We’re working on an inspiring line up for IVCO 2026! Stay tuned for the full schedule, including keynote sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities.
In the lead-up to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), volunteering has been described as a ‘powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation’ for the Goals.
Ten years on, Day 1 revisits this claim and asks: what do we now know about the many ways in which volunteering contributes to sustainable development? The day explores how volunteers are responding to interconnected global challenges, and what distinguishes volunteering within these complex contexts.
The morning focuses on shared principles, values and evidence from the first decade of the SDGs. In the afternoon, the programme shifts to practical examples, showcasing how volunteering contributes in real-world settings.
Click on the different sessions for more information (Cliquez sur chaque session pour la version française)
Get registered, grab a cup of coffee, meet your fellow conference delegates and get ready for the first day!
Welcoming words for the IVCO 2026 conference, ways of working and keynote address.
This plenary sets the scene for the Global Volunteering Forum by exploring the role of volunteering as a force for sustainable development and citizen engagement. It will highlight the core principles that underpin volunteering and what they mean for how organisations design inclusive, impactful and partnership-based programmes.
Food is the best conversation starter, so take this opportunity to meet fellow delegates and make new connections.
This plenary explores how different forms of volunteering contribute to sustainable development, drawing on real-world examples from across contexts and programmes. It will examine how organisations can combine approaches, adapt to changing environments, and harness volunteering as a strategic and transformative force.
Refuel, recharge, and compare notes with your fellow delegates.
This session showcases short, dynamic case studies highlighting the many and varied ways in which volunteering contributes to sustainable development. It will offer practical insight into what volunteers do and how organisations support them, while providing inspiration for new approaches and collaboration.
This panel discussion will explore how to broaden participation in volunteering, particularly among young people, by addressing barriers to access and recognising diverse forms of engagement. It will examine how organisations can rethink programmes and approaches to position young people as active agents of change and create more inclusive and accessible pathways into volunteering.
This workshop explores how organisations can embed the Sustainable Development Goals across the volunteer journey, from preparation to recognition. It will share practical approaches to linking volunteering with local and global priorities and strengthening volunteers’ contribution to sustainable development.
This interactive session brings to life the many different pathways into volunteering through stories from volunteers and organisations. It will explore how people move between opportunities over time, and what this means for how organisations design and connect volunteering programmes.
This workshop explores how organisations can better articulate the value and impact of volunteering, particularly in relation to the SDGs. It will offer practical advice to develop clear, compelling narratives that influence partners and donors, and put forward a compelling case for support.
A plenary session to summarise key highlights of the day and share updates and final announcements.
After a long day, from the Seine, the iconic river that flows through the City of Light, discover the jewels of Paris’s historical heritage from a unique perspective.
Day Two focuses on the enabling environment for volunteering - the conditions that allow volunteering to thrive and to make the strongest possible contribution to sustainable development. First among these are the partnerships which are at the heart of volunteering action.
A central focus is partnerships. Participants will explore how a diverse set of actors work together, the roles they play, and how partnerships can be structured to support ethical, inclusive, and effective volunteering. Perspectives will include governments, civil society, the private sector, foundations, social and solidarity economy actors, and local authorities, including cooperation between local governments.
The day explores the key elements of a strong enabling environment, including coherent volunteering infrastructure, supportive policy frameworks, and sustained collaboration across sectors. It examines how gaps, fragmentation, or weak coordination can limit impact, and what helps volunteering ecosystems function more effectively.
Our discussions will also draw on the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering, which is grounded in a global consultation with more than 14,000 volunteers and practitioners. This introduces the shared question that will carry into Day 3: what needs to change, and who needs to create the enabling environments that volunteering requires?
Click on the different sessions for more information (Cliquez sur chaque session pour la version française)
Get registered, grab a cup of coffee, meet your fellow conference delegates, and get ready for the second conference day!
How can we build effective partnerships across government, civil society, corporations and donors in an increasingly complex environment? In this plenary session we will explore what makes partnerships work in practice, and what this means for organisations navigating changing funding and collaboration dynamics.
Take a break, stretch your legs and meet someone new.
This session explores how organisations, donors and governments can build stronger, more strategic partnerships in a complex and evolving funding environment. It will examine how to move beyond transactional funding towards relationships that are aligned, flexible and grounded in shared values.
This session explores how organisations are working with corporate partners in practice, with a focus on employee volunteering and emerging partnership models. Through short case studies, it will highlight what works, where challenges remain, and the opportunities for stronger cross-sector collaboration.
This workshop is a deep dive into how organisations can design and sustain effective partnerships with corporate actors, including through employee volunteering and broader cross-sector collaboration. It will offer practical approaches for aligning expectations, building trust and creating partnerships that deliver shared value and impact.
This workshop explores how volunteering can strengthen cooperation between local and regional governments, including through partnerships between cities and regions in different countries. It will share practical approaches for integrating volunteers into these partnerships and building more reciprocal, locally grounded forms of cooperation.
This workshop explores how organisations can better communicate the value and impact of volunteering, particularly in relation to the SDGs. It will offer practical support to develop clear, compelling narratives that strengthen positioning, influence partners and make the case for support.
Food is the best conversation starter, so take this opportunity to meet your fellow delegates and make new connections in a French brasserie.
A separate lunch meeting for delegates representing government bodies. If you have received an invitation , please join us to meet your counterparts over lunch.
This plenary explores how organisations can use different volunteering models and approaches to widen participation and engage more diverse groups. It will examine how combining these approaches can strengthen inclusion, increase impact and support more balanced, partnership-based ways of working.
A chance to continue the conversation and build new connections.
This workshop explores emerging insights from the Forum’s PhD collaboration with Northumbria University on how volunteering has evolved since COVID-19, including the rise of blended approaches to engagement. Delegates will be invited to actively examine what these changes mean for programme design and how organisations can use them to reach more diverse groups of volunteers and strengthen localisation.
This workshop explores how organisations can move beyond traditional capacity-building approaches towards more balanced, reciprocal partnerships. It will examine practical ways to strengthen collaboration through co-design, shared decision-making and recognition of local expertise.
This session explores how artificial intelligence is shaping volunteering, from how opportunities are designed and delivered to how volunteers are supported. It will examine the ethical and practical implications of AI, and what organisations need to consider to ensure it strengthens rather than undermines the human dimensions of volunteering.
This interactive session brings to life the many different ways people engage in volunteering through stories from volunteers and organisations. It will explore what this means for designing opportunities that support lifelong engagement and reflect the diversity of volunteer experiences.
Drawing on insights from the 2026 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, this interactive workshop explores how organisations can measure the impact of volunteering on the volunteer - including their health, well-being, skills and employability. Using participatory and mixed-method approaches, it will dive into ways to capture both the benefits and risks of volunteering in ways that support more equitable pathways.
A final plenary session to capture key messages and highlights from the day, and share updates and final announcements.
The Annual Meeting of the Global Volunteering Forum, taking place both in-person and online. Forum members will receive invitations to this meeting.
Join us for a fun gathering with international volunteers and representatives of the French volunteering sector in a unique industrial space, featuring a terrace, a bar, and both local and international cuisines.
Day 3 focuses on how to accelerate volunteering’s contribution to sustainable development in the final five years of the SDGs, and how to position volunteering as an essential means of implementation beyond 2030.
Building on the principles and practices explored on Day 1, and the enabling environments and partnerships discussed on Day 2, the day asks how volunteering can deliver greater impact, and how that impact can be better measured, recognised, valued, and supported.
Sessions will explore key conceptual and practical questions, including:
Discussions will also examine the effects of volunteering on local communities and volunteer-involving organisations, alongside the steps needed to make volunteering more inclusive and accessible, particularly for underrepresented groups.
The day includes a collective focus on acceleration and action, drawing together learning from across the conference and linking to the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering. Participants will explore what needs to change, who needs to act, and how momentum can be sustained to ensure volunteering plays a central role in achieving the SDGs and shaping what comes next.
Click on the different sessions for more information (Cliquez sur chaque session pour la version française)
Grab a cup of coffee, greet your fellow conference delegates and get ready for the third conference day!
As the SDGs were being developed, the then UN Secretary-General described volunteering ‘a powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation’ for the goals. This session will set the scene for Day 3 by revisiting that promise, and focusing on strategies for accelerating progress and positioning volunteering to make the greatest possible contribution to the SDGs over the next five years.
Grab a coffee and continue the conversation.
This session explores how skills developed through volunteering can be better recognised and communicated. Through short, practical examples, it will highlight approaches to linking volunteering with employability and making its value more visible.
This session explores how organisations, donors and governments can respond to an increasingly uncertain and constrained funding environment. It will examine how to develop funding models that are sustainable and better aligned with both the true costs and the impact of volunteering.
This interactive session explores the barriers that prevent some groups from accessing volunteering opportunities, by sharing the lived experiences of volunteers and the organisations that support them. It will highlight practical ways to make volunteering more inclusive and accessible, and what this means for programme design and support.
This workshop explores how organisations can better measure and communicate the impact of their volunteering programmes, drawing on current research and practice. It will offer a deep dive into approaches to data collection and impact measurement, and how these can be used to strengthen programmes and demonstrate value.
This interactive workshop draws on insights from the 2026 State of the World’s Volunteering Report (SWVR) ‘Volunteerism and its measurements’, to explore how the contribution of volunteering to development outcomes can be captured across a variety of sectors.
Food is the best conversation starter, so enjoy lunch with your fellow delegates and think about what ideas you will be bringing home to your organisation.
This interactive plenary will create space for participants to bring the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering to life, and use it to create an enabling environment for volunteering.
Wrapping up and taking away... As we wrap up the 2026 Global Volunteering Forum, we will share our joint commitment to creating an enabling environment for volunteering, building on the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering. And we will announce the location and co-hosts for the 2027 Global Volunteering Forum.
A selection of cultural activities are planned for this evening. You can review the options and reserve your spot by visiting this page - https://ivcoforum.org/evening-activity-2026/
Forum’s annual Research Day brings together practitioners, academics and researchers working in the field of volunteering and development to explore how we design, conduct and use research to strengthen our work.
Through a mix of interactive sessions, group discussions and visual storytelling, we’ll reflect on emerging questions, share learning across contexts, and deepen our understanding of what meaningful and impactful research looks like in practice. We will delve into what research the group has conducted in the last year and collaborate to set our agenda for 2027.
A chance to get settled and meet people informally before the day begins.
Join us in for the Global Volunteering Forum's annual Research Day. The Forum Research, Practice, Policy and Learning (RPPL) Group brings Forum members together with researchers and academics who work in the field of volunteering.
The Global Volunteering Forum is a global network of organisations working through volunteers to achieve sustainable development
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