Building on the discussions of the first day, breakout sessions on Day 2 will invite delegates to explore the different ways we can think about solidarity. We will provide time and space to reflect together on what we mean by solidarity, where it might already be present in our relationships and how the process of asking questions might help us to strengthen it further.

In this Human Library Session, speakers will focus on will focus on sharing knowledge about working in volunteering and development and responding to crises through storytelling, allowing delegates to gain an in-depth insight into the experiences of others in a conversational and creative format where 'readers' interact with different 'human books'.

Moderators: Dervla King and Fiachra Brennan (Comhlámh)

• Speaker: Maxine Mpofu (Centre for Global Development, Northumbria University)
• Title: “Ubuntu as Solidarity- Solidarity through collaborative research: Unpacking how young people with disabilities participate in the development of Zimbabwe”

What does solidarity in volunteering research look like? Beyond creating an evidence base, research has an important role to play in shaping volunteering discourse and enhancing the ways in which volunteer involving organisations approach volunteering. If connections for change that are rooted in solidarity are to be formed in volunteering for development, we need to centre the perspectives, priorities, terminology, and approaches of the volunteers. This needs to be rooted in the specific contexts in which the nuances of volunteering manifest themselves. This presentation will draw from Maxine’s PhD research where, grounded by Ubuntu, she collaborates with diverse young people with disabilities, their community members, organisations for persons with disabilities (OPDs), government department representatives, community leaders and various stakeholders in the youth, disability, and development spaces in Zimbabwe. This participatory research uses co-creative methods beyond written text to explore conceptualisation of terms such as participation and development, spaces where participation happens and resistance to forced participation in development by minoritised young people. The speaker will discuss how, in her research, contrasts are drawn between the personal perspectives and lived experiences of young people and the existing frameworks for youth participation within global development.

• Speaker: Michael Bartle (University of Dundee)
• Title: “Learning as a volunteer in His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG): balancing emergency volunteering in professional spaces”

Within the UK, Volunteer Coastguards (HMCG) are often called upon to effect rescues, combine and coordinate with other emergency services to safeguard the public, shorelines and supporting other emergency services in times of crisis; including the recent pandemic. Exposure to the possibility of having to deal with life threatening situations requires ongoing training and (re)accreditation. Whilst formal training is embedded and understood, less is known about the informal learning that volunteer coastguards gain during events, post-event reflections, peer interactions, interagency work – balanced alongside professional spaces and structures. This presentation will illuminate the experiences of HMCG Volunteer Coastguards in terms of informal learning, potentially benefits, as well as the evolving ethos of volunteering as an emergency service. The speaker will discuss how the increased interaction with emergency and trauma requires an ethos of support that transcends voluntary spaces.

• Speaker: Cliff Allum (University of Birmingham)
• Title: “Valuing what we don't know: drawing on history to understand volunteering and solidarity”

This presentation will focus on the relationship between volunteering and solidarity, from the essential nature of both to the institutional arrangements that contribute to and undermine this relationship. The historical challenge of volunteering for development is the focus often placed on the skills of volunteers, emphasising the expertise and knowledge of volunteers brought in from outside into situations where communities and organisations do not have such skills. Yet, solidarity is based on the power of not knowing, not having the answers, and being willing to seek and learn how solidarity can work. This can happen within or outside of recognised volunteering relationships. Furthermore, the institutional arrangements that frame volunteering for development can influence the nature and legitimacy (or otherwise) of solidarity.  This presentation draws on lessons from the role of International Voluntary Service (IVS) volunteers in supporting the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa in the 1980s, and from US IVS volunteers focusing on Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. The speaker will discuss how these lessons remain relevant as solidarity is based on an acknowledgement of ignorance, where shared values are the starting point rather than the provision of expertise, and challenges the centrality of a 'poverty-focused' approach.

*Four different modalities of breakout sessions have been designed to amplify diverse voices and promote opportunities for delegates to share their experiences in engaging ways during IVCO 2024.
Click here to find out more about what to expect from each type of breakout session.