Following the tradition, MOVIT organized an on-arrival training in Zreče, from 27th November to 1st December, for the volunteers who have just arrived in Slovenia or have already spent a month or two of their volunteering journeys.

This training was supported by the National Agency of the EU Programmes and the Erasmus+: Youth and European Solidarity Corps. 

The purpose of the 5 days training was to help the volunteers to meet with each other, build relationships, and learn more about Slovenia, their rights and their due about the ESC program. The on-arrival training had an extremely diverse group, it hosted 31 volunteers. Jennifer, Emanuele, Marta and Heloise - the current four EUSA ESC volunteers also actively participated throughout the training sessions.

As in volunteering projects, everything is about non-formal learning, and also the methods that were used during the training were non-formal dynamics, working in small groups, project work, walk&talk outside and learning by the competencies of the other volunteers.

Since all participants were volunteers, working on different projects with different skills, the best sources of knowledge and discovery for one another can be other volunteers. There was room for networking and the exchange of experiences and viewpoints, as well as support from the trainers.

The first day started with general information about the training, and the introduction between the volunteer and the trainers. Additionally, some icebreaker activities to get to know each other took place, like creating a personal profile to share with others, or also reconstituting the map of Slovenia to share different places where the volunteers live and recommendations about them. It was a great way to get everyone to talk with each other and form small working groups.

The second day started with a walking session around the lake close to the accommodations. The aim of this activity was to ask various questions regarding volunteering, adaptation to the new environment and lifestyle, and social life. This was followed by a session about the ESC program, the rights and due of volunteers, sending and host organizations, with the aim of understanding the organisation of the program better.

The third day was the most challenging day for everyone, this was Solidarity Day, and every formed group was required to create a project involving solidarity and the local environment. Two of the groups met the local population to know the advice that they recommend for the younger people in life in general. One other group met the young people to understand their knowledge about the ESC, and their opinions and definitions on solidarity. Finally, the other group has explored the surroundings of Zrece by hiking to create a route for the people of the hotel with tips for the hiking and the trail of the route.

The following day, which was the 4th day, started with a moment of reflection about the knowledge that we learned thanks to the project of the day before. It was also the occasion to speak about well-being and what it means to any participant. The afternoon was given to different topics that everybody could propose and participate in. The main topics were about loneliness, spirituality, gender equality.

Overall, it was a wonderful opportunity to network, form new connections, and share experiences with fellow ESC volunteers who live in different cities and towns, as well as to develop a secure environment to talk about particular topics while learning about themselves and the value of volunteering during the 5-day training program.

European Solidarity Corps (ESC; former European Voluntary Service - EVS) opportunities with EUSA are possible because of the support from the European Union and Movit, the National Agency in Slovenia. EUSA Institute is an accredited organisation, with the European Solidarity Corps quality label.