Youth Volunteering and Social Change: Challenges & Opportunities
IAVE has a strategic interest in youth volunteering and the key issues that are challenging young people today. Our members and networks continue to place a high priority on their engagement with young people, and in listening to these voices, IAVE commissioned three strategic papers on important youth volunteering topics that focus on key issues impacting young people’s lives.
Following the publications of the Insights Paper on Youth Volunteering, Employability, and Sustainable Livelihoods: Exploring the Role of the Corporate Sector, and Challenge Paper on Youth Volunteering and Employability, IAVE is pleased to release two more Challenge Papers on youth volunteering today. They are Youth Volunteering and Well-Being: Exploring the Benefits of Engaging in Civic Action
and Youth Volunteering and Activism: Exploring Pathways to Enact Change.
These papers, commissioned by IAVE and written by Dr Chris Millora, highlight the importance of youth volunteering and shine a light on the issues affecting young people. They show how volunteering is adding value to the lives of young folks globally by giving them a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and an opportunity to effect positive change. IAVE hopes the papers will both inform and encourage further global debate to enable greater and more impactful engagement of young volunteers.
In conjunction with the challenge papers, IAVE is delivering a series of 4 global webinars in 2023 focused on youth volunteering. Each webinar in the series is supported by a briefing paper that sets out the key evidence and issues.
Webinar 2: Youth Volunteering and Youth Wellbeing: Exploring How Volunteering Can Make a Difference
27th June 2023 8.00am ET to 9.30am ET
There has been increasing recognition of the importance of mental health and well-being in social and personal development, particularly among young people. In this webinar, a global panel will explore the role volunteering can play in enhancing well-being. Against the backdrop of current evidence on the links between youth volunteering and youth well-being, the panel will reflect on what needs to be in place to support volunteer involvement and have a positive impact.
Webinar 3: Youth Volunteering and Youth Activism: Exploring How Volunteering Empowers and Builds Leadership to Affect Change
12th September 2023 8.00am ET to 9.30am ET
In many communities around the world, young people play a vital role in the journey towards social justice in various communities. In this webinar, a global panel will explore current evidence about youth activism, its scale, relevance and the relationship between activism/volunteerism and youth empowerment/leadership, giving voice and taking action to make an impact and affect change.
The fourth and final webinar will explore the broader theme of Youth Volunteering and Social Change as it relates to the issues emerging from the three previous webinars.
