Building community resilience through youth volunteering

Towards a New Model

Bibliographic Data

ID7366627
AuthorsMelissa Nursey-Bray (0000-0002-4121-5177, corresponding author), Masud‐all‐kamal (0000-0003-2412-668X), Mirco Di Giacomo (0000-0003-1136-9914), Simon Millcock
Year2022
Volume9
Issue1
Pages242-263
Publication date2022-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRegional Studies Regional Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2168-1376 • E-ISSN: 2168-1376
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21681376.2022.2067004
OpenAlexW4281957578
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited58

Australian regional communities are changing. The combined impact of out-migration and ageing populations means that the capacity of regional communities to function as they traditionally have is challenged. In this context, volunteer effort remains a vital part of building community resilience and social capital. Yet, volunteering per se is under threat, and encouraging young people to volunteer an even greater challenge. This paper presents the results of a project that sought to understand the barriers to, and incentives for, youth volunteering at three regional local government areas in South Australia. First, we find that despite a popular conviction that youth volunteering is on the decline, it has in fact increased; the actual decline is with those volunteers who are within the 35–55-year age groups. Second, we found that two models of volunteering exist in the regions: (1) volunteering as an activity involving participation on committees or doing regular primarily public good group-based work (e.g., emergency services, Rotary, conservation); and (2) event-based, one-off, fun activities (sometimes, but not always, for the broader public good). Volunteering per se, however, was considered by all participants as central to community identity. Culture, sports and youth clubs emerged as important hubs for youth activity and potential volunteer recruitment. We suggest a new model for regional youth volunteering that prioritizes events, partnerships and social media, as well as using existing institutions as bridging organizations

Community organization · Context (archaeology · Conviction · Economic growth · Geography · Government (linguistics · Incentive · Political science · Psychological resilience · Public relations · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Social Psychology · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development · Youth Development and Social Support

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