On 17.12.2010. A round table was held at the University of Zenica on the topic “The importance of volunteering in higher education”, and within the project “Get a job by volunteering-Volunteer to get a job.” The round table was attended by students, representatives of student associations, non-governmental organizations that promote volunteering, and representatives of the University.
The aim of the round table was to present the values of volunteering (path to employment, how to solve the problem of social inclusion, its function in encouraging citizen activism, creating community cohesion, economic value), and to emphasize the importance of volunteering for students such as are preparation for the labor market, encouraging their activism, and promoting positive values in society. The participants were also presented with examples of volunteer engagements that UG Nešto Više and OKC have been successfully implementing for years.
The possibilities of creating volunteer engagements for students and their evaluation were also discussed, which will serve as a basis for future activities that will be aimed at creating volunteering programs and the effort to evaluate student volunteering through ECTS credits.
The discussion during the round table showed that there is a great interest of students in the possibilities of volunteering. One of the important conclusions of the gathering was that it is necessary to work more on better informing students about all aspects of volunteer work.
