualification. You just need to be there, be caring, be patient. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone and the people with disabilities just accept you as you are. It makes the volunteers feel recognised as an important person and they enjoy the work and do well in it.’ Anna, Disability organisation, Italy

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’A boy was 6 month in therapy and this organisation con-tacted to our organisation. He wanted to do something international. We send him 2005 to Italy for 4 weeks. He was in project with 12 disadvantages youngsters.

He was taking part on the project where young people were sharing their talents and skills with each other and with other young people from local community. He came back with more self-confidence. “I didn’t know I knew all these things”. “I had opportunity to learn from my self and from others.” “I was able to show someone what I can do.”

During the preparation of ST-EVS project he started to think already what to do in the future after the project. And in the end he wanted to continue voluntary work and he went to India to do social work project’ Veronika, Youth Infor-mation Centre, Austria

‘ST EVS enables young people to get out of their daily life with fam-ily issues, peer pressure and interact in a totally new environment without any of the normal ex-pectations they face at home. It means they can start afresh and be who they want with the safe and supportive framework that ST EVS offers.

‘We sent a young man who had been unemployed for a long time on a 3 month ST EVS. He was working on environmental issues, building paths, bridges, working in a team. Having specific tasks with a very visual outcome enabled him to re-gain pride and confidence in himself and in his ability to make a difference. He went on to do a LT EVS project with the same organisation and

is planning to volunteer as a support person for a youth exchange on environmental issues when he comes back to this country.’ Kati, Youth Or-ganisation, Finland

Independence and Autonomy

‘Mariana from Slovakia was a bit slow, clumsy, and always demanding attention. She came from overprotecting background. She did ST EVS with us for 6 months. She was originally accept-ed for four month but as she was progressing re-

ally well we where able to prolong the project up to six months. By the end she was more independ-ent, mature and autonomous. She went on from ST EVS to study in a Danish Folk School.

What was the element of success? In the project she was encour-aged and occasionally confronted. There was a good balance between

acceptance and confrontation. In a new envi-ronment she had opportunity to be treated as a responsible adult and she had to make her own decisions.’ Nadia, Disability Organisation, Greece

‘Liz from Belgium was in a wheelchair and she came to work in Orfeus for a 2 month EVS ST project. It was the first time that she would be working on this type of manual work – making handicrafts. She had spent her life studying, us-ing her brain, not her body. She wanted to try this project to see if she could do it. She wanted to use her body, be more independent.

impaCt of St eVS on VolunteerSIncreased Self Confidence

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“I didn’t know I knew all these

things. I had an op-portunity to learn from my self and

from others”

Liz was very active. She created a Users’ Guide to making instruments. She made a website about her experience in our organisation to communi-cate with other EVS ST volunteers and share her experiences in Greece.

It was our first time hosting this type of volun-teer and the National Agency was quite nervous. She was accompanied with a support person to travel to Greece, but she went back on her home. It worked because we treated her like a person equal to the other volunteers. We took the deci-sion and it was her task to learn how to ‘survive’ here. We offered support but we gave her space. She really appreciated this way of cooperation. Long term volunteers also supported her in her social life. They learnt about themselves and ap-preciated what they could do.

The National Agency now use this example to encourage organisations to work with people with disabilities. We learnt that each person with a disability is different and has different needs.

The environment in Greece is not user friend-ly for people with disabilities. However we and the National Agency are more open to hosting such volunteers for the future. We realised that we need to get as much information about the abilities of the volunteer before they arrive.’ Tim, Project Coordinator, Greece

‘We had a volunteer with learning disabilities. He was very proud and was finding it hard to find a job. We felt that he was able to give more than he was doing. He did a ST EVS project in Spain for 3 weeks. After returning, he gave presentations on Spain in many schools. He managed to find a small job for 3 months. It also gave him the confidence to be independent from his parents and he made the decision to live alone although it was difficult for his parents to accept.’ Sonia, Disability Organisation, Slovakia

Communication Skills

‘I started getting involved with ST EVS 9 years ago. Gregory was the first volunteer I hosted in my organisation which provides care for people with disabilities. He had huge family problems and decided to stop speaking. In France he start-ed theatre as the only way to express himself.

When he came to do ST EVS in Italy the host organisation helped him to find new ways to ex-press himself. One way was for through pho-tography. He did a project taking pictures of the clients and the centre. He was very proud of his achievements and went on to get a qualification in photography. He also learnt to become a carer of people with disabilities.

He also had Italian classes through a language course the host provided and went 4 days a week to school. In France he hadn’t wanted to go to school at all! He also learnt English through communication with the other international vol-unteers.

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Gregory is still in Italy 9 years on. He is now one of the people responsible for the running of our services. Although he still has difficulty express-ing his own ideas, and is reserved he now can represent us professionally and speaks at meet-ings. He also is a great point of reference and support for the new ST EVS volunteers.’ Anna, Disability Organisation, Italy

‘We had a volunteer who hardly spoke at home, but on ST EVS in another country, as he was not aware of customs or how things work, he had to ask! This developed his confidence and com-munication skills.’ Kati, Youth Organisation, Finland

Vocational Skills

‘Before the project the volunteer was very intro-verted. He’d never been abroad and was physically disabled. He went to Spain for ST-EVS for two months.

He couldn’t speak any English or Spanish, but despite of this he was able to communicate. This was possible because of the good men-torship. He said he never felt as a foreigner in the project.

The project as a whole was im-portant for him to gain self-confi-dence. He made him self feel like an important person.

After returning to Turkey, he decided to do Fu-ture Capital. “Foreign volunteer in Turkey” vid-eo. This video is now used by Turkish National Agency.

He was able use his experiences and also to all this in his CV. With the help of that he found a job.’ Hur, National Agency, Turkey

New Direction in Life

‘We hosted a volunteer in Italy for 3 month. For-merly he was in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. He had no education, no regular place to live and he was a very introverted person. During the project he had very difficult time with other vol-unteers.

However, after he returned to home, his send-ing organisation helped him to reflect on his ex-periences. He returned to the same course, but this time more on a role of facilitator. His experi-enced is now used as an example. He is now do-ing A-level exams and taking English lessons. He created own humanitarian NGO. He also started vocational training to be a social worker and re-turned to live with his father after a long time.’ Elizabeth, Disability Organisation, Italy

‘Maria has visual impairment. She did a short term EVS in England, 4 years ago. It was difficult to find a project who would accept a volunteer with this type of disability. She decided that she wanted to work with people in some way.

We were lucky that we were in con-tact with another Spanish organisa-tion working on ST EVS who had experience working with a good organisation in England that would host her.

The project we found was work-ing with youngsters with mental

disabilities. It was important for her confidence and also for the local community in Spain and England to see that someone with her disability could help others. The experience helped her to choose her profession. She decided to change her career from Journalism to social studies. She is now working in our organisation InterEuropa. She is promoting opportunities for young people with visual impairment.

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“He is very proud of his project, he

knows that he can now do things. He has realised

that he is good at practical and

manual work”

Maria says that doing ST EVS made a big differ-ence in her life and she is really happy about it.’ Alba, Youth Organisation, Spain

‘I have been working with a young man who has ADHD a few hours a week. He has low self es-teem, and feels he is unable to complete anything in life. He didn’t do well at school. His moti-vation is low and didn’t believe in himself. He didn’t ever complete trainings and when they got difficult he went home.

He had an assistant at the home 4 hours a day and someone who helped him with his finances.He was unemployed.

We found a group short term EVS project in England. They were experienced in working with this target group, they are flexible, and have intercultural communication skills. They treat them like normal people. People talked with him through his problems.

After this experience, I am still working with him but doesn’t need me so much. My hours are less so my salary is lower! He is very proud of his project, he knows that he can now do things. He has realised that he is good at practical and man-ual work.

He now has less assistance in his home and now has a pet that he can take care of. He is more aware of his problem and how to deal with it. He is easier to talk to and calmer.

He now has a job in a greenhouse and future plans – he would like to travel and he is reno-vating his house with a view to buying another house.

In short the ST EVS project enabled him to change his role. People believed in him and he started to believe in himself.’ Pernilla, Youth Democracy Forum, Sweden

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impaCt of St eVS on loCal CommunitieSOpening minds of families and peer groups

‘We work with parents to help them prepare for their child to volunteer abroad. The success of their child, helps them to see that even if you have problems, you can still achieve things and live normal life in society.’ Hanna-Maria, Youth Organisation, Finland

‘A boy was spending all of his time hanging out in the city centre. A local street work organisation contacted us and we started to plan a project.

The friends of this boy were telling to him that he could never make it to Portugal. He went there on a ST EVS project with our support. When he did it the impact to the friends was re-ally big. Now his friends of him are planning to do an Action 1 Youth Exchange project abroad!’ Kati, Youth Organisation, Finland.

‘A boy with disabilities went to do ST-EVS. After returning families and relatives had a possibility to see that a young person with dis-abilities can be independent.

Also the neighbours were able to see a different reality through this young boy.’ Sonia, Youth Disability Organisation, Slova-kia

‘A boy with a down syndrome was doing a ST-EVS in Spain. His mother was with him. His mother saw a positive example in the hosting organisation of how young people with disabili-ties can be part of the society. And when they returned she was talking to the local media about this other reality.’ Elizabeth, Disability Organ-isation, Italy

‘As a sending organisation, we take ST EVS vol-unteers who have returned, to give talks in youth centres. This really encourages local community to get involved as they can see how this young person has gained from the experience and hear real life stories.’ Hanna- Maria, Youth Organi-sation, Finland

‘We had a volunteer with a low disability. She lived in a poor area in a very traditional family where the mother stayed at home. People treated

her like she was stupid. We offered her the possibility to do ST EVS. We had a preparation training in the capital city but her mother didn’t want her to attend. There-fore we had to do the preparation with her and the family. Then they accepted her to do the project. In her project she had a lot of diffi-culties. She couldn’t make deci-sions on her own and had to be supported to go onto the metro etc. After a while, she started to be more confident and patient. EVS ST gave her new possibilities to see that she can do it and ‘be normal’.

She gained a new image of herself and learnt re-sponsibility for her own actions. Her mother is more supportive and has a more positive opinion of her daughter’s abilities’ Elisabeth, Disability Organisation, Italy

Reaching Ethnic Minorities

‘A girl from a Romany community did a 1 month project in France. After returning she had a strong

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“After returning families and

relatives had a possibility to see

that a young person with

disabilities can be independent”

influence on the local Romany community in our area. Through her the organisation we are now sending more volunteers from this community.’ Kati, Youth Organisation, Finland

Promoting global knowledge, tolerance and diversity

‘We hosted a volunteer originally from the Mayo-tte Islands (east coast of Africa). His project in-volved going into schools to support workshops on Africa.

He was the first black person that some of them had seen. They were able to ask him lots of ques-tions and develop a positive relationship. This encouraged him to go on to work on anti racism projects in France’ Zoe, Youth Organisation, Wales

‘A Romany girl who was unemployed took part in a ST EVS project. She was featured in a local newspaper explaining the work she was doing in that country.

When she returned she showed the article to her social worker. The social worker’s opinion was changed as before, she wouldn’t have believed that she was able to achieve that!’ Kati, Youth Organisation, Finland

‘We have ST volunteers working along side our local volunteers with and without disabilities. This ensures a mixture of types of people, en-couraging understanding and tolerance. We also use a local newspaper to inform weekly what international volunteers are doing for the com-munity. This enables them to see foreigners in a more positive light. Alba, Youth Organisation, Spain

‘Through ST-EVS we try to include special target groups into our regular activities of our organisa-

tion. This enables our volunteers to understand and appreciate this target group.

We had an evaluation weekend where one of the volunteers asked a ST volunteer ‘What are you doing here – you’re disadvantaged.’ This ena-bled us to open up discussions about inclusion and changed people’s minds about how they feel about it.’ Yahu, International Workcamp Or-ganisation, Belgium

Promoting awareness of people with disabilities

‘Our project is an institute for people with dis-abilities. There is little connection between the institution and the local community. Things have started to change as the volunteers bring the chil-dren outside and the local people are now more aware of the institute and of the children who live inside.’ Nadia, Disability Organisation, Greece

Change in Attitude towards ‘disadvantaged’ Youth

‘For repeat offenders ST-EVS can be an oppor-tunity to get away from the daily circle of life. During the project they can be seen as a people who can do things and who have capacities. They are seeing in a different light. For them the project can be a way to formal education.’ Audrey, Youth Unemployment Trainer, France

‘We hosted an EVS ST volunteer who met an Italian volunteer helping in Anfas. They fell in love. This boy was unemployed and had drug and crime problems. He was not accepted into the community. They are still together now and she has supported his integration into the com-munity. They now have a house and a baby to-gether.’ Anna, Disability Organisation, Italy

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liSt of partiCipantSParticipants

Sweden Pernilla Whinqvist Youth democracy forum in Kristinehamns kommun zoe_no1@hotmail.com

Sweden Lahja Nissi School for the Deaf and the Hearing-impaired lahja.nissi@orebro.se

Belgium Jeroen WILS VIA greenturtle2globe@yahoo.co.uk

Austria Veronika Drexel “aha” – Tipps und Infos für Junge Leute veronika.drexel@aha.or.at

Greece Nadia Pinatsi SCI HELLAS pikpanadia@yahoo.gr

Greece Efthimios Andrikopoulos Orfeas organization orfeas@in.gr

Spain Alba Moreno Inter Europa alba@intereuroparioja.org

France Audrey Perron ADICE audrey.perron@adice.asso.fr

Italy Anna De Vita Anfas Onlus di Pordenone eurovol.anna@virgilio.it

Italy Elizabeth Adan Cabello CEMEA del Mezzogiorno onlus adan@replay.cemea.it

Slovakia Sonia Holúbková Land of Harmony Foundation nkh@slovanet.sk

Finland Kati Mäkeläinen Ushanga kati.makelainen@ushanga.fi

Finland Hanna-Maria Länsirinne Ushanga hanna-maria.lansirinne@ushanga.fi

Finland Jutta Kivimäki Finnish federation of Visually Impaired jutta.kivimaki@nkl.fi

Representatives of the National Agencies

Finland Kati Inkinen kati.inkinen@cimo.fi

Sweden Cecilia Eriksson cecilia@ungdomsstyrelsen.se

Turkey Hür Güldü hur.guldu@ua.gov.tr

Greece Dimitrios Kontogiannis dimkon@neagenia.gr

Trainers and seminar team

Finland Jarkko Soininen Trainer jarkko.soininen@aretai.org

UK Zoe Goss Trainer zoegoss@unaexchange.org

Finland Tiina Väänänen Seminar Assistant stepping.stones@ushanga.fi

Finland Miia Moilanen Seminar Assistant milimoil@cc.jyu.fi

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