Volume 3. Issue 2. 2023.
Editorial Preface
The second issue of the third edition of the Volunteering Review focuses on volunteers and volunteering in the historic region of Upper Hungary (in Slovakia), Transylvania (in Romania), Transcarpathia (in Ukraine), and Vojvodina (in Serbia). We know very little about the volunteering of young ethnic Hungarians aged 15-29 living in minorities (as this the first time that a question on volunteering has been included in the Hungarian Youth Survey 2020). The first two theoretical studies aim to fill this gap by exploring the characteristics of active, formal and informal volunteers and the factors influencing volunteering among young ethnic Hungarian people. The stated aim of both studies is to show the volunteer base of beyond the border regions that can be an accessible and exploitable resource through good volunteer management. Unfortunately, there is very little research on volunteering among Hungarians in Slovakia. Therefore, the third theoretical study on volunteering and civic activity in Slovakia and among Hungarians in Slovakia is also missing. Two case studies on volunteering in Transylvania are presented. The first case study presents an extensive analysis of an innovative Christian youth organisation, presenting the main characteristics of youth volunteering in that organisation. The second case study will take a volunteer management perspective on how volunteers are recruited, selected and employed in some of the civil-nonprofit organisations and public institutions in Szeklerland. A significant result of the two case studies is to show how organisational professionalisation is (also) an important factor for the further development of. volunteering in Transylvania. In the light of the events of the last one and a half years, the case study on the development and current situation of volunteering in Ukraine and Transcarpathia is of particular interest, and the case study describes the main areas of activity of volunteers in Ukraine and Transcarpathia through the examples of two organisations. The first of our reviews presents a recently published book, a collection of papers presented at the conference on the occasion of the Hungarian Year of Volunteering. Continuing to expand knowledge on episodic volunteering, the second review presents a study based on an international survey that analyses the characteristics of episodic volunteers by age dimension.
Active volunteers among young ethnic Hungarians aged 15-29 living in the region beyond the border in 2020
András Morauszki - Anna Mária Bartal
Characteristics of formal and informal volunteering among young ethnic Hungarians aged 15-29 living in the region beyond the border in 2020
Anna Mária Bartal - Hajnalka Fényes
"Our data showed that the proportion of active volunteers among young ethnic Hungarians living in the regions beyond border differs significantly and positively from those of the total population of the respective countries. Hence, we were able to identify four different types of active volunteers in the four regions located beyond the borders."
Volunteerism and organising of civil society in Slovakia and in Hungarian community of Slovakia
Géza Tokár
"In Slovakia, it is particularly problematic to judge the specific problems connected with voluntarism within the Hungarian minority because of the lack of comprehensive statistics and data.
" With the exception Slovákia, In other regions, the proportion of formal volunteers was much higher among ethnic Hungarian youth, indicating a strong organisational commitment of young volunteers and their potential to be a significant resource for youth organisations. In line with the academic literature, our data also showed that formal volunteers tended to be recruited from higher socio-economic status groups, albeit with smaller differences between the regions studied."
An analysis of the volunteer programme of an innovative christian youth organisation – Experiences and recommendations
Botond Dániel - Johanna-Krisztina Sütő
"According to our experience, the Pulzus Platform Association runs a successful volunteer program, the key of which is internal recruitment from among their own youth community and participants of their events and active attention to volunteers."
The situation of volunteering in civil-nonprofit organisations and public institutions in Szeklerland
Ágota Silló
The results reflect that the civil-nonprofit organizations, municipal and public institutions cooperating with volunteers in Szeklerland do not plan and develop their volunteer programs in advance. As a consequence, the volunteer management approach is not applied in a planned manner, but its various elements are present in a fragmented way.
The development of volunteerism in Ukraine and Transcarpathia based of two cases studies
Katalin Pallay
"In wartime, the role of volunteering and volunteers became extremely important. This paper describes the main changes in volunteering in Ukraine and then focuses on the development of volunteering in Transcarpathia."
