The E-volunteering Programme by Good Network Foundation
For a few years now there has been a dynamic development of projects that take advantage of the social potential of the Internet for the common good in Poland. This positive trend encouraged us to create the E-volunteering Programme in 2009 and to create the first Polish e-volunteering platform: www.e-wolontariat.pl. What is e-volunteering? What are the myths about it? Who can become an e-volunteer? How can one creatively use modern technology for the common good? The answers to these and many other questions can be found on our website!
The website www.e-wolontariat.pl features also:
- a database of work offers for e-volunteers,
- descriptions of good practices,
- expert articles for organizers of e-volunteering and activists.
As a part of the E-volunteering Programme we also:
- organize two competitions rewarding the most interesting initiatives that get volunteers involved into helping others via the Internet: the Polish „Odkryj e-wolontariat” Competition (since 2009) and the European „Discover E-volunteering” Competition with the first edition in 2011 during the European Year of Volunteering.
- organize training projects and courses for NGOs, other institutions, companies and individuals,
- promote e-volunteering and creative application of modern technology for the common good,
- issue publications under the CC licence – feel free to use them!
- carry out surveys.
In 2013 we organized the first Hackathon for E-volunteering and international ‘Discover e-volunteering. Change the WWWorld!’ conference that focused on the influence of modern technology on our everyday life.
Due to our cooperation with the European Volunteer Centre (CEV), we frequently take part in international symposia on current issues, the future and development of volunteering in Europe and all over the world. Using the CEV Online Community Platform, we also express our opinion as far as discussions and the preparation of strategic CEV documents are concerned. At the Tallinn (May 2010), Berlin (October 2011) and Zadar (June 2015) Symposia we also carried out workshops about e-volunteering.
E-volunteering
The main goals of the E-volunteering Programme are:
- promotion of e-volunteering in Poland and in Europe,
- popularization of knowledge concerning using modern technology as a tool of social involvement among NGOs and volunteers,
- creating common standards of e-volunteers’ online work and lobbying for e-volunteering being accepted as an equally important form of volunteering,
- changing the image of the Internet, increasing the social awareness of the fact that the Internet may be used in a positive way to get involved for someone else,
- acting against the digital disclusion, the promotion of e-volunteering among the elderly, the disabled, the stay-at-home mums etc.
- creating a network of volunteering and e-volunteering organizations that covers the whole Poland and abroad.