Plataforma del Voluntariado de España | Spanish Volunteering Platform

Who we are

We are a non-governmental organisation that coordinates the promotion and dissemination of volunteering and solidarity action at the national level—an activity carried out by more than 4 million people in our country.

The Spanish Volunteering Platform (PVE) was established in 1986 and is currently made up of 83 organisations and platforms, collectively representing over 29,000 associations.

PVE is the main reference point for coordinating and systematising volunteer action in Spain.

Recognised as a public utility organisation, its mission is to promote volunteering, promote civic engagement and social participation, and raise public awareness. PVE takes part in the development of volunteering policies and programs, defends the interests and independence of the NGOs within its network, and acts as a spokesperson in national and international forums of the Third Sector for Social Action.

Its members include organizations such as the Spanish Red Cross, Caritas, the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), the Network for Addiction Support (UNAD), the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals (FELGTB), Save the Children, Oxfam Intermón, and SOS Children’s Villages, among others.

What we do

Among our main activities, we would like to highlight:

Training and Capacity Building
We offer 17 free courses annually (283 hours total) through our Moodle platform, with self-paced, tutored, and microlearning options. Our focus is on training volunteers, strengthening organizations, and promoting solidarity, with accessible and updated content. In 2025, we will introduce the first micro-credentials in volunteering. We also organize the annual Autumn School of Volunteering, a national meeting and training space, with over 230 participants in its 2024 edition.

Advocacy and Political Engagement
PVE works to influence public policy and strengthen the third sector, collaborating with the Third Sector Platform and participating in European Erasmus+ projects to enhance advocacy at the EU level.

Networks and Partnerships
We are active members of national, European, and international networks, including the Center for European Volunteering (CEV), the International Association for Volunteering Effort (IAVE), the Third Sector Platform in Spain, and the Portuguese Confederation of Volunteering. Our relationship with the Portuguese Confederation is framed through a formal collaboration agreement, which reinforces our strategic alliances and expands our impact.

Awareness-Raising
PVE promotes volunteering through:

• Social campaigns (e.g., exhibitions, concerts, film festivals) aimed at youth engagement.
• Educational outreach in schools, using Service-Learning and sports-based programs to promote civic values and participation.

Observatory of Volunteering
Since 2007, the Observatory leads research on volunteering in Spain, analyzing trends, impacts, and organizational needs to inform public discourse and strengthen volunteerism.

Skills Certification
We promote the recognition of competencies gained through volunteering via:

• Vol+ (validation of informal learning outcomes),
• Certifica+ (quality assurance in volunteering training), and
• eVA-VOL (university-level validation of volunteer experience).

Best practices/projects/publications

1. Validation, Employability, and Volunteering in Spain: The Case of the VOL+ Program:
   This article describes in detail the process and its evaluation system, offering results from recent evaluations that show how this type of program can contribute to improve the employability profile of volunteers.
2. Methaodos Journal of Social Sciences 2021, #9 (2): Volunteering, Skills Certification and Employability: Evaluation of the VOL+ programme.
   This study presents the results of the evaluation of the VOL+ programme developed by the Spanish Volunteering Platform (PVE). The aim of VOL+ is to improve the employability profile of workers through the certification of seven transversal competences that are transversal to any volunteering activity.
3. The European Quality Standards in Validation of Learning outcomes from Volunteering guide. The European Quality Standards in Validation of Learning from Volunteering aims to provide guidelines and standards for the process of validating learning outcomes acquired through volunteering. This validation process seeks to formally recognise the knowledge, skills, and competences gained by individuals during their voluntary activities, making them visible and potentially transferable for personal, educational, or professional development.
4. International Competence Recognition and Certification Models through Volunteering (v. 2023 and 2021) This paper aims to provide an analysis of tools used in the EU for the validation of non-formal and informal learning, specifically that obtained through voluntary action. The aim is to generate a mapping of tools used, establishing common parameters of analysis and identifying good practices.
5. Voluncloud app: An application developed by the PVE that connects volunteers with organisations offering volunteer opportunities. It also offers services to help organisations standardise their volunteer management processes: registration, monitoring, basic training in volunteering, and validation of the learning outcomes acquired through voluntary action.

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