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ItemThe Impacts of International Volunteering: Summary of the Findings(Flinders University, 2016-11)Results From The research Building partnerships through IDV. Volunteerism works through relationships. AVID volunteers spend significant amounts of time and effort to establish good and productive relationships with host organisation staff. Most host organisations value relationship building highly. Relationships are the conduit for capacity development and the ‘stuff’ of the people-to-people links that are IDV’s principal objectives. Both volunteers and host organisations describe the relationships they build as equal and mutually beneficial – qualities that characterise a true partnership. IDV programs such as AVID are therefore part of the global push for a shift from donor-recipient relationships to equitable and mutually accountable partnerships. They contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 17: ‘a global partnership’. Capacity development and reciprocal learning. Capacity development through IDV is mutual rather than one-sided. Host organisations gain specific skill and ideas that help them innovate and work effectively in a global environment, and these capacities are more sustainable if they are aquired through collaborative work rather than formal training. The research found that volunteers also develop their capabilities by gaining valuable soft skills, international professional experience and specific country knowledge that are useful for living and working in a global world. This outcome, and the contribution of host organisations to it, should be acknowledged as a positive impact of IDV .Developing cosmopolitan orientations. The research confirms previous findings that IDV assists in promoting a positive image of Australia overseas. But it also found more far-reaching impacts on the orientations of volunteers and host organisation staff towards development, volunteerism, and engaging with other cultures. IDV offers volunteers opportunities to practice and gain a reality check on their openness towards othercultures, as well as developing their intercultural competencies. Host organisations enhance their ability to engage effectively with foreign development actors by developing and practicing different cultural repertoires and opening up to new ideas and knowledge.
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ItemVolunteer Perspectives on the Impacts of International Development Volunteering(Flinders University, 2017-03)Summary of results The impacts of international development volunteering are multidimensional. They touch host organisations and volunteers, range from skills building and organisational change to employability and life experience, and can change participants’ world views, their understanding of development and aid, and their attitude to volunteering. In this report we focus on the volunteer perspectives on volunteering as a form of development assistance, and on three important areas of impact: capacity development, relationship building, and cosmopolitan orientations. Development volunteering. According to research participants, volunteering can be distinguished from other forms of development work by a stronger focus on the host organisation’s priorities and on developing collaborative relationships. Less pressure to produce outputs creates more opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience with local colleagues. This can make the impacts of volunteering more sustainable, but also less predictable. Capacity development. All volunteers hope to contribute positively to the capacity of their host organisation. They learn that capacity cannot be developed unilaterally through their own efforts but with the active engagement of their host organisation colleagues. When volunteers understand this and have succeeded in establishing a solid collaborative learning space, they find that they are able to work towards significant changes in the host organisation’s ability to mobilise and attract resources, plan and operate strategically, improve the quality of service and performance, and broaden its network of partnerships. In working with host organisations, volunteers also develop their own capacity to translate their skills to a different context, work with cultural difference and diverse knowledges, and understand their host country’s economic and political systems, development challenges, and cultural norms and values. Relationship building impacts. Most volunteers see relationship building as an important means of capacity development and as a valued outcome of volunteering. As a means, building relationships with host organisation staff is a pre-requisite to achieving the above-mentioned capacity development outcomes. Volunteers achieve much more if they work as a member of a team in their host organisation, rather than as a lone capacity builder working to a pre-established program. The host organisation, too, must invest in the relationship and find how and where the volunteer’s skills and knowledge can be most effectively used. Time, a shared language, cultural confidence, experience with managing volunteers in the organisation and clarity about where the volunteer’s accountability lies, are all necessary ingredients for building productive and equitable relationships. Public diplomacy impacts. Volunteers see the people-to-people relationships they build in host organisations and beyond as a significant outcome of volunteering. The personal friendships and bonds with people from their host country facilitated information exchange which increased the knowledge stock on both sides and laid the foundations for a better, deeper, mutual understanding. Many volunteers found that host organisations and communities made them feel welcome, but they also encountered stereotypes of Westerners (both positive and negative), and questioned some of their own taken-for-granted assumptions about their host country and Australia. Volunteering gives participants the opportunity to act on their sense of solidarity and shared humanity with others, while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of cultural difference and the importance of context
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ItemHost Organisation Perspectives on the Impacts of International Volunteering(Flinders University, 2016-12)Summary of results. The impacts of international development volunteering are multidimensional. They touch host organisations and volunteers, range from skills building and organisational change to employability and life experience, and can change participants’ world views, their understanding of development and aid, and their attitude to volunteering. In this report we focus on the volunteer perspectives on volunteering as a form of development assistance, and on three important areas of impact: capacity development, relationship building, and cosmopolitan orientations. Development volunteering. According to research participants, volunteering can be distinguished from other forms of development work by a stronger focus on the host organisation’s priorities and on developing collaborative relationships. Less pressure to produce outputs creates more opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience with local colleagues. This can make the impacts of volunteering more sustainable, but also less predictable. Capacity development. All volunteers hope to contribute positively to the capacity of their host organisation. They learn that capacity cannot be developed unilaterally through their own efforts but with the active engagement of their host organisation colleagues. When volunteers understand this and have succeeded in establishing a solid collaborative learning space, they find that they are able to work towards significant changes in the host organisation’s ability to mobilise and attract resources, plan and operate strategically, improve the quality of service and performance, and broaden its network of partnerships. In working with host organisations, volunteers also develop their own capacity to translate their skills to a different context, work with cultural difference and diverse knowledges, and understand their host country’s economic and political systems, development challenges, and cultural norms and values. Relationship building impacts Most volunteers see relationship building as an important means of capacity development and as a valued outcome of volunteering. As a means, building relationships with host organisation staff is a pre-requisite to achieving the above-mentioned capacity development outcomes. Volunteers achieve much more if they work as a member of a team in their host organisation, rather than as a lone capacity builder working to a pre-established program. The host organisation, too, must invest in the relationship and find how and where the volunteer’s skills and knowledge can be most effectively used. Time, a shared language, cultural confidence, experience with managing volunteers in the organisation and clarity about where the volunteer’s accountability lies, are all necessary ingredients for building productive and equitable relationships. Public diplomacy impacts. Volunteers see the people-to-people relationships they build in host organisations and beyond as a significant outcome of volunteering. The personal friendships and bonds with people from their host country facilitated information exchange which increased the knowledge stock on both sides and laid the foundations for a better, deeper, mutual understanding. Many volunteers found that host organisations and communities made them feel welcome, but they also encountered stereotypes of Westerners (both positive and negative), and questioned some of their own taken-for-granted assumptions about their host country and Australia. Volunteering gives participants the opportunity to act on their sense of solidarity and shared humanity with others, while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of cultural difference and the importance of context
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ItemExpectations & Realities of International Development Volunteering(Flinders University, 2016-12)The research sought to capture the distinctive contributions of international development volunteerism (IDV) to development assistance and people-to-people links. It asked: 1. How does IDV enable the building of development partnerships? 2. To what extent does IDV produce or consolidate cosmopolitan orientations in volunteers and host organisations? This report presents a preliminary analysis of data collected in two surveys of volunteers – one conducted a week or so before the volunteers’ departure from Australia, and the other conducted within 6 months of their return to Australia. The response rate for the Pre-Placement Survey was 66 percent while the response rate for the Returned Volunteer Survey was an estimated 20%. Comparisons between the surveys should therefore be drawn with caution.