Dr Blythe McLennan presenting at the Research Advisory Forum in Melbourne
In September 2018 the Emergency Volunteering Shared Learning Network (EVN) was created in conjunction with Enabling sustainable emergency volunteering project to enable and enhance the value of emergency volunteering in Australian communities and promote the exchange of knowledge.
Headed by Dr Blythe McLennan and Dr Tarn Kruger, the EVN was initially set up as a six-month pilot program. The EVN has well over 200 members that include volunteers, volunteer managers, supporters and advocates of volunteering from emergency services, local government, the community sector and research institutions. Itis now seeing itself transitioning into a new phase of becoming an established network. As part of this, the EVN recently got its own website.
Anyone interested in research and developments in emergency volunteering can join the EVN.
Emergency Volunteering Shared Learning Network report on pilot
A report has been published by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC on the EVN which documents the activities during the pilot, their impacts and learnings.
The report is based on:
member sign-up forms
responses to the new member survey and follow-up survey in March
data on people's engagement with our newsletters collected by our hosting service, MailChimp
webinar participant evaluations and feedback
the convener’s reflections.
The report has reiterated that volunteers and their supporters want more direct, regular access to research and information about new developments.
“Shared learning networks can help to make research and new knowledge more directly accessible to a wider range of people,” says Dr McLennan, “but virtual networks take considerable time and effort to develop, and there's some things we could still do better with the EVN.”
The EVN hosted four webinars during its pilot. The most recent, held in April and May this year focused on spontaneous volunteering.
The first – Mobilising spontaneous volunteers: recent experiences – was held on 29 April and looked at what it’s like to mobilise volunteers on the ground in an emergency.
The two presenters, Lisa Schimanksi from Volunteering Australia and Andrew McCullough from NSW SES, shared their recent experiences and what they’ve learned when coordinating volunteers.
The second spontaneous volunteering webinar looked at Planning for spontaneous disaster volunteers, and how local organisations build capability and plan for the use of spontaneous disaster volunteers.
This webinar was presented on 22 May by Amanda Nixon and Katherine Green from Volunteering Queensland, who shared their learnings from their most recent projects, key considerations in planning and managing volunteers and examples of models being used by different councils.
New research: review of Australian volunteering research
Written by CRC researchers Dr Darja Kragt and Dr Djurre Holtrop from the University of Western Australia, Volunteering research in Australia: a narrative review published in the Australian Journal of Psychology provides an overview of psychological research on Australian volunteering.
The journal article’s abstract reads:
Objective
Australian research on volunteering is rich and diverse, but also increasingly fragmented. In an attempt to promote a more integrated study of volunteering, we review volunteering research conducted in Australia, using volunteering journey as a framework. Specifically, we summarise literature on volunteer characteristics, motivations, benefits, psychological contract, commitment, and withdrawal.
Method
A comprehensive review yielded 152 studies on volunteering conducted in Australia.
Results
We find that volunteers have distinct characteristics, such as being older, better connected, employed, and residing in rural areas. There are a variety of reasons that prompt individuals to volunteer, and this motivation does change over time. Volunteering leads to better psychological well‐being, as well as increases in social and human capital. Volunteer expectations and commitment are key drivers of ongoing volunteering. Finally, stress, work–family conflict, and negative interactions with others lead to volunteer withdrawal.
Conclusion
A lot is known about volunteering, however, future advancement of the field will depend on better integration across disciplines and domains. Currently, volunteering is viewed as a set of distinct stages, and a more integrated approach is required. We also note a lack of theoretical and methodological rigour in many Australian studies on volunteering.
A literature review titled Government’s role in supporting community-led approaches to recovery has been added to the EVN Resource Collection.
The paper was commissioned by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services in support of the Social Recovery Reference Group (SRRG) national project.
A series of other papers and reports have also been added to the collection that focuses on the general topic of not-for-profits and community sector organisations in emergency management, including more research on government regulation in regard to volunteering.
An online meeting will be held for members that are interested in shaping the EVN’s future, and monthly updates will be made to the Network’s blog site.
Emergency Volunteering Shared Learning Network report on pilot
A report has been published by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC on the EVN which documents the activities during the pilot, their impacts and learnings.
The report is based on:
·member sign-up forms
·responses to the new member survey and follow-up survey in March
·data on people's engagement with our newsletters collected by our hosting service, MailChimp
·webinar participant evaluations and feedback
·the convener’s reflections.
The report has reiterated that volunteers and their supporters want more direct, regular access to research and information about new developments.
“Shared learning networks can help to make research and new knowledge more directly accessible to a wider range of people,” says Dr McLennan, “but virtual networks take considerable time and effort to develop, and there's some things we could still do better with the EVN.”