Since the first world conference in 1970 in Los Angeles, IAVE has convened about every two years for world conferences.

• 1970 – Los Angeles, USA
• 1972 – Manila, Philippines
• 1974 – Nairobi, Kenya
• 1976 – San Francisco, USA
• 1978 – Istanbul, Turkey
• 1980 – Cret Berard, Switzerland
• 1982 – Oxford, UK
• 1984 – Bogota, Colombia
• 1986 – Sydney, Australia
• 1988 – Washington, DC, USA
• 1990 – Paris, France
• 1992 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 1994 – Tokyo, Japan
• 1996 – Cape Town, South Africa
• 1998 – Edmonton, Canada
• 2001 – Amsterdam, Netherlands (Kick-off of International Year of Volunteers)
• 2002 – Seoul, South Korea
• 2004 – Barcelona, Spain
• 2006 – New Delhi, India
• 2008 – Panama City, Panama
• 2011 – Singapore (Kick-off of the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers)
• 2012 – London, UK
• 2014 – Gold Coast, Australia
• 2016 – Mexico City, Mexico
• 2018 – Augsburg, Germany
• 2022 – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Between world conferences, IAVE has often sponsored regional conferences. These are opportunities for more people to participate and to discuss both global and regional issues. Regional conferences also include either a companion youth conference or integration of youth participants and presenters into the conference program.

Previous Regional Conferences

• 4th Africa Regional Volunteer Conference – Kigali, Rwanda (June, 2015)
• 3rd Arab Nations Regional Volunteer Conference – Manama, Bahrain (November, 2015)
• 2015 European Conference on Corporate Volunteering – Zurich, Switzerland (September, 2015)
• 2017 European Conference on Corporate Volunteering – Madrid, Spain (May, 2017)
• 7th Latin America Regional Volunteer Conference – Antigua, Guatemala (October, 2017)
• 15th Asia-Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (November, 2017)
• 16th Asia-Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference – Bangkok, Thailand (November, 2019)

Every year, IAVE holds one or more special convenings to focus attention on issues of significant interest to target audiences:

• The World Summit for Youth Volunteering, held every 10 years, the first in Tokyo, Japan in 2001; the second in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2011.
• The first Global Dialogue on Corporate-NGO Volunteer Partnerships, held in London in December 2012 with a focus on disaster settings, explored both the dynamics of partnerships and the role of corporate volunteers in the whole spectrum of disaster-related activities. View the report of this dialogue.
• Youth, Volunteering and Employment, held in London in December 2012, explored how volunteering can help young people build skills, behaviors and experiences that will help them enter the world of paid work. View the report of this dialogue.
• IAVE Forum on Corporate Volunteering Response to the Refugee Challenge was held in Berlin in May 2016, to understand the refugee crisis in Europe, learn how the private sector is currently responding through their employee volunteer programs, and discuss what companies could do individually or collaboratively to respond to the situation. The goal was to inspire new approaches, initiatives, partnerships and action on the refugee crisis. View the online report for this forum.
• Corporate Volunteering Forum on “Transformative Impact: Sustained Change through Corporate Volunteering” will be held in London in April 2019. The purpose of the forum is to unearth transformative approaches to corporate volunteering that truly enable businesses to increase their impact. The event is co-hosted with VSO. Learn more about the forum.
• The Latin America Volunteer Leadership Summit will be held in Lima, Peru in September 2019. The summit invites volunteer leaders in the Latin American region to discuss various trends and challenges, catered specifically for the region’s volunteer community.
• IAVE also regularly hosts convening of members of its key constituent networks – the Global Network of National Volunteer Centers, the Global Corporate Volunteer Council, and our the IAVE Leadership Network.