Description of organisation

DKolektiv – association for social development (former Volunteer centre Osijek) is a non-profit organisation founded in 2005 to support an open democratic society based on activism, solidarity, cohesion and mutual trust. Our mission is to inspire and support democratic culture, development of civil society and volunteering, creating possibilities for equal opportunities and active participation of citizens. DKolektiv is socially sensitive organisation that fosters dialogue and cooperation, protects human dignity and human rights, contributes to solidarity and social cohesion, actively listens to and advocates for sustainable development, a humane, open and democratic society.

Through its work, DKolektiv strives to the following goals and implements following activities:

Education and empowerment of citizens for active participation through:
- promotion of the value of active engagement - the right and responsibility to participate in the development of society, the importance of associations and self-organisation of citizens and the development of social capital;
- encouraging public dialogue on the importance of citizen’s participation in society;
- development and affirmation of civic education programmes.

Development of volunteering through:
- promotion and affirmation of the value of volunteering and increasing opportunities for volunteering and quality of volunteering;
- affirmation of volunteering of children and youth;
- increasing the quality of volunteer programmes through education and application/implementation of quality standards;
- strengthening the volunteer component in social programmes.

Building a strong and sustainable civil society through:
- improving the quality of work and the impact of civil society organisations;
- providing access to information and support using new technologies;
- strengthening the capacity of CSOs through education, targeted support, exchange of experiences and development of new models and tools of development;
- improvement and implementation of educational curriculum aimed at strengthening the capacity and raising the quality of CSO work;
- development and application of new development models and tools for learning and exchange: tools for measuring the impact, monitoring and evolving personal and organisational competencies, study visits;
- connecting CSOs at national and local level - common platforms, exchange of experiences, dialogue forums.

Affirmation of an inclusive society through:
- promotion of an open and inclusive community;
- strengthening integration through volunteering and civil society;
- strengthening the inclusiveness of CSO programmes;
- empowering disadvantaged groups;
- promoting active participation, inclusion of socially vulnerable groups in economic and social activities;
- monitoring social vulnerability in the community;
- popularisation of successful social models and policies of social integration;
- development of projects and policies on enabling the process of successful social integration;
- establishing a database of civil society organisations, institutions and structures working to improve the position of various social groups.

DKolektiv is open to all citizens, civic initiatives and non-profit organisations, and its activities are based on the principles of building and nurturing cooperation and trust with different stakeholders, networking of various community resources to strengthen social capital, transfer knowledge and skills to the community and create activities based on community needs. DKolektiv strives to be innovative in its work, to promote positive initiatives within the community and to create space and opportunities for experiential learning and development.

DKolektiv is a member of formal and informal networks and initiatives at national and international level such as: EUCLID network - European Network for the Empowerment of Civil Society and Social Entrepreneurs; Croatian Volunteer Development Centre; Croatian Youth Network; GOOD initiative - an informal initiative for the systematic and quality introduction of education for human rights and democratic citizenship in formal education.

DKolektiv also acts as an Ambassador of European Solidarity Corps programme in Croatia for the last two years.

We are currently implementing two quality standards systems: 1) Quality standards for volunteer centres in Croatia; 2) OK 2015 - quality standards for civil society organisations based on self-evaluation.