Beskrivning av organisationen

CONCORDIA is a non-profit organisation for Youth and Popular Education founded in 1950 with the aim to promote international exchanges of young volunteers. Concordia's objectives are :
- to contribute to the animation of the social life by the participation of French and foreign volunteers in the realization of civil works of general interest;
- to promote the circulation of people and ideas through international exchanges in order to develop knowledge, mutual understanding and peace;
- to promote an education project, encouraging an active citizenship of people for a democratic, united and participatory society.

Concordia has a national headquarters and 11 delegations spread throughout France. The delegations carry out various projects responding to the needs of their local territories and can rely on the experience of the national headquarters, and especially the team of the international sector, to coordinate them. Currently, the association has a permanent team of 35 employees (12 employees at the national headquarters and 23 employees in the regional delegations). This team is enlarged from time to time for the implementation of specific activities (seasonal animators on international projects, facilitators or trainers on Erasmus+ projects).

In terms of structure, the regional delegations are secondary establishments of the national headquarters of the association. Each entity (head office and delegations) has its own budget, which are however consolidated in the annual accounts of the association. The regional delegations depend directly on the national management of the association with autonomy in the setting up of projects and collaborate with the teams of the national headquarters on different aspects, which can be linked to the functioning (accounting, payroll, communication) or to the activities (in particular with the international sector for the question of European projects). See attached the organization chart.

The national headquarters and the various regional delegations have their own accreditations linked to European programs (previously PEJA, Erasmus+ and ESC). Hosting and sending activities are organized by the regional delegations in conjunction with their local partners. They also manage the financial aspects (grants and budget management). The head office, through its international sector, coordinates all the activities carried out (relations with international partners, common tools, reporting, training, advice, etc.). The head office manages directly some European projects, especially those requiring the mobilization of the whole network of regional delegations (previously annual project of short term EVS) or multiannual projects in the framework of the KA2 actions of the Erasmus+ program. See attached "specific ESC" organization chart

The Normandie-Maine delegation was created in 1997 with the aim of promoting volunteering in urban and rural areas. The delegation covers two administrative regions: Pays de la Loire and Basse Normandie. Concordia Normandie-Maine is made up of volunteers and two paid staff. Since 2012, Concordia Normandie-Maine has been involved in the European Youth in Action Programme, then Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. The permanent team has submitted and organised around twenty European projects, youth exchanges and training for youth workers, in close collaboration with its international partners. In addition, since 2014, Concordia Normandie-Maine has been accredited as a host, sending and coordinating organisation in the framework of EVS and short-term EVS.

Since March 2010, the Normandie-Maine delegation of Concordia has been located in the Sablons-Est district of Le Mans. Le Mans is a city of 150 000 inhabitants, and the Sablons district has just under 10 000 inhabitants. The objective of this move was, beyond the activity of the international workcamps, to include Concordia's actions in a global project of local development, in the heart of a working-class neighbourhood. Indeed, our approach is part of an urban social development policy aimed at supporting the actions of the various local actors working to open up the neighbourhoods to the outside world and thus creating a dynamic in which young people and inhabitants are fully involved. It is in this context that the delegation works with the various local actors in the neighbourhood and creates, as the projects progress, partnerships with various structures. This is all the more enriching for the missions offered to long-term volunteers and team volunteers, who find themselves immersed in the neighbourhood with our local partners.