Iščemo mednarodno_ega prostovoljko_ca

• Aged 18-30
• Citizens of one of the partner or programme countries (list of eligible countries: https://www.eusolidaritycorps.org.uk/countries-connected-european-solidarity-corps)
• Keen to participate in climate change activities and/or cultural activities with focus on contemporary art and short film and/or in activities concerning contemporary social and political struggles
• Friendly, engaged, enjoy meeting new people and keen to experience a different culture

• Accommodation in a shared student apartment with your own room close to our office and the city centre
• Coverage of all living costs such as electricity, water, gas, and internet
• Reimbursement of the flight and other transport costs (bus, train, metro, visa) to/from Maribor, up to a certain limit as set by the ESC program
• €310 monthly allowance
• Free Slovenian language course
• CIGNA health insurance
• YouthPass
• Pre-departure (provided by NA in the country of the sending/ supporting organisation), On-arrival (provided by NA in the country of the hosting organisation), Mid-term trainings (provided by NA in the country of the hosting organisation)
• Working experience in an NGO

Pekarna Magdalenske mreže is a non-governmental, non-profit institution, founded in 1997. Our organization is one of the leading cultural producers in the complex of Cultural centre Pekarna, as well as in the city of Maribor, with focus on independent, ‘alternative’, under-represented forms of art, culture and youth programmes.

Programme-wise our organisation works in three main areas: independent culture, youth/volunteer work and civil engagement.

Our cultural programme includes organisation, co-organisation, promotion and realization of non-profit cultural events, mainly from the fields of visual arts, films, photography, theatre, which find it harder to gain recognition within the established environment and are actually shaping the distinct programme image of the Cultural Centre Pekarna, paying special attention to the idea and message behind them. We are also the home of Aunt Rosa Library – named after Rosa Luxemburg, library with radical and critically engaged literature.

Youth programmes of Pekarna Magdalenske mreže focus on providing free information, counselling and non-formal education programmes for the young, aged between 15 and 29 (children, students, employed and unemployed young people) and for all, who live and work with them and to the interested public (teachers, parents, counsellors, youth-workers, etc.), with the focus on volunteer and community work. An important part of our programme are also Critical Literacy workshops for high school students and youth workers. Critical literacy being a concept that provides literacy with ethical and political dimensions.

In the field of volunteer work, INFOPEKA is a local coordinator of a network “Volunteer Work in Maribor”, a network of 74 organisations from Maribor, which provide organized volunteer programmes. We have been organizing volunteer programmes for young volunteers for seventeen years now. The programmes, which our volunteers are working on, are providing free instructions for pupils, weekly educational and creative workshops with children with fewer opportunities, climate change activities etc.

We have been an ESC hosting and sending organisation from 2004 onward and have since hosted 41 and sent abroad 34 volunteers.

The main aim of our ESC projects is to develop high quality activities for young people in the fields of art, youth and civic engagement with the help of informal and nonformal learning. Encouraging critical thinking towards the existing power relations in the world, understanding contemporary political and social struggles, developing own ideas, and being able to plan and execute your ideas , are key components of our projects. The long term ESC project offers volunteers the possibility to participate in the formation of cultural, youth and social activities of Pekarna Magdalenske mreže.

We try to include ESC volunteers in all organisation’s activities that  interest  them and we actively encourage them to create their own projects. Volunteers actively participate in creating cultural, art, youth, informative, social and civic activities, and through their work also promote ESC among young people in our environment. Through their activities and living they gain the feeling of belonging to organisation as well as belonging to community and local environment, they grow personally, spread and develop their fields of interest, and also continually learn during the process.

Among other things, volunteers learn the strategies and techniques of self-organising and planning cultural, youth and other events, and gain the required abilities to work in a group of people with different cultural and social backgrounds. During that process they learn about the projects and workings of non-government, non-profit organisation and perform publicly renowned projects in the fields of culture, art, music and activism. Each ESC volunteer is precious to a hosting organisation, because they bring difference, novelty, fresh perspective, experience and knowledge to work, relationships and projects.

Activity 1: Youth work

Our organization regards youth work as a set of activities with the aim to encourage active participation of youth, acquisition of new skills and competencies, and to promote social change and solidarity.

1. “Pekarna DOBIŠ DAŠ”  is a volunteering program which offers the implementation and organization of various educational and leisure activities for the socially excluded youth and children with fewer opportunities (Mladinski dom Maribor and Dom Anton Skale Maribor, respectively). Together with the local volunteers, the ESC volunteers will prepare creative and educational workshops on a weekly basis.
2. Voluntary program “Young people for cities against climate change” where the ESC volunteers will help volunteers from the local community to monitor the plants, insects and birds in the mini urban forest in downtown Maribor, as well as map potential locations in the city which can be adapted to climate change;
3. Content creation and workshops on  topics such as LGBTQI +, climate change and labor rights for high school students and young participants of the NEET program. The aim of the program is to equip young people with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools for the critical analysis of the political and economic system in which we live, as well as to encourage them to be more socially engaged and foster solidarity to/with others.
4. Presentation and promotion of the ESC program in secondary schools, universities, and youth centers such as Youth home Maribor and the NEET program. By advocating the ESC  program, we try to encourage youth, especially young people with fewer opportunities in Maribor to participate in European Solidarity Corps projects and to work for a fairer and more equal society.

Activity 2: Production in field of culture

Production in the field of culture is a set of activities our organization offers with the aim to encourage active participation of youth, acquisition of new skills and competencies, and promote social change and solidarity.

1. K18 Gallery is an exhibition space for young and less-acclaimed artists of the younger generation. The gallery is a dislocated space of Pekarna Magdalenske mreže and it presupposes presentations and small-format curated exhibition projects; in program terms it mostly focuses on experimental and/or participatory contemporary visual art.
2. GuestRoomMaribor is an international artist-in-residency program established in 2011. Main emphasis of the program is on contemporary visual art practices. The GuestRoomMaribor primarily supports socially engaged, hybrid, and experimental projects as well as projects related to the local social, cultural, historical, or political context. In its mode of operation, the program seeks to foster creative processes, open dialogue, establish direct contact with local communities, question conventional presentations of art, and encourages collaboration with local artists and producers.
3. “Aunt Rosa Library”, a library with a reading room with socially-engaged literature. “Aunt Rosa Library” offers high-quality literatury, which is very difficult or impossible to obtain in other libraries in Maribor. The library is intended for those interested in radical social change and/or socially critical thinking for constructive transforming our society into one which is more socially just.
4. StopTrik International Film Festival. International festival of stop motion animation StopTrik is the first and largest festival of stop motion animation in Europe established in 2011. A four day feast of stop animation, screenings, talks, exhibitions and concerts.

Description of duties 1:

1. Pekarna DOBIŠ-DAŠ
   – planning workshops together with fellow ESC volunteers and young volunteers from the local community at meetings in person and over Discord.
   – implementation and evaluation of workshops;
   – preparation of the space intended for workshops.

2. “Young people for cities against climate change
   – planning and preparation of the literature and gadgets for monitoring plants, insects and birds with the young volunteers from the local community on meetings in person and via Discord;
   – implementation of monitoring;
   – taking notes on the results of monitoring;
   – taking photos of the proces;
   – mapping the locations in the city and taking measures in order to adapt them to climate change;
   – making short stop motion animations for promotion on social networks.

3. Content creation related to LGBTQI+, climate change and labor rights
   – planning and preparing workshops and/or lectures in together with other ESC volunteers;
   – promotion of created content via social networks and printed materials;
   – preparation of the space;
   – photographing the events;
   – evaluation of the workshops and lectures with the coordinator.

4. Presentation/Promotion of the ESC program
   – preparation and implementation of presentations for highschool pupils, students, unemployed youth and NEET.
   – evaluations of the presentations with the coordinator;
   – preparation of the promotional material;
   – promotion of the program via social networks and printed materials.

Description of duties 2:

1. Help with the program of the Gallery K18, which is an exhibition space for young and less-acclaimed artists. Duties proposed for the Gallery K18 program are following:
   – help the curator with the organization and setup of the exhibitions;
   – help with the maintenance of the gallery space;
   – invigilation of the exhibitions in the gallery;
   – taking photos of the events;
   – implementation of the your-own project.

2. Help with GuestRoomMaribor, the artist-in-residency program.  Duties proposed for the GuestRoomMaribor program are following:
   – help the curator with the organization and setup of the exhibitions i.e. artistic events;
   – help with the promotion of the program;
   – help with hosting of the residents;
   – invigilation of the exhibitions made by residents;
   – help with the maintenance of the gallery space
   – taking photos of the events.

3. Help with the program of the “Aunt Rosa library”, a library and a reading room with socially-engaged literature. Duties proposed for the Aunt Rosa library are following:
   – help with renting the books from library;
   – help with making library cards;
   – help with organization and organization of the socio-critical lectures;
   – help with the promotion of the library on public events, such as book fairs in and during the Lent festival;

4. Help with the International Film festival of stop motion animation StopTrik. The program will be carried out in the beginning of October 2022 on various locations in Maribor, and with cooperation with various NGO’s and GO’s. As part of the StopTrik program, proposed duties are following:
   – help with the festival promotion;
   – help with production of the promotional material;
   – help with the guest reception;
   – helping the jury for the competition program of the festival.