Description of organisation

Kultur & Fritidsavdelningen (Culture & Leisure department) is located at the Municipality of
Örnsköldsvik, in the beautiful northern part of Sweden. We welcome volunteers of various
backgrounds to come and take part in our international projects which all have the aim to promote
solidarity and a stronger sense of European identity amongst our local youth. Enjoy the long,
bright summer nights and stay warm during the cold, dark winter months... if lucky, you will see
the Northern lights. It will be an adventure for sure.
We operate in the field of culture and leisure with activities in the area of sports, outdoor life and
culture and we also support various initiatives coming from civil society networks and NGO’s. We
organise youth activities outside school hours and activities that aims to promote young people’s
participation in buliding a democratic and sustainable society. Our inclusion mission makes us
always put special focus on including citizens with fewer opportunities. The department is also the
main coordinator for the civil society’s social activities for new immigrants and refugees and for
people with physical and mental disabilities.
We are running activities both in H1Sliperiet, a culture house, and in youth centres which are
located both in the city centre and in rural areas. Here the volunteer can work in various projects
in various themes together with local youth aged between 10 and 25, depending on the location.
We will always take in consideration the interests and needs of the volunteers and support them
to use their creativity to develop their own ideas within the project framework.
We also have opportunities in the field of social and ecological sustainability located in the public
library and in Fritidsbanken; a place where you can borrow sports and leisure equipment for free.
This activity promotes solidarity and equality in the local community and is helping many of our
target groups to a healthier lifestyle.
Our organisation have several years experience of projects within the Solidarity corps and youth
exchange/ Erasmus. We believe in the empowerment of young individuals using the tool of
international projects.

Inclusion topics

This organisation is willing to involve volunteers who face situations which make their participation in activities more difficult, from the following categories for different types of project:

• Economic obstacles
• Health problems
• Refugees