News

Gürkan Akçaer, known for his expertise in civil society and digital transformation, has been invited as a speaker to the XXIV Economic Forum, which will take place in Karpacz, Poland, on 2–4 September 2025.

Organized by the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies, the Forum has been the largest international conference in Central and Eastern Europe for more than 30 years. Each year it brings together over 6,000 political, economic, and civil society leaders from around the world, fostering dialogue on key regional and global challenges.

Akçaer will join the discussion panel titled “NGOs in the Digital Age: How Are Technologies Changing the Way They Work?”. The panel will explore how NGOs across Europe are using digital tools to increase their effectiveness and reach, while also addressing challenges such as data management, privacy protection, and online security.

The Economic Forum is widely followed by international media, with its debates and declarations resonating in political and expert circles long after the event ends. Akçaer’s participation is expected to contribute valuable insights into the digitalization of civil society.

With the coordination of Talentum Foundation for the Support of Volunteering an Erasmus+ cooperation partnership started in July 2025 where 4 CSO-s from different countries from Europe and beyond (Georgia, Hungary, Portugal, Türkiye) focus on developing the capacity of organisations dealing with local volunteering and ESC hosting/sending.

Recognising the decreasing of community activity and mental condition of the youth, the project primarily aims

to RAISE AWARENESS OF VOLUNTEERING REINFORCED BY MENTAL SUPPORT
to empower staff coordinating/mentoring young volunteers
to provide practical methods of mental support

Further aims:

increasing the knowledge and skills of the staff of the organisations working with young people,
strengthening the inclusive practice of civic organisations,
increasing the mental condition of young people,
involving young people in volunteering and strengthening their social activity,
drawing attention of decision makers to the importance of volunteering as a preventive tool,
supporting active social participation of young people.

Project duration: 01. 07. 2025 – 31.03. 2028

Cost category: 250.000 EUR

Work language: English (product translated to national languages)

WP 1: Project management

During the project partnership management and professional meetings run regularly. Main tasks: managing the support, process, time and risks, professional leading, project communication, promotional materials, organisation of online and offline meetings.

WP 2: Research and best practice collection

The main aims of this part are to PROVIDE THE SUITABLE BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT PRODUCTS, TO HIGHLIGHT THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARTNER COUNTRIES, to transfer methods that reflect needs and are immediately applicable in practice.

The progress report of the RESEARCH ON THE YOUTH ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION IN VOLUNTEERING in partner countries, the action plans based on the local research results help the experts to put volunteering in a new perspective and to design project products in response to real needs.

The COLLECTION BEST PRACTICES of partner organisations are to learn from the already existing practices and developing new ones. Mapping and analysing the currently available organisational capacities will enable organisations to provide conscious mental support to volunteers coming from their own country and from abroad.

WP 3: International empowering workshop and practical e-guide on mental support of volunteering

The main aims of this project period are to EMPOWER THE STAFF AT VOLUNTEER HOSTING CSO-S WITH PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE TO ORGANISE, implement and support young people's during volunteering, to develop the recognition of importance of mental support among key actors in the volunteering process.

The key youth workers will be prepared at the INTERNATIONAL EMPOWERING WORKSHOP which is a non-formal learning activity for youth workers, where participatory methods (situational games, face-to-face dialogues, intervision, sharing etc.) are used. The curricula of workshop will be available in 5 languages. The workshop will cover the most pressing topics concerning mentoring in order to give a new alternative, practical solutions to the every-day work of the key youth workers and protect them from frustration, helplessness, burnout when dealing with young volunteers.

The PRACTICAL E-GUIDE ON VOLUNTEERING MENTAL SUPPORT is an online collection of questions/challenges and responses/solutions, in addition it contains methods, infographics, short films, videos and storytelling to show what mentors of volunteer host organisations can do in their everyday work to respond to mental health situations. The practical e-guide will be made in English, translated to Hungarian, Georgian, Turkish and Portuguese. It provides long-term assistance to the key youth workers at local level.

WP 4: Local voluntary actions, impact measurement, multiplication

The main aims in the last phase are to DISCOVER THE COMPLEMENTARY IMPACT AND ADDED VALUE OF VOLUNTEERING IN A LOCAL COMMUNITY, to engage young people in civil participation through better services of hosting organisation, to STRENGTHEN THE SOCIAL ACTIVITY OF VOLUNTEERS and to make visible the importance of volunteering in the mental prevention.

The international and local preparations of key youth workers are followed by LOCAL VOLUNTARY ACTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPACT MEASUREMENT AND MULTIPLICATION EVENTS in native languages. The project will measure the impact among those who have participated in the international workshop or local workshop and started to introduce the supporting methods, among young people who have received mental reinforcement while volunteering. Based on the results of the impact measurement, a POLICY RECOMMENDATION will be made to decision-makers, which can be the basis for future strategic decisions and forms of support.

As a long-term impact of the project, the volunteering reinforced by mental support becomes a daily practice at partners and CSOs involved in workshops, multiplication events and dissemination.

A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE is built allowing experts to learn from each other in order to enhance the MENTAL WELL-BEING AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE as an overall objective.

Official contact address: volument@talentumonkentes.hu

Our project partners:

Talentum Foundation for the Support of Volunteering, Hungary

Youth Association DRONI, Georgia

Embaixada da Juventude, Portugal

System and Generation, Türkiye

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