Open House Europe Volunteer Exchange Programme 2023
Open House Europe (OHEu) connects 13 European cities with the aim to promote understanding and evaluation of architecture and the quality of the built environment among the general public. The project was devised by organisers of European Open House festivals from the international Open House Worldwide network, which provides free tours of architectural projects around the world, with a special emphasis on accessibility and inclusion.
Key part of the Open House Europe project is the Volunteer Exchange Programme, the goal of which is interchanging good practises, international learning and collaboration among European cities and Open House Europe partners. Volunteers have a unique opportunity to participate in the organisation of architectural events in other European cities, from which they gain new knowledge, experiences, connections.
Volunteers can apply to the Volunteer Exchange Programme through the Open Call every year, which is announced on our website. The condition is that they have already been a Volunteer with Open House Slovenia festival for at least a year.
In the year 2023 we have sent a few of our most experienced Volunteers to five exchanges. In this article you will read about the journeys of Ajda Pršina, Megi Pilko, Maša Rebernik, Urh Furlanič and Nik Štrubelj, Open House Slovenia Volunteers, to Stockholm, Vilnius, Tallinn and Thessaloniki.
Open House Stockholm
Ajda P. and Megi Pilko have participated in Open House Stockholm, during September 29. and October 2. 2023. They traveled to the exchange by plane. As Volunteers they coordinated and guided groups of visitors and provided interesting information about the projects and basic information about the festival.
Ajda’s experience was highly positive. She got to know the city of Stockholm as part of the Open House festival, which was an entirely different encounter, as if she would have visited the city on her own. In only one weekend she was already confident orienting herself in Stockholm and understood the ways of the public transport. She was thrilled with the organisation of the event itself as well as the exchange. Visibility and recognisability of the festival in the city was excellent as all of the Volunteers were wearing yellow T-Shirts, which allowed for easier recognition of team members while enticing interest of random by-passers.
Megi added that the experience of the Volunteer Exchange was priceless for her, as she got to meet new people and learned more about the work of Volunteers from other Open House festivals. She emphasised, that the visit to Stockholm enabled her to gain insight into the operation of the festival on an international level gave her valuable insights into the coordination and organisation of events.
Open House Vilnius
Maša Rebernik took part in the exchange with Open House Vilnius in Lithuania, between May 12. and May 15. 2023. She too travelled to the exchange by plane. The first day of the journey was dedicated to getting to know the organisers and other volunteers from other countries. On the second day of the festival, volunteers were assigned to individual projects, where they attended a presentation of the project in English, and then directed visitors and photographed the event.
On the third day, a local guide took them on tours of the various buildings that were part of the festival. Maša was surprised by the concept of the festival, as it was quite different from the Slovenian one. At Open House Vilnius buildings are open for tours for two whole days without prior registration, and the tours are led by volunteers themselves, allowing them to test their rhetorical skills and guidance.
Maša addded that she returned from the exchange with wonderful memories. She got to know the architectural side of the city and visited places she might not have otherwise. She learned a lot about the organisation of such a big event and made new friends, who she hopes to see someday again.
Open House Tallinn
Urh Furlanič visited Open House Tallinn in Estonia. The Estonian festival took place between October 6. and October 9. 2023. He travelled to the exchange by train. His assignments included coordinating visitor groups and guiding one festival project. Urh was surprised by the large number of Volunteers that participate in the Open House Tallinn Team as well as the amount of organisation it takes to put together an event like this.
Taking part in the Volunteer Exchange Programme has taught him plenty and offered him a chance to meet new people. He returned to Open House Slovenia Team full of fresh ideas and good practices which could elevate our local event.
Open House Thessaloniki
Nik Štrubelj took part in the exchange with Open House Thessaloniki, during November 24. and November 27. 2023. He travelled to the exchange by plane. His job as a Volunteer at the Open House Thessaloniki festival was photographing and promoting the event.
Nik too was surprised by the amount of Volunteers in the Open House Thessaloniki Team, which exceeds 500 members, as well as the number of visitors who visited the festival. His experience was extremely positive. The organisation of the event and communication with the organisers went smoothly, additionally he got the chance to see a great deal of the local architecture.
Experiences of Ajda, Maša, Megi, Urh and Nik prove that the Open House Europe Volunteer Exchange Programme offers the Volunteers priceless experiences for personal and professional growth as well as international networking.
The Open House Europe project is coordinated by Architektūros fondas and co-financed by the European Union.
In 2023 in Slovenia the Open House Europe project has been co-financed also by the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Culture.