The first meeting of practitioners and experts
On 5-7 December 2016, the first nationwide conference "Volunteering in Culture" will be held in Warsaw. This will be the first meeting of practitioners and experts in the field of volunteering in culture on such a large scale. The objective of this year's edition is to evoke discussion on the value and image of volunteering in culture. During the event, its participants will be introduced to the model examples of volunteering from among institutions all over Poland. The conference will encompass meetings with experts and leaders of the best volunteering projects at cultural institutions, workshops in volunteering management, as well as a possibility to meet and talk to volunteering coordinators and volunteers themselves. Organizers of the conference are going to give the participants an opportunity to experience volunteering themselves - during workshops organized by the Anna Dymna's Against the Odds Foundation. The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition of the works by Ryszard Kajzer conveying the values of volunteering.
Culture and volunteering. Volunteering in culture.
Cultural institutions are places with a fundamental aim of promoting and developing culture in a broad sense of the word. Volunteering is the social activity that shapes social attitudes and build relations between individual members of a given community. A cultural institution, on the other hand, is a perfect space to conduct activities and initiatives in cooperation with volunteers. Sadly, places where cultural volunteering is consistent with the strategy of the institution's activities and where volunteers are part of the team are scarce on the cultural map of Poland. What is more, there are still insufficient examples and tools to support people responsible for volunteering at cultural institutions.
Recipe for volunteering
For almost a year, National Centre for Culture, in cooperation with the Centre for the Thought of John Paul II in Warsaw and The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation, has been developing and professionalizing volunteering projects at cultural institutions. In the last twelve months, the institutions published a "Recipe for Volunteering". It is the first handbook of volunteering management at cultural institutions in Poland. They also organized training sessions with a grant competition, addressed at volunteering coordinators at cultural institutions. The cooperation with many institutions from all over Poland so far leads to a conclusion that initiating projects that involve volunteers is what cultural institutions really need. Additionally, we must not forget to equip managers of such projects with appropriate tools.
Cultural Ticket of a Volunteer
There would be no event if it had not been for volunteers. They inspire others to act and improve the organization of their work for the institution. That is where the initiative to organize the first edition of the Cultural Ticket for a Volunteer (Kulturalny Bilet dla Wolontariusza) came from. Many institutions, which will invite volunteers to join them between 3 and 12 December, take part in the program. So far, the event has been joined by over 25 institutions from Warsaw, Wroc³aw, Cracow and Katowice, among them, the National Museum in Warsaw and Cracow, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN, the European Capital of Culture, the Grand Theatre - National Opera, the Studio Theatre, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Krakow Festival Office. The institutions have prepared over 900 various offers for volunteers.
Organizers: The Polish National Centre for Culture, the Centre for the Thought of John Paul II, The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation.
Partner: The Grand Theatre - National Opera
Partner of the social action: The Anna Dymna`s "Against the Odds" Foundation
Media patron: TVP KULTURA, the Polish Press Agency
Details on the registration for the conference and registration for an institution for the Cultural Ticket of a Volunteer can be found on the website: www.wolontariatwkulturze.pl, the registration will be open until 15 November. Participation in all events is free of charge.
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