Volunteering in Romania
Volunteer with us!
When? – each year we organize several volunteering team short term services of 59 days and one individual volunteering service for up to 12 months. We are currently recruiting volunteers for our 2027 services (5 seasonal volunteering teams and a long-term individual service starting January 2027).
What? – a volunteering service financed by the European Solidarity Corps, consisting of non-formal education activities with children and youth in Baia Mare and surrounding communities.
Who? – young people aged 18 to 30, who are interested in personal development, who enjoy working with children and other young people, who are open and tolerant to other cultures.
Where? – at our Baia Mare headquarters and online.
Why? – all costs are covered: safe central lodging in Baia Mare (2 per room, utilities included), food allowance (5 EUR/day), pocket money (4 EUR/day), travel reimbursement with green travel support, medical insurance (Henner ESC), bicycles for local transport, mentoring, trainings, Romanian language lessons and official YouthPass certification. Moreover, the volunteer will gain valuable work experience and understanding of diversity, in an international team.
What for? – the main role of the volunteer is to assist extracurricular and non-formal educational activities, coordinate different activities and programs for children and youth, typical and underprivileged, in live and online meetings, in Baia Mare and other urban and rural communities. The volunteer will also be involved in planning and implementing social inclusion activities through non-formal educational methods. The activities and events promote concepts such as human rights, human dignity, equality and equity, non-discrimination, social inclusion, freedom of speech, solidarity, multiculturalism etc.
How? – for questions and details you can contact Project Manager Onoriu Dan at onoriudan@gmail.com or Onoriu.Dan@AIST.ro. You can download our InfoPack 2027 (PDF) or view the online edition and enroll directly on the European Youth Portal:
Annual Grant Agreements:
No. 1: 2021-2-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000044622
No. 2: 2022-1-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000080363
No. 3: 2023-1-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000118072
No. 4: 2024-1-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000202966
No. 5: 2025-1-RO01-ESC51-VTJ-000345912
American International School of Transylvania promotes education for all, playing an active part in the sustainable development of local communities and in the well-being of their citizens alike. European Solidarity Corps has been and will continue to be one opportunity for us, amongst other funding schemes, to promote inclusive education, European values and sustainable development initiatives amongst thousands of kids & youth from dozens of rural and urban communities.
Our strategic objectives were reached by participatory ways within AIST, involving local & international partners, feedback from target groups & informing community stakeholders throughout the process. They fully comply with the European key values and human rights, as well as with the main directions and priorities of the ESC through:
- Promoting inclusion, diversity, equality, gender balance & non-discrimination: the profile of the ESC activities, partners team of staff, mentors & youth, but also of the volunteers to be selected.
- Promoting the development of social, civic, intercultural competences, media literacy & critical thinking: ESC volunteers design their individual learning within a personal & professional development plan, during reflection & mentoring sessions, and describe which skills & to what extent were achieved on the YouthPass certificate.
- Initiatives that fight against discrimination, segregation, racism, harassment & violence: through themes & topics of their service, as described in the calendar of activities for each year.
- Improving the access and participation of those in vulnerable groups (youth from rural and disadvantaged areas) and reducing the disparities that could appear between the results obtained by different target groups, supporting the inclusion & employability of youngsters with fewer opportunities (incl. NEETs youth), with special emphasis on the youth bearing a risk of being marginalised: profile of the project target group & 30,000 direct beneficiaries, most of them kids and youth with fewer opportunities.
- Active participation of youth in the democratic & civic life from Europe: since our plan of activities has topics & actions that support youth to get involved in communities and the democratic process (voting, freedom of speech).
We’ve also based our planning process on priorities of 2021 National Call for ESC Activities: inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities and accepting diversity, environment protection & sustainable development, digital transformation and supporting participation in democratic life.
We have decided to focus our intervention on 3 major topics: Bridging intercultural, intergenerational & social divide, Community development & promoting European identity values within the next 7 years. Through implementing these ESC volunteering activities within the framework of the Quality Label, AIST shall be laying a solid basis for our next level of development, with „Solidarity” at the centre of our new „Action Plan 2021 – 2027”.
With the aimed 30.000 kids & youth as direct beneficiaries only for this ESC 7 years ESC strategic plan of activities, we’ll be increasing with at least 50% the number of people & involved communities across Europe. Our youth will gain much needed skills for life, education & labour market by getting actively involved in organising activities within mixed teams, in-country, cross-border and also local volunteers. Thus, we’ll be contributing to initiatives tackling some major societal issues such as lack of skills, lack of participation, unemployment. Moreover we’ll be working on mobilising communities facing problems in education, youth & social fields, through providing guidance and support for sustainable 33 disadvantaged local communities from Maramures and Satu Mare.
Our main long term objective is to support the potential of kids and young people in the North-Western part of our country to become successful in life as valuable grown ups & professionals. Within the past 12 years, we’ve been supporting educational initiatives among youngsters and teachers alike, at national, regional & international levels. Our activities encompass a wide range of educational programs in partnership with various stakeholders.
We have established the following objectives for our project:
- Obj. 1: Promoting short term & long term volunteering activities & active European citizenship initiatives by the direct participation of 371 youth as volunteers, both in-country & cross-border, coming from diverse communities in Europe, in the next 7 years.
- Obj. 2: Developing programs of non-formal education, for 30.000 children and youth, focusing on inclusion, digital literacy and environment protection, within the next 7 years.
- Obj. 3: Supporting the sustainable development of at least 33 urban & rural communities from Maramures & Satu Mare, by bridging intercultural, intergenerational & social divide, and by sharing European ideas & key democratic values in a wider European context.
Brief description of activities:
Our activities & events promote democratic values such as human rights – right to life, no slavery, no torture, equality before the law, right to privacy, freedom of thought and expression, social security – , human dignity, freedom, democracy, equity and cooperation, the rule of law, solidarity, non-discrimination, tolerance, multiculturalism, transparent ruling, access to objective & relevant information, informed choices and beliefs, the democratic process of elections, awareness against racism, hate speech or xenophobia.
Profile: Volunteers are interested in learning & personal development, enjoy working with kids & youth, be open & tolerant to other cultures. Flexibility is required, as they work in a multicultural environment in an international team. Being responsible, positive, energetic, communicative & a basic level of English is desirable to ease communication during project activities & within the international project team of staff & volunteers.
Responsibilities & tasks:
The volunteer’s main role is to assist in extra-curricular and non-formal educational activities, coordinate indoor and outdoor activities, through non-formal educational programs for kids and youth, typical and underprivileged, from 33 urban and rural environments, within various events, with AIST & local partners. Also they will be actively involved in designing & implementing activities of social inclusion through non-formal educational methods.
While being active during the project, our volunteers will acquire educational skills, improve their knowledge on methods & tools non-formal education. Some activities might be challenging for them, but by working under the coordination & constant supervision of our staff members, they will easily assimilate new info & also practical experience. They will be supported to plan and implement project activities that fit them best, using their skills & creativity with kids & youth. ESC service activities will help our, in-country & cross-border, volunteers gain knowledge, skills & competences, like Communication English & other languages, at least a basic level of Romanian, Mathematical competence & basic competences in science and technology, Digital competence, Learning to learn, Social and civic competence, Cultural awareness and expression, Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship.
About volunteers and volunteering
In recent years, volunteering has started to become more and more known and especially much more accessible in Romania as well. If ten to fifteen years ago the stories with and about volunteers could be counted on the fingers, today more and more young people choose to make a difference in this way as well. Volunteerism takes many forms, but its basic characteristic is that the volunteer donates his time and knowledge for the benefit of the community.
We are proud to promote volunteering at AIST since its inception. Over 200 international volunteers and several dozen local volunteers have passed through our organization over the years. Each year was marked by a European volunteering program through which participants from different corners of Europe came to Maramureș to interact with our young people and children, opening the door to a different world than the one known until then.
In 2019, we came up with something new: it is the first time that, through a European volunteering program, we have selected, alongside the international volunteers, eight volunteers from Romania. The idea of the project is that young people learn from each other aspects related to their countries of origin, managing to truly reproduce the essence of the European spirit of collaboration and multiculturalism through the activities promoted within the community. We are glad that young Romanians respond in increasing numbers to volunteering opportunities, which we believe can play a major role in becoming the responsible adults of tomorrow.
If you want to dedicate your time with us for the benefit of the community, by supporting educational activities for children or young people, we invite you to send us a CV and a few lines expressing your intention to the email addresses Ralu.Contiu@AIST.ro or Onoriu.Dan@AIST.ro
