Association “MI“ – Split, Croatia is the coordinator of the project ˮOptimizing Volunteer Services in Times of Refugee Crisis“ co-funded by European Union programme ˮEurope for Citizensˮ The implementation of the project starts on 1/9/2016 and lasts until 30/11/2017. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to further strengthening of the role of volunteers in times of crisis in modern Europe. The specific objective is to provide evidence-based recommendations for the improvement of the voluntary services at the EU level. The partners of the project are: Association “MI“ – Split (Croatia), Croatian Volunteers Centre Network (Croatia), Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre (Serbia), Legis Skopje (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Voluntary Action Sheffield (United Kingdom), Önkéntes Központ Alapítvány (Hungary) and the European Volunteer Centre.

The first webinar of the project „Optimizing Volunteer Services in Times of Refugee Crisis“ was conducted on 27 September 2016. There were 20 participants from Croatia, Serbia, FYRM, Belgium, Hungary, France, Netherlands and UK. Nives Ivelja, director of Association „MI“ – Split, presented the project activities, aims and results achieved so far. The representatives of CVCN, Legis, Voluntary Action Sheffield and OKA presented the volontheka implementation in Croatia, FYRM, UK and Hungary, and experiences with refugees and volunteers on the field. This webinar was an opportunity to share experiences and good practices in working with refugees and also for networking among similar organisations and project partners.