By Centre for European Volunteering (CEV)
The European Volunteering Capital is a Europe-wide open competition that aims to promote volunteering at the local level by recognising municipalities that support volunteers and strengthen partnerships with volunteer-involving organisations and serve as sources of inspiration for all municipalities across Europe to make greater efforts to promote and celebrate volunteering.
Within the framework of the European Volunteering Capital 2020 title hold by Padova (Italy) (#EVCapital2020), the representatives of the Padova Municipality and of the Centro Servizio Volontariato of Padova (CSV Padova) were inspired by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to draw their action plan.
In Padova 7 areas of study were identified, which accompanied the discussion and creation of the schedule for the 2020 campaign through the creation of as many working and processing tables as possible. The composition of these comprised representatives of the volunteering and volunteering involving organisations, local institutions, economic categories, universities, research and training agencies, trade union organisations and the media at the local and national level. Thus, seeking the involvement of all social actors to activate virtuous relationships between public and private to trigger positive development processes.
In line with the SDGs, such as SDG 1, SDG 3, SDG 11 or SDG 16, these 7 areas were: Poverty and new marginalisation; Health, Sport and Well-being; Culture and Education; Technology and Innovation; Environment and Urban planning; Economy and Sustainable Development; Peace, Human Rights and International Cooperation.
Young and elderly people, people with disabilities, women in difficulty and, in general, all people who have a higher probability of falling into these vulnerable categories were involved and considered in each of the seven focal areas.
As defined by the CSV Padova, this action’s main purpose was to “transform fragilities into valuable resources and increase social inclusion. The actions aimed at redefining and rewriting the characteristics of being together in the city and designing the future scenario by actively involving all social actors”.