tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/voluntary-work-18940/articlesVoluntary work – The Conversation2023-05-17T02:00:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2052182023-05-17T02:00:02Z2023-05-17T02:00:02ZHow can we bolster Australia’s depleted army of volunteers to match the soaring demand for their services?<p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2020/6/The_experience_of_volunteers_during_the_early_stages_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_0.pdf">hit volunteering very hard</a>. By June 2021, volunteer numbers in Australia had <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/jun-2021#key-statistics">fallen by 37%</a> from the start of the pandemic. </p>
<p>In the first two years of the pandemic, <a href="https://volunteeringstrategy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Volunteering-in-Australia-2022-The-Volunteer-Perspective.pdf">around 1.86 million people</a> left volunteering, according to Volunteering Australia. Last year, <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">26.7%</a> of the population did formal volunteer work. That’s well down from the pre-COVID level of <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">36%</a> in 2019.</p>
<p>Many depleted volunteer services are now feeling the strain of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-16/food-relief-demand-doubles-melbourne-bayside-suburbs/102347386">increasing demand</a> due to the cost-of-living crisis. They are also facing the <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">compounding effects</a> of an <a href="https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/combining-work-and-care-the-benefits-to-carers-and-the-economy-report.pdf">ageing population</a>, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-1-5-million-australians-getting-rent-assistance-need-an-increase-but-more-public-housing-is-the-lasting-fix-for-the-crisis-200908">unaffordable housing</a> and the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health">mental health epidemic</a>.</p>
<p>To try to rebuild the ranks of volunteers, Volunteering Australia recently released a government-funded <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">national strategy</a>. It outlines 11 strategic objectives for the next ten years to secure the future of volunteering in Australian communities. </p>
<p>The strategy is based on input from across the volunteering sector. Some 83% of organisations reported they need more volunteers. As the strategy observes, volunteering in Australia is facing a sustainability crisis.</p>
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<h2>COVID accelerated a long-term decline</h2>
<p>Australia’s most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, have suffered the biggest declines in volunteering. This is likely linked to the extent of disruptions by COVID lockdowns in those states. </p>
<p>Volunteering rates in rural Australia remain higher than in metropolitan areas. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016716304776?via%3Dihub">Research</a> shows this is likely driven by need. Rural areas often have no alternative to the services volunteers provide.</p>
<p>Work and family commitments are the most common reasons for not volunteering. For those who had left volunteering, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00049182.2020.1813949">perceived over-regulation</a> – the “red tape” – had caused many to step away. </p>
<p>Volunteers are also having to re-assess if they can afford to continue. Many have to cover out-of-pocket expenses, such as travel costs, meals, training and, increasingly, specialist software for their volunteering activities. <a href="https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/advocacy-policy-research/stateofvolunteering/">Volunteering Victoria</a> has found the costs per volunteer average <a href="https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/8_Reduce-financial-costs-of-volunteeringFINAL.pdf">$1,500</a> a year.</p>
<p>Those volunteers face a difficult choice. Most of them gain great <a href="https://volunteeringstrategy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Volunteering-in-Australia-2022-The-Volunteer-Perspective.pdf">personal satisfaction from volunteering and helping others</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also a critical social outlet. Volunteering is a way to engage with people who share common interests and values. </p>
<p>The national strategy also identifies a significant mismatch between the volunteering opportunities being offered and what non‑volunteers are interested in. This applies to both the types of organisations and the types of roles.</p>
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<h2>Informal volunteering is on the rise</h2>
<p>While more and more people are moving away from volunteering in formal organisations, <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/Volunteers_and_volunteering_during_the_COVID-era_in_Australia.pdf">research</a> has shown informal volunteering is increasing. The strategy reports just under half the population (46.5%) took part in informal volunteering in 2022.</p>
<p>This form of volunteering is not associated with a volunteer organisation. <a href="https://www.volunteeringsa-nt.org.au/assets/resources/sa/Informal-Volunteering.pdf">Informal volunteering</a> can include anything from organising local garden clean-ups and running a street library to helping out neighbours, updating Wikipedia pages and running community “buy nothing” pages on Facebook.</p>
<p>Informal volunteering may take as much time as formal volunteering. However, its informal nature allows people to be more flexible about when they offer their time. They are also able to pick and choose activities that best suit their interests and skills. </p>
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<p>Informal and local-scale volunteering is not new, of course. But the COVID pandemic did result in an increase in informal volunteering. <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/Volunteers_and_volunteering_during_the_COVID-era_in_Australia.pdf">Up to half of all Australians</a> did it in some form. </p>
<p>Throughout the pandemic stories emerged of local communities rallying together to support each other. There were ad-hoc social events, community choirs, food drives and other local initiatives. <a href="https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/about/community/our-stories/the-pivotal-role-of-place-based-giving-during-the-covid19-pandemic.html">Philanthropic funding</a> helped support these informal local efforts. </p>
<p>The growth of informal volunteering is a “good news” story. More people are getting involved in a more diverse range of activities, in ways that fit with their busy lives. </p>
<p>However, the need to curb the decline in formal volunteering remains pressing. Formal volunteering underpins essential services such as emergency work and social care and support. Sporting and cultural events also rely on regular, volunteer-provided services. </p>
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<h2>So what can volunteer organisations do?</h2>
<p>It is not a lack of goodwill that is driving the decline in formal volunteering; the growth of informal volunteering clearly attests to this. </p>
<p>To reverse the decline, <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@business-economy/2022/10/18/1385173/what-happened-to-australias-volunteer-army">researchers argue</a> the sector has to innovate to improve its diversity and inclusiveness. </p>
<p>More flexible models of volunteerism are needed too. Organisations should make greater use of remote engagement via the internet and hybrid collaboration. For example, having meetings online enables participation by volunteers who are not necessarily located in the same place. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">National Strategy for Volunteering 2023-2033</a> makes clear the quality of volunteers’ experience of this work is critical to attracting and retaining more volunteers. To improve this experience, volunteering organisations need to develop avenues for engaging diverse cohorts and provide opportunities for ad-hoc and alternative modes of volunteering. </p>
<p>Volunteering Australia also highlights that volunteers are not looking to replicate the experience of paid work. While they might draw on knowledge and skills from their workplace, volunteering is about more than simply the labour they are providing. </p>
<p>To sustain volunteering in Australia, it is essential to recognise and value the intrinsic desire that volunteers have to make a difference. It’s equally essential to make it easier for people to undertake diverse forms of volunteering. These options will better enable them to balance family, work and volunteering commitments. </p>
<p>The growth of informal volunteering shows Australians are still willing to volunteer, if volunteering can fit in with the other demands of their busy lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Davies receives funding from The Australian Research Council, Volunteering Australia, Cooperative Research Centre for the Transition of Mining Economies, The Australian Government, The Western Australian Government. </span></em></p>With a surge in people seeking help amid a cost-of-living crisis, volunteer groups urgently need to rebuild their numbers to meet the demand for their services.Amanda Davies, Professor of Human Geography, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593272021-04-25T20:07:17Z2021-04-25T20:07:17ZLoss of two-thirds of volunteers delivers another COVID blow to communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396676/original/file-20210423-13-lktpxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C5568%2C3675&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-volunteers-community-charity-donation-center-1841077372">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a year of lockdowns, social distancing and working from home, Australia’s volunteering rate plunged. In 2020, <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">two out of every three volunteers</a> stopped volunteering. This equates to a loss of <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/12/now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-the-strategic-adaptation-of-volunteering/">12.2 million hours per week</a> of community-focused work. </p>
<p>In 2021, volunteering has yet to fully recover. <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">Only one in five people</a> are now volunteering. </p>
<p>This plunge in volunteering comes off the back of <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/12/now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-the-strategic-adaptation-of-volunteering/">significant declines</a> in the national rate of volunteering. The rate had already fallen from <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2021/02/the-struggle-to-reinvigorate-volunteering-in-a-covid-19-world/">36% in 2010 to 29% in 2019</a>. </p>
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<p>This decline is happening at a time when demand for volunteer services has increased. In a <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">national survey</a> of volunteering organisations in December 2020 and January 2021, 43% reported an increase in demand for their services. And 56% reported needing more volunteers. </p>
<p>To sustain and rebuild their volunteer workforces, volunteering organisations have had to adapt their operations to enable more online and episodic volunteering. While COVID has accelerated these adaptations, we argue that for some they are long overdue.</p>
<p>Australia now faces a critical shortage of volunteers. Over the longer term the increased flexibility in volunteering work arrangements might be just the thing to turn around the decline in volunteering. </p>
<h2>Why are we volunteering less?</h2>
<p>In March 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021">surveyed</a> Australians to understand the impacts of the pandemic. Among those who normally volunteer, the ABS found COVID-19 restrictions presented a barrier for 14% of women and 11% of men. For these committed volunteers, short-term lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings curbed their ability to volunteer. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chart showing reasons of former volunteers for not volunteering in previous four weeks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Note: Includes unpaid volunteering for an organisation or group. More than one response may have been reported. Components are not able to be added together to produce a total.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/latest-release#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">Data: ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Some were unable to volunteer because their regular volunteering activities had been reduced or cancelled. Women were disproportionately affected, with 20% of women who normally volunteer, compared to 11% of men, not currently volunteering because their activities have been cancelled. This disparity reflects the highly <a href="http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0623b.htm">gendered nature of volunteering</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>There are many examples of cancelled <a href="https://www.theland.com.au/story/7073943/shows-cancel-or-change-plans-due-to-covid-19-again/">community events</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-event-cancellations-communication-is-key-to-retaining-public-trust-133594">festivals</a>. The volunteering sector’s own National Volunteering Conference was <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/national-volunteering-conference-2020-cancelled-due-to-covid-19/">cancelled</a> due to COVID-19. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">Volunteering Australia reported</a> that by February 2021 only 28% of volunteering organisations had returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity and 12% were still not operational. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has also caused uncertainty about how to volunteer. The ABS survey found <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">7% of regular volunteers</a> are no longer sure how to engage in volunteering due to COVID restrictions, in spite of peak bodies offering <a href="https://www.volunteeringwa.org.au/resources/fact-sheets-and-guides">advice</a> to both volunteers and volunteering organisations. </p>
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<h2>Informal volunteering has also decreased</h2>
<p>COVID-19 has also had impacts on informal volunteering. Informal volunteering is when people provide unpaid help to someone living outside their household. This can be, for example, running errands, helping with childcare, or lending a hand with household cleaning and gardening. </p>
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<img alt="Grandmother with granddaughter and grandson" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australians rely heavily on informal volunteering to help them, for example, with caring for their children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/grandmother-looking-after-grandchildren-112690193">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The decline in informal volunteering is perhaps surprising given the emergence of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/volunteer-army-responds-to-coronavirus-covid-19-crisis/12064018">neighbourhood support groups</a> organised via social media and new <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-has-revealed-the-power-of-social-networks-in-a-crisis-136431">online community activities</a>.</p>
<p>The ABS survey asked people why they had not provided informal volunteering over a four-week period. Of this group, 17% of men and 13% of women did not informally volunteer as they <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">wanted to protect their or others’ health</a> by minimising exposure to other people. About 5% of people could not help out friends, family or neighbours because of COVID restrictions. </p>
<h2>What are the impacts for communities?</h2>
<p>Volunteers are ever-present in all aspects of community life. Volunteers provide health and emergency services. They run sporting activities, environment and building conservation efforts. And many are the stalwarts of membership associations and local committees. </p>
<p>As Australians venture back to “normal” work and social lives, the absence of volunteers and the variety of community activities they make possible will become increasingly obvious. Without volunteers, some community services and activities we have become used to will be diminished, or will no longer exist at all. </p>
<p>For regular volunteers, the loss of participation in volunteering could reduce their personal well-being, skill development and social networks. </p>
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<h2>Re-engaging volunteers</h2>
<p>As many workplaces shifted activities online, so too did some volunteering organisations. As with workplaces, this transition enabled volunteers to “work from home”. An <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">estimated 50%</a> of volunteer organisations moved volunteer roles and activities online to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.</p>
<p>The ABS survey found online volunteering is now available to about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">one in five volunteers</a>. Of those who had the option to volunteer online, 76% had done so. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/04/is-coronavirus-reshaping-volunteering/">accelerated the rate of adaptation</a> of organisations. Many more now provide diverse opportunities for volunteers to engage in episodic forms of virtual and face-to-face volunteering. </p>
<p>People’s <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/State-of-Volunteering-in-Australia-full-report.pdf">preference for diverse forms of volunteering</a> was already increasing. Many volunteers have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-have-all-the-volunteers-gone-47192">calling for more flexible ways</a> to volunteer for years. The COVID-forced adaptation might just be what the sector needs for longer-term sustainability. </p>
<p>The challenge now will be for volunteer organisations to continue to adjust to changing volunteering practices and preferences. They also need to convince volunteers it is safe to do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Holmes has received funding from the Australian Government, the Australian Research Council, the International Olympic Committee, the WA Government and Men's Sheds WA. Kirsten is a member of Volunteering WA's research committee.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Lockstone-Binney has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At one time more than one in three Australians did volunteer work. Only one in five are now doing so, but there are some positive signs as volunteering organisations adapt to changing times.Amanda Davies, Professor of Human Geography, The University of Western AustraliaKirsten Holmes, Professor, School of Marketing, Curtin UniversityLeonie Lockstone-Binney, Associate Professor, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1333922020-04-21T13:41:41Z2020-04-21T13:41:41ZThe green gig economy: precarious workers are on the frontline of climate change fight<p>Politicians and business people are fond of making promises to plant thousands of trees to slow climate change. But who actually plants those trees, and who tends them as they grow?</p>
<p>The hard and dirty work of <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-service-for-the-environment-and-a-green-new-deal-to-fight-climate-change-imagine-newsletter-1-114168">restoring ecosystems</a> will be invaluable in coming decades, to soak up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, ease the impact of storms and flooding and harbour embattled wildlife. But this work – where it currently exists – is carried out by people who are often poorly paid, or not compensated at all.</p>
<p>Most often, these aren’t recognised workers, but instead, volunteers. This is not only the case for conservation workers in rural areas of Madagascar and Cambodia, but also in cities where waste collectors and people who recycle electronic waste work in abject poverty. </p>
<p>The situation is more dire for those battling the natural disasters that are proliferating in the warming climate. The 2018 wildfire season in California was the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/7/17661096/california-wildfires-2018-camp-woolsey-climate-change">deadliest in the state’s history</a>, but much of the fire fighting relied on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/9/17670494/california-prison-labor-mendocino-carr-ferguson-wildfires">2,000 prison inmates</a> who earned just USD$1 a day. </p>
<p>During Australia’s “black summer” of 2019-20, Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected calls for support payments to 195,000 volunteer firefighters because, in his words, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/10/scott-morrison-rejects-calls-for-more-help-saying-volunteer-firefighters-want-to-be-there">they want to be there</a>”.</p>
<p>The UK is braced for a future in which <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-used-to-flooding-climate-change-will-bring-more-of-it-23198">flooding is more frequent and severe</a>. But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) <a href="https://nationalfloodforum.org.uk/how-we-help/get-involved/our-volunteers/">relies heavily on volunteer labour</a> to manage these floods when they occur, and that’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-weather-the-rise-of-the-flood-volunteer-9129351.html">set to remain the case</a>.</p>
<p>These workers lack the proper pay and protections of an organised workforce, yet their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309132518799911">services are increasingly in demand</a>. Collectively, they form an emerging “eco-precariat” that bears little resemblance to the <a href="https://futuresofwork.co.uk/2020/04/01/re-thinking-work-from-the-global-south/">labour movement</a> that’s urgently needed to mitigate the climate and ecological crisis.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unions-can-and-will-play-a-leading-role-in-tackling-the-climate-crisis-113226">Unions can – and will – play a leading role in tackling the climate crisis</a>
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<h2>Precarity in the green economy</h2>
<p>The modern “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/gig-economy-19448">gig economy</a>” sells independence to workers by allowing them to decide their own work hours. For taxi drivers or couriers, this may sound appealing, but in practice it can mean a precarious existence, trapped with a variable income and permanently on call <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/30/the-guardian-view-on-the-gig-economy-stop-making-burnout-a-lifestyle">in zero-hour contracts</a>. Those with an uncertain immigration status can fall into forms of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-uk-asylum-system-creates-perfect-conditions-for-modern-slavery-and-exploitation-to-thrive-113778">modern day slavery</a>. </p>
<p>Our research studied <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anti.12593">labour practices in the green economy</a> and in particular, the schemes in which people and organisations “buy” green services, like ecosystem conservation and tree planting. </p>
<p>These projects range from direct payments to governments for forest and mangrove protection, to carbon markets, in which credits are sold to finance conservation work. A growing number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ces-arbres-qui-cachent-des-forets-de-greenwashing-105744#comment_1763361">corporations pay</a> to offset the local environmental damage they cause this way - enabling them to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/opinion/trump-climate-change-trees.html">neglect action to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions</a>. There’s even a smartphone <a href="https://www.trilliontreecampaign.org/">app that will “plant a tree”</a> at the touch of a button.</p>
<p>The idea of trees being planted at the touch of a screen sounds revolutionary. But this work tends to draw on a flexible labour pool – a sort of “green gig economy”. While private sector donations are funnelled through charities and NGOs overseeing the tree planting, the work itself is offered on a temporary basis, often to unpaid volunteers – <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/madagascar-launches-massive-planting-drive-eyes-60-million-trees/">including school children</a> - who are deployed to plant and care for the trees.</p>
<p>Even as local people are enlisted to manage tree planting, they find their <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123308">access to these areas restricted</a>. In some cases, tree planting initiatives have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2514848618812029">uprooted communities</a> and repossessed their land.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/greenwashing-corporate-tree-planting-generates-goodwill-but-may-sometimes-harm-the-planet-103457">Greenwashing: corporate tree planting generates goodwill but may sometimes harm the planet</a>
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<h2>Essential workers</h2>
<p>As the pandemic has shown, volunteers and community groups can hold the social fabric together <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-community-led-movement-creating-hope-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-134391">in times of crisis</a>. Whether it’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/science/coronavirus-masks-equipment-crowdsource.html">ordinary people creating medical equipment</a> or <a href="https://covidmutualaid.org/">caring for neighbours in quarantine</a>, community action can save lives where years of austerity have starved emergency services of the necessary resources for dealing with disasters.</p>
<p>The same can be said of volunteer fire fighters and foresters, but cheering on their selflessness isn’t enough. We should recognise where labour arrangements have created precarious working conditions, or enabled governments to shift their responsibilities onto the public.</p>
<p>Will volunteer fire fighters continue to go without compensation, even as their work becomes more dangerous in Australia’s increasingly fierce wildfire seasons? As governments consider <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-economic-rescue-plans-can-set-the-global-economy-on-a-path-to-decarbonisation-135909">how to revive the global economy</a> after the COVID-19 pandemic, what legal protections can workers in new environmental projects depend on? </p>
<p>Now more than ever, it’s time for a frank discussion about what essential workers deserve in return for the invaluable work they do.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1133392">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sango Mahanty receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Neimark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During California’s deadliest wildfire season, 2,000 prison inmates fought the flames on USD$1 a day.Sango Mahanty, Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityBenjamin Neimark, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/747652017-03-24T15:02:53Z2017-03-24T15:02:53ZBritons see volunteering as a hobby or a way to network rather than a chore<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161380/original/image-20170317-6130-jeqqwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ffestiniog railway volunteers</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Despite the UK being named Europe’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2016/oct/25/uk-global-giving-index-lags-myanmar">most generous country</a> last year, new data from the Office for National statistics has shown that volunteering for charities and other organisations in the country <a href="http://visual.ons.gov.uk/billion-pound-loss-in-volunteering-effort-in-the-last-3-years/">declined by 7%</a> in the three years to 2015. Furthermore, over the past decade there has been a 15.4% fall in the total number of regular hours dedicated to volunteering, dropping from to <a href="http://visual.ons.gov.uk/billion-pound-loss-in-volunteering-effort-in-the-last-3-years/">2.28 billion from 1.93 billion</a> hours. </p>
<p>This, according to the Office for National Statistics, resulted in a loss of <a href="http://visual.ons.gov.uk/billion-pound-loss-in-volunteering-effort-in-the-last-3-years/">more than £1 billion</a> between 2012 and 2015. </p>
<p>This downturn doesn’t show the whole picture, however: the ONS also found that <a href="https://qz.com/934081/the-young-now-volunteer-more-than-any-other-generation-in-the-uk/">more young people</a> are getting involved with volunteering initiatives. And that though the amount of time spent volunteering has declined, more people are signing up to volunteer.</p>
<h2>Nationwide volunteers</h2>
<p>These national stats also don’t show how volunteering is distributed across the country. Wales, for example, has a population of just over 3m people, <a href="http://www.wcva.org.uk/media/4576349/final_volunteering_in_wales_2015_-_english_july_2016.pdf">940,533 of which</a> are currently engaged in formal voluntary activity (approximately 32%). In England, <a href="http://www.ivr.org.uk/ivr-volunteering-stats/176-how-many-people-regularly-volunteer-in-the-uk">15.9m individuals volunteer</a> frequently from an overall population of 53.9m. While in Scotland <a href="http://www.wcva.org.uk/volunteering/volunteering-latest/2016/03/volunteering-%E2%80%93-why-do-people-do-it">1.3m people</a> volunteer out of a population of 5.3m.</p>
<p>But again these figures just can’t tell the whole story: in addition to the 940,533 formal volunteers in Wales – who work with community groups, raise funds for charities and work in charity shops – <a href="http://www.wcva.org.uk/media/4576349/final_volunteering_in_wales_2015_-_english_july_2016.pdf">1.6m volunteered informally</a>, doing things like visiting elderly neighbours and running errands. Likewise, informal volunteering figures are also high in England (<a href="http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/proportion-people-volunteering-unchanged-cabinet-offices-community-life-survey-finds/volunteering/article/1357013">18m</a>) and Scotland, (<a href="http://www.volunteerscotland.net/policy-and-research/research/volunteering-in-scotland/">1.9m</a>).</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162242/original/image-20170323-4934-1955iup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Helping hand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-girl-helping-senior-woman-carry-344337719?src=qCGDX0nEc_3KkDG4XjagAw-1-0">SpeedKingz/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>While these informal volunteers tend to stick close to home and help their local community, my own research has found formal volunteers go further afield. Looking at the role and experiences of heritage railway organisations’ volunteers in North Wales, I found that people say they are substantially more willing to travel across the country to work on projects which mean a lot to them. Volunteering has declined considerably over the past decade <a href="http://www.wcva.org.uk/media/207187/network_wales_454__2_.pdf">in rural locations</a> but while participation in “traditional” forms of associations – for example, attending church or chapel and taking part in their charitable projects – has fallen, volunteering in the heritage industry has increased. </p>
<h2>Community and heritage</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.festrail.co.uk/">North Wales Ffestiniog railway</a> is the oldest narrow-gauge railway, with approximately 200 years of history. Currently, it has nine societies – one is based in Gwynedd, North Wales, while the other eight are located across England, from Sussex up to Dee and Merseyside. Volunteers perform a vital role in preserving the railway’s heritage, and perform various roles such as driving, guarding and inspecting tickets on the trains.</p>
<p>While those who help neighbours do so on a daily or weekly basis, the motivations for the Ffestiniog volunteers are very different. They work with the railway often while on holiday to relax from a highly demanding job, escape from their lives and to participate in an activity which is not available in many towns and cities. Some also do it to maintain links to an area where they once lived or visited during childhood.</p>
<p>I’ve also found that volunteering is often seen as a way to make new connections. This is particularly prominent within the heritage sector where a significant proportion of its volunteers are either retired, or near retirement age. Their participation can help them maintain a social life, facilitate social connections, create new networks, and bridge the gap between employment and retirement.</p>
<p>Quite often numerous members of the same family take part in one volunteering activity too which becomes a family tradition. One participant has told me that his daughter, son-in-law, two nephews and three great-nephews all work with the Ffestiniog railway. And that “the whole atmosphere of the railway is of an extended family; other volunteers find the same thing”. </p>
<p>Just like the informal volunteers, who help their neighbours or local community, the formal railway volunteers find a community and communal spirit in the organisation. While they may not be related by blood or marriage, volunteers’ strong friendships often results in feelings of family, belonging, camaraderie, community, and identity. As another volunteer said:</p>
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<p>It is fantastic sharing a hobby and interest with people who feel and enjoy the same things. I suppose in a way, it is seen as a peculiar hobby to outsiders, but there is a great sense of community and communal spirit amongst us, we are a team, probably a dysfunctional one, but a team nonetheless.</p>
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<p>The truth is that facts and figures could never really represent the true picture of volunteering in Britain. Whether formal or informal, close by or far away, Britons are using their free time to make a difference – one that stats on their own could never truly portray.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Jones receives funding from WISERD social research.</span></em></p>The ONS says less Brits are volunteering - but the truth is they’re doing it in different ways.Stephanie Jones, PhD student of sociology, studying civil society, volunteering and participation, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/661482016-11-04T16:11:15Z2016-11-04T16:11:15ZThink looking after turtles in Costa Rica for three weeks is good for your CV? Think again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144586/original/image-20161104-27914-2rnt8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, <a href="http://www.atlas-webshop.org/epages/61492534.sf/en_GB/">an estimated 1.6m people</a> across the world choose to volunteer overseas. The majority of these individuals are under the age of 25 – they have often just left school, or are taking a year off between studies. </p>
<p>While helping to alleviate poverty appears to be of key importance to all volunteers, many are also motivated by the opportunity to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/philip-ellis/voluntourism_b_11865406.html">bolster a CV</a> or personal statement. In the eyes of recruiters – particularly universities – candidates who have volunteered internationally are considered <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/gap-year-travel/gap-years-where-to-go-what-to-do/">a step ahead</a>. They are seen to possess a greater awareness of global issues and different cultures, and a desire to contribute to society.</p>
<p>Yet there is a huge variety of opportunities in international volunteering, and it is important to recognise the difference between <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/niche-tourism/novelli/978-0-7506-6133-1">shallow and deep volunteering</a>. So-called “deep volunteers” may embark on a six-month trip, contributing to a long-term project in poor living conditions with no communication to the outside world, or travel as <a href="http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/UK_health_workers_have_key_role_in_international_disaster_relief">a medical volunteer</a> at great personal risk – for example, to care for Ebola victims in Western Africa. </p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum there are “shallow volunteers” – those who spend £625 of their own money for <a href="http://globalteer.co.uk/volunteer-projects.aspx?project=thailand-elephant-sanctuary">a one-week project</a> with elephants in Thailand, or £420 to <a href="http://www.workingabroad.com/projects/costa-rica-sea-turtle-volunteer#tab_14">protect marine wildlife</a> on the beaches of Costa Rica. These options are attractive to volunteers seeking a fun experience in exotic locations, without a long-term commitment to a specific project.</p>
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<p><em><strong>barbiesavior</strong> Orphans take the BEST pictures! So. Cute. #whatsyournameagain #orphans #wheredemorphansat #kingdomcome #blackbabiesarethecutest #strangers2secondsago #attachmentproblemsarentcute #notazoo</em></p>
<p>The commercial volunteer tourism industry is now worth <a href="http://wilsonquarterly.com/stories/the-help-and-harm-of-the-173-billion-voluntourism-industry/">US$173 billion annually</a>. Unfortunately, a few days spent meeting vulnerable children or looking after endangered animals is much more marketable experience than volunteering to combat real poverty. It is much more challenging to sell an ecological experience that is going to involve intense physical labour in a rough and remote part of the world. </p>
<p>Yet there is a growing recognition that shallow volunteering can do <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-travel-philanthropists-doing-more-harm-than-good-44629">more harm than good</a>. Author and <a href="https://wearelumos.org/">philanthropist</a> J K Rowling <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jk-rowling-twitter-voluntourism-volunteering-in-orphanages-risks-a7204801.html">recently criticised</a> the rise of “voluntourism”, because it enables individuals to “consume” poverty as an enriching experience that looks good on their CV, which can actually make problems worse for vulnerable children.</p>
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<p>In many instances, young people on social media have been quicker than recruiters to understand the problems with shallow volunteering. For instance, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/barbiesavior/?hl=en">Barbie Savior</a> was created as a satirical Instagram account, documenting Barbie’s adventures saving and caring for “sweet, sweet orphans in Africa”. </p>
<p>These adventures – while satirically humorous – address <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36132482">real-world concerns</a> about the superficial way that some volunteers interact with the people and cultures of disadvantaged societies. </p>
<h2>A better way</h2>
<p>There is a less harmful option for would-be volunteers seeking an enjoyable experience. An increasingly popular form of volunteering is facilitated through websites such as <a href="https://www.wwoof.org.uk/">World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms</a> (WWOOF) and <a href="https://www.workaway.info/">Workaway</a>. These sites pair eager volunteers with community projects. </p>
<p>In return for a six-hour working day, hosts are expected to offer food and accommodation. These projects exist in developed countries including the USA, Canada, and across Europe, where the working environment is often very hospitable and easygoing. </p>
<p>This form of volunteering is arguably more sustainable than shallow volunteering or traditional tourism. But these opportunities are often taken up by young people seeking a cheap form of travel. The work can be mundane – from picking weeds to working in a hostel reception – so the experience may not lead to significant personal development.</p>
<h2>Telling the difference</h2>
<p>This is not to say that employers should disregard international volunteer work altogether. Volunteers <a href="http://belfastmediagroup.com/pierces-return-trip-is-so-worthwhile/">often note</a> that they return with a renewed appreciation for work, increased motivation and a determination to make the most of all opportunities. And deep volunteers, who have demonstrated their grit and social conscience, deserve to have their experience recognised. </p>
<p>But recruiters and young people alike must realise that international volunteering is not a box to tick on a CV. Employers and universities should probe individuals on what sort of volunteering they conducted and how they think the experience makes them better candidates. </p>
<p>Where this is not possible, there are a few signs to look out for: it is likely that deep volunteers will provide the name of the programme, or give details of the work they conducted. Charitable organisations are usually the most reputable, as they place the most importance on the wellbeing of the host country, rather than turning a profit. And government-funded organisations, such as the <a href="https://www.vsointernational.org/">Volunteer Service Overseas</a> (VSO) conduct panel interviews with prospective volunteers to ensure that they are a good fit for the three-month projects and will offer a valuable contribution. </p>
<p>To improve the quality of international volunteering, recruiters of young graduates must only give merit to valuable volunteer work. Likewise, volunteers who <a href="http://www.internationalservice.org.uk/work_with_us/volunteer_resources.html">wish to prove their worth</a> must have a commitment to a project, be responsible, and have respect and appreciation for the cultural environment in which they are immersed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s time to recognise the difference between ‘deep’ and ‘shallow’ volunteering.Jamie Thompson, PhD candidate in Tourism Management, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/648982016-09-12T12:28:35Z2016-09-12T12:28:35ZOur world is not a pure market economy, and economics can’t explain it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137205/original/image-20160909-13345-13woyr2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C1022%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Present and correct.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atfruth/5287662490/in/photolist-94fDQE-qe83rX-sfkx7-Gb5jms-FNfDe3-CoJ2Gu-dBzPno-94xLdn-bh69NH-bkisXU-5KKN2U-bh68Jk-bh6aLc-eKSVd2-65XXRG-5KMaRm-4DD3xy-7vhfo-8LEGUY-iFWGoS-92cJ6n-b2sRyF-bKQxo-FhV8R1-G7vM6i-FhV8UY-Gdn7QV-G5cP6Q-Fi6NDv-Fi6NEn-G7vMca-Fi6Nzn-bh67N2-i7JYh7-576Vks-47tYv-5MUcRR-7rqQLZ-aUwGoK-ty6wX-u7R3Q-94tVXc-6o9GPy-7qiHdU-7sUQXb-93Dy7q-wZanj-bjx1bk-946zNq-93ZePb">Aaron Fruth/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We tend to take it for granted that our economy is a <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketeconomy.asp">market economy</a>. Mainstream economics is particularly committed to that idea. Indeed its core concepts depend on it: supply and demand curves and equilibrium prices make no real sense outside the context of markets. But today in large parts of the most dynamic sector of our economy, the market is either absent or only one part of the story.</p>
<p>Of course the digital economy includes companies such as Apple and Amazon selling products in markets, but it also includes very different models. The web is the realm of the gift. The vast majority of the pages we download are free – and sites such as Wikipedia are sophisticated examples of the gift economy in action.</p>
<p>Even some of the most successful commercial companies, such as Google and Facebook, depend on business models that hybridise gift practices and the market. The commodities they sell depend utterly on the gifts that they give. </p>
<p>To make sense of these gift and hybrid forms of economy, my research in the book <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/sociology/social-theory/profit-and-gift-digital-economy?format=PB&isbn=9781316509388">Profit and Gift in the Digital Economy</a> develops the idea that we should think of the economy as an interacting mix of market and non-market practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137206/original/image-20160909-13345-1h32xcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Market forces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dordrecht-holland/15503556441/in/photolist-pBZMcg-jnKqiC-oWHSxK-qJ5VbP-fiPZVo-F4A1VG-oi8CCD-ogecyn-eMhmDz-cjeFaW-7mBr7x-pXf5tX-aYCoqZ-ngxnw6-4fFumS-gez1Yp-fP3Qnz-hShtN8-gs7W3C-9deuWz-pRvpKx-gVo2Mi-itDpE7-ahqdeH-oRQmeF-cLzvUC-JBzoN8-nXuFBB-jqWMEz-pxuuim-hxamQR-peT1hP-dLaYn8-pAefWf-oonBpc-UVxmF-fJfHjE-PgQNn-hJAcYh-Fecteb-avpofg-kR71wX-cWBcwU-cJCw4G-9Vfin-bzP8Fr-vVLVh-oMzzaW-rigahh-e67GQ6">Paul van de Velde/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The gift economy in action</h2>
<p>Wikipedia – the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wikipedia">largest and most widely used encyclopedia</a> the world has ever seen – is the iconic case of the digital gift economy. It dominates its sector, and has more or less completed the extinction of the paid-for encyclopedia that began when Microsoft gave away Encarta to PC buyers.</p>
<p>Wikipedia rests on three gift practices: it gives us access to its content for nothing, that content is created by volunteers who edit it for nothing, and its running costs are funded by voluntary donations. </p>
<p>And when work is voluntary, the old rules no longer apply. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2014/06/30/how-wikipedia-really-works-an-insiders-wry-brave-account/&refURL=https://www.google.co.uk/&referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/">Wikipedia’s editors</a> are not told what to do by managers implementing a top-down strategy. They choose their own tasks and do them at their own pace. The quality of their work is not assured by performance appraisals and the threat of redundancy. Instead they debate quality with each other on Wikipedia’s Talk pages, employing norms that have been consensually agreed by the editors themselves.</p>
<p>Conventional economics has no tools with which to analyse phenomena like Wikipedia. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-much-is-wikipedia-worth-704865/?no-ist">The site offers no revenue, market capitalisation or book value</a> by which to value it. Neither the human motivations nor the co-operative coordination mechanisms fit economic models of utility maximisation and market equilibrium. When we measure our economy, are we really best served by ignoring Wikipedia? </p>
<h2>A hybrid powerhouse</h2>
<p>By contrast, Google looks like a company that traditional economics should be able to explain. The second largest company in the world by market capitalisation, it made <a href="http://www.androidcentral.com/google-releases-q4-and-full-2015-earnings">profits of US$74.5 billion</a> (£56 billion) in 2015, mostly from selling advertising.</p>
<p>That’s a market, isn’t it? It is, but it’s a market that only exists because of the gifts that Google gives to its users. The core case is free web search. When Google gives us search results, it receives information about our interests as a by-product of the search process, and uses that to sell much more effectively targeted advertising than was ever possible in conventional media.</p>
<p>Here we have two deeply interdependent practices: a market practice of selling advertising that can only exist because of a gift practice of providing free web search. Freesheet newspapers offer a similar model, but Google is on a different scale. However well demand and supply curves can explain the outcomes in the advertising market, they tell us nothing about how Google acquires those advertising opportunities in the first place.</p>
<p>To explain hybrid economic models like this one, we need an approach that sees both gift and market practices as significant and can analyse the ways in which they are combined.</p>
<h2>Economics and the gift economy</h2>
<p>Although I’ve highlighted the digital gift economy here, the gift economy is much older and much larger than that – it has just been less tangibly coupled with the market economy that we see on the business news. To take only the largest case, people have been producing and transferring economic benefits within the household since households began, without selling them to each other. When a parent cooks for their family that is just as productive as a chef cooking for customers in a restaurant, but no cash changes hands in payment.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13545709610001707756">One study of the Australian economy</a>, for example, found that when monetised – when household work is given a dollar value equivalent to that in the market economy – the household sector alone is as large as the market sector. Nor is the “old” gift economy confined to gifts to friends and family – charitable giving, volunteering and blood donation are all familiar forms of gifts to strangers. </p>
<p>Economics tends to overlook the gift economy, wherever it appears, not only because tools used by economics, such as revenue or profit calculations, market share and stock prices can only make sense of markets, but also because it has no way to value products that are not sold. We are all accustomed to valuing things in terms of prices achieved in the market, but there are no such prices in the gift sector. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean its products aren’t valuable, but rather that we have absorbed a thoroughly dysfunctional notion of value that goes along with thinking of the economy in purely market terms. We can become so focused on the monetary side of the economy that we don’t see the absurdity of promoting its growth at the expense of the things we do for each other that don’t come with a price tag attached. If we are to make sense of both today’s economy and future possibilities, we need to start analysing our world as a complex of both market and non-market social practices, and start valuing its products in terms of human benefits instead of price.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave Elder-Vass does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Economics struggles to explain the explosion of gift models at the heart of our online economy.Dave Elder-Vass, Reader in Sociology, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/446292015-07-27T14:13:22Z2015-07-27T14:13:22ZAre travel philanthropists doing more harm than good?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89626/original/image-20150724-7581-1vkj3yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Learning songs at the Tumanitenda Community Camp in The Gambia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marina Novelli</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It seems like the best of both worlds. People using their hard-earned vacation time to give something back to those worse off than themselves. At its finest, travel philanthropy is seen as a form of direct development assistance – a benign initiative flowing from the travel industry and travellers into conservation initiatives, community projects and philanthropic organisations.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/wangari-maathai">Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai</a> commented at a conference in Tanzania in 2008:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Travel philanthropy was born out of the frustration with conventional aid and ineffective philanthropic giving, as a form of development assistance flowing from the travel industry and travellers directly into conservation initiatives, community projects and philanthropic organisations. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The notion that one can “do good” by “giving back” while engaging in leisure or travel is an extremely attractive proposition. However, the reality is that we often fail miserably to fully understand our role as individuals travelling into unknown lands.</p>
<h2>Guilt-edged</h2>
<p>Philanthropy has shifted from being the preserve of the rich and famous to one of ordinary citizens interested in sharing their more modest wealth. Springing from the consequent democratisation of charitable gift-giving and from the growth of international travel and tourism, travel philanthropy is embedded into an increasing worry, or we might say “guilt”, about the socio-economic welfare of those living in less-privileged conditions around the world. So how can we ensure the intention to do good while travelling has a positive outcome?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=134&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88507/original/image-20150715-17809-13mrrro.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">P2P - Meeting the ALKALO at Tumanitenda Community Camp - The Gambia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author own collection</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my research into the ways in which different types of travel philanthropy can facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges between hosts and guests, I have found that it is a growing niche within the broader field of philanthropy. My research in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa has highlighted that it can share much with strategic, social entrepreneurship and social justice philanthropy, but can also exhibit tonalities of traditional philanthropy, at times leading to dependency and other related sustainability issues. </p>
<p>The giving of time and money can be the core purpose of the tourism experience, <a href="http://www.bigbeyond.org/?gclid=CKCeh-Ob7MYCFVTMtAodmn4BSQ">such as in conservation holidays</a>. It can also be an incidental consequence of travelling to locations affected by poverty or major health and environmental problems; a tourist might be inspired to <a href="https://www.gambia.co.uk/blog/2012/12/31/sponsoring-a-child-in-the-gambia/">sponsor a school place</a> or <a href="http://www.basecampfoundation.org/page.php?id=6">decide to assist communities</a> affected by HIV/AIDS, or species in danger of extinction.</p>
<h2>Geography of compassion</h2>
<p>Tourism has somehow become a vehicle to channel acts of giving between international visitors, who perceive themselves as being more fortunate than others, and those who live in more precarious conditions.</p>
<p>However, there are doubts about whether travel philanthropy actually translates into effective and equitable development, or whether its expansion has caused what <a href="http://www.otago.ac.nz/tourism/staff/otago062498.html">Mary Mostafanezhad from New Zealand’s University of Otago calls</a> a <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mary_Mostafanezhad/publication/254370209_The_Geography_of_Compassion_in_Volunteer_Tourism/links/552ebfc10cf2acd38cbbd753.pdf">“geography of compassion”</a>, with associated problems of aid dependency, a worsened poverty cycle and delivering ambiguous evidence on its sustainability and impacts.</p>
<p>Clearly, there is a risk that even the most well-intentioned traveller can end up doing more harm than good. </p>
<p>Problems exist when the goal of altruism, the pursuit of individual gain and the desire for social status become blurred motivators behind the act of giving and volunteering. The boom of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/9055213/Orphanage-tourism-help-or-hindrance.html">so-called orphanage tourism</a> is a disturbing example, criticised for promoting voyeurism and encouraging unscrupulous practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89152/original/image-20150721-24298-lnnq23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A hand up?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oxlaey/17262430384/in/photolist-siqt95-sXYEFr-8T5HwS-4qcu9E-5sceaL-6m2J2W-oZXBnv-93pSKx-mRJJuW-tfpTr6-tftwmP-sirmE1-sXXP14-sXRuJW-siqSVy-tf9EGL-tfbvEU-siBKzZ-sXQjaw-5JiGkC-6N9Vno-4omLGP-nRY2zK-nRESev-nztnay-6kXvxP-95TE8u-7AgzDr-6m2LZd-7x36h6-e3Nwvn-e3NwvP-e3Nwvc-5c5R5V-7x2W4M-7x6hFG-7x5H2C-7x5GZJ-7x36pZ-7x74PC-7x3fQR-7x3rD8-7x5H7Y-7x6hEo-7x2tCg-7x3oW2-7x1TWP-7x3p3R-nztB5Q-nzuasH">OXLAEY.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a <a href="http://www.campdenfb.com/article/footloose-philanthropy">warning in the idea of “voluntourism”</a> which since the 1980s has sent individuals with particular skills to volunteer in developing countries. It has proved so popular that it has ballooned into a commercial tourism product in its own right, now worth <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/07/31/336600290/as-volunteerism-explodes-in-popularity-whos-it-helping-most">about $2 billion annually</a>. Every year, armies of westerners – usually young and white – descend on countries in Africa and Asia and tour operators often end up manufacturing work for these volunteers to do.</p>
<h2>Facebook fodder</h2>
<p>While it allows the participant to beef up their résumés – or add a feel-good photo to their Facebook profile – it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re making any meaningful difference to the local community. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88506/original/image-20150715-17818-1oc25dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CharityBox.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marina Novelli</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I recall visiting newly built schools funded by well-intentioned philanthropists who had visited remote rural villages in Namibia, Tanzania and Swaziland. They were turned into empty shells with no teachers as the local government could not afford to employ qualified teachers, or relying on the service of unqualified volunteers from the West. Worse still, I saw schools being painted every two to three weeks at the arrival of a new batch of willing volunteers.</p>
<p>In the view of such criticism, identifying and implementing sustainable forms of travel philanthropy can be challenging, but not impossible.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@gregbows/different-shades-of-volunteering-27c977c93c01">Amy Scarth</a>, an expert in tourism and international development and director of volunteer tourism firm Big Beyond, urges people to leave the “honourable” tourists alone and focus any criticisms on careless organisations. She argues that it is no crime for the volunteers to get something out of the experience themselves, but she also calls for a focus on longer-term “human impact” that reduces the need for external support, rather than a short-term cash injection.</p>
<p>The University of Brighton is involved with projects such as the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0376835X.2010.522835#.Va4_m2a0Iu0">Peer2Peer Capacity Building in Tourism</a> students’ initiative in The Gambia which seeks to <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415812344/">move away from traditional philanthropy</a> and make the process more about an equal exchange of knowledge than about the givers and recipients of largesse. </p>
<p>Local participants get training in niche tourism product enhancement, business planning and entrepreneurship development, while those visiting benefit from local knowledge, indispensable for the completion of their final-year project work at the university. For a change, power relations are shifted, whereby those “helping” are not just those visiting, but those visited. It is a “trade-plus-aid” form of philanthropy where participants offer far more than just fees for their travel and accommodation, and follow fair trade principles and practices. </p>
<p>Travel philanthropy can be an unpredictable form of giving. There are clear risks of inappropriate practices and interrupted projects. What we have learnt is that if philanthropy is to benefit local communities in developing destinations, it should have a long-term plan agreed and implemented in partnership with local players. And it should provide what the community (not the donor) wants and needs. Lastly, it should aim to become sustainable, whether it focuses on an individual scholarship, aims to help a broader community through school or clinic infrastructure, or is a combination of the two.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Novelli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tourists seeking to make voluntary work part of their holidays have helped build a sizeable industry which is now open to sharp criticism.Marina Novelli, Reader and International Consultant in Tourism and International Development, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.