Mobilising Research on Volunteering

IFRC. 2023

Abstract

This reference guide provides a comprehensive overview of resources on volunteering, designed for practitioners, academics, and students. It organizes materials across six key thematic areas: digital and online volunteering, volunteer profiles and characteristics, volunteer motivations, volunteering management and well-being, volunteering in crises and emergencies, and volunteering economies, livelihoods, and inequalities. Within each theme, resources are further categorized by region, Global, Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & North Africa (MENA), and presented in reverse chronological order with full APA citations, brief abstracts, source types, and online access links. The guide serves as a structured map to facilitate research, practice, and policy development in volunteering worldwide.

Relevance to Scouting

The reference guide includes insights on volunteer motivations, profiles, well-being, digital engagement, crisis response, and regional differences, all of which can be applied to understanding and supporting volunteering within the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Its thematic and regional organization offers a structured overview of practices and challenges in volunteering that are relevant for research, program development, and policy in global scouting contexts.