Erasmus+ is an EU programme that grants financial support for education, training, youth and sports projects throughout Europe. RSM will be working with various consortia to accomplish these projects, which are each granted €400,000. Erasmus+ grants address social inclusion in a series of projects. Both Erasmus+ grants awarded to these projects, led by RSM’s global business and sustainability researchers Dr Malika Ouacha and Ivo Geers, are aimed at improving society through targeted actions.
Museum volunteering for inclusion
MARVI: Museum and restoration volunteering for inclusion addresses the popular question that is currently alive among many European museums: “How do we diversify the museum's visitor population and volunteers?” In this project – which is conducted by six European partners and Dr Malika Ouacha as project lead from Prof. Meijs’ research team – this question is drawn broader and also looks at curators and paid staff in museums.
“Existing literature and practice teaches us that those who conceive, create and also exhibit the exhibitions have a lot of effect on those who come to see them,” says Dr Ouacha. “That’s why we aim to help European museums train their existing volunteers and paid staff (curators and volunteer managers) on how to make their workplace more inclusive. And we want to encourage bi-cultural and diasporic volunteers and curators to participate in co-creating those inclusive museums.”
In the context of exhibitions and art performances, this project looks at the example of the permanent exhibition on the slavery past at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, as it includes the stories and perspectives of descendants of enslaved people. By linking mono-cultural volunteer managers in museums to bi-cultural and diasporic volunteers through focus groups and pilot training sessions, the MARVI project also includes the (de)colonial component. As a result of decolonisation, art in European museums will not only show the voice of the coloniser, but especially the voice of those who were once colonised. In the context of Europe, this includes a lot of countries, and therefore many diaspora and bi-cultural groups.
Upskilling volunteer managers in sport
The project Upskilling volunteer managers in sport (UVMIS) brings together societal partners to understand current offerings – and create new opportunities – for the development of high-quality volunteer managers in sport.
Consisting of a team of nine European partners led by RSM’s researcher Ivo Geers, UVMIS focuses on education and training needs to raise the quality of work, activities and practices of organisations and institutions involved in the deployment of volunteers in sport.
Utilising the material developed during Evi-Dems, UVMIS primarily creates a post-experience curriculum of higher education in sports volunteer management to equip managers and co-ordinators with the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. An important part of the project is to investigate the different educational needs of volunteer managers in international events, local events, sport associations and sport federations. In addition, UVMIS is developing a state-of-the-art report, a code of ethics for sports volunteering and three practical guides focused on sports volunteering and European values, including volunteering and mental health and burnout prevention.
