Volunteering
Many people choose to get involved in a variety of voluntary activities in an effort to play an active role in our social fabric. Volunteering, unpaid engagement, civic engagement – these are some of the names given to this phenomenon. Across Europe, there are different approaches to measuring volunteering and thus making it susceptible to statistical analysis. Also the legal environment for volunteering varies considerably between individual EU member states. Some countries have a concrete legal framework applying to volunteering. In others, it is regulated under general laws. Some member states are currently in the process of developing their own legal framework.
Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
Demographic developments in Europe pose challenges to hospice and palliative care, especially with regards to an increasing number of people to be accompanied. Volunteering, therefore, plays an important role in hospice and palliative care. Against this background, a working paper discusses i.a. the following questions: What does the organisation and coordination of volunteering in hospice and palliative care in France and Poland look like? What are the tasks of volunteers? How are they trained? And how can volunteers be recruited and tied to their volunteering work in the future?
Volunteering in Europe
What strategies do European countries apply to promote volunteering? How can volunteering be measured? How to achieve better recognition of volunteer work? And what impulses to social innovation can be given by volunteering? These questions were addressed in the European Expert Meeting “Volunteering in Europe”.
