See below info on the host organisation AAC Kuluranova, the project, the EVS program, and contact details for those interested:

AAC kulturanova (Association for Alternative Creation kulturanova) is a non-government, non-profit organisation founded for popularisation and affirmation of art and cultural spirit. It was founded in May 2001 in Novi Sad (the capital of Vojvodina, region in Serbia). Organization was founded as “umbrella” association of various non-formal independent art groups and individuals, young artists from Novi Sad. Organization’ focus
is on development of urban youth culture and raising awareness on relevant social issues, with the vision of building creative platforms for youth in Novi Sad and in region.

The main fields of our work:
- festivals & events (culture)
- lectures, conferences (human right, youth policy)
- workshops, seminars (education)

AAC kulturanova is very much concerned how art can effect environment and how can it benefit to local communities. Through our activities we are promoting cultural diversity and cultural tolerance and we see cultural rights as important part of human rights. We are doing most of our projects in partnership with many organisations from the region and doing this we are promoting fight against xenophobia and encouraging collaboration among different cultures.Our regular daily activities are usually connected with organising
different events (like concerts, performances, exhibitions, lectures,seminars- of different scales and complexity) and preparing them- communicating with different insitutions, partners, providers, media, etc.

The project is about the River, the City and its mutual impact through culture. The festival is happening in the year of 10th anniversarie of Conference in Helsinki 1997 at which the pan-European corridors were agreed on, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Corridor VII was signed by the competent ministries of Germany, Austria, Slovakia,
Hungary, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and by the European Commission. That year and a Steering Committee of Paneuropean Transport decided to establish Corridor VII – The Danube.

Our main goal is to fight xenophobia and improve dialogue between different cultures. The Danube River Basin is home to 81 million people with a wide range of cultures, languages and historical backgrounds. The history of the Danube region has led to extraordinary cultural diversity expressed by a multitude of languages, denominations, cultural
landscapes and traditional forms of settlements and architecture. Common cultural elements may be sparse, but more important are the ties and linkages in arts, in literature, in music and all other cultural domains. Its cultural diversity makes the Danube Region a special challenge for European integration, considering the needs of having to co-operate with neighbors of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds as a basic precondition. The regions' cultural variety should be conceived primarily as an asset. As regards transnational co-operation, the challenge is to preserve and foster this diversity and at the same time transcend it by creating a corresponding multitude of cultural relations. Considering that mutual recognition of difference is the basis of human peace and prosperity

this festival could be base for setting up a better understending among
all those different cultures.Therefore, urgent action is required at all levels, in particular awareness-raising, mobilization and involvement of young people. The river as a symbol for connecting people can become the starting point for renewed action.

The aims of this project therefore are to:
encourage intercultural dialogue and action in the ethnically and culturally diverse Danube region using the art and culture as a tool for contributing to building confidence, regional cohesion and a better understanding between nations and national ethnic minorities; Create a new and innovative approach to the use of culture and the arts in promoting dialogue; Active involvement of participants in project activity and dialogue; Opportunity for people from different cultural groups to meet and engage in constructive dialogue;Translate cultural values and diversity into concrete actions; Enhance long-term cross-border/ inter-regional cooperation between civic organizations, local governments and cultural institutions; Active involvement of organizations located in different countries or representing different cultural groups;

This project further aims to gather young cultural activists from the countries of Danube basin, but also those ones who are interested in development of this region and can improve the cooperation in this region on all fields of creation – artistists, researchers, scientists, programmers, etc...They would all gather on conference in Novi Sad, but we will also organise study visit to some other towns on the Danube. After a
conference we will try to implement and put into praxis some of the ideas and to relive the banks of Novi Sad by that. The way is culture –a series of cultural events on the both banks of the river, throughout the summer, that develop in Novi Sad the understanding for and strengthening of the inter-relations between art and society. We wanted to animate urban empty space, close to the citizens, to create possibility for
public dialogue.

AAC Kulturanova would like to have young and motivated volunteer that will allow us to add strong intercultural dimension even in preparing this project. We would really like to understand the cultures with whom are we gong to work with and therefore it is logical to have the representatives of foreign cultures in our organising board.We think we can all gain a lot from this project through shareing different perspectives on the proposed issue. The volunteer will be included in the project from the very beginning, from the making of concept to the very implenetation.

Typical activities for the volunteers:
Communication with participnats and the partners prior to the project, work on ongoing projects – Campaign for Youth cultural centre,rearanging archives, doing evaluations, etc. Participanting in seminars that we are organising and preparing some cultural events of smaller scale.

AAC Kulturanova will not pay attention on nationality, sex and sexual orientation. We would like to find somebody who can speak English, who is motivated to work in international context. Small advantage will be given to those who are studying culture related studies or who are somehow motivated to work in the field of art and culture.

EVS and EYFA: The project is making use of funding by the European Commission and in particular its EVS or European Voluntary Service program. Within this project EYFA will function as a sending organisation for the volunteer. And since we're based in the Netherlands the volunteer in this case has to have the Dutch nationality. EYFA facilitates the exchange and will stay in contact with the volunteer while she/he is working with AAC Kulturanova in Novi Sad, Serbia. Travel expenses will be paid for as well as a monthly allowance and money for basic needs.

If interested or for more questions contact EYFA:

email: evs@eyfa.org