This think piece is part of the materials produced in advance of the 2024 International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations Conference (IVCO 2024), hosted by Northumbria University in partnership with Comhlámh. It is available in English, Spanish and French.

The think piece “Bridging theory and practice: the potential for building solidarity between volunteer-involving organisations and academic institutions” is written by Rebecca Pursell-Gotz, Research Specialist within the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning Team at VSO. In this piece, she highlights the centrality of evidence for volunteer-involving organisations to improve systems and processes for volunteer management, including duty of care, effective planning and monitoring of volunteer activities, and measuring the impact of volunteer efforts. The think piece discusses the value of collaboration between volunteering organisations and academic institutions as a way of strengthening cross-sectoral solidarity, and presents concrete examples from VSO’s past and current work.

. También se puede acceder al artículo de reflexión en español aquí.

. Cet article de réflexion est également disponible en français ici.