Nordplus Adult
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Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) participated in a two-year international project entitled “Voluntary Work as a Pathway to Integration”, which was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers fund Nordplus Adult and the Ministry of Culture.

The coordinating partner of the project was University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education, and the Volunteers’ Centre of the Aalborg region in Denmark was also partnering in the programme along with MISA. The project started in August 2013 and continued until July 2015. During the project an overview of voluntary work and the part immigrants play in it in partnering countries was  given. Supplementary material that helps an immigrant to assess his or her development of professional skills to prepare in a better way for a job search and/or studies was developed. A large part of activities also involved making contacts and developing cooperation between NGOs, employers and volunteering immigrants of different countries.

Studies show that participating in the work of NGOs and volunteer work is lower among immigrants than nationals. Volunteer work is a good opportunity to learn about the society you live in. Volunteer work is a good way to actively participate in society and therefore increase your own future job opportunities as well as expand your social network.

One important goal of the project was to increase the transparency of volunteer work as a non-formal learning environment As a result of the project a voluntary work portfolio was developed where any volunteer of an immigrant background can map his or her voluntary activity and assess himself/herself after each voluntary acitvity. It is advised to involve a support person, social worcer or co-volunteer tom fill in the portfolio. The materials are free to use to anyone as long as references to the project partners and financer are kept.


The portfolio is available in three languages:

Estonian
English
Russian

For further information, please contact: Martin Eber, Coordinator of MISA Civil Education and Migration Unit, tel 659 9067, e-mail martin.eber@meis.ee