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e-Mentoring scheme to start across EU

IT | Stefan Marseglia | 15 Jan 2010

An e-mentoring scheme designed for civil society organisations is set to be launched across the European Union.

The ‘Participation for Change’ project, the first of its kind in Europe, will bring together the countries of Estonia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, after a joint bid to the DG Education & Culture of the European Commission secured just under £170,000 of funding.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is one of the national bodies involved in the project.

The scheme, whose intention is to develop new partnerships, will allow staff, trustees and volunteers from 25 civil society organisations (CSOs) in the five partner countries to use meeting formats and e-mentoring to define major areas of interest to tackle.

Stuart Etherington, chief executive officer of NCVO, said: “We are delighted we have secured this funding. ‘Participation for Change’ will give CSOs the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other.”

With up to 250 CSOs being invited to take part in the initial e-conference, a shortlist of five mentors, one per partner country, will be created. The shortlist will then be matched to five beneficiaries in another partner country to allow one-to-one, one-to-group, peer-to-peer and mentoring in both small and large groups to occur.

Oliver Henman, UK and international campaigns manager for NCVO, said: “Mentors and beneficiaries will use an e-mentoring framework to make first contact and agree the next steps. Participants and mentors will both document the sessions and will be invited to attend an on-site mentoring debrief.”

Through using an online transnational model, Imlach further stated that the scheme will be “highly attractive” to the environment, due to having a low carbon footprint and reducing the need for physical travel.

With the project being evaluated through compiling case studies and by sharing the learning techniques used on the mentoring between all the countries involved, it is expected that those participating will “come together across Europe and allow them to understand each others’ work and the citizens they support from different perspectives,” stated Henman.

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Directory: National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)