9 March 2022, Western Balkans– The ROUTE WB6 Volunteer Caravan is on its way! As part of the final stage of the ROUTE WB6 project, promoting youth mobility, volunteering and peacebuilding in the region, this creative and unique caravan made up of 40 Young European Ambassadors, ROUTE WB6 volunteers and young journalists from the HAJDE platform from all over the Western Balkans aims to promote regional volunteer exchanges and youth volunteering across the region. VolunteerCaravan on four wheels will tour 8 different towns in the region for a whole week and the young volunteers will be engaged with local partners in various activities like environmental protection actions, renovations, creative workshops with children, meetups with local volunteering organizations, and the youth councils. The activity is implemented in cooperation with the Young European Ambassadors network.
The starting point of this journey is Podgorica on the 9 March and the final destination is Tirana, on 15 March. On the way, the volunteers will have the chance to visit Mostar, Sarajevo, Kopaonik, Pristina and Bitola, while socializing with their peers, having the chance to contribute to the local communities and actively participate in the ROUTE WB6 Alumni Club establishment.
The ROUTE WB6 Project Coordinator Ines Bulajić said: “Through our ROUTE WB6 regional volunteer exchange programme, in 2021 we have successfully implemented more than 180 individual volunteer exchanges throughout the Western Balkans. Our volunteers were present at festivals, sports manifestations and in some of the most prominent civil society organisations in the region. The Caravan connecting the towns and the cities where we will promote our Alumni Club and opportunities that together with our partners we offer to the youth of the region is the crown of our efforts to promote ethical volunteering in the WB6. Partnering with the Young European Ambassadors Network enables us to expand youth opportunities in the region, to strengthen the voice and amplify the message of peace, stressing once again the importance of cooperation.“
The Young European Ambassadors involved in the ROUTE WB6 Volunteers Caravan said “As YEAs, we travelled through the Western Balkans for study trips, environmental issues, socialising, debating, singing and dancing at festivals. I am very excited that this time we will join ROUTE WB6 Volunteer Caravan. We are heading to the same destination, a Region embracing European values, so let us jump together on this Caravan, sharing the path that leads to reconciliation and stability towards a common European future for the Region.
BACKGROUND:
The ROUTE WB6 project aims to promote regional volunteering as a tool that will contribute to reducing social and ethnic distance among young people in the region, as well as strengthening their prosocial and European values, leading to reconciliation, stability and prosperity in the region. The project is being implemented across the Western Balkans by a consortium led by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in cooperation with Beyond Barriers, the Southeast European Youth Network, Lens, Youth Cultural Center Bitola, Association for Democracy and Prosperity – Zid, Young Researchers of Serbia and Institute for Youth Development KULT. The project is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Already known among youth all over the region as ‘YEAs’, the young leaders are also joining the Caravan to tell their peers more about the opportunities that the EU offers – for education, skills development, travel, advocacy and much more.
Most importantly, YEAs are open to sharing ideas and developing their talents – towards inspiring change within their communities, the Western Balkans, across Europe and beyond.
The YEA network is a component of the EU Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans which was launched in January 2020. The programme is funded by the European Union and will run for four years. The objective is to inform diverse target audiences about the cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkans.
Contact :
Giovanni Cellini : g.cellini@blumm.pomilio.com
+333 2146503