Young volunteers in civil protection gathered in Vantaa for a workshop on youth resilience

The workshop focused on the involvement of young volunteers in addressing challenges related to floods, refugee integration, and building resilient societies. Participants also discussed existing obstacles to young volunteer involvement and necessary future steps to address those obstacles. Young volunteers and civil protection authorities from Finland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden agreed that closer cooperation, informal meetings, and listening to each other on an equal footing can benefit both young people and civil protection authorities.

“Being a young fire fighter means pushing your limits and learning how to be a part of the group. It is not about physics, it is about believing in yourself.” 

A young volunteer from Danish Youth Fire Brigade

In many instances around the Baltic Sea Region, volunteers (including young volunteers) have played an important role in crisis management and preventive actions to increase societal resilience. They are actively involved in assisting refugees from Ukraine with finding shelter, sharing important information, and involvingUkrainian children in afterschool activities. They also supported people with grocery shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic and contributed to crisis prevention by installing smoke detectors at people’s homes or moving objects of cultural importance in safety prior to floods.

The young volunteers want to see more awareness-raising events and training opportunities, especially practical training to equip them with relevant knowledge and skills so that they can better contribute to societal resilience. Moreover, more international exchange and joint training of young volunteers engaged in civil protection in the Baltic Sea Region and clear communication with authorities regarding what they need from young volunteers were encouraged.

“Young people want to help, we want to do something that counts, it gives us a sense of calmness.  But it is also important to have fun while volunteering.” 

A young volunteer from the Lithuanian Scout Association

The workshop brought together young volunteers from various organisations, including the Danish Civil Protection League, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, Red Cross Lithuania, Lithuanian Scout Association, Latvian Scout Association, Latvian NGO “I want to help refugees”, Swedish Women’s Voluntary Defense Organization, Swedish National Association of Volunteer Motor Transport Corps, German Life Saving Association Schleswig-Holstein, Finnish Volunteer Fire Brigade, and a representative of spontaneous volunteers helping Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw.

The workshop was organised as part of the BYFORES project, coordinated by the Finnish National Rescue Association (SPEK) and funded by the CBSS Project Support Facility (PSF). The BYFORES project is implemented in close cooperation with the VOALA (Volunteers and Local Authorities – Baltic Sea Region Network) project which is coordinated by the CBSS and funded by the Swedish Institute (SI).