EDYN Crisis and emergency recommendations

Since its creation, our EDYN network has been built on regular exchanges, shared experiences, and a shared desire to improve volunteer engagement across Europe and worldwide. Each year, our annual meetings allow us to address topics essential to the development and structuring of our member associations. Among these topics, the topic “crisis and emergency management” has held a special place.

Crises can take many forms : health crises, international conflicts, economic challenges… Faced with these difficulties, we had to work together to find appropriate solutions to ensure the continuity of our missions and support for our volunteers.

The most striking example was the creation of a “crisis management” working group, bringing together network members eager to formalize and structure our practices. This work resulted in the creation of a booklet covering the different types of crises, management methods, monitoring and communication, as well as risk prevention. This document now constitutes a valuable resource for our member organizations. It is an essential guide for anticipating and better responding to future crises.

Another example of this solidarity was our collective response during the Covid-19 pandemic. Deprived of mobility and facing profound uncertainties, we implemented joint strategies to maintain our activities and strengthen mutual assistance between organizations.

One of the major actions resulting from these discussions was the creation of quarterly meetings between directors of member associations. These discussions, initiated in the midst of the health crisis, allowed us to share best practices, identify collective solutions, and strengthen cooperation within the network. These meetings continue to this day and remain a pillar of our shared dynamic. These meetings will be soon extended to the coordinators, with the launch of coordinator’s meetings.