Mechelen, 2025 European Volunteering Capital

The Centre For European Volunteering (CEV) announced on December 5, coinciding with World Volunteer Day, which city will be the European capital of volunteering in 2025. The lucky winner is the Belgian city of Mechelen, after a close call with the two Spanish cities Avilés and Salamanca.

In choosing Mechelen as the European Volunteering Capital 2025, the jury has recognised as indicated in the jury's feedback that “the city is an excellent example of harnessing volunteering for inclusion, diversity and participation of all its inhabitants, symbolising the European values of connection, diversity and progress".

Furthermore, the jury highlighted Mechelen's strategy for future volunteering emphasizing accessibility, talent-oriented opportunities, and organizational growth, supported by research, social impact, and continuous training.

The Jury also had a few words of accomplishments for Avilés and Salamanca in their particular feedbacks for "the efforts undertaken in creating social awareness actions on the positive impact of volunteering activities and encouraging citizens’ participation in this area".

The competition

This competition was created in 2013 by the Centre For European Volunteering (CEV) with the aim to promote volunteering at the local level, by giving recognition to local municipalities that offer support and close collaboration with organizations and associations of volunteers or that promote altruism, as highlighted by the recommendations set out in the Policy Agenda on Volunteering in Europe.

The competition is held every year and the winning municipality is chosen by a jury composed of many personalities from the European volunteering sector.