Place: Chisinau, Camenca, Cimişlia, Ceadîr-Lunga, Comrat, Rîbniţa, Tiraspol, Belti, Soroca,  

Field of work: Environment

Workin language: English, Russian, Romanian

Requirements:

The work and weather conditions involved in this project might be different so:

- Reasonable level of physical fitness and health is required.

- Have a motivation for working with international groups so English language skills are of advantage, while Ukrainian or Russian is not a requirement.

- Volunteer’s enthusiasm and interest in order to engage with people, to work in teams but also willingness to accept personal responsibilities are highly appreciated.

- A readiness to work with flexibility in changing or developing situations is essential.

- Particular interest in environmental and sustainability issues might be very useful when developing activities for the groups.

- Gender is of no importance, but volunteers have to be between 18 and 30 years old.

- Ethnic groups, religion, sexual orientation or political opinion are not   taken into account.

- There are no special or specific qualifications or practical skills needed, as training will be given

Project involves a lot of outdoor activities and, as weather conditions on the Black Sea coast are variable and some times rainy, we recommend volunteers to take with them warm, waterproof clothes and shoes. As working outdoors, we suggest volunteers to bring working and comfortable clothes as well as walking shoes. A sleeping bag is optional.

You will be traveling in Odessa district very often. Volunteers shall be prepared to be moving around the area for at least 3 times, changing living conditions if it is essential.

Description of the hosting Organization:

Moldova - PROSPERA is an international organization open to all political, economic, social and cultural trends in civil society.

 Moldova - PROSPERA is well placed to provide guidance and support to NGOs and Initiative Groups worldwide. Its structure includes a wide range of substantive NGO Committees, providing advocacy and input on an ongoing basis to different Organizations and its subsidiary bodies in the field of economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related matters, as well as in the areas of human rights, gender, peace and disarmament.

Working from its traditional office in Chisinau, Moldova - PROSPERA has embarked on an ambitious outreach program, providing more support for NGOs and Initiative Groups at regional and national levels, through new partnerships, regional consultations and co-sponsored events.

Short description of the host project:

The basic aim of the project is to raise awareness about environmental issues both within Moldavian and European Union partners, being hosts of Moldova - PROSPERA camps, and among the International volunteers taking part in different activities related to this task.

Proposed activities for international volunteers:

A cultural environment can be defined as a geographical area that reflects significant features of social development. Cultural environments include great esthetical assets, but also assets that represent important historical periods and events as well as ways and means of living. With its historic waterways, canals, lakes and Black Sea, Moldova has many unique cultural environments, but these are unfortunately threatened by the increasing urban development and socio-economic changes.

          The problem of ecological balance in the northern Black Sea coast is completely anachronistic. The conservation issues in the Soviet times and the last 2 decades has been given very little attention to delta of the Dniester River and adjacent regions. Most of Natural resorts, parks and tourist infrastructure in Moldova and Odessa region has been damaged due luck of resources and careless attitude towards them.

Moldova has a responsibility to have an effective system for protection of its cultural heritage, including the cultural environments. The Moldova - Prospera’s Cultural Environment Project supported Moldova in its efforts to establish such a system to fulfill its responsibility.

Awareness of solutions to these problems is an incentive to attract volunteers from Western and Eastern Europe in the Southern region of Moldova and Ukraine. The successful solution of some of the pressing environmental issues will contribute to the processes Euro Integration of Moldova and the democratization of civil society.

Objectives of the project:

Green messengers will also be a source of knowledge on specific topics of significant relevance about environment, cultural and nature protection and sustainable development. They will encourage the actors in those projects to undertake simple but easy-to-implement actions which will affect the way we use our resources and we deal with the environment and the world we live in.

Expected results:

1. At the end of the project it is expected that the European Volunteers from Ukraine, Moldova and Transnistrian region would have a well-tested and well-documented Informational material about cultural environment conservation system in Odessa region, and the capacity to apply this to other parts of Moldova. Furthermore, Moldova Republic with Transnistrian region should also have a cultural environment conservation plan to help conserve identified priority cultural environments, and demonstration projects would have proven the usefulness of the system developed. At the end of the project we will organize the International CROSS-BORDER Camp with involvement of European Volunteers from Moldova, Ukriane and Transnsitrian Region. Finally, the projects would also raise a public awareness about the conservation of the unique cultural environment along the rivers.

2. The project contributes to a possible future creation of a local strategy to protect the cultural environment of Moldova, through the preparation of a draft strategy for the conservation of river Dniest and Danube delta’s and a series of background papers on strategies for conservation of cultural natural resources. The Moldavian civil society together with authorities will continue to develop the national strategy for conservation of cultural environment.

The scope of activities for the volunteers will change during their stay in Moldova and can be chronologically clearly divided in four different parts:

1. Arrival, adaptation, on-arrival training.

After arrival and once all have arrived, “Prosperous Moldova” will organize and carry out on arrival training and give the brief introduction to Moldavian specific. During this period of time volunteers will have enough theoretical knowledge and tools in order to prepare them for the stay in Moldova and some further activities on the field of work at later stage.

Our main target at this stage is to introduce to volunteer some main topics such as:

- the hosting organization,

- the rules of EVS

- safety instructions, leadership, team- building tools.

- provide enough theoretical knowledge and practical information to both, volunteers and hosting projects Organizations. 

This will also be a time where you will meet other European Voluntary Service volunteers from Moldova Republic and Transnistria. We will do our best to organize training to help volunteers to get to know each other and establish a good atmosphere amongst the long-term volunteers. This will be very crucial for further cooperation within Volunteers from Moldova Republic and Ukraine as some projects will involve every day cross- border communication.  

However, despite this, it is important to realize that developing successful environmental activities requires both initiative and commitment.

Preparation will target intensive research on particular topics related to Environment, cultural, ecology, sustainable development and efficient use of resources. Apart from these suggested main topics, volunteers are also welcome to propose their own ideas how to spend their time during stay in Moldova. «Prosperous Moldova” will provide constant guidance and support on the development during this stage.

2. Main work. Main tasks of the EVS volunteer.

It began after 2 weeks volunteer spent at adaptation camp receiving his/her on arrival training. During this period of time Volunteers will go to different places of Moldova Rep. It is also the time when the unskilled volunteer has to discover and start the actual work. You will be located together with some other volunteers on a project which has been identified by a local community or a project working with that community.

Moldova Prospera’s friendly staff will show and teach volunteers how to collect and acquire relevant information and knowledge on the field. During this period volunteers shell start gather the informational materials for creating Film about their stay in Moldova.

Each volunteer will have an opportunity to choose the area of work. However we already have arranged some activities for volunteer who will decide to stay in this particular project:

1. Mapping of national and cross-border routes in the zone of deltas of the Dniester and the Danube (near the village of Mayaki, Ukraine, and the village of Palanca, Moldova).

2. Inventory of tourism values (cultural, environmental) in cross-border zone Ukraine-Moldova and the preparation of the database atlas.

3. A description of ecological trails in national parks and protected areas of the region which will be then reviewed at the end of their voluntary service and passed to new volunteers to use and work on. This Map will then serve as a knowledge database and an important tool for local community and foreign eco- tourists.

3. Finish of EVS project. Results achieved:

The pilot projects participants will become more aware of the value and importance of the River Dniestr and Danube cultural heritage and will also receive training in techniques to identify, assess and conserve cultural values. The same applies to employees who are responsible for public administration of cultural environment on the national and local level.

Selected cultural entity will be restored as an example for others.

All our projects are mainly culture, nature or environmental oriented. There are sometimes cultural and study projects, agricultural projects and others depending basically on the identified need of the local community.