As EYV 2011 came to an end, Volonteurope’s work on promoting volunteering and social action across Europe goes on. Those who attended the 20th Annual Volonteurope Conference in Edinburgh (20-23 October 2011) will know that the Volonteurope Board and Secretariat have since been working on the preparations to regularise and formalise the Volonteurope Membership. This will make our network more effective and give proper ownership of Volonteurope to its members, as well as ensure a lasting legacy of EYV 2011 and continued work towards the achievement of an inclusive, diverse and tolerant Europe.

By following the link on the right-hand side, please read a letter from the Volonteurope President, Lucy de Groot, in which she outlines our vision for developing Volonteurope and invites you to consider remaining a member of our network or joining Volonteurope as a new member or associate. You can also access documents which support the letter (revised Volonteurope Statutes and a newly-developed Code of Practice which sets the current operational regulations for our network).

Last but not least, by following the link on the right-hand side you will also be able to download the ‘Volonteurope Membership Application Form’ and a corresponding information document which provides further details on the membership and associate status with Volonteurope.

Please note that the deadline for submitting your Membership Application Form is Friday 17 February 2012. This will be followed by a call for nominations to positions on the Volonteurope Board and an online vote amongst the Membership to elect new Board Members. Please refer to the President's Letter for full details on this process and if you have any questions, please contact Piotr Sadowski, Volonteurope's Secretary General.

EYV 2011 was officially closed with two EU-level events: the Final Conference of the EYV 2011 Alliance, 29-30 November 2011; and the 4th Thematic Confere of the European Commission, 1-2 December 2011. Both of the events took place in Warsaw, also coinciding with the end of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The EYV 2011 Alliance Conference was an opportunity to officially thank and celebrate the efforts by the 100 members of the Alliance's Working Groups, who, over the year, led the development of the Policy Agenda for Volunteering in Europe (P.A.V.E) Document, a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving the volunteering infrastructure in Europe at all levels. The P.A.V.E document was then officially handed over to the Commissioner Georgieva (DG ECHO) during the Closing Conference of the European Commission.

A month after the 3rd Thematic Conference (3-4 November 2011, Athens), the Commission's Closing Conference was a policy-oriented event focusing on the topic “Preparing a lasting legacy for the European Year of Volunteering”. With the presentation of the P.A.V.E Document, the Conference set the scene for policy development and continued action in the area of volunteering at EU, national and regional levels, to ensure a lasting, meaningful legacy for the European Year in the years to come.

The core of the Conference was a series of panels and workshops presented by EYV 2011 Alliance members and other stakeholders, and it brough together 250 participants from across all sectors in Europe. Volonteurope was also delighted that all of its 2011 ACE Awards Winners were invited to the Conference by the European Commission and were officially introduced to the participants during one of the closing sessions on Friday 2 December 2011.

To download your copy of the P.A.V.E document, access information on the 3rd and 4th Thematic (Closing) Conference for EYV 2011, as well as to visit the websites of the EYV 2011 Alliance and the European Commission, please follow the links on the right-hand side.

The 20th Volonteurope Conference was held in Edinburgh, delivered in partnership with CSV in Scotland and supported by the European Commission's 'Europe for Citizens' Programme.

The Conference in Edinburgh, delivered in the framework of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, also celebrated the 5th Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards. On Friday 21 October 2011, at Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk in Edinburgh, we recognised outstanding indvidual volunteers and volunteering NGOs, as well as corporate companies with effective CSR and volunteering programmes. We are grateful to the Lloyds Banking Group who supported this year's Awards Ceremony. The winners of the 2011 ACE Awards were:

NGOs:
• Scottish European Educational Trust (Scotland)
• Sue Ryder (for work in Scotland through the Prison Volunteer Programme)
• Serve the City (Europe-wide)

Volunteers:
• Redhall Walled Garden Trainees (Scotland)
• Saronikos Young Volunteers in Action (Greece)

Corporate Organisations:
• Fundação INATEL - 'Conversa Amiga' Programme (Portugal)

A full Report from the Conference will be made available by February 2012.

The Volonteurope Secretariat recently held two consultative seminars on the Value of Volunteering, delivered in the framework of the European Year of Volunteering 2011. The seminars (in Prague, run jointly with our Czech member Hestia; and in London) progressed the call on Member State Governments and EU institutions to take volunteering seriously and recognise it as a strategic response in economic and social terms, as well as a driver of civic engagement. The speakers included a range of leading representatives from EU institutions, European and national NGOs and social enterprises. The departure point for the seminars, as well as Volonteurope's ongoing work in recognising the value of volunteering, is the recently-published 'Review on the Value of Volunteering' - available for downloading by following the link on the right-hand side.

We are delighted to announce that Volonteurope's 'Report on Effective Consultation with Citizens in the EU', which has formed the basis of the the "Library Dialogue" seminar held on the 24th March 2010 in Amsterdam, has now been published.

Volonteurope continues to focus on the all-important issue of consultations with CSOs and citizens further, as it is one of the crucial elements and obligations of Article 11 of the Lisbon Treaty. We are now chairing the Sub-Group on Consultation & Dialogue as part of the Structured Dialogue on Active Citizenship, which is coordinated by DG COMM at the European Commission. We will keep you updated about the developments of this important aspect of our work.