Summer picnic Wed 24.8. at 5-8pm in Helsinki

Toiminnanjohtaja on 16.8.2022

iloisia ihmisiä, ulkona, istuu nurmikolla

Come start the fall season and KVT’s 75th birthday celebrations with a summer picnic. At the picnic you can meet both KVT board members and other volunteers. You can also bring a friend along to meet us.

Place: Rauhanasema (Veturitori 3), close to Pasila railway station in Helsinki

This picnic will be organized as an international potluck gathering, but we offer coffee, tea and some small sweets. Please bring something with you, or just drop by for a coffee. You can also bring a music instrument, a game or photos your volunteer experiences. Let’s have a fun and relaxed picnic together!

To Spain this summer? Become part of Green Diversity

Järjestökoordinaattori on 7.6.2022

Green Diversity Spain

Caring about climate justice, telling my story and getting active? Are you 18 – 30 years old? Do you want to travel to Spain in July? YES! Then apply to become part of the Green Diversity project. 

‘Green Diversity?!’ is a project that aims to equip you with the necessary tools to be visible and be heard with your claim for global climate justice. With your story, you can inspire other young people to speak up themselves. If you care about climate justice and about telling your side of the story, we invite you to our Storytelling Lab in Logroño, Spain, from 18th to 23rd of July 2022.

At the Storytelling Lab, you will meet young people and learn more about different perspectives on climate justice. We will get creative and practice different ways to share our stories and ideas. You will work on building your own personal story and a team to establish a community to strengthen climate justice. The world needs young people who want to raise up their voice and participate/ get involved in climate justice issues.

The costs related to the activity (travels, meals, accommodation on shared rooms, etc.) will be covered by the project Green Diversity through the Erasmus+ programme. All the activities will be implemented on accessible spaces, using non formal techniques and in a suitable lodging to ensure an appropriate attendance and participation of any person.

Complete this form for registering on the selection of participants.

No war in Ukraine! No war anywhere!

Järjestökoordinaattori on 29.5.2022

Ukrainan kartta, jonka päällä teksti "No war in ukraine! No war anywhere!"

We, the undersigned SCI organisations, strongly condemn the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In particular, we express our solidarity with and support for peace movements and peace activists in Ukraine, Russia and internationally, as they resist the war.

We, the undersigned Service Civil International (SCI) organisations, strongly condemn the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In particular, we express our solidarity with and support for peace movements and peace activists in Ukraine, Russia and internationally, as they resist the war.

We are concerned that this invasion leads to a huge number of victims and deaths, injuries and severe emotional distress among civilians and military in the countries concerned. It can cause significant deterioration of infrastructure and the ecosystem, an economic crisis and mass displacement of people.

We call upon the Russian decision makers to immediately stop the violence and withdraw their troops from Ukraine and bordering territories. We call upon the international community and all parties involved to engage in substantial and sincere diplomatic negotiations in accordance with international agreements and place the humanitarian needs of civilians first. We call upon the countries of the European Union to welcome people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and guarantee international protection.

We call upon people within our network and all over the world to stand up against the war in Ukraine. We ask you to join or organise demonstrations for a diplomatic resolution and against a further military escalation of the conflict. Call for an immediate ceasefire as well as a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the conflict on social media and with decision-makers in your countries.

A war undermines efforts at global cooperation. It leads to an increase in military spending, while resources are much needed to address pressing global issues, such as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the technologies available for warfare today, among them huge arsenals of nuclear weapons, de-escalation is the only way forward.

We call upon people within our network and all over the world to stand up against the war in Ukraine. We ask you to join or organise demonstrations for a diplomatic resolution and against a further military escalation of the conflict. Call for an immediate ceasefire as well as a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the conflict on social media and with decision-makers in your countries.

Peace is a choice that all parties in the conflict must commit to now! Diplomacy is the only real method for conflict resolution! No to war in Ukraine!

Service Civil International is an international peace organisation active since 1920. We are dedicated to promoting a culture of peace by organising international voluntary projects for people of all ages and backgrounds. The organisation consists of 40 branches and more than 90 partner organisations. We oppose all forms of armed conflict and militarization. Since its beginnings, SCI has developed peaceful dialogue between people of all nations, with the vision of a world without armed conflict, hostility and with positive peace. For many years, we have been supporting peace and reconciliation efforts in Ukraine and Russia.

Branches and partners that support this statement:

  1. SCI Hellas
  2. SCI Austria
  3. Stowarzyszenie Jeden Świat – SCI Poland
  4. ÚTILAPU Hungary
  5. Volonterski centar Vojvodine
  6. SCI IVS USA
  7. SCI Catalunya
  8. Mati Canada (not SCI)
  9. SCI Germany
  10. SCI Italy
  11. GAIA SCI Kosovo
  12. IVP Australia
  13. KVT Finland
  14. SCI Korea
  15. PVN Albania
  16. SCI Madrid
  17. VSI Ireland
  18. SCI Sri Lanka
  19. Association Volontariat Sans Frontière (VSFr Tunisia)
  20. ID Norway
  21. SCI India
  22. SCI Romania
  23. SCI Malaysia
  24. CVS Bulgaria
  25. IVP Indonesia
  26. SCI France
  27. SCI Switzerland
  28. International Voluntary Service (IVS-GB)
  29. VIA Netherlands
  30. SCI Belgium

Open doors at KVT on Thu June 2nd

Toiminnanjohtaja on 1.3.2022

Come meet us and the world of international volunteering! You can ask us about volunteering options, exchange stories or just pop in to say hi.

How wonderful would it be to meet new and old volunteers now that the world starts to open again! KVT starts having open doors again after a long while. Come to our office on Thursday June 2nd at 4-6 pm. Come as you are: we will offer coffee and tea and good talks.

If you are a new volunteer you can learn about different ways to participate and hear stories from others. If you have participated with KVT before, you can share your memories with us. You can come to the office at any point during the open doors time. Our office is located in the yellow wooden building Peace Station in Pasila, Helsinki. Street address is Veturitori 3. Come to the entrance at the side of the building closest to Pasila station, ring buzzer that says KVT and then come up the stairs to the second floor. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Call for participant: Mobility of volunteering? Eco-friendly! 6.-13.3.2022 in Austria

Järjestökoordinaattori on 10.1.2022

Are you interested in international mobility and it’s effects? It’s a topic we can’t really skip when volunteering around the world, so it’s important for us to also think about the pros and cons of international travel and how to develop the practices around international travel. KVT has one place booked for a seminar in March, which is organized by our partner NGO in Austria.

Would you be interested in participating? Send us a message () if you are interested and/or if you need more info. You find more info about the seminar, the work included and how to apply from the organizer’s webpage. The DL for applications is 16th January.

KVT on holidays 24.12.-2.1.

Järjestökoordinaattori on 22.12.2021

Happy holiday wishes

KVT office is closed for Christmas from 24th December until 2nd January.

Many thanks for all the active volunteers, KVT members, camp leaders, camp hosts and other partners for your cooperation! Again, we have had a year full of challenges, but at KVT we have also succeeded in creating and testing new ideas and building our knowledge in new areas. Let’s continue to volunteer, to try new things and to improve our skills also in 2022!

Happy Holidays, see you next year!

Workshop on responsible volunteering: Wed Nov 17 (online)

Anni Lamponen on 3.11.2021

Do we need international volunteering? Who benefits from it? What should international volunteering look like in the future and in the post-COVID world? Come and discuss these questions and different takes on responsible volunteering with us!

KVT’s online workshop with this topic is held on Wednesday November 17th at 17.30-20.00. The workshop is a continuation of a similar-themed workshop we’ve held before, but you don’t need to have participated in the earlier workshop or have international volunteering experience in order to join this workshop – everyone is welcome!

We will also have participants from some of our partner organizations around the world, and the workshop will be held in English.

The workshop is held online, on Zoom. Registration in advance through this link. After you register, you’ll get your individual link to join automatically. We will accept 15 participants in the registration order.

Registered participants will get a small pre-task a few days before the workshop to get more familiar with the topic.

Welcome!

Ihmisiä piknikillä ulkona

The KVT board is looking for new members

Järjestökoordinaattori on 26.10.2021

Do you have experience related to volunteering or organization with KVT or elsewhere? Do you share KVT’s values and wish to promote understanding and peace between people? Apply for the KVT board!

KVT Finland has promoted peace and understanding between people already for over 70 years. Yearly KVT organizes international voluntary workcamps all around Finland. The camp participants have very different backgrounds. On the camps everyone works for a common goal, which helps deal with prejudice and break boundaries. KVT functions on a grassroots level on behalf of peace,  and doing things together and equality are its core principles.

The KVT board is a group of active members selected by KVT members. The board makes all the decisions for KVT and plans and implements its activities. As a member of the board, you will get to participate in KVT’s work for peace, gain new experiences and learn to know great people in Finland and abroad. As a member of the board, you will also develop your skills outside the board meetings by participating in events, trainings and seminars.

Both those who already have experience as board members from NGO sector and those who are only getting to know this sector, can find things to do in the board. The most important thing for a board member is to share KVT’s values, to participate actively in the work of the board and to have the desire to make an impact. At KVT you will not be a rubber stamp!

Are you interested? Send KVT president Anni Lamponen () a short and informal presentation of yourself. Tell us who you are, how well you know KVT and why you are interested in becoming a board member. Anni will also answer any questions related to board membership – don’t hesitate to contact her! The new board members for 2022 will be selected in KVT’s autumn meeting 24.11.2021.

Update: Volunteer exchange possible with restrictions

Toiminnanjohtaja on 28.9.2021

rauhanmerkki, muraali

KVT Finland board has in its meeting on 22nd September discussed the COVID-19 situation and its effects on KVT’s projects. As the travel restrictions have eased we can now open volunteer exchange with some restrictions.

At this moment it is possible to participate in short-term projects (i.e. international voluntary workcamps) abroad in Eu/Schengen countries as well as in countries also outside the EU where border traffic has returned to normal. These countries will change according to the Finnish Government instructions. Volunteers must check and comply with the travel regulations of each country. 

Long-term volunteer exchange will be opened with restrictions starting from September. It is possible to go when the volunteer has received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine and the project and country in question are able to receive volunteers. Full vaccination is important because in many countries and regions the healthcare system is already burdened and accessing services is limited. We don’t want to put any unnecessary burden on healthcare.

The board and working groups are still planning activities that could be done safely online. We will give more information on these events on our website and in our social media channels. We will also share initiatives from our partner organisations in Finland and abroad to which you can participate online.

We still follow the pandemic closely both in Finland and elsewhere in the world and we review the situation monthly in board meetings. We also take part in regular discussions within our international network Service Civil International (SCI). We will continue to publish all future decisions on our website and in our social media channels. SCI also has a website where they give information on all common decisions and practices the network makes.

The leading principle in KVT’s actions is responsibility and in this situation we still cannot responsibly promote international mobility everywhere in the world. We still want to promote and build peace in ways and in the areas and where it is possible both in Finland and abroad and offer meaningful projects to our volunteers in the safest way possible.

If you have any questions on KVT activities or decisions, please contact KVT office ().

Volunteer Weekend Sun 3.10.

Järjestökoordinaattori on 6.9.2021

Welcome to KVT’s Volunteer Weekend on Sunday 3.10.2021!

Join us to enjoy the volunteering spirit and get to know other volunteers! Even though the past year has been difficult for volunteering activities and international mobility, it is still important to get the chance to share our experiences and learn from each other.

All KVT volunteers who have participated in workcamps or long-term projects (either in Finland or abroad) or people who have worked as camp hosts are welcome to attend! Other volunteers of KVT from working groups, events, local groups etc. are welcome too.

The Volunteer Weekend will be organized in Helsinki at the Peace Station, if the covid situation allows. This will be confirmed closer to the date.

The event will start on Sunday 3.10. at 10am and it will last untill around 4pm. The morning is reserved for people who have volunteered through KVT (volunteers at camps, long term volunteers, camp leaders and camp hosts etc) to share their exprience and go through the feedback workshops. Morning program will last until around 1pm, when we will have lunch and move on to the afternoon program. Afternoon is open doors programme to which all previous volunteers and anyone interested in KVT are welcome to join! In the afternoon we will share information about KVT’s activities, have fun together and get to know each other.

KVT will offer breakfast to those who take part in the morning session. We will also provide lunch, to which afternoon program participants can join also.

We ask all participants (either morning, afternoon or full day) to sign up before hand, so we can reserve enough food and plan the program to fit all. Sign ups are open untill Fri 1.10. 3pm. You can sign up through this link.

Welcome to the Volunteer Weekend!