Volunteers

At the core of the European Capital of Culture success are volunteers who support Tartu 2024 events with their knowledge and skills.

The success of the European Capital of Culture is fundamentally reliant on volunteers, who support the organisation of Tartu 2024 events with their knowledge and skills.

Volunteer management in Tartu and Southern Estonia International Cooperation Frequently Asked Questions

Tartu 2024 volunteer engagement strategy

The creation of the Tartu 2024 volunteer engagement strategy began with the understanding that the multi-year and multi-stakeholder volunteer involvement planned within the framework of Tartu 2024, the European Capital of Culture, requires an effective structure to plan and implement activities.

Volunteer engagement strategy

Team leader guide

As part of the Volugram project, a volunteer team leader guide has been developed.

This material is helpful for every volunteer team leader, both new and experienced, to support the process of engaging volunteers in the cultural sector.

Team leader guide

Number of volunteers since 2021 4672
Contributed working hours 106786

Tartu 2024 volunteers are in good hands!

Motivation package

Tartu 2024 volunteers are part of a close-knit team that creates events with great social impact in Tartu and South Estonia. Volunteering offers versatile work experiences and useful new contacts.

All volunteers will receive Tartu 2024 branded merchandise, comprehensive training tailored to their role and catering according to their shift. The volunteer community forms a strong, heartwarming network designed to last beyond the title year.

Joint activities

Tartu 2024 volunteers operate in Tartu and Southern Estonia throughout the year and some events may even take us to neighbouring countries to introduce the activities of Tartu 2024. Every year we engage in joint activities with our volunteers. It is important for us to celebrate International Volunteer Day on December 5th. In addition, we organise joint trips to Southern Estonia. In the summer of 2023, we visited Nopri Farm and went on a rafting trip on the Võhandu River.

The activities of the volunteer community of Tartu 2024 are supported by the green energy company Gren.

Volunteer management in Tartu and Southern Estonia

We consider it important to develop the topic of volunteering in Tartu and Southern Estonia in general. According to the “Participation in culture survey 2020” results, 11% of Southern Estonians aged 15 and older have participated as a volunteer in some culture-related activity in the past 12 months. Volunteer managers had to face the challenges of finding volunteers for their event/project.

We would like to contribute to more people finding their way to volunteering, and volunteer managers to feel confident in their role.

Tartu & Southern Estonian Volunteer Managers Network

The Tartu and Southern Estonia Volunteers Managers Network was established in November 2022 with the aim of supporting local cultural organisers in the field of volunteering. During the European Capital of Culture title year, over 1000 events will take place in Tartu and Southern Estonia, where volunteers will play a central role in organising.

The network brings together and shares knowledge and skills on how to manage volunteers at every (major) event. Volunteer coordinators of Viljandi Traditional Music Festival, Prima Vista Literary Festival, Peaasi, Treski Music and Inspiration Festival have shared their experiences with other members of the network. Thanks to all active members for their contribution!

In the meetings that have already taken place, we have discussed the roles of the volunteer coordinator and team leader at the organisational level, and shared successes and challenges related to the volunteers management. All so that the plans of our project teams would succeed in the upcoming title year. At a separate meeting, we practised practical tips that also help in communicating with volunteers.

All those working in the field of culture are welcome to join the volunteers managers network! Depending on the level of experience, various questions may arise when managing volunteers – we believe that together it is easier to find answers to them.

Join the network if you are:

volunteer coordinator/manager of Tartu 2024 programme projects;
volunteer coordinator/manager at the events in Tartu and Southern Estonia;
cultural organisers of all ages in Tartu and Southern Estonia.

For more information and joining, please contact Jaan Ulst, [email protected].

Volunteer Managers Training Programme

“How to plan the volunteer resource? What to keep in mind when involving young volunteers? How to write an advertisement to recruit volunteers and in which channels to share it?”

For successful volunteer management, it is important that the volunteer managers themselves are informed and capable. For this purpose, a training programme for volunteer managers has been created. Among others the following topics are covered

Strategic planning for volunteer management;
Mapping the needs of the organization/event/project;
Finding, training and retaining volunteers;
Legal aspects etc.

The volunteer managers training programme takes place within the Erasmus+ project Volugram and is financed by the European Commission.

International Cooperation

Volugram

Volugram is a collaboration project between three European Capitals of Culture in 2024 (Tartu, Bodø, and Bad Ischl). The aim of the project is to empower volunteers and volunteer coordinators in the field of culture.

Project outputs:

Materials for volunteer coordinators and team leaders

Handbook for volunteer coordinators and a guide for volunteer team leaders will be beneficial for everyone working with volunteers, whether they are just starting or already experienced. Both materials support the organisers in the process of engaging volunteers in the cultural sector. In October 2023, the Tartu 2024 Foundation began the training programme based on the materials in order to pilot the handbook and the guideline as well as to see how to improve both materials.

Volugram e-application

As part of the project, an e-application for validating volunteer work will be developed, allowing volunteers to obtain a certificate of their volunteer contributions and competencies acquired during their volunteer work.

The e-application provides an opportunity to showcase one’s active participation and contributions to potential employers and/or educational institutions.All the materials are available on the website of Tartu Vocational College.

The Volugram project is funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme.

More info

Project partners

A woman makes a presentation to the audience about volunteering.

Volunteers from other European Capitals of Culture

Tartu 2024 is also involving international volunteers from other European Capitals of Culture through the European Solidarity Corps programme.

Volunteers coming to Southern Estonia will either stay for up to a year to support the work of the European Capital of Culture in various departments or for a short-term period (up to 3 weeks) to assist in organising specific events. European Solidarity Corps volunteers add an international dimension to the Capital of Culture, support collaboration between European Capitals of Culture, and provide young people with valuable experiences of working in an international environment.

From September 2023 until October 2024, a long-term volunteer Pia from Chemnitz 2025 joined the International Relations Department of Tartu 2024. And in 2022, the Foundation hosted a long-term volunteer Izabella from Veszprem 2023 in the Marketing and Information Department.

In February and August 2024, we organised two short-term (3-week) international volunteer group projects to support young event organisers in the Tartu 2024 Extended programme.

ECoC Volunteer Coordinators Network

Tartu 2024 is an active member of the European Capitals of Culture Volunteer Coordinators Network. The network meets once a month to address volunteer-related topics, share experiences and knowledge, and develop the field of cultural volunteering in Europe.

Together with the network, we celebrate International Volunteer Day on December 5.

In September 2024, we had a meeting of the European Capitals of Culture Volunteer Coordinators Network in Tartu in the frames of Erasmus+ project “Empowering Youth through Sustainable Volunteerism” in collaboration with Tartu Youth Work Center. We hosted cities like: Matera 2019, Rijeka 2020, Novi Sad 2022, Kaunas 2022, Timisoara 2023, Chemnitz 2025, Nova Gorica 2025, Oulu 2026 and Liepaja 2027.