Volunteering allows everyone’s contribution to society to be valued. It promotes a better understanding and cooperation between generations and cultures through common activities, sometimes of social significance.
In this sense, the European Year of Volunteering and Volunteerism is already a victory because it allows the general topic and the behind-the-scenes work of these millions of European citizens to be highlighted.
Volunteering thus contributes to building a common European identity. 23% of European citizens over the age of 15 are said to engage in volunteer activities and among them, 34% do so in the field of physical and sports activities.
Volunteering is a catalyst that deserves better support and development!
Every social actor is or should be concerned, from public authorities to schools and universities, not to mention the sports movement, support structures for volunteering, and also the private sector.
This certainly requires overall consciousness. Indeed, while the importance of volunteering for the economy, society, and individuals has been recognized for many years by European political leaders and the sports movement is fully aware of the crucial role played by volunteers, what about us, the citizens?
“DEVELOPING NEW SYNERGIES”
However, the European landscape remains extremely varied due to different historical, political, and cultural attitudes towards volunteering in each European country. In a time of severe financial crisis, the difficulties may seem ever more significant, not to say insurmountable. Yet, this context calls for our common sense and the development of new synergies: the actors who will best adapt and innovate will come out stronger. And everyone has an interest in developing volunteering, whatever form it takes: businesses, urged by Porter, the father of modern business strategy and his five forces model, to “take the initiative to reconnect businesses and society”; public authorities, for whom developing social cohesion and European citizenship is essential; the sports movement, which could not exist without all those little hands working every day; and finally each one of us, for whom volunteering is a creator of human and social capital and can represent a path towards integration and employment.
Being able to measure the real impact of volunteering, both economic and social, developing a common framework to build a status for European volunteers, promoting this typically human activity, developing relevant tools to welcome, train, and recognize volunteers, in two words “attract and retain them”: these are some of the many challenges being proposed today.
