Discussing new opportunities and challenges of volunteering

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NCVO champions the voluntary sector and volunteering by connecting, representing and supporting voluntary organisations / Image: NCVO
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VSSN promotes understanding of the UK voluntary sector through research and is a meeting place for voluntary sector researchers in the UK / Image: VSSN
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NCVO's Institute for Volunteering Research is a research and consultancy agency specialising in volunteering / Image: IVR

Researchers, policy makers and practitioners will meet in Nottingham at the 2016 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference on 8-9th September.

The 2016 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference will be held on 8-9th September at the Nottingham Conference Centre. This annual conference is organized jointly by NCVO, the Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN) and the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR).

It is an opportunity for academics, policy makers and practitioners to share new and emerging research and network across different contexts, sectors, and different parts of the UK and internationally. The conference will gather contributions from the UK, South Africa, Nigeria, the United States and Canada.

Over two days, there will be a mix of plenary sessions, parallel paper sessions and panel sessions. Specific sessions for new researchers will run alongside the main conference programme. Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter, will be the keynote speaker.

The themes for this year’s conference are:

civil society and democracy: ongoing challenges and opportunities
volunteering and participation: present and future
new methods, new data: what are the opportunities and challenges presented in research data and methodology on the sector?
grassroots voluntary activity: past perspectives and new forms
navigating the funding landscape: funding, fundraising and philanthropy
voluntary sector governance and management: new challenges and responses
advancing theoretical debates: old ideas, new directions
what’s new? Historical perspectives on the voluntary sector and voluntary action
the role of the voluntary sector in a new world of public services