Each year, we celebrate our volunteers on the 5th of December. All the energy, time and motivation they invest in their causes, need to be highlighted. We, as the JCI European Conference Bruges 2022, have a whole team of volunteers and already made a hell of a journey ’till this day.
IVD: International Volunteer Day
International Volunteer Day (IVD) is celebrated annually on 5 December. The Day provides an opportunity for volunteers and organizations to celebrate their efforts, share their values, and promote their work among their communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, government authorities and the private sector.
The UN Volunteers (UNV) programme organizes events to mark the Day annually. UNV mobilizes thousands of volunteers every year, advocates for the recognition of volunteers, and works with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming.
International Volunteer Day was designated by the UN General Assembly in 1985 (A/RES/40/212), more info on their website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/volunteer-day.
The journey of EC Bruges is based on volunteers
Even before the launch of the candidacy in May 2019, the local JCI members of JCI Brugge and JCI Houtland gathered to create a roadmap of the European Conference.
The first stop, after many nights of ‘voluntary’ meetings (yes, we spice up our meetings with more than just ‘a meeting’: combining food and drinks 😉 )
On the 9th of May 2019, we had the honour of launching our bid during the EC 2019 in Lyon.
Since then, our members started their teams, for the different segments a conference has. When you want to welcome 2022 delegates in June 2022, you need to be prepared. A COC-team was formed and the call for volunteers in the differents teams was launched.
To create enthusiasm, you need to be different. Our thema ‘Food For Generations’ was perfect to have the #ECBrugesBelgianChocolateChallenge.
In May 2022, the JCI EC Dublin was also our shared stage for the official vote of the organisation EC Bruges 2022. Due to Covid, our friends of JCI Dublin transformed the Conference into an impressive digital experience, in a short period of time.
Yet again, it was time for our teams to cope with these ever changing teams, so you can only image how many digital hours were spent of changing the presentation to fit in the new digital version of Dublin.
YES, we are officially ready for EC Bruges 2022
On the 30th of May 2020, several group members gathered to support the team with the presentation.
Since the fall of 2021, we are shifting gears and having meetings on a bi-weekly frequency. But no ordinary ones, real ‘hands-on’ meetings were we start with an update/overview and then work in teams to make progression during the night.
Thank you!
The history, the present and the future of EC Bruges 2022, is only possible thanks to the hard work and dedication our our members. These are the true heroes and are proud to be volunteers for JCI.
This gives me energy to go that extra mile. For now, I wanna thank EVERYONE who is or was involved with EC Bruges 2022. These challenging and ever changing times put pressure on a organisation as JCI. But we, as JCI members, are build to cope with these hurdles. We are developing leaders for a (ever) changing world, and I’m proud to be part of JCI and EC Bruges 2022.
And now you know the story of EC Bruges: so buy your tickets to support this large group of people, who invest their time and energy to make a new blueprint for a JCI European Conference to be.
Our Early Bird tickets end on the 17th of December 2021, so buy your tickets now 🙂.
Many thanks, from the bottom of my heart,
Jonas Maes
Proud COC Director, JCI Member and volunteer
JCI EC Bruges 2022
