Would you like to utilize your skills and your volunteering experiences? Come along to develop activities, share experiences and maintain international volunteering! Working groups and other activities in Finland are a great way to learn more about volunteering and international voluntary work in like-minded company.

KVT’s working groups are Pave, which is responsible for long-term volunteering, Koordis, which coordinates camp activities in Finland and Equality working group, which views and develops KVT’s activities from equality aspect. You can join working groups at any time of the year.

Koordis

KVT’s camp coordination group, Koordis, organizes 8–12 camps in Finland every year. The group members get in touch with camp hosts in the autumn, train camp leaders in the spring, visit the Finnish camps in the summer, evaluate the success of the camp season and plan the continuation in the following autumn.

In Koordis you will have the opportunity to see how voluntary workcamps are organized. You can influence the workcamp experience the international volunteers arriving in Finland will get, as well as make sure our own camp leaders and camp hosts get the most out of their experience!

Koordis members are both former camp participants as well as former camp leaders in addition to KVT board members. At the moment, Koordis comprises of Leena, Kimmo and Hanna, who have also worked in the board, and Kikka and Sari, who have a long history of volunteer experiences, and the Exchange and Volunteer Coordinator from the KVT office.

Koordis meets about once a month from September to May. We usually meet in Helsinki, but if you live further away, you can also attend meetings remotely. We have Finnish or English as the working language, depending on the wishes of the participants.

If you are interested in Koordis, send us a message: .

Pave

Pave is the working group that focuses on long-term volunteering and workcamp participants in the Global South. In practice this means, among other things, processing applications, answering questions, interviewing volunteers, and arranging training for departing volunteers and evaluation meetings for returned volunteers.

The working group offers a great opportunity to continue working on the experiences that came with your own long-term volunteer work. In Pave, you can share your experiences with new volunteers and make it easier for them to volunteer and get the best experience possible. Peer support at the planning stage, during the volunteer period and on return is often invaluable.

Those involved in the working group have experience and knowledge of many different countries and many of our different projects. They have volunteered in Uganda, Thailand and Tanzania. At the moment Pave group consists of Anni, Hanna, Riina and Katja who have also worked in the KVT board.

Much of the Pave group’s activities are done remotely, and we have a very active WhatsApp group. The group meets three to four times a year, often during volunteer training sessions. The meeting place is therefore usually Helsinki, but going elsewhere is not an obstacle! You can also attend meetings remotely.

If you are interested, please contact Pave group: .

Equality working group

Are you looking for more grassroots peace activities and keeping up an international atmosphere? Do you want to build a more equal world? Are you interested in working with people with immigrant backgrounds or people with different disadvantages and supporting their integration? Join KVT’s equality working group!

The working group views and develops KVT’s activities from equality aspect. Their aim is that KVT’s activities are open and safe for everyone.

The working group members also help with KVT’s work directed to asylum seekers and immgirants. They ensure that each voluntary workcamp has 1-2 asylum seeker participants. Working group members also keep up contacts to reception centers, help with interviewing camp participants if needed and take part in evaluating the camp season success.

In addition, our volunteer group interested in working with immigrants has, for some years now, organized regular activities for the residents of Punavuoksi reception center in Helsinki.

At the moment the working group consists of Hanna and Sophie.

If you want to know more or join the group, contact us:

Green Diversity -project team

Green Diversity is a two year EU funded project (2022-2024), in which KVT is participating with four other european youth organisations.

The main themes in the project are climate change and climate justice from the youth perspective. We aim to give tools on how to work with youth in today’s world and discuss the climate theme through storytelling methods. We believe that personal stories are the strongest way to influence and change the world.

The project consists of several parts, such as a storytelling guide, a website with volunteers’ videos and a guidebook on climate politics. The project coordinator for KVT is Leena Turkki and there are several volunteers and young people taking part in the project activities in Finland as well.

If you want to be part of the project or share ideas, you can contact the project team through .

Local activities

Volunteers all around Finland can take part in many ways. On the local level you can do pretty much everything that KVT is doing in general and you can also come up with new ideas for activities: for example meetings for people going to or from workcamps or long-term projects, presenting KVT’s activities at events, looking for new camp host in their area and doing some volunteer work locally. If you are looking for more activities in your area or you notice a good opportunity for presenting KVT’s work, we will be happy to hear your ideas.

Through the years, KVT has had local groups active in different cities. On Facebook you will find our local groups in Jyväskylä, Tampere and Helsinki. 

If there is no local group in your area, you can also start one yourself and invite other KVT volunteers or people interested in KVT to join.

Camp host search

KVT opens the camp host search every year in the fall. Are you involved in another organization that has need for a volunteer group and could host a volunteer work camp, or do you have connections to potential work camp sites? Or have you come up with a great idea for a workcamp? Tell us your thoughts and contact us at .

Join us in trainings

Different trainings are organized annually for volunteers and camp leaders, which are perhaps the most fun activity of KVT. Trainings always require trainers and facilitators as well as people for the more practical side of things, such as cooking.

You can come and tell about your own experiences or organize a game or an energizer to do with the participants. You can also implement your other pedagogical skills or facilitation ideas if you want to. Contact either Pave or Koordis if you could participate in the training sessions.

Communication

Do you like writing? Write about your experiences from a voluntary workcamp or a long-term project on KVT’s website or send pictures and a short description for Instagram! Did you take photos at your workcamp or volunteer project that could be used for KVT’s communication? Or are you interested in making video content? You can also occasionally participate in the design and updating of our communication materials and various training materials.

The easiest way to participate in KVT’s communication: like our Facebook-page, follow our Instagram, share our posts and let the word know about our activities! If you have any ideas regarding communication, please contact .

Parties, events, communal work

KVT organizes a wide range of events: information evenings and presentations on volunteering, various theme nights, pre-Christmas parties, workshops and trainings and other events. Also some communal work events or mini-work camps are organized in different places, for example in reception centers or with camp hosts.

You are welcome to join the organization teams of parties and events. Of course you can always suggest your own ideas for possible places to go volunteering or even a theme night. You can also take part in various info events to share your experiences in volunteering.

International seminars and trainings

KVT members from Finland also participate in the activities of our international umbrella organization SCI (Service Civil International), such as seminars and meetings. From these events we gain new information and expertise for KVT’s operations. Participants are recruited occasionally, so you might want to follow KVT’s social media and website for any announcements looking for participants.