Share evidence and research for better policy and practice

This year the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. Organised jointly by NCVO, VSSN (Voluntary Sector Studies Network) and IVR (Institute for Volunteering Research), the conference is the largest event of its kind for and on the voluntary sector in the UK. Its main aim is to showcase new, emerging research, and to bring together researchers with policy-makers and practitioners. We often hear about the importance of evidence-based practice and policy, and the conference represents a great opportunity to contribute to and make the most of the ever-evolving evidence base.

We have published our call for papers – the deadline for submitting abstracts is 14 May 2014.

We are delighted this year to have Julia Unwin, Executive Chief of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, as our keynote speaker. She will be talking to us about the work of her organisation in building an evidence base around the causes of and solutions to poverty in the UK, and expressing her views on the importance of research for the voluntary sector.

The conference typically covers a range of topics, from volunteering and philanthropy to public service delivery and innovation, reflecting the diversity of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

To give you a flavour of the type of things that get covered have a look at:

• Daiga Kamerade’s blog post ‘Volunteering during unemployment: does it lead to paid work?’
• Kristina Diprose’s blog post Employable, entrepreneurial, empowered? How the voluntary sector supports youth citizenship.

Call for papers

Last week we published our call for papers to encourage people who have carried out research to come and share their findings. If you are a researcher working on or with the sector and on volunteering, whether you are based in a university, in a voluntary organisation, or government, we’d love to hear from you. There’s also, at the conference, a new researchers’ session aimed at early career researchers, whether postgraduate students or researchers in the sector.

The deadline for submitting an abstract is 14 May 2014.

The event

The actual conference will take place at Sheffield Hallam University on 10 and 11 September 2014.