Volunteer Project Research Articles

Volunteer Tourism: Reflections from Applied Ethics

This article aims to use the applied ethics perspective to reflect on the ethical complexities that may appear in the context of volunteer tourism. In this tourist typology, volunteers come into contact with the local culture by establishing a dialogue between their motivations (diverse and not always markedly altruistic) and the morals and needs of the host community. In this dialogue, difficulties arise that may put these volunteer projects at risk since interactions between people with different values and morals can generate distrust, frustration, and even open conflicts between the host community and visitors. In this context, this article exposes and applies ethics concepts to specific cases and reaffirms the need to train volunteers before their trips to encourage critical self-reflection on their behavior when they are in societies with a different system of morality.

The European Solidarity Corps and their activities with emphasis on the protection of the Basilica of Saint Benedict in Norcia after the 2016 earthquakes

Purpose. The aim of this paper is to present one of the ways to protect and preserve cultural heritage in post-crisis situations. The paper presents the initiative of the European Solidarity Corps and its volunteer activities in Norcia with an emphasis on interventions and actions of fixing and preventing further deterioration of the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia after the 2016 earthquake. Approach/methodology. Research on the activities of the European Solidarity Corps initiative and its volunteer activities in Norcia was conducted by analysing archival material and literature. The paper refers to official documents of the Ministry of Culture in Italy, the European Commission and recent Italian papers on the subject. Findings. The first part of the paper presents the basic information and goals of the European Solidarity Corps initiative. The second part of the paper presents the state of the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia before the 2016 earthquake and the state of the Basilica during the earthquake. The main part of the paper presents the volunteer activities carried out by the European Solidarity Corps in ruined Norcia. The paper presents the work of student volunteers within the framework of the activities of the European Solidarity Corps at the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia. The fourth part of the paper points to the existence of an initiative in Croatia called Europske Snage Solidarnosti, which invites young professionals to participate in volunteer activities. Originality/value. The paper provides information about the existence of the European Solidarity Corps initiative. The successfully used EU funds for the post-earthquake reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia are pointed out. Information on the existence of the European Solidarity Corps and their potential use in similar situations in Croatia is important. The paper can inform and encourage readers to join the European Solidarity Corps and participate in their volunteer projects, or to volunteer for another organization or institution.

Организация волонтерства в вузе

the article shows the results of a survey of students of the Department of Personnel Management of the State Administration (Moscow) for the organization of volunteering at the department. Respondents' answers to questions about the initiators of volunteer practices and the motivation of student volunteers are presented; the time that activists are willing to devote to volunteering; about the goals of the department and the possible benefits of the department from volunteering; about potential directions of the cathedral volunteer movement; about desired incentives for students.
 The results of the survey showed that a significant part of the respondents consider it important for the department to engage in volunteering and the initiative here should come from the students. As for the goals of volunteering, the most popular statements among the respondents were “the desire to benefit the society/district in which the university is located” and “the desires/interests of teachers/students”. Most of the respondents are convinced that "providing assistance in choosing a profession according to the profile of the department to potential applicants" is the main direction of volunteer activity. At the same time, most of them themselves agree to take part in volunteer projects “every six months”. For their potential volunteer activities, the respondents for the most part would prefer “an official letter of recommendation from the university/department to a potential employer, describing your merits in the volunteer project”, and participation in volunteer projects is intended to “contribute to obtaining new competencies for life and further professional activity”.
 The study has a practice-oriented focus. However, it does not reflect the whole variety of aspects of volunteering at the university (at the department) and its organization.

Volunteering as a Principle Trend in Today’s World

Nowadays volunteer organizations are becoming more and more popular, which promotes building the trend towards socially oriented business by implementation of corporate volunteering programs. The growth in volunteer projects number fosters volunteer centers emergence all over the world and a serious impact of volunteer projects motivates a deeper study of this phenomenon. It should be pointed out that at present society is going through an active stage of passing over from situational volunteering to more systematic and deliberate functioning. The authors show that this fact is connected with the global development of culture of corporate social responsibility in our country and in the world and therefore, with introduction of standards and principles of corporate social responsibility in the in-company environment of organizations.

The Tijeras Pueblo Jewelry Project

Beads and other personal ornaments were recovered during excavations at Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581). In 2008, a volunteer project was begun (1) to identify potential jewelry artifacts from the site, and their contexts; (2) to develop criteria for classifying artifacts as jewelry; and (3) to make these data accessible to future researchers. Comparisons with other sites show that Pueblo IV jewelry consists mostly of beads and pendants, with a few unusual pieces at each site. The variety of ornament materials, styles, and designs in the Tijeras Pueblo assemblage suggests the flow of objects, ideas, and practices across the Southwest and Northern Mexico. A comparison of the contexts in which jewelry artifacts were recovered at Tijeras Pueblo and Pottery Mound (LA 416) indicates possible differences in jewelry use. This project highlights how volunteers with specific interests and expertise can significantly enhance the research value of legacy collections.

Automatic and Interactive Program Parallelization Using the Cetus Source to Source Compiler Infrastructure v2.0

This paper presents an overview and evaluation of the existing and newly added analysis and transformation techniques in the Cetus source-to-source compiler infrastructure. Cetus is used for research on compiler optimizations for multi-cores with an emphasis on automatic parallelization. The compiler has gone through several iterations of benchmark studies and implementations of those techniques that could improve the parallel performance of these programs. This work seeks to measure the impact of the existing Cetus techniques on the newer versions of some of these benchmarks. In addition, we describe and evaluate the recent advances made in Cetus, which are the capability of analyzing subscripted subscripts and a feature for interactive parallelization. Cetus started as a class project in the 1990s and grew with support from Purdue University and from the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as through countless volunteer projects by enthusiastic students. While many Version-1 releases were distributed via the Purdue download site, Version 2 is being readied for release from the University of Delaware.

Investigating the impact of adapted physical education service-learning projects on preservice teachers' attitudes toward individuals with disabilities.

Service-learning (SL) has been implemented widely in teacher education to connect knowledge and practical experiences. In the field of Physical Education Teacher Education, Adapted Physical Education (APE) Courses have been implemented SL to provide hands-on experiences to promote preservice teachers’ attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two SL projects, the volunteer project, and the parasports project, in the Intro APE course on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. A total of 130 preservice teachers participated in this study taking the Multidimensional Attitude Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) before and after completing two SL projects. The result of the t-test indicated that there is no difference in overall MAS scores between pre- and posttest (Meanpre=2.954, SDpre=0.689, Meanpost=3.01, SDpost=0.679; t(129)=0.390, P=0.784). However, the significant increase observed in affects subscale of MAS (Meanpre=3.47, SDpre=0.374, Meanpost=3.52, SDpost=0.188; t(129)= 0.347, P=0.327). Our finding indicated cognition and behavior of preservice teachers toward individuals with disabilities were positively increased, but not significantly improved yet. Evidence suggested that two SL projects in this study did not significantly improve the overall positive attitudes of preservice teachers toward individuals with disabilities, but it was meaningful to observe that preservice teachers increased their affects toward individuals with disabilities.

Volunteer leadership: A silent factor in student volunteer retention.

Despite the growing interest in student volunteerism, few students volunteer, and volunteer organisations struggle to retain those who do. We explore motivating factors, expectations, and demotivating factors as they relate to retention in student volunteerism Participants were selected from six volunteer projects associated with three South African universities in the Western Cape region. Seventy active volunteers (N = 70) responded to four open-ended questions, analysed using thematic analysis. Volunteer leadership is central to student volunteers' expectations and demotivating factors. Good leadership fulfilled student volunteers' expectations, but student volunteers were demotivated in the face of poor leadership. Six indicators of good leadership were identified. This included efficiency, regular and effective communication, being organised, passionate, and dedicated along with being supportive and facilitating volunteer growth. We argue for the importance of including contextual factors such as volunteer leadership when designing a student volunteer retention framework.

FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ CHOICE OF SOCIAL WORK TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY

The article considers the main factors of influence of future specialists in social work, the master’s year of study on the choice of the direction of professional work on the provision of social services to the elderly in Ukraine. The article is devoted to the attitude to the elderly as a target group of social services: they independently decide on the choice of elective discipline in the field of gerontology and palliative care, which is especially important when choosing a future direction in social work. Attention is drawn to the fact that it is important to motivate students to engage in social work with the elderly, by encouraging practical and volunteer activities in public and private institutions that specialize in providing social services to the elderly. It was found that students are influenced by gender aspects when choosing a target group, but the age category of this group does not significantly affect the choice of future social workers. It is concluded that it is the practical disciplines and involvement of students in volunteer projects that influences their choice and motivates social work with the elderly. A parallel is drawn between the choice of elective discipline and the chosen direction of master’s students. It is determined that the understanding of the practice of social work with elderly people by students is reduced to day care and communication with them, which contradicts the provision on the provision of social day care services for the elderly in Ukraine. The study clearly showed the need to involve students at all stages of learning, but with varying degrees of independence and complexity, in identifying and addressing the social problems of older people. The need to introduce courses in gerontology and palliative care as basic, not just elective subjects, was emphasized.

Volunteer Movement As An Innovative Practice Of Additional Education: The Experience Of Implementing A Volunteer Project

В статье рассматривается волонтёрское движение в современном обществе, организованное участие обучающихся в волонтёрской деятельности. Вовлечение в волонтёрскую деятельность подростков образовательных учреждений как важная составляющая дополнительного образования.

Формування екосистеми інтегрованих маркетингових бренд-комунікацій в умовах воєнного стану

Abstract The article emphasizes the need for radical changes in the rules of doing business, algorithms for building communication channels with contact audiences, methodologies for the formation of entrepreneurial brand strategies in martial law. The influence of military actions on the functioning of business and the construction of strategic brand communications has been studied. The practice of management and opportunities for the development of ecosystems of Ukrainian brands in these conditions are identified. The necessity of search, selection and implementation of relevant brand strategies of wartime in accordance with the global trends of behavioral economy and the norms of modern legislation is substantiated. It is emphasized that enterprises need to set priorities in internal and external strategic communications. The described recommendations will significantly increase the transparency integrated communications, strengthen the filters at the "entrance" and "exit", focus on real business goals and results, meet the demands of openness, honesty and humanity, social responsibility. Emphasis is placed on the fact that communication strategists need to be flexible in choosing information channels, demonstrate readiness for honest dialogue with contact audiences, respond to the growing demand for direct communication, take into account consumer values and cultural orientations in certain areas of business location and relocation. able to compromise, stress-resistant, reduce the degree of emotion, direct content to the union, not separation, to participate in volunteer projects to help the country, vulnerable groups and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is determined that the Ukrainian identity becomes an important bonus in bringing goods and services to international markets, a contribution to the future marketing of the business ecosystem and a platform for creating related mutually beneficial projects. Key words: business ecosystem, brand communications, integrated marketing communications, brand strategies.

Волонтерство как инструмент развития туристической привлекательности муниципальных образований Российской Федерации

The purpose of the article is to analyze the readiness and involvement of the local population in volunteer practices in the field of tourism. The key research method was determined by a questionnaire survey of the population (N = 768 people) conducted in 2021. It is concluded that local residents are aware of the importance of their role in attracting tourists and shaping their positive impressions of visiting their urban / rural settlements. However, in general, the activity of local residents in this area is very low. The key areas of work of volunteers in order to develop the tourist attractiveness of the territory: participation in the restoration of monuments and objects of cultural and historical heritage, in mass holidays and folk festivals, as well as participation in the organization of creative teams and clusters. The conclusion is made about the need to expand the directions and forms of volunteer work, to ensure the integration of volunteer projects into the creation of a competitive tourist product. For a part of the population, volunteering as a form of public participation in resolving issues of territorial development is perceived with a negative connotation, which requires targeted work of the authorities with public opinion, rebranding of volunteering practices. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that the key information channels for volunteering projects in the field of tourism today are not government structures, but social networks.

Sociological analysis of volunteer activity as a mechanism for the development of civil society in foreign countries

The active development of the volunteer movement in modern Russia encourages a comparison of the practices of organizing the volunteer movement in different countries, in order to study positive experiences and partial borrowing, as well as to analyze the phenomenon of volunteerism in a broader scientific context - as one of the mechanisms for the development of civil society. The article presents a sociological analysis of volunteer activity in seven developed foreign countries in such categories as historical features of formation, typical areas of volunteer activity, common goals, values and motives of volunteers, state support for volunteer programs and projects, as well as identical features of the organization of volunteer activity in these countries. This analysis is a selection of the best foreign practices of working with volunteers and allows you to outline the prospects for the development of the volunteer movement in other countries, including in Russia. The article helps to systematize the features of the development of volunteer activity in the world community and call it an effective mechanism for educating citizenship and increasing social activity. The international practice of involving citizens in volunteerism has clearly demonstrated the significant contribution of the third sector to the global economy, building a strong and solid society that is ready to respond quickly to current challenges and help solve global problems.

ВОЛОНТЕРСТВО – СРЕДСТВО ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ЭСТЕТИЧЕСКИХ ЦЕННОСТЕЙ СТАРШЕКЛАССНИКОВ (в контексте инклюзии)

The article is devoted to the problem of the formation of aesthetic values among high school students in the conditions of inclusive education. The author discusses engagement of students with disabilities in various volunteer projects.

Classical and contemporary approaches to the study of solidarity: Challenges and perspectives under destructuration

Since the 19th century, when the development of the modern society accelerated, social cohesion factors have become relevant for theory and practice. Such issues as the national states development and emerging political parties, the division of labor and class and professional forms of solidarity have formed the agenda of both academic and policymaking debates. In recent decades, there has been another round of interest in the study of social cohesion and sustainability under de-colonization, emancipation, inequality and technological changes. Under the global pandemic, the issue of solidarity has become particularly acute. The covid-19 has created a new reality: millions of people live in the forced social isolation, and such key social institutions as education, culture and healthcare have been reconstructed with the usual forms of interpersonal interaction eliminated. This situation requires rethinking the rights and obligations of individuals together with the forms of appropriate social control and regulation. For instance, the ability of individuals to take initiative at the micro-level (like volunteer projects) turned out to be especially important for the public well-being. The authors consider the research on solidarity in social sciences taking into account the current trends of structural instability or destructuration. The authors analyze both classical theories of solidarity and contemporary related concepts to prove that microsociology focuses primarily on the reproduction of social structures rather than on their transformation by proactive individual or group agency. Moreover, the tradition of structural macro-analysis also ignores the formation of solidarity at the micro-level. The authors refer to the works of P.A. Sorokin and M. Archer who consider individuals as capable of proactive formation of solidarity. In contemporary studies, the authors identify two main approaches to the analysis of solidarity - rational and structure-determined, and analyze other prospective approaches developing at the intersection of philosophy and psychology. The authors conclude by suggesting some directions in the study of the solidarity-oriented individual action and its impact on societal development.

KSZTAŁTOWANIE KOMPETENCJI W ZAKRESIE PRZEDSIĘBIORCZOŚCI... PODCZAS MIĘDZYNARODOWEGO WOLONTARIATU MŁODZIEŻY

Entrepreneurship is considered a key competence of the 21st century. The development of entrepreneurship competence should play an important role in lifelong learning in all forms of education. The aim of the article is to present the results of research on the development of entrepreneurship competence during the implementation of cross – border volunteering projects by young people under the European Solidarity Corps. The article presents how projects’ participants and the mentor of volunteers perceive the development of competences during cross - border volunteering, and presents the methods and tools that are used to support this process. The research refers to “The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp)”

Individual psychological online support under quarantine: Organization and results of volunteer project

It is highlighted the relevance and organization specifics of psychological assistance to the population under strict quarantine, which made the traditional «face to face» format impossible to provide. An overview of mainly foreign research on the causes and history of the remote forms of psychological and psychotherapeutic care formation and its effectiveness is presented. It is shown that the pandemic situation only accelerated the spread of the online format, since the development of the latest communication technologies has become itself the reason for their usage increasing in services, including psychological. At the same time, the deployment of remote- or so-called telepsychology strengthens the requirements for technological, methodological, and organizational support, and their standardization requires the personal readiness of the specialist to communicate effectively with the recipient of services online. There are presented the author’s findings during the organization of individual online support providing in the conditions of non-adaptive quarantine restrictions by means of the «Online-Kolo» volunteer initiative of the Institute for Social and Political Psychology, NAES of Ukraine. There are described the tasks of the online project, ways of their implementation by means of Google-technologies, taking into account work activities of volunteer psychologists, personal features of those who applied for individual psychological help, the list of the most typical problems, and feedbacks on resolving them online. There are highlighted issues that need further scientific research, as well as those that need to be resolved at the level of the state and the professional community

The digital void of voluntourism: Here, there and new currencies of care

This paper explores some of the ways in which “care” is being transformed in response to the mediatory role of digital technologies. Digital mediation has caused care to become an increasingly cross-border practice, and a more expansive construct, that destabilises the assumption of presence (“here”) and absence (“there”). Indeed, as the physical and digital merge into one integrated way of being in the world, they enable connectivity across geographical distance, but so too can they create emotional distance within situations of geographical proximity. These outcomes reflect the “digital void” within which caregivers, and society more generally, are implicated. Digital voids are created when individuals immerse themselves within, and become responsive to, digital networks of connectivity, distraction and representation that can implicate the beneficiaries of care, their family and friends, and themselves as well. We illustrate these ideas through an empirical analysis of Singaporean voluntourists, who are shown to actively reproduce digital voids when engaged in volunteer projects overseas. Specifically, we explore the space-times of the digital void, the representations of “care” in a digital world, and how (dis)connectivity can foreground the (un)doing of care.

Analysis of the Information Needs of Volunteers: the Results of Study

Volunteering is actively developing in the Russian Federation and around the world. Society that takes part in volunteer projects has a high level of civic identity, morality and forms humanistic values among young people. Volunteer movement is a tool to reduce the level of antisocial and extremist behaviour.Approximately 15% of the population of the Russian Federation is involved in volunteering activities at the present time. Thanks to the volunteer organizations created in educational institutions, the government creates positive image of a volunteer. At the same time, there is a problem of public distrust in this type of activity due to the lack of awareness of volunteer organizations and their projects. Organizers of the volunteer movement face the problem of lack of information about volunteering that entails the difficulties in setting goals and objectives of the volunteer organization. It is necessary to identify the information needs of volunteers, as well as to create an information field where they can meet these needs.There is no resource with comprehensive information about volunteering activity in Russia. Information needs of participants in such type of projects cannot be fully met. The main source of information is the portal “Volunteers of Russia”. It allows you to get e-book of a volunteer, register a volunteer organization, create an event and apply for participation in an existing project. However, the system has a number of factors that make it difficult to keep accurate records of volunteer activities; it is more designed to attract attention to projects.In 2018—2019, the study was conducted using the online survey (questionnaire). The survey involved volunteers (451 respondents) and their leaders (43 respondents) of the St. Petersburg Volunteer Movement “Our Future is in Our Hands”. The purpose of the study was to identify the information needs of volunteers and their managers. The survey results led to the conclusions: the availability of information resources on volunteering is not too high; the most interesting information is related to the experience of implementing volunteer activities, project development and management, the development of supra-professional skills. Volunteers prefer to use electronic documents.It is necessary to develop special programs and organize training courses on the formation of information culture of volunteers, to create a wider range of information resources for volunteers. One of the possibilities is to create a unified public resource that reflects different aspects of volunteering activities. It is important to form a comprehensive information support for volunteers.

Analysis of the Information Needs of Volunteers: the Results of Study

Volunteering is actively developing in the Russian Federation and around the world. Society that takes part in volunteer projects has a high level of civic identity, morality and forms humanistic values among young people. Volunteer movement is a tool to reduce the level of antisocial and extremist behaviour.Approximately 15% of the population of the Russian Federation is involved in volunteering activities at the present time. Thanks to the volunteer organizations created in educational institutions, the government creates positive image of a volunteer. At the same time, there is a problem of public distrust in this type of activity due to the lack of awareness of volunteer organizations and their projects. Organizers of the volunteer movement face the problem of lack of information about volunteering that entails the difficulties in setting goals and objectives of the volunteer organization. It is necessary to identify the information needs of volunteers, as well as to create an information field where they can meet these needs.There is no resource with comprehensive information about volunteering activity in Russia. Information needs of participants in such type of projects cannot be fully met. The main source of information is the portal “Volunteers of Russia”. It allows you to get e-book of a volunteer, register a volunteer organization, create an event and apply for participation in an existing project. However, the system has a number of factors that make it difficult to keep accurate records of volunteer activities; it is more designed to attract attention to projects.In 2018—2019, the study was conducted using the online survey (questionnaire). The survey involved volunteers (451 respondents) and their leaders (43 respondents) of the St. Petersburg Volunteer Movement “Our Future is in Our Hands”. The purpose of the study was to identify the information needs of volunteers and their managers. The survey results led to the conclusions: the availability of information resources on volunteering is not too high; the most interesting information is related to the experience of implementing volunteer activities, project development and management, the development of supra-professional skills. Volunteers prefer to use electronic documents.It is necessary to develop special programs and organize training courses on the formation of information culture of volunteers, to create a wider range of information resources for volunteers. One of the possibilities is to create a unified public resource that reflects different aspects of volunteering activities. It is important to form a comprehensive information support for volunteers.