Volunteering Teams are solidarity activities that allow teams of participants coming from at least two different countries to volunteer together for a period between 2 weeks and 2 months (up to 59 days, excluding travel days). Participation in volunteering activities must be free of charge for the volunteer. The scope of Volunteering Projects is broad, covering a wide range of areas, such as environmental protection, climate change mitigation, greater social inclusion, integration of refugees, support for vulnerable groups, digital skills development, civic engagement and human rights. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps is introduces the programme as a whole, and ESC volunteering from start to finish walks through every stage.
Last updated: October 2026.
Who can join an ESC Volunteering Team?
Eligible participants in Individual Volunteering and Volunteering Teams are young people between 18 and 30 years who are legally residing in an EU Member State, a third country associated to the Programme or in a third country not associated to the Programme and have registered in the European Solidarity Corps Portal. Participants must have reached 18 and must not be older than 30 at the start date of the activity. Volunteering teams activities can bring a significant contribution to the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities in the European Solidarity Corps. Our guide on who can apply to Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps explains whether your country of residence lets you join a Volunteering Team, the age limits by activity explains how age is counted, and how to register on the ESC Portal covers the account itself.
How long does a Volunteering Team last and how many people are in it?
Volunteering Teams go from 2 weeks to 2 months (up to 59 days), excluding travel time. There are at least 5 participants per volunteering team activity, coming from at least 2 different countries out of which one is an EU Member State, or a third country associated to the Programme. Volunteering is a full-time activity of at least 30 and not more than 38 hours per week. Our guide on how long an ESC project lasts explains how the length of a Volunteering Team compares with the other ESC activities.
What do you actually do in a Volunteering Team?
In volunteering teams, European Solidarity Corps volunteers will carry out tasks for a project over a short period of time, usually, but not exclusively, during holidays, breaks between study periods, or transition from education to work. Despite their shorter duration, volunteering teams activities will be valuable both for the individuals and for the communities in which the volunteering takes place. Examples of the valuable work that can be accomplished even over a short period of time include restoring cultural heritage damaged by natural or man made disaster, catering for species threatened by extinction, and organising educational activities in refugee camps. A Volunteering Project consists of four stages: planning, preparation, implementation and follow-up.
📋 Planning: defining the learning outcomes, activity formats, development of work programme and schedule of activities.
🧰 Preparation: practical arrangements, selection of participants, set up of agreements with partners and participants, and tailor made linguistic, intercultural and task related preparation based on the needs of participants before departure.
🚀 Implementation: implementation of activities.
🎓 Follow up: the evaluation of the activities, issue of the certificate of participation, support to participants upon return as well as the evaluation, dissemination and use of the activities' outcomes.
Our guide on EU funded volunteering explains who pays for all of this, and the first steps of an ESC volunteer covers what the first days look like.
What are Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas, and how are they different?
Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas are large scale, high impact projects supporting voluntary activities carried out by young people from at least two different countries coming together to express solidarity by implementing short-term interventions that address common European challenges in policy areas defined each year at EU level. Volunteering Teams are full-time non-remunerated solidarity activities that should bring together groups of minimum 5 participants to volunteer together for a period between 2 weeks and 2 months, up to 59 days, excluding travel days. Young people can only be involved in one activity at a time. Activities by Volunteering Teams in High-Priority Areas will aim to address clearly defined unmet societal challenges in the area of "enhancing a culture of preparedness and providing relief for persons fleeing armed conflicts and other victims of disasters from natural hazards and human-induced risks" and/or "fostering positive learning experiences and outcomes for young people with fewer opportunities" and/or "enhancing intergenerational fairness", promote solidarity across the participating countries, and enable the young people to gain skills and competences which are useful for their personal, educational, social and professional development.
🛡️ 2026 call, preparedness and relief: enhancing a culture of preparedness across the whole of society and providing relief to persons fleeing armed conflicts and other victims of disaster from natural hazards and human-induced risks.
🎒 2026 call, learning for young people with fewer opportunities: fostering positive learning experiences and outcomes for young people with fewer opportunities.
🤲 2026 call, intergenerational fairness: enhancing intergenerational fairness and solidarity.
Complementary activities are relevant side activities designed to add value and augment the results of the project as well as to strengthen its impact on the local, regional and European level. Complementary activities could include workshops, conferences, seminars, training courses, job shadowing, coaching and exchange of good practices, and the complementary activities that require the physical presence of volunteers should take place within the timeframe of the volunteering activity.
Preparatory visits are visits to the venue of the volunteering activities before they start, and they should ensure high quality of activities involving young people with fewer opportunities or when the visit is necessary for the implementation of an activity with a strong inclusion dimension. Young people with fewer opportunities that will take part in the planned activities can be involved in the visit, in order to help with their preparation and involve them in activity design so that their needs are taken into account from the start. Our guide on ESC volunteering from start to finish sets the two Actions side by side, and inclusion support explains the extra help for young people with fewer opportunities.
What does the European Solidarity Corps pay for in a Volunteering Team?
✈️ Travel in Volunteering Teams under Volunteering Projects: a contribution to the travel costs of participants from their place of origin to the venue of the activity and return.
🏠 Boarding, lodging and local travel in Volunteering Teams under Volunteering Projects:Organisational Support pays costs directly linked to the implementation of volunteering activities, such as preparation, monitoring and support of participants and documentation and identification of learning outcomes, and costs linked to the subsistence of participants, such as boarding, lodging and local travel.
💶 Pocket money in Volunteering Teams under Volunteering Projects: a contribution to additional personal expenses for participants.
🗣️ Language support in Volunteering Projects: Volunteering Teams last up to 59 days, excluding travel days, so the 150 EUR language support does not apply to Volunteering Teams activities.
🛂 Visa and insurance in Volunteering Teams under Volunteering Projects: exceptional costs are visa and visa related costs, residence permits, vaccinations, medical certifications, clearance requirements costs, costs connected to personal insurance for in country activities. For exceptional costs related to insurance, this applies only for in country participants in need of private personal insurance to reach the same coverage as the insurance coverage for cross-border activities. The request for financial support for exceptional costs must be motivated and approved.
🎯 Volunteer support in Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas: a contribution to travel costs and exceptional costs such as visa and vaccinations costs, personal insurance for in country activities, residence permits, medical certifications and contribution to additional personal expenses for volunteers, which is pocket money, at 26 EUR per day per volunteer.
Our guide on what being fully funded means explains every exceptional cost and the conditions attached to it in full.
Where can a Volunteering Team activity take place?
Volunteering Teams activities must take place in an EU Member State, or third country associated to the Programme or a third country not associated to the Programme. Volunteering activities cannot take place in Belarus or on the territory of Russia as recognised by international law. Preparatory Visits must take place at the venue of the volunteering activity. Our guide on which countries can take part lists where you can apply from.
How do you find and join a Volunteering Team?
Young people who want to participate in the European Solidarity Corps must register on the European Solidarity Corps Portal. Young people with fewer opportunities may receive support from organisations to complete the registration phase. The European Solidarity Corps Portal offers a meeting place for young people and organisations holding a Quality Label and willing to carry out solidarity activities, and organisations have to select the participants from the database of registered young people. In Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas, organisations have to select in PASS participants that are registered in the Portal. PASS is the Placement Administration Support System, accessible through the European Youth Portal. Our guide on how to register on the ESC Portal walks through the account, how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where opportunities are published, how to apply for Erasmus+ or ESC takes the steps one by one, and how to write a motivation letter helps with the part organisations read first.
Frequently asked questions
Do you get paid in a Volunteering Team?
No, volunteering is a full-time unpaid activity that has a duration of up to 12 months. Participation in volunteering activities must be free of charge for the volunteer. Volunteering Teams go from 2 weeks to 2 months (up to 59 days), excluding travel time. Pocket money is a contribution to additional personal expenses for participants. Our guide on how much pocket money you get lists the daily rate per country.
Can you join more than one Volunteering Team?
A volunteer can take part in multiple volunteering teams activities. The total amount of time spent by a young person in European Solidarity Corps volunteering activities must not exceed 12 months and the activities carried out must not overlap, and activities carried out under Erasmus+ volunteering or the European Voluntary Service will count towards the total of 12 months allowed. Our guide on doing ESC more than once explains how several Volunteering Teams fit into the 12 month total.
Is a Volunteering Team a good first experience?
Yes, in volunteering teams volunteers will carry out the activity in a group, and this can be an incentive for youngsters who do not feel ready to embark into challenging experiences on their own. The activity will also be shorter in its duration, and this can foster the participation of those youngsters who cannot commit for a long period of time because of their studies or jobs, but still want to be of help for the community. Carrying out the activity in a group and a shorter duration make volunteering teams particularly suitable for a first experience in volunteering. Our guide on the first steps of an ESC volunteercovers what the first days look like.
Does a Volunteering Team lead anywhere?
Volunteering teams can serve as an entry way for long-term activities or provide an incentive for participants to start their own solidarity project. Our guide on projects young people run themselvescovers how a group starts one.
What support do you get during the activity?
A set of measures and services, such as training, language learning support, identification and documentation of the competences acquired and insurance are foreseen to ensure the quality of the volunteering activities and a strong learning dimension for the participants. Some of these measures are optional and could be used depending on the interest and needs of the participants and some of them are compulsory. Our guide on your ESC mentor explains who supports you on the ground.
Do you get a certificate?
The follow-up phase of a Volunteering Project includes the issue of the certificate of participation.Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the record of what you learned, and what happens after your project covers the return home.
Start with a team
A team activity is a short way into the programme, and the portal is where you and a host organisation find each other. Our guide on how to register on the ESC Portal walks through the account itself. The related pages below from Youth Works Hub cover each part of this guide in more detail.
Related pages: how to register on the ESC Portal · how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects · how long an ESC project lasts · how much pocket money you get · what being fully funded means · projects young people run themselves
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/category/esc-projects
