International Volunteers Cooperation Organisations (IVCO) 2024 Conference Report - Building and Sustaining Connections for Change: Volunteering for Solidarity

^{[EN] This report is available for download in English, French and Spanish. // [ES] Este informe puede consultarse en inglés, francés y español. // [FR] Ce rapport peut être téléchargé en anglais, en français et en espagnol.}

This report is co-authored by members of the 2024 International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations Conference (IVCO 2024) Organising Team at Northumbria University. Each conference day explored a distinct perspective on the overarching theme "Building and Sustaining Connections for Change: Volunteering for Solidarity". This report is organised around the following key thematic areas:

1. Crises of Today and Crises of Tomorrow: Exploring volunteering and the roles and challenges of volunteers in relation to historical, contemporary, and future global crises.

2. Exploring Relationships for Solidarities in Times of Crises: Examining relationships in volunteering, whether they are fit for purpose and how we might strengthen them to shape more sustainable ways of working.

3. Embarking on a Collective Journey of Volunteering for Transformative Change: Sharing existing practices and exploring new approaches to relationships that can enhance the impact of volunteering and strengthen capacities to navigate crises.

This report is the result of the collaborative efforts of the Northumbria University IVCO 2024 Organising Team, Matt Baillie Smith, Bianca Fadel and Sichelesile Nomalungelo Maxine Mpofu, supported by Janet Clark in the writing of the report, and the conference facilitators who assisted with note-taking and reporting: Aneeta Shajan, Benita Siloko, Floor van der Hout, Lindsay Bewick and Sophia Valle-Cornibert.

We would like to thank all the inspiring speakers and moderators for their active participation; our co-organisers Dervla King and Fiachra Brennan of Comhlámh, James O’Brien, Katharine Brown, Aga Wiesyk and Heather Shapter of Forum, and all the members of Forum's IVCO Working Group for their constructive feedback and support before, during and after the conference; Taylor Marlow of Youth Challenge International for helping with note-taking; and Clarisse Bourjon, Héloïse Colas, Lucie Morillon and Sophia Valle-Cornibert for proof-reading the French and Spanish translations of the report.