The project EYV 2011 - Volunteering Matters, on the occasion of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, aims to take stock, raise awareness and promote the benefits of volunteering programs and practices in the participating EU and partner countries for young people and for society as a whole. By contributing to the activities to mark the EYV 2011 and the IYV+10, this project is a unique opportunity for the participating volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote their contributions to social and human development at local, national and international levels and to make volunteering a worldwide-recognized and beneficial practice.The main objective is to involve 16 volunteers from different EU and partner countries in a 6 months voluntary service at volunteer placements provided by the ICYE member and partner organizations in 5 European, 4 African, 3 Asian and 4 Latin American countries. The volunteers will be based at the national offices of the host organizations, all of which are involved in running international voluntary service programs. Besides participating in their daily activities and learning about how voluntary service is conducted in that particular society and cultural context, they will carry out an action research to prepare a survey about history, recognition and impact of volunteering in the respective host country. To this end the volunteers will be exposed to the work and experience of local organizations hosting international volunteers such as kindergartens, youth centers, disabled care centers, orphanages, homeless shelters as well as national ecological and cultural volunteer-involving organizations and will interview volunteers and staff as well as the clients of these projects about their experience with volunteers and the overall impact of voluntary activities within their community. The volunteers will be of support and provide visibility to the host organizations' activities around the EYV 2011 and IYV+10 and will share their experience and findings with young people, other national volunteer development agencies as well as public institutions. Furthermore they will engage in quality assurance and evaluation measures of the EVS and ICYE voluntary service programs and prepare and carry out activities to reach out to young people with less opportunities and to potential new EVS host- and sending organizations working in this field.Upon return to the sending countries the volunteers, guided by their sending organizations, will engage in follow-up activities and serve as multipliers to further promote volunteering and voluntary service opportunities (i.e. around International Volunteer Day (IVD - 5 December 2011).The presentations, research results and feedback by sending and host organizations, clients, volunteers and actors of EYV 2011 and IYV +10 will be disseminated to all volunteers and project partners as well as to a wider public in form of a final publication which will serve to further promote voluntary activities and active citizenship at national level in the participating EU and Partner Countries as well as at European and international level.