2011 was declared as the European Year of the volunteer and therefore among others lately a lot of attention is given to the European Voluntary Service-program (EVS) from the European Commission. EVS is getting more and more known and strives to give youngsters the chance to develop themselves personally and professionally by volunteering abroad. Mostly participants in voluntary projects are well-educated and have a good socio-economical situation. What about those who are not?

They call themselves « schools » but they don’t look anything like. France’s sixty «Second Chance Schools » offer several months’ training to unemployed young people from ages 18 to 30 who have no qualifications. The origins of these unusual centers of training lie in a European initiative, driven forward by the French Edith Cresson.

As set up by the French government in 2006, the volunteer civil service might well become compulsory. But many people speak up denouncing a political takeover of this scheme and a massive way of precariousness for young people. This is where things stand in a debate opened about fifteen years ago and which is likely to start again.

The 24-year-old Natasa Stojanoska from Skopje, an English language and literature graduate, tells her experience regarding EVS, after she has spent three months in Estonia, Tallinn. This is her personal view on EVS and her host country…I never really felt alone. At the time there was a fellow Macedonian volunteer who introduced me into the volunteers’ community. I met a hoard of experienced (and less experienced) volunteers who were going through the same I was.

For many students, summer is the time when they can finally enjoy some weeks out of university campuses, without student duties, piles of books, reading materials, studying and writing papers. For many students, this is finally the time when they can wake up whenever they want, enjoy hot summer parties till the sunrise, travel all around and meet new people. However, there are people who devote some of these precious summer weeks to take part in summer university. Yes, university, which means again seminars, final papers and presentations.

Testimony of Heilin-Anne Leonard-Pugh, a young British student with an uncommon passion for bears which brought her to volunteer in the Romanian sanctuary Libearty.

2011 is the Year of Volunteering for the European Commission. But what really means to be volunteer? At least, in English there are two different definitions for the same term. The first stands for someone who gives his free time for an non-lucrative project or the public interest. The second one is a legal status for a limited time of work, not for free, not fully paid… On this dossier, we try to define more precisely what volunteering could bring to young Europeans

From Toronto in April, The Slutwalk movement has since become widespread, protesting the sexual mugging to which some women are still prey. From Boston to Johannesburg, including London, New-Delhi or Prague, Slutwalks are about to become the most federative women’s liberation movement in the last decades.

V-Day is a worldwide movement which aims at raising awareness about violence against women. As they state themselves: “The `V` in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vаginа.”. They strive for a world where women live safely and freely. Everything started in 1994 with a play called The Vаginа Monologues written by Eve Ensler, the later founder of V-Day.

Are music festivals becoming the new youth summer getaway?? At least, that is what the number of visitors of these events is showing lately. Youngsters, all around the world, pack their bags and hit the road to the most designated music program offered. From “Sziget” and “Ozora” in Hungary, “Glastonbury” in England, “Roskilde” in Denmark, “INmusic” in Croatia to “EXIT” in Serbia, the choice of artists to see and listen to is mind-blowing and often very difficult to choose between.