Did you know that each year IVCO publishes Think Pieces from its members and delegates that discuss the very latest in global volunteering practice and, that they are free for you to access?
Of the 25 plus submissions presented to IVCO by academics and on-the-ground practitioners each year, a handful are selected for publication that reflect and expand the conference’s IVCO theme.
This year, the IVCO organising committee received over 65 submissions that discuss, explore, or demonstrate this year’s theme of Strengthening Civil Society in Challenging Times.
The final submissions are shared with conference delegates to help set the scene for IVCO conference conversations on the vital contribution that volunteers make to strengthening civil society.
If you haven’t yet registered for 2025, get in before early bird closes on 1 July.
Past Think Pieces are freely available to support all volunteering agencies with quality intellectual material, which helps us communicate the value of volunteering and its importance as a pathway to active participation in civil society.
Explore past papers on themes such as “The role of volunteering in crisis management: A beacon of solidarity and resilience” from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), “The role of institutions in creating an enabling environment for volunteering” from the African Union or the latest 2025 Challenge Paper: “A Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering” commissioned by four global organisations active in the volunteering space (the International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum), the International Association of Volunteer Effort (IAVE), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and UNICEF Generation Unlimited) all of whom are committed to hosting a series of meaningful conversations about a future global agenda for volunteering.
If you’re conducting research or interested in learning more about an aspect of volunteering in development, the annual Think Pieces, as well as a raft of research and discussion papers, are available in the Forum library, where users have the ability to search using criteria such as topic, year and/or author.
For IVCO participants the annual Think Pieces and other conference materials dating back to 2020 are centrally located on the IVCO website. IVCO delegates have the added bonus of meeting and hearing from academics and on-the-ground practitioners as part of conference plenary and workshop sessions.
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For any questions please email: ivco@forum-ids.org
