Volunteer card

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In Germany , the volunteer card (also known as volunteer pass ) is a personal document that serves as proof of special volunteer work . Similarly, partly overlapping meaning the terms are voluntary pass , volunteer badge , volunteering proof , volunteering certificate used. Such a document can, for example, be issued by the state, federal states, municipalities or volunteer agencies.

Depending on the type of implementation, documentation of the type and scope of the activity, the skills required for this and any qualification measures can be linked. A volunteer card or a volunteer ID card can also bring certain benefits, for example discounts on tickets or access to museums or other public institutions or discounts from cooperation partners, for example with companies, institutions and other supporters.

Differentiation between volunteer card and volunteer pass

Nationwide, a distinction is made between the volunteer pass and the volunteer card: in some federal states, on the one hand, a volunteer pass (also: certificate of honorary post ) is issued to volunteers as a certificate via the respective associations or organizations, while at the same time many municipalities also give a nationally valid honorary card to those who do have committed to an above-average degree.

In addition, the private initiative Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutschland awards a nationwide volunteer card . They can get all at least 16 years of volunteer work at least three hours a week are volunteers unless allowance except for a reimbursement of costs paid and the work in collaboration with an association or federation is exercised.

Generally speaking, such a card serves as a recognition of civic engagement .

An essential part of the project work in the introduction of a volunteer card is the acquisition of cooperation partners who are willing to grant cardholders discounts (also called "acceptance points").

Implementation in federal states and municipalities

Most federal states offer formal proof of voluntary work: Baden-Württemberg the Qualipass , Bavaria the volunteer certificate , Brandenburg the FreiwilligenPass , Hamburg the Hamburg certificate , Hesse and Lower Saxony the competence certificate , NRW the commitment certificate , Rhineland-Palatinate the commitment and competence certificate , Saxony- Anhalt proof of civic engagement , Thuringia the honorary certificate .

Several federal states in Germany have also introduced a nationwide volunteer card, in particular Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. The state initiatives for the volunteer card are implemented regionally.

Brandenburg, for example, issues a volunteer pass, which can be used to document voluntary civic and honorary commitment and participation in advanced and advanced training events. In addition, since 2013 it has been awarding the state's volunteer card as a special award to citizens who have been doing voluntary work in Brandenburg for at least 240 hours a year for three years, or for five years for at least 120 hours a year.

In Baden-Württemberg, young people can receive a supplement to their school report; Adult volunteers receive a so-called Qualipass on request , in which they can enter all evidence of their voluntary activities, projects, initiatives, training courses and practical experience.

In Bavaria, organizations that are authorized to do so by a group of sponsors initiated by associations of the Free Welfare Service of Bavaria award the "Certificate of Honorary Office Bavaria" - a certificate in which the time commitment, areas of activity, skills and training are documented. In addition, the volunteer card was introduced in 2011; this has been implemented in only 68 of the 71 rural districts and 25 independent cities (as of 2014). The reasons for reluctance include the criticism that the card offers too little actual use, the minimum annual number of hours is set arbitrarily and creates a two-tier society of volunteers, and the administrative effort for examining the applications costs the municipalities more than the 5,000 euros start-up funding that they can get from the country for implementation.

The federal states of Bremen and Lower Saxony cooperate so that their respective volunteer card is valid in both states ( see also: Bremen volunteer card and Lower Saxony volunteer card ).

More than five million people volunteer in North Rhine-Westphalia, 27,000 of which have the volunteer card. In March 2015, Minister Ute Schäfer presented the Ehrensache.NRW app, launched in 2008 , with which the benefits associated with the volunteer card can be viewed on the go.

In some municipalities, the volunteer card is also awarded to all those who have a youth leader card (JuLeiCa) without any further eligibility check. The JuLeiCa is a nationwide uniform qualification and legitimation card for at least 16-year-olds who work on a voluntary basis for a youth welfare organization and - usually by completing a basic group leader course and a first aid course - for the task of Have qualified youth leaders . At the same time, like the volunteer card, it serves to recognize volunteer work and to access certain discounts.

In addition, the volunteer card is occasionally awarded to members of rescue services and volunteer fire departments without any further entitlement checks.

Similar initiatives in other countries

Austria

The Austrian Volunteer Pass allows you to document any volunteer work performed in the context of non-profit organizations, associations, initiatives, self-help groups or institutions in Austria in the form of a volunteer certificate, as well as the skills that the volunteer needs for his work.

Switzerland

In 2001 , the year of volunteers , the Swiss Social Time Card was created as an instrument for recognizing and promoting voluntary work in Switzerland. It takes the form of a personal workbook and is used to showcase experiences and skills that are acquired through voluntary work.

Europe-wide initiative

As part of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, Martin Kastler , who was a member of the European Parliament at the time , suggested the introduction of a European “volunteer pass”. This should serve as proof of volunteering and the skills acquired in the process, in analogy to the existing EuroPass for trainees.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Federal Voluntary Service - Frequently Asked Questions. Question: "What services do I receive in the voluntary service?" / Section "Volunteer ID". Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  2. ^ AGD Ehrenamtscard: Information on the Ehrenamtscard. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 14, 2015 ; Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Second UN World Plan, Madrid 2002 and the UNECE Regional Implementation Strategy, Berlin, 2002. BMFSFJ, accessed on April 7, 2015 . P. 39.
  4. ↑ Martina Wegner (with Sarah Baumann, Ewgenia Boger, Karola Schober and Annabel Zettl): Study on the implementation and use of the Bavarian volunteer card. Evaluation results. February 2014, accessed April 8, 2015 . Section “4.3. Acceptance points / cooperation partners ”, pp. 12–18; Section “5. Summary and conclusions from the qualitative survey ”, pp. 34–35.
  5. ↑ Civic engagement in libraries. A handbook for volunteer management. Status: May 2011. Section “8. Motivation and Recognition ”. Deutscher Bibliotheksverband eV, accessed on April 8, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Volunteer card offers discounts and other benefits to volunteers. June 3, 2014, accessed April 7, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Claudia Pinl: Honorary Office: New Fulfillment - New Career. How work and public volunteering can be combined; Possibilities, ways, perspectives , Walhalla Fachverlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8029-2517-7 . P. 162 .
  8. ↑ Key points for the volunteer card of the state of Brandenburg. Valuable recognition of intensive engagement and voluntary activities by companies, businesses and institutions in the state of Brandenburg. (No longer available online.) May 7, 2013, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; Retrieved April 7, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stk.brandenburg.de
  9. ^ Volunteer pass of the state of Brandenburg. State Chancellery Brandenburg, accessed April 7, 2015 .
  10. ^ Honorary post of the state of Brandenburg. (No longer available online.) Brandenburg State Chancellery, archived from the original on May 1, 2015 ; Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Recognition of volunteer work - opportunities in Baden-Württemberg. In: Landesportal Ehrenamt, Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  12. ↑ a b The certificate of honorary office Bavaria. In: Website "Certificate of Honorary Office Bavaria". Retrieved April 8, 2015 .
  13. ↑ The carrier group. In: Website "Certificate of Honorary Office Bavaria". Retrieved April 8, 2015 .
  14. ↑ a b c Ulrike Osman: For more recognition. In: Kreisbote. merkur-online.de, October 9, 2014, accessed April 8, 2015 .
  15. ↑ The volunteer card is rejected. Criticism of arbitrary determination of the requirements for acquiring the card. Augsburger Allgemeine, January 19, 2012, accessed April 8, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Minister Schäfer presents the app for the NRW volunteer card. (No longer available online.) Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MFKJKS NRW), March 9, 2015, archived from the original on March 26, 2015 ; Retrieved April 8, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mfkjks.nrw.de
  17. ↑ The app for the NRW volunteer card. Retrieved April 8, 2015 .
  18. ↑ FAQs. In: www.juleica.de. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Volunteering in Austria. In: www.freiwilligenarbeit.de. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Volunteering in Switzerland. In: www.freiwilligenarbeit.de. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  21. ^ Parliamentary questions. Subject: European Year of Volunteering - Volunteer Card. European Parliament, accessed April 7, 2015 .