VOLUNTEERING, TRAINING AND CULTURE PROGRAMME ON THE CAMINO
UNIVERSITY WALKING COMMUNITY 2025
OBJECT
The University Walking Community programme was created with the aim of facilitating the university community to carry out volunteer actions on the Camino de Santiago and in public institutions. Its aim is to promote the values of cooperation, solidarity, diversity, tolerance and unity.
The University Walking Community 2025 edition aims to mobilise the community between 18 and 30 years of age of the Compostela Group of Universities (CGU) to carry out municipal and university volunteering, training and enculturation actions linked to the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
ORGANISERS AND COLLABORATORS
The activity is organised by the Compostela Group of Universities and the Association of City Councils of the Camino de Santiago, with the special collaboration of the City Council of Jaca, the Government of Aragon, the University of Zaragoza and the Spanish Federation of Associations of Friends of the Camino de Santiago.
ORGANISING
COLLABORATING
STATEMENT
GALLERY OF PICTURES
TARGET PARTICIPANTS
The University Walking Community 2025 call is open to people between 18 and 30 years old, who are linked to a GCU partner university by contractual, study or research links.
The programme is open to participants with accredited functional diversity, as long as this is compatible with the specific volunteering activities to be carried out at the destination.
COVERAGE
The Compostela Group of Universities and the Association of City Councils of the Camino de Santiago will cover to each selected participant the following:
- Accomodation during the volunteering period.
- Meals during the volunteering period. On the days of arrival and departure only one meal will be provided.
- Local transport to the destination of the volunteering activities and from there to the meeting point.
- Necessary means to carry out the volunteering action.
- Participation in complementary leisure activities that may take place.
- Civil liability and accident insurance.
It will be responsibility of the participants having medical coverage (public and/or private) for the complete duration of the volunteering period.
The beneficiaries must reach by their own means and resources the city of Jaca (see location map here). The expenses of the round trip will be incurred by each participant. To facilitate their arrival and departure, the local organisers will provide the necessary information and support to prepare the trip.
DATES OF IMPLEMENTATION
The volunteering actions of the University Walking Community 2025 programme will be carried out continuously for 15 days from 16 August to 30 August 2025, both days included.
PLACE OF IMPLEMENTATION
The activity will take place along the French Way, in the Autonomous Community of Aragon (Spain), preferably in the city of Jaca.
TUTORING
- Each participant will be assigned a person responsible of organising the conditions of their stay, task assignment and monitoring of the volunteering and training activities.
- Each participant will be assigned an accompanying person as support staff for the correct undertaking of the tasks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
At the end of the volunteering period, the participant will receive a diploma recognising their role as volunteer in the University Walking Community 2025, as long as they have demonstrated the correct use of their participation and they have completed their volunteering activities in a correct and satisfactory manner, in alignment with the objectives of the volunteering programme of the destination.
CONTENT OF THE ACTIVITY
The activity will include volunteer work:
- To provide support to the agents and actors of the local community in matters related to assistance to pilgrims, information, organisation of activities, accompaniment, management of spaces and field work always related to environmental, socio-cultural and academic fields.
- To collaborate with municipal entities, associations, universities and other entities linked to the aims described above.
Training:
- The University of Zaragoza will teach a Spanish course for the foreign volunteers, accredited by the Instituto Cervantes.
- At the beginning of the activity, the volunteers will receive a volunteering course.
- Training workshops for the volunteers aiming to further their immersion in the Camino de Santiago and the society of the cities where the volunteering activities take place. Additionally, there will be emphasis on the fields of environmental, sociocultural and academic knowledge.
Culturisation:
- Tasks and seminars highlighting the importance of immersion in the culture, both local (related to the city of Jaca) as well as state-wide and of the Camino de Santiago. Emphasis will be made on the role of the Camino as a source of dissemination and contact of cultures and European values.
- Voluntary participation in established complimentary activities (e.g.: cultural, ludic, universitary).
PLACES
This call for applications has 15 places open to volunteers.
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
In order to apply for the places offered in this call for applications, the interested party must present the following documentation:
Application form, to be completed online.- Certification accrediting the link with the partner university or entity associated with the GCU in the year 2025.
- Proof of Spanish or English language proficiency by means of a certificate. The candidate must accredit his/her competences in the language in which he/she is not a native speaker.
- Scanned copy of all the pages with information from the national identity card or passport.
In addition, they will provide a document accrediting, if applicable, the following merits:
- Accreditation of previous experience in voluntary work by means of a certificate.
- Proof of membership of associations or groups pursuing social or humanitarian interests.
The deadline for submitting applications is 12 May 2025 (12.00 PM GMT, Spanish peninsular time).
CALENDAR
12 May 2025 (12.00 PM GMT)
Deadline for applications.
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June 2025
Publication of resolution of selected applications.
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7 July 2025
Deadline for acceptance of places.
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16 August – 30 August 2025
Voluntary action.
SELECTION CRITERIA
- Accreditation of Spanish or English language (in which you are not a native speaker). Level A (1 point), level B (1.5 points) and level C (2 points).
- Previous experience in volunteering. Up to two activities (1 point) and more than two (2 points).
- Membership of associations or groups pursuing social or humanitarian interests. One association/group (1 point) and two or more (2 points).
In addition to the above criteria, objective criteria such as gender parity, inclusion of people with functional diversity and geographical distribution will be taken into account during the selection process.
PUBLICATION OF THE RESOLUTION
The list of selected candidates and alternates in the University Walking Community 2025 programme will be published on this page in June of this year.
AWARDING OF THE PLACE AND FORMALISATION
The person selected must formalise acceptance of the placement by sending the following documents to grupo.compostela@usc.es:
- Responsible declaration of acceptance and commitment to stay as a volunteer for fifteen days, according to the given model.
- Proof of travel arrangements: invoice or proof of booking and payment for the trip to the city of Jaca.
The selected person will have until 7 July 2025 (inclusive) to complete these steps. If this documentation is not submitted within the deadline, the person will be considered to have lost their entitlement and the vacancy will be filled by the substitute.
Once at the destination, the beneficiary will sign an individual volunteering agreement, in which the rights and duties that correspond to him/her during the period of volunteering and the penalties for non-compliance will be established.
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