About EVEC Kocani
Working with and for young people since 2014.
EVEC Kocani — the European Voluntary and Educational Center — is a citizens' association from Kocani, North Macedonia. We run European volunteering and education projects with a simple promise: honest opportunities, properly supported.
Our story
How EVEC Kocani began.
EVEC Kocani was founded on 15 February 2014 as a citizens' association, and entered in the Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia on 11 March 2014. Among our members are teachers from the "Rade Kratovce" primary school in Kocani — a "Green Flag" eco-school — and that heritage still sets our rhythm: our year runs on an eco calendar, from World Water Day and Earth Day to the local car-free day.
From the beginning we did two things at once: environmental education with schoolchildren, and honest local youth work — the kind that happens in classrooms, sports halls and town squares rather than conference rooms.
And what we grew into
Radio, a magazine — and a Paralympic first.
Over the years we have run an online radio and a bilingual English–Macedonian monthly youth magazine, written and edited with young people. We were the first organisation in North Macedonia to introduce Boccia, the Paralympic sport, and we have two trained Boccia trainers.
Our branches work in day-care centres for people with disabilities — open in Stip since 2006 and in Delcevo since 2004 — alongside long-running work with Roma youth: non-formal education, literacy, music and International Roma Day. Behind it all are the centres' teams and our own members: special-education teachers, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and nurses — plus charity paper and clothes collections, charity sports matches and Red Cross cooperation whenever the town needs a hand.
Our branch network
One association, five towns.
EVEC began in Kocani and grew along the roads of eastern North Macedonia. Every branch is run by local people, and every branch is active. The ESC Quality Label is held by the association rather than by any one office, so an ESC volunteer can be hosted in — or sent from — any of the five towns; Stip is recruiting most actively right now.
EVEC Kocani Head office
Ul. Boris Trajkovski 42, 2300 Kocani
OID E10119353 · PIC 943554018
EVEC Stip
Vita Pop-Jordanova 120, 2000 Stip
OID E10039470 · PIC 924094266
EVEC Delcevo
Biglanska 3, 2320 Delcevo
PIC 924091841
EVEC Strumica
Mito Hadzivasilev-Jasmin 5, Strumica
OID E10257646
EVEC Lozovo
Vladimir Ilich Lenin 10, Lozovo
Local volunteering and youth activities
Want to volunteer with a branch?
Placements run under the association's ESC Quality Label, which covers all five towns. Tell us who you are and we'll point you to the right town.
Mission & vision
Why we do it.
To open Europe to young people: mobility and mutual understanding, real preparation for professional life, inclusion for those with fewer opportunities, and care for the environment we all share.
From the statute of the association, 2014.
The statute has said the same thing since 2014. What changes is how we deliver it — and next, we are bringing the EVEC network's hands-on methodologies home to Kocani.
How we work
Honest projects, hands-on learning.
We work through non-formal education: learning by doing, in small groups, with mentors who stay reachable. Inclusion is not a side theme here — volunteers with fewer opportunities can come with an accompanying assistant, and the day-care centre teams we work with include psychologists and special-education teachers.
The EVEC network's four methodologies — microgreens, mycelium, drones and solar — were written by our president, Blagoj Ristov, and piloted at our sister organisation in Athens. We are now bringing them to North Macedonia. They are the plan for our next chapter, not a finished story — and we would rather tell you that plainly than dress it up.
Our accreditation
Checked, vetted and verifiable.
One European accreditation sits behind our volunteering work — and we would rather be precise about what we hold than impressive about what we don't. Every number below can be checked on the EU's own platforms.
ESC Quality Label — Hosting & Supporting
The European Solidarity Corps Quality Label certifies that we meet the Corps' standards to host and support volunteers safely and well — awarded and checked through the National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility (MK01) in Skopje.
One Quality Label across our network
The association holds one ESC Quality Label (Hosting + Supporting, valid to 31/12/2027), and it covers the whole of EVEC — so an ESC volunteer can be hosted in, or sent from, any of our five towns. Three of the five are also registered in their own right on the European Youth Portal, which is why they have their own OIDs: Kocani, plus EVEC Stip and EVEC Strumica. A separate registration is not a separate label — it is simply why a coordinator searching the portal finds three entries rather than five. Delcevo and Lozovo have no separate portal entry, and are covered by the association's label exactly like every other branch.
Impact & track record
What we've done — and how to check it.
We've led our own Erasmus+ project
"Entrepreneurial Development Through Internet and Social Media" — an Erasmus+ VET mobility we coordinated ourselves in 2020–2022, sending Macedonian vocational students abroad for work placements. Reference 2020-1-MK01-KA102-077700.
What we do in VET →Green Pathways — NEET youth, six countries
EVEC Stip is a partner in "Green Pathways: Empowering NEET Youth for a Sustainable Future" (09/2025–10/2026), coordinated from Romania. Reference 2025-1-RO01-KA153-YOU-000298169.
Youth projects across the network since 2015
Youth exchanges and volunteering with coordinators in Türkiye, Slovenia and Greece — from "Wind of Peace" (2016-1-TR01-KA105-030607) to "Practice, Play, Promote!" (2020-3-EL02-KA105-006615). Don't take our word for it — every reference code can be looked up on the Erasmus+ Project Results platform.
See our projects →Day-care centres and a Paralympic sport
Our people work in day-care centres for people with disabilities: open in Stip (Novo Selo) since 2006 with around 10 people a day, and in Delcevo since 2004 with around 20 a day — occupational therapy, adapted facilities and transport. And we brought Boccia to North Macedonia first, with two trained trainers.
Sport at EVEC →The EVEC network
Sister organisations, shared methods.
EVEC Kocani is a founding member of the EVEC network — organisations that share a name, a mission and a way of working, while staying legally independent.
EVEC Athens
Our sister organisation in Greece, founded in 2017 — legally separate, same name and mission. EVEC Stip has taken part in EVEC Athens' Erasmus+ Youth projects, and the network's methodologies were piloted there.
The four methodologies
Microgreens, mycelium, drones and solar — authored by Blagoj Ristov, proven in Athens, and now being brought to Kocani step by step. Delivered results so far belong to the network; the Macedonian chapter is just beginning.
Our National Agency
Our ESC work is accredited and supported through the National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility (MK01) in Skopje — the official Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps agency of North Macedonia.
“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.”
Erasmus+ Programme
European Solidarity Corps
National Agency (MK01) · Skopje
EVEC Kocani · founding member of the EVEC networkGet involved
There's a place for you here.
Young people
Join a funded Erasmus+ youth project — exchanges and training courses across Europe, open to ages 17–30, with a strong focus on fewer opportunities. Under 18? You can take part with parental consent, per our safeguarding policy.
Volunteer
Long-term ESC volunteering in our towns — or volunteer locally or online. Our Quality Label covers all five towns, and Stip is looking for ESC volunteers most actively right now.
Intern with us
A hands-on placement with our team in Kocani — honest work, real mentoring, no coffee-fetching.
Organisations & institutions
Partner with us across youth, VET, schools, adult education and sport. Write to us with one line about who you are — we reply within 3 working days.
Trust & contact
Officially registered, easy to reach.
Co-funded by the European Union
Citizens' association · Kocani, North MacedoniaVerify us on the European Youth Portal — organisation no. 49665.
Our EU organisation IDs, used in every application we sign.
Citizens' association founded 15.02.2014, entered in the Central Registry of RNM on 11.03.2014.
North Macedonia. President and legal representative: Blagoj Ristov.
Branches in Stip, Delcevo, Strumica and Lozovo. Every project has a public reference code.
Via the National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility (MK01), Skopje. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the EU or EACEA. Neither the EU nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
No office hours to catch — e-mail works best, and we reply within 3 working days.
Explore the site
Where to go next
Get involved
Ways to take part
Volunteer locally or online, intern with our team, or join a funded project abroad.
Get involved →Projects
Our projects, with receipts
Seventeen EU projects across our network — each with a reference code you can check.
See the projects →News
News & open calls
Calls for volunteers and participants, results and stories from our towns.
Browse news →