The European Solidarity Corps is a European Union initiative that creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe. You can register for the European Solidarity Corps on the official website when you are 17 years old, but you cannot start a project until you are over 18. European Solidarity Corps projects are available to people up to the age of 30 years old. Projects supported by the European Solidarity Corps can last up to twelve months. They are usually located within the European Union member states. It aims to offer stimulating and growing experiences to young people who want to help and acquire transversal and professional skills in voluntary activities, internships and work.
Erasmus+ is the European programme that supports activities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport. It offers opportunities for:
– individuals to spend a mobility or volunteering period abroad
– organisations to collaborate in project partnerships
A participant who has completed a long term volunteering activity (longer than 2 months) funded by the European Voluntary Service is not eligible to participate in another long term volunteering activity funded by the European Solidarity Corps. However, she or he can participate in other activities supported by the Corps such as traineeships, jobs, solidarity projects and volunteering teams.
At the day of your project start you can be maximum 30 years old.
In order to do an ESC with Kora you have to be a resident of an Eu country or one of its partner countries. If you are not sure if your country is eligible to participate, ask us information via email.
Associazione Kora is based on the educational farm “La Buona Terra”, in Passignano sul Trasimeno, in Umbria region, in the centre of Italy. For more information check HERE.
The European Solidarity Corps allows international voluntary work for young people aged between 18 and 30 years. The European Solidarity Corps encourages the involvement of all young people regardless of their educational level, social background and cultural background: it is a programme for everyone! This means that it does not require a perfect knowledge of languages or the best CV in the world: the European Solidarity Corps is also for you who have finished high school and do not know which university to choose or if you do not know whether to continue studying or look for a job. It’s an experience that you can have even if you haven’t finished high school or if you don’t speak English or the local language well: volunteering will be an experience that will make you understand who you are and what you want, developing many skills, including language skills, as well as introducing you to the world!
The European Solidarity Corps is above all a learning service: through non-formal learning experiences young volunteers improve and/or acquire relational and language skills for the benefit of their personal, educational and professional development.
As stipulated in the European Solidarity Corps Programme Guide, the Corps covers the following actions:
- Quality Label;
- Volunteering (Volunteering Projects; Volunteering Partnerships; Volunteering Teams in high-priority areas);
- Traineeships and jobs;
- Solidarity projects.
Activities within the European Solidarity Corps can cover a wide range of topics: from working with children, young people or the elderly to working to preserve the environment or cultural heritage.
Each project has its own specific description and can last (usually) between 1 and 12 months. To these must be added: the “preparation” and “final evaluation” phases that will be carried out by the sending organization in your Sending Organization in your country, respectively, before departure and after returning from the Service.
The project is financed from European Union funds to cover:
- Food
- Accommodation
- An insurance policy
- A monthly allowance to help the volunteer meet certain additional personal expenses (5€ per day)
- A contribution to the cost of the trip (up to a budget calculated by the distance)
Yes, after a short-term you can still participate in a long-term ESC volunteering.
No, you can only do 1 long-term ESC volunteering service, but you can still participate in ESC volunteering team projects.
A short-term ESC volunteering lasts maximum 2 months.
A long-term ESC volunteering lasts more than two months up to 12 months.
A ESC volunteering team lasts maximum 2 months (and involve at least 10 people).
Yes, you get 2 days of holiday per month. You can accumulate them, to take e.g. one week off. Moreover, you have the right to have 2 consecutive free days per week, for example, Saturday and Sunday.
Youth Exchanges are non-formal education projects, aimed at groups of young people aged between 18 and 30 from different countries. Lasting about 6 -21 days, each exchange follows a program of activities related to a theme to promote the knowledge of new socio-cultural realities.
A Training Course is an experience, aimed at youth workers at least 18 years old, who work in the field of education. Lasting about 8 – 10 days, each course has a specific theme to improve participants’ skills and share good practices at international level.
There is no limit in participating in such projects.
For a Youth Exchange you need to be maximum 30 years old, except if you are the leader of your group, then you can be over 30. There is no other mandatory requirement to take part in such projects, as they promote inclusion and peer-to-peer learning.
Depending on the distance of your travel, you have a budget provided for your travel expenses. For example, until 500km you have a budget of 180€, between 500 and 1999 km you have a budget of 275€, and so on… During the YE food and accommodation are covered by the hosting organisation. Sending organisations might ask for a participation fee (usually not more than 80€), get in contact with the sending organisation to know more about it.
To be able to be reimbursed for your travel expenses, you need to provide to the hosting organisation all documents of your journey. That means e.g. all train or bus tickets (with price and date), invoices if the price is not on the ticket (e.g. for Metro tickets), flight invoices and boarding passes, gas receipts if you travel by car.
The documents can be either digital or printed. Everything that is printed (like boarding passes received at the airport counter) need to be handed in to the hosting organisation. Otherwise any electronic/digital ticket is accepted and eligibile for the reimbursement.