SCI news

Participants from volunteering organisations in the Americas and from IVS networks met in Costa Rica for the Frame[v]work project’s American Lab, its 3rd regional meeting. SCI was represented by Alexandra Vasileiou, international president, and Peter Stanton and Sandra Shilling from IVS USA. It was an opportunity to present IVS history, vision, activities and methods to organisations from the Americas.

SCI Bangladesh organised the Asian Platform Meeting (APM) 2023, hosting delegates from neighbouring countries and discussing important topics to empower Asian branches.

From July 10th to July 16th, 2023, Ferrara, Italy, became the nucleus of an inspiring movement as 21 participants joined forces to present the groundbreaking results of the Decolonise Participatory Action Research (PAR) and to explore how to bring about the necessary changes.

IVP-AU is starting a new project: Goulburn Farmers Market. It will be a place for local growers to sell directly to the customers, promoting sustainability.

The “Volunteering for Peace” project by SCI Poland aims to spread knowledge and create skills related to acting for peace among elementary and secondary school students and their teachers, to increase their awareness of peace matters in their daily lives.

SCI India Maharashtra State Group implemented activities for the empowerment of women and girls. The activities are part of the project “Kishori Shakti”, or “Girl power”.

SCI Madrid invites you to participate in their new campaign!

Youth Green Deal (YGD) final conference, under the theme “Youth eco-volunteering in a Euro-Mediterranean context: challenges and opportunities,” was held in Hammamet, Tunisia from the 14th to the 17th of June.

The Karnataka Group of SCI India recently hosted two workcamps, in Bangalore and Vadarahatti and they had the change to meet with amazing people.

Service Civil International Maharashtra State Group observed World Environment Day on Monday 5th June. Although it was probably a working day for most of the SCI Volunteers, they still gathered together for this noble cause.

From May 10th until May 20th SCI India in collaboration with Good Life Centre organized a summer workcamp with the participation of volunteers from all around the world.

SCI Sri Lanka just had its first workcamp of the year! It took place from the 2nd to the 8th of June in Kudagama, a small fishing village close to...

Organizations operating in EU countries were asked to submit proposals to SCI’s International Secretariat for upcoming projects. Meet the 5 selected projects!

Ala, from Tunisia, joins our team at International Secretariat of SCI as the new project volunteer.

Last February, as part of the project “Decolonize volunteering!” from CCIVS, SCI Belgium had the chance to host a beautiful group of young people wanting to start working on a challenging and demanding issue: the decolonisation of volunteering.

SCI India Maharashtra State Group organised a six day project about Girls Empowerment. Each day day tackled a different subject for more than 25 young girls.

Service Civil International wishes to pay tribute to Monique Hervo who was a volunteer and activist among others with SCI in the 60s

Our president Alexandra Vasileiou and our IC Inge Saris participated in the Asian Lab in Indonesia between 28 March – 02 April.

If you ever lead educational events – workshops, meetings, webinars, training courses, etc., you will be surely interested in these resources for educators, developed within the Learning Lab(oratory) project.

SCI India West Bengal Group organised a seminar where five guests took part and spoke about the position of the women and their participation in social fields.

Eight members of the SCI family from across the world were invited by SCI-India Maharashtra State Group on a webinar to share their personal experience of growing and working as a woman, and give their individual perspectives on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In March, SCI had a 5-day social media campaign in which we talked about what the savior complex is and why it is harmful.

Focused on the themes of peace and reconciliation, this fellowship has been sponsored by IVP co-founder, Chris Dunstan, in honour of his late mother, Barbara Dunstan

Tomorrow marks one year since the full-scale military aggression against Ukraine by Russia. We want to reiterate our message in support of peace, standing in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as well as peace movements and peace activists. No to war in Ukraine, no to war anywhere! We invite you to stand up against the war in Ukraine and encourage you to join your local peace protest or activity or to organise one yourself.

SCI India – Maharashtra State Group is organising an online discussion on the occasion of International Women’s Day with the theme “Women’s Empowerment”. ? 8 March 2023 15:30 CET ? Zoom

The earthquake recently affecting Turkey and Syria is the biggest of the last centuries. Read more to know how you can help.

In December 2022, SCI Austria organised a training about colonialism and volunteering, aiming to learn and think about colonialism, its definition and its structures, and to help organisations better prepare volunteers that go to the Global South. To decolonize ourselves, in other words. Participants from different organisations or branches of SCI benefitted from this training. Now they have returned to their organisations and activities with new tools to struggle with eurocentrism, racism and colonialism within NGOs.

SCI Poland invites you to register for the webinar entitled “Recipes for high-quality educational events”, which will take place on 27.02.2023, 16-17 CET

Inex Slovakia is looking for 2 long-term ESC volunteers to join their team in Bratislava.

CI-Hellas with the support of the Anna Lindh Foundation organised a FEEL THE MEDITERRANEAN event on the Day of the Mediterranean. This was one of the many cultural, mainly music, events organised on that particular day to celebrate a sea that brings together so many different cultures and is invariably significant to Europe’s past, present and future.

It took a few years, but IVP Australia has finally published their booklet.

Our branch in Madrid, Spain is looking for 2 ESC long term volunteers. The volunteers will be ? based in Madrid (Spain),  ? from February 2023 to February 2024. ⏰ Deadline to apply: ASAP

Inge our new international Coordinator joined SCI International Secretariat in Antwerp. She has a wide international experience and is excited to join our big peaceful family. We look forward to work together!

? The International Secretariat of Service Civil International is looking for a European Solidarity Corps volunteer! The volunteer will be ? based in Antwerp (Belgium), ? from 27 March 2023 to 26 March 2024, ? and will be working on projects. ⏰ Deadline to apply: 18 January 2023

SCI India West Bengal State Group has been organising some exciting activities! They are making their villages plastic waste Free-Zones.

The International Committee Meeting (ICM), the annual general assembly of SCI, where all member organisations decide on the future of the organisation, took place online from 7 to 11 December 2022.

This year’s edition of the SCI Catalunya ‘La Instantània’ annual photo contest already has a winner!

SCI-India’s Maharashtra State Group celebrated the International Volunteer Day with a virtual meeting. The participants from Asia, Australia and Europe shared their experiences, remarks and wishes.

After a long time there is another edition of Asian Voices

Pierre Cérésole Award is an annual award given to branches’ projects that deserve special mention because of their innovative nature or the impact they achieved. Discover this year’s awards

Our Polish branch in Poznan organised recently a training course where 28 participants from 9 countries got more in-depth on the topics of inclusion and new tools and trends in learning and development in online and in-person settings.

Are you curious to know more about the activities that volunteers did at the camp organised by SCI India Maharashtra State Group?

People with lower incomes and low educational qualifications are strongly underrepresented in the climate movement. Yet it is precisely the economically weak and working class people who are most affected by the impacts of the climate crisis – both locally and globally. Find out more about the activity that SCI Germany organised this year on the matter.

Participants of “Inner Peace and Peace with Nature” & “Learning Lab(orator) Pro” are conducting very interesting follow-up activities.

Have you ever wondered what the activities of SCI France are in this late period of 2022?

Between 13th and 19th of October, 30 youngsters from different countries gathered in Winterthur, Switzerland for the “Inner Peace and Peace with Nature” training course. The main goal of this training was to help the participant to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of peace and its different levels.

We decided to run an end-of-the-year fundraiser to cover the costs of our projects for youth and a donation from you, or anybody you know, could help us achieve that goal and complete the year in December with a better financial outlook.

Have you heard about the annual conferences by the United Nations that address climate change? This year’s conference will start this month already and the SCI sends a global delegation. Find out more about the conference and the SCI delegation below.

Counteracting the phenomenon of social isolation is the main goal of the campaign “W Klubie raźniej” (“It’s better to be in the Club”), which intends to encourage people active in seniors’ associations and clubs to become their ambassadors in their local communities.

Are you curious to know what SCI Malaysia did for the International Day of Peace this year? As the restrictions were lifted, they were able to hold in-person activities. Find out more about what they did from Interfaith Peace Dialogue to Peace Promenade.

Noëlla is our new office volunteer, she’s 21 years old and comes from France. She will work on statistics, on the preparation of our big event International Committee Meeting, on the fundraising and donor management and on some events on Gathertown.

Are you an educator, a (to-be) trainer, willing to discover how to organise high-quality and more inclusive learning activities in both in-person and online environments? Apply for this training course! ? 27 October – 3 November 2022 ? Poznań, Poland ⏰ Apply by 2 October

Discover all the activities by SCI-India, Maharashtra State Group, in observance of the International Day of Peace. Their SCI Volunteers spread all over Maharashtra, in different cities, took a lead role in the activities, from mediation sessions, to drawing competitions, webinars and discussions. Get inspired!

SCI India, West Bengal State Group, organised a seminar on peace to observe the peace day, with many speakers, singing, dancing, poetry and an oath to peace.

From 24th August to 7th September 2022, 15 participants took part in a workcamp in organized by SCI Italy at “La Città dell’Utopia”. Throughout the camp they collected and discussed different stories about local, historical and current fascism.

Pauline, our new Project and Tech volunteer comes from France and joined the SCI International Secretariat in Antwerp. As she begins her journey with the SCI movement, she shares her thoughts, hopes and ideas for her long term volunteering project in Belgium.

Decolonise IVS project, initiated BY CCIVS together with ICYE, aims to build a new framework for decolonial thinking in International Voluntary Service Organizations making them reflect on diversity, equality and environmental sustainability from an intersectional perspective. With Decolonise IVS, workcamp organizations seek for the first time to go to the heart of the debate around decolonisation and to understand more about continuing forms of neo-colonialism including climate colonialism. If you are interested in the topic you can apply for their online dialogues.

Are you interested to know what is it like to volunteer in a summer workcamp in Sri Lanka? In this article one of our volunteers tells us more about their experience, the activities they did, the delicious Sri Lankan food and the kind people they met.

Gender equality in volunteering? This is the new project that SCI Madrid are organizing together with Greek NGO Genderhood. This project aims at promoting and encouraging non-profit organizations to incorporate the gender perspective in all their volunteering activities, through the development of an action plan that contributes to gender equality in a sustainable way.

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges that humanity has faced in the last centuries.The Youth Green Deal (YGD) project, putting climate justice at the center of the cooperation in the Mediterranean area, organized an eco-camp in Palestine to build an eco-village. To make sure that there is hope for future generations it is important to raise the voice of young people on important platforms on matters such as climate change, oppression and non-violence.

SCI Malaysia Penang Chapter wants to build an International Peace Park (IPP) that would become a place of peace and friendship for various cultural organizations to come together and have interactive sessions. They send a proposal to the state’s Chief Minister about this park and how it can promote peace and understanding.

SCI Sri Lanka held a 10-days summer workcamp in Kudagama fishing village focused on educational activities for the children and the youth of the village in order to teach them English and motivate them to attend school every day. The purpose of volunteers was to bring much needed outside recognition and acceptance to the village community.

SCI India West Bengal Group held a short-term camp focused on Environment, Health and Human Rights. They planted 600 Sonajhuri trees and also distributed 54 Mud apple trees. In addition they held awareness meetings, discussions with local youth, a drawing competition for the kids and cleaned a school campus.

In 2021-2022, SCI Hong Kong China works on the Global Development Education Project with three secondary schools to create a platform for students to work together across countries despite the limitations on international travel, to acquire knowledge, develop attitudes and skills as well as allow them to take actions towards creating an inclusive and just world. Read about the project!

What is the formula behind quality non-formal education? Is it possible in a digital environment? 28 people from 9 different countries gathered to find this out from 7 to 14 July 2022 in the village of Emen, Bulgaria. The Learning Lab(oratory) Training Course was part of the project “Learning Lab(oratory): quality non-formal education in the digital world”.

The Youth Green Deal project has been initiated by the MIDI working group together with partners from the South Mediterranean area and aims to mobilize young people to act against climate change through eco-volunteering. Hugo from SCI France tells us about their visual storytelling training course.

Become a volunteer for BASIDA, an NGO that provides medical and psychosocial support to HIV-positive, drugs addicted people and others with special needs. The volunteer will participate in the everyday life of the Centre, socializing with its community. From 8 to 21 August 2022 in Aranjuez, Spain. Apply soon!

In July, SCI Poland began their workcamp season, welcoming international volunteers to three camps: Trzcianka, Wydminy, and Lublin. Read more to know what they were about!

The European training “Grassroots Change: Volunteering, leadership and emancipation through hands-on work and mentoring” took place in Rome in June 2022. For one week, 17 participants from 8 different countries, through non-formal education, discussed how to create change by reflecting, with a global perspective, on how organizations and local communities can benefit from volunteering experiences with a focus on climate change.

SCI France is organising many workcamps this summer, go renovate the chapel of Saint-Jean with them!

In June, SCI Poland completed two long-term educational initiatives: the School of Solutions Journalism and the School of Climate Justice. Both of them consisted of a series of workshops organised for people who want to work for social justice — either through journalism or climate activism.

SCI Madrid hosted a DETOX YOUR PROJECT seminar about Reacting to Toxic Masculinity in Youth & Volunteering Projects that took place at the end of May in Madrid, Spain.

SCI Madrid joined Fevocam, the largest platform of volunteer entities in the Community of Madrid.

Here a few workcamps GAIA Kosovo is organising this summer.

Due to the massive economic crisis in Sri Lanka, some people don’t have enough money to feed themselves properly. Thanks to SCI India – Karnataka group relief fund donations, we were able to organise food distributions and hope to continue them in the months to come!