DU MOTION
The two-year EU project Du Motion ended with an International conference on volunteering

The two-year EU project Du Motion ended with an International conference on volunteering

240 volunteers trained to volunteer in sports competitions, participation of volunteers in more than 25 national and international sports events, a large survey on volunteering involving over 200 sports clubs, one million and two hundred thousand people reached with the project, a manual on volunteering in sports competitions covering all aspects organizations - these are just some of the results of the two-year EU project "Du Motion" presented today at the International Conference on Volunteering in Sports in Dubrovnik's Lazareti.

After the opening of the conference and the introductory speech of the Mayor of Dubrovnik Mate Franković and the director of Du Motion Alen Bošković, a special presentation of the volunteer organization, based on many years of experience, was given by Doug Thurston, director of the famous American marathon Big Sur.

The first panel discussion was on volunteering in Croatia and was attended by representatives of the Croatian Olympic Committee Siniša Krajač, Marija Martinac, Mia Baćić, Hrvoje Balen and Ninna Lara Vidaković. It was pointed out that in Croatia only 4% of people are involved in volunteer activities and that there is a lot of room for improvement. Creating an appropriate legislative framework and better connecting actors at regional and national level are among the main preconditions for this, and Du Motion is cited as a good local example of volunteer organization.

The next panel focused on volunteering at sporting events, which was discussed more by Irena Smojver, representative of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Franjo Lovrić, director of Mostar Runa, Anja Marković, director of the Dubrovnik Volunteer Center and Alen Bošković, director of Du Motion. In the discussion, they touched on the strategy of promoting volunteering, recruiting and working with volunteers and the challenges they face.

The floor was then given to the volunteers themselves, EU project ambassadors from Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Turkey, who spoke about their experiences, from joining the project to volunteering at the recently held Dubrovnik Half Marathon. Most of them plan to continue volunteering, which is the best proof of how positively this EU project has affected them.

This was followed by a presentation of the results of the project, whose transnational project meetings, despite all the limitations and challenges caused by the pandemic, were successfully held both live and online. Almost 240 volunteers (40 for each project partner, except Belgium) took part in a series of trainings and participated in a number of local and international sports competitions. More than 200 sports clubs were involved in a large volunteering survey and information about the project reached one million and two hundred thousand people.

A handbook on volunteering in sports competitions has been developed, which served to educate volunteers during the implementation of the project, but which also remains a valuable legacy for all other sports clubs and organizations eager to organize volunteering activities. In addition to the planned 5 modules covering all aspects of organizing a sports event, the project partners promptly responded to the circumstances in which the whole sports world found itself and included an additional module on organizing sports events in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference concluded with the hope that this EU project will not only contribute to the further development of volunteering in sports at the local and international level, but also encourage others to get involved in future similar EU projects so that by sharing experiences and new knowledge they can actively contribute to achieving this goal.

The EU project "Du Motion" is co-financed with funds provided through the European Union's Erasmus +: Sport program in the amount of almost 300 thousand euros and with the support of the Office for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Croatia.