European Voluntary and Educational Center · Kocani
We are EVEC Kocani — we grow skills through volunteering & hands-on learning, powered by Erasmus+ & ESC.
ЕВРОПСКИ ВОЛОНТЕРСКИ И ЕДУКАТИВЕН ЦЕНТАР Кочани · since 2014
Not theory — things you do with your own hands. Since 2014 we've built volunteering in North Macedonia and inclusion work across the east of the country: Boccia, day-care centres, eco actions and Roma youth work — and we're now bringing our network's green and digital methods home.
What we actually do
Most people talk about inclusion. We volunteer for it.
At EVEC Kocani we don't teach about solidarity — we practise it, week after week. You coach a Boccia session, plant on Earth Day, spend an afternoon at a day-care centre, run a music workshop with Roma youngsters. Real people, real places, real work.
Working locally since 2014Four things we do right now
This is the work our volunteers join today — built up over years in Kocani, Stip and Delcevo.
Boccia
We were the first organisation in North Macedonia to introduce this Paralympic sport — and our two trained Boccia trainers run sessions for people with disabilities.
Day-care centres
Long-running programmes in day-care centres for people with disabilities — open in Stip since 2006 and in Delcevo since 2004 — with occupational therapy, adapted facilities and transport.
Eco actions
A year-round eco calendar — World Water Day, Earth Day, car-free day — run with members who teach at "Rade Kratovce" in Kocani, a Green Flag eco-school.
Roma youth work
Non-formal education, literacy and music with Roma young people — and marking International Roma Day together, every year.
Four network methods we're bringing next
Written by our president Blagoj Ristov and piloted at EVEC Athens, our sister organisation. In North Macedonia these are plans we are starting now — the results so far belong to the network, not yet to Kocani.
Microgreens & urban farming
Sow on Monday, harvest by Friday — a whole crop on a shelf the size of a bookcase. We're preparing the first trays for Kocani.
Piloted in Athens by our network Read the plan →
Mycelium & biomaterials
Mushroom roots grown into packaging and objects that compost instead of pollute. Our network wrote the method — we're bringing it home.
Piloted in Athens by our network Read the plan →
Drones & data
Map a field, film a site, read the data — digital skills that literally take off. Planned for our youth work here in Kocani.
Piloted in Athens by our network Read the plan →
Solar & clean energy
Wire a panel, store the charge, measure real voltage on your own meter. The next method on our list for North Macedonia.
Piloted in Athens by our network Read the plan →A single tray of microgreens can feed a classroom — and fits on a windowsill.
The day-care centre we work with in Delcevo has welcomed around 20 people a day since 2004.
We don't lecture about inclusion — we work with day-care centres that have practised it since 2004 and 2006.
Every one of these is something you can step into — as a volunteer, a school or a partner organisation.
See how to get involved →Honesty first
Don't take our word for it — check the codes
Every claim on this page traces to a public register. Here's exactly where to look.
Hosting + Supporting · to 31/12/2027
Our listing is public on the European Youth Portal — see it at youth.europa.eu.
Our own Erasmus+ VET project
"Entrepreneurial Development Through Internet and Social Media", 2020–2022 — sent Macedonian VET students abroad. 2020-1-MK01-KA102-077700
Green Pathways (2025–2026)
EVEC Stip is a partner in this Erasmus+ youth project for NEET young people, coordinated in Romania. 2025-1-RO01-KA153-YOU-000298169
Citizens' association since 2014
Founded 15.02.2014, entered in the Central Registry of RNM on 11.03.2014 — EMBS 6938566.
Now — get involved
Like what you see? Here's how to join in
Two ways in — choose the one that fits. Take part as an individual, or bring your school, organisation or club into a project.
For young people
These are the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps opportunities you join as a person — no organisation needed to start. ESC placements cover travel, accommodation, food and insurance, with support set by the current Erasmus+ rules for North Macedonia. A placement with us runs around 30 hours of activities a week, two days off weekly, a named personal mentor in regular contact, a Macedonian SIM card and a Macedonian language course.
Who it's for — Young people aged 17–30, with a strong focus on fewer opportunities; volunteers who need one can come with an accompanying assistant. Local and online volunteering are open to everyone — minors join with parental consent, per our safeguarding policy.
Volunteer in Kocani
Hands-on local volunteering in North Macedonia — Boccia sessions, eco actions, day-care centre visits — with a real team around you.
See how →
Volunteer online
Contribute from anywhere, on your own schedule — communications, design, research and more.
Get started →
ESC volunteering in North Macedonia
Live and volunteer in Kocani, Stip, Strumica, Delcevo or Lozovo — our association's ESC Quality Label covers all five. Stip is especially looking for volunteers right now.
Find a placement →Join a project abroad
Youth exchanges & training courses across Europe — travel and stay covered under the programme rules.
Browse programmes →Do your internship here
Students & trainees: complete a required internship or an Erasmus+ traineeship with EVEC as host.
Find a placement →For schools, providers & partners
This is Erasmus+ for organisations. Your school, training centre, NGO, university or sport club holds the grant — and EVEC Kocani joins as hosting or supporting partner, adding our volunteering and inclusion work in North Macedonia since 2014 — and the day-care centres we work with, running since 2004 and 2006.
Who it's for — Schools, VET & adult-education providers, universities and sport organisations building a KA1 or KA2 project with a partner in North Macedonia.
Eco & inclusion for classrooms
Our members include teachers at a Green Flag eco-school in Kocani — the methodology comes straight from the classroom.
See how we work →
VET mobility, from experience
We coordinated our own Erasmus+ VET mobility project (2020–2022), sending Macedonian VET students abroad.
Work with us →
Adult education with inclusion built in
The day-care centre teams we work with include special-education teachers, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and nurses.
See how we help →
Sport organisations — find a partner
Inclusion through sport is our home ground: we brought the Paralympic sport Boccia to North Macedonia first.
Partner up →A partner who completes your KA2
Inclusion, volunteering, Boccia and eco education — plus a network with 17 EU projects behind it.
Propose a partnership →New to Erasmus+? Start here
Every programme, who it's for and how it's funded — explained in plain language, one page.
Get oriented →For organisations
How we work with you
Whether you need a hosting organisation for your volunteers, a supporting partner for your participants, or genuine inclusion expertise in your consortium — here is exactly what we bring, and where it comes from.
Host ESC volunteers across our five towns
Our ESC Quality Label covers hosting until 31/12/2027. It is held by the association, so a placement can be based in Kocani, Stip, Strumica, Delcevo or Lozovo — Kocani, Stip and Strumica are also listed separately on the European Youth Portal. We have not hosted a volunteer in North Macedonia yet — the placement is prepared and waiting for the first arrival. Volunteers will have accommodation in a shared house or flat within walking distance, a named personal mentor in regular contact, a Macedonian SIM card and language course, weekly evaluation meetings — and psychologists in the day-care centre teams we work with. Wheelchair-accessible housing is arranged where needed.
Send your participants with confidence
Our Quality Label also covers the supporting role: we prepare Macedonian volunteers before departure with pre-departure training, stay in touch while they're abroad, and help them reintegrate and use what they learned when they come home.
Real inclusion expertise for your project
Practice, not a paragraph in a proposal: the day-care centres for people with disabilities in Stip and Delcevo we work with, running since 2006 and 2004, the first Boccia programme in North Macedonia, Roma youth work — with special-education teachers, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and nurses in the centres' teams and among our members.
A reliable partner in your consortium
Seventeen EU projects across our network since 2015 — including one we coordinated ourselves, an Erasmus+ VET mobility that sent Macedonian students abroad in 2020–2022. Branches in Kocani, Stip, Strumica, Delcevo and Lozovo give your project real reach in eastern North Macedonia. North Macedonia is a Widening country and fully associated to Horizon Europe, so we can take a work package in those consortia too — it would be our first, and we say so up front.
Our programmes
Every programme — and who it's for
Everything we do sits under an EU funding framework — Erasmus+ or the European Solidarity Corps. Each has its own audience, its own goals and its own way of being funded. Pick the one that fits you and see exactly what it offers and how to take part.
Youth exchanges and training courses across Europe, with travel and stay covered under the current Erasmus+ rules. You meet people, build real skills and come home with a Youthpass certificate.
Explore →European Solidarity Corps volunteering from two weeks to twelve months — abroad with our partners, or here with us. Our Quality Label covers both hosting and supporting until the end of 2027.
Explore →We know VET mobility from the coordinator's chair — our own Erasmus+ project sent Macedonian VET students abroad in 2020–2022, and we put that experience at your school's service.
Explore →Hands-on eco and inclusion activities for schools. Our members include teachers at "Rade Kratovce" in Kocani, a Green Flag eco-school — the methodology comes straight from the classroom.
Explore →Adult education with an inclusion focus — the day-care centre teams we work with include special-education teachers, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and nurses, with a strong focus on disadvantaged groups.
Explore →Sport as a tool for inclusion. We were the first organisation in North Macedonia to introduce the Paralympic sport Boccia, with two trained Boccia trainers on the team.
Explore →New to EU programmes? Start here — every action, who it's for and how it's funded, explained in plain language on one page.
Explore →Open right now
Volunteering in North Macedonia — openings & projects
One ESC Quality Label is held by the association itself, so an ESC volunteer can be based in any of our five towns — Kocani, Stip, Strumica, Delcevo and Lozovo. Kocani, Stip and Strumica are also listed in their own right on the European Youth Portal. Here's the project running right now.
ESC volunteering with EVEC Stip
Green Pathways: Empowering NEET Youth for a Sustainable Future
Our track record
Numbers you can verify
Straight from the field
Our latest news
Open calls, project updates and stories from our Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps work — everything lands on our news page first.
More from EVEC
The wider EVEC network
EVEC Kocani is a founding member of the EVEC network — one name, one mission, sister organisations in two countries.
EVEC Athens
Founded 2017 and legally separate — it shares our name, mission and methods, and piloted the four methods we're bringing home.
Visit evec.org.gr → About usOur story & branches
From Kocani to Stip, Strumica, Delcevo and Lozovo — who we are, where we work and who leads us.
Meet us → Track recordProjects since 2015
Seventeen EU projects across the network — every one with a reference code you can look up yourself.
Browse projects →“EVEC Athens and EVEC Kocani have grown together for many years — not just partners, but sister organisations with one vision for the future. Our next step is to build a European federation, together.”
Not sure where you fit?
Tell us what you need — we'll point you to the right door
Whether you're a young person, a school, a day-care centre or a partner organisation, there's a path for you at EVEC. Write to us — we reply within 3 working days.
Follow along
See what we're up to
Volunteer days, Boccia sessions, eco actions and goodbyes — it lands on our channels first. Follow along to see it as it happens.