Ten years of change in the voluntary sector
5 February 2020, 10am-4pm.
Based on a long-term national research project, with Karl Wilding from NCVO as keynote speaker, the conference offers a chance for discussion on the scale and nature of change in the voluntary and community sector.
For the past ten years a research team associated with the Third Sector Research Centre has been following a group of voluntary organisations to understand how they experience, navigate and bring about change. The Change in the Making study involves voluntary organisations of different sizes and geographical remits and has taken place during what have been ten incredibly challenging years for many in the voluntary sector.
Although austerity and increasing political uncertainty have put voluntary organisations under significant pressures in supporting their work and meeting their objectives, the research findings suggest that voluntary organisations are not just passive recipients of change, but employ significant creativity in navigating change, as well as shaping events in their own right.
This conference will give representatives from the voluntary and community sector, in Greater Manchester and beyond, an opportunity to explore and reflect on their own experience of change over the past ten years in the context of the research findings. Alongside presentations from the Change in the Making team, three organisations from the local area will talk about how they have experienced change and Karl Wilding from NCVO will provide an overview of the national context.
Please note, although the conference booking page focuses on Greater Manchester, the event draws on research which is England-wide and will have relevance to organisations from across the country.
Volunteering and Sustainable Development: Home and Away
On the 4th and 5th of December 2018, a group of 30 academics and practitioners came together to discuss volunteering and sustainable development – both in the UK and internationally. The workshop was a joint initiative of the Third Sector Research Centre and the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham and the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois.
The conference ran for one full day exploring various themes concerning volunteering and sustainable development with a second half day focusing on possible ways forward through research collaborations. Participants were invited to attend either or both days of the event. Participants were drawn from both academic and practitioner contexts and included a small number based outside the UK.
Cliff edge? Unsettlement? Plus ca change?
Exploring change in the third sector
Towards the end of 2017, the Third Sector Research Centre's 'Change in the Making' research study team, worked in partnership with NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action), Voluntary Action Rotherham and Voluntary Action Sheffield to organise an interactive workshop exploring different sources of evidence on change in the voluntary sector. The workshop was aimed at practitioners within the voluntary and community sector. We have produced a short report summarising the day. Embedded within it are the presentations.