The project entitled “International volunteering for local community“is being submitted by the civic association (CA) Kvas from Piestany. Kvas is engaged on both local and regional scale in ecology, environmental education, promotion of community and cultural life as well as in the growth of local market and healthy lifestyle. A significant part of Kvas’s activities is focused on children, youth and young families for whom we organise mainly leisure time activities, games, educational activities and cultural events. Since its establishment in 2011,Kvas has been gradually expanding its activities in the Piestanyregion and has alsobeen adding new onesincooperation with other organisations. This was the reason we decided to take part in Erasmus+ initiative. As former EVS volunteers we want to promote activities in the field of EVS which provides a platform for a very effective non-formal and informal education for young people. The main objectives of this project include: to share the non-conform but efficient form of functioning of the CA with other young people from various countries or to inspire them; to make activities of the association more attractive to a wider public through the involvement of foreign volunteers; to improve the level of young people’s awareness about the possibilities of Erasmus+ programme, in particular about the EVS; to lead young people in the region to volunteering;to improve the language skills of the local population, in particular of young unemployed people; to lead the public towards a responsible attitude towards environment and towards healthy lifestyle; to increase the level of tolerance and openness of the local community towards other cultures. Two participants were selected for the project, Pauline (23) from France and Davide (25) from Italy. Both are very active in various spheres and have interests and capacities thanks to which they will promote and cultivate associations’ activities. Davide specialises in arts but his hobbies also include gardening. He would like to acquire competences linked to work with children and to non-formal teaching of languages. Pauline is qualified in management and landscape planning. In her free time she does theatre and works with children. She wants to improve her language skills and explore the setup of various events. The activities in which volunteers will participate include: • Cultural and community activities: artisan and farmer markets, workshops, concerts, gallery openings, language conversations, language games, table games evenings for families, folklore evenings, presentations of the volunteer’s country of origin, travellers‘ accounts, movie screenings, ... • Environmental activities: toad rescue in the spring, educational programme on amphibians, recycling of furniture and equipment, gardening • Leisure activities for children: summer camps, eco-group for children The methods deployed throughout the project derive from the principles of the non-formal and informal education. The volunteers will be confronted with their own expectations and progress through self-reflection during regular meetings with their supervisor (coach). They will learn through participating in variousactivities which will be new to them (e.g. folklore workshops, communication in Slovak). Since they will often work in pairs and in a group, they will learn through participative methods. As a part of activities such as the design of a flyer, co-organisation of an event and preparation of a language conversation course, they will learn how to solve problems findingtheir own processes. Further methods include discussion, simulation and role-play. The outcomes of this project include acquired competences on the part of the volunteers as well as on the side of the Kvas association. Our portfolio of activities is so wide that it provides the volunteers with the possibility to develop all 8 key competencies. The association will gain skills in the flied of EVS project management and hosting of volunteers. Furthermore, the activities of the organisationwill be improved and their visibility will be enhanced, as will improve the co-operation between the CA and other organisations/ institutions. The intercultural exchange within the community and the European awareness will be enhanced as a result. The ability of local young people, in particular of the unemployed,will be strengthened. The term volunteering and the willingness to engage in the EVS programme will become more visible. In the long run, we see the projectcontributingin the increase of Kvas’s members’ competencies in thefield of participation, development and management of EVS projects and in the development ofskills &capacities for the EVS. We also see the project as an opportunityto the further promote regular activities of the association and to create new ones, in co-operation with volunteers, and at the same time in expandthese activities towards local municipalities, schools, other CAs etc.