When Crisis Strikes, Denmark’s Volunteers Step Forward

A portion of the population is ready to take action when crisis hits and others need help. According to researchers from the Department of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen, these individuals make up a civilian emergency corps of volunteers. But they are not necessarily the same volunteers y
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Denmark is a country with many volunteers. Even if Danes are not themselves volunteers, they almost certainly interact with some of them in associations, sports clubs or one of the many other places where the country’s volunteers are organized.

Using a series of surveys, a research group from the Department of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen has studied volunteering in Denmark since 2020. The study, published in the journal Social Forces, shows that traditional volunteering - the kind found in children’s handball or football clubs - quickly returned to normal after the COVID-19 lockdown. During the lockdown period, associations were shut down, but the study shows that volunteers were ready to resume their work as soon as restrictions were lifted.

This type of volunteering helps keep Danish society running, but the researchers point out that another kind of volunteer also exists. These are volunteers who are ready to act when a crisis arises.

“During the COVID-19 period, for example, some people did grocery shopping for elderly neighbors or helped with childcare,” says postdoc Lærke Høgenhaven.

The study shows that the same type of crisis volunteering resurfaced a few years later, when Ukrainian refugees began arriving in Denmark. Some volunteers drove to the border to receive refugees, while others collected clothing, toys, and other supplies for the newly arrived Ukrainians.

“It was many of the same individuals who stepped in during both situations. This type of volunteering often receives less attention in research because it does not take place within associations, is unorganized, and dissolves again when the crisis ends. But that does not mean the volunteer effort isn’t valuable. It can play a huge role during a crisis,” says Lærke Høgenhaven.

Informally organized Volunteers

Høgenhaven and her colleagues work with two modes of volunteering: traditional volunteering, known from associations and community centers, and crisis volunteering. Naturally, there is some overlap, but the study shows that half of the people who step in during crises are not volunteers in their everyday lives.

“You might assume that crisis volunteering is very unorganized, but we can see that many of the same people step forward across the two different crises we examined. This suggests that, in addition to our many association-based volunteers, Denmark has a kind of civilian corps of volunteers who respond when a need arises,” says Høgenhaven.

This happens very informally, she emphasizes - often in small groups consisting of family members, neighbors, and friends who identify a need for help.

Crisis volunteering is, almost by definition, reactive.

“A typical pattern is that part of the population becomes aware that a task needs solving - one that authorities are not addressing. Then people organize themselves and try to fill the gaps that emerge in official crisis management,” Høgenhaven explains.

It all happens without formal organizing. Typically, without bylaws, without a board, and with no designated leadership. Volunteers coordinate their efforts quickly, often using Facebook groups.

About the Study

The research article “Volunteering trajectories across crises: resilience, persistence and spill-over between ordinary and crisis volunteering” was published in the journal Social Forces.

The study was conducted by Lærke Høgenhaven, Louis Møgelmose, Hjalmar Bang Carlsen, and Jonas Toubøl.

The project received support from the Velux Foundation, Spar Nord Foundation, Independent Research Fund Denmark, the European Research Council, the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, SODAS, and the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Aalborg University.

Collaboration with Authorities

A massive potential lies in Denmark’s civilian emergency volunteers - especially if the public authorities responsible for crisis management can establish good partnerships with them. But this is not without challenges, says Lærke Høgenhaven.

Authorities may find it difficult to collaborate with such groups. There is often no spokesperson and no official phone number to call, which can create very practical barriers to establishing contact.

“There is a task ahead for authorities to figure out how best to make use of this civilian emergency capacity. But it can be difficult - partly because it is informal and unorganized, but also because volunteers are typically motivated to act when they see something that isn’t being done. That means they can be hard to mobilize proactively before a crisis develops. But one could imagine a huge potential if they could be engaged preventively,” says Høgenhaven.

The research group also notes that volunteers may simply not want additional formal organization or to prioritize tasks typically handled by authorities.

Høgenhaven hopes there will be more focus in the future on volunteers who operate outside everyday associations.

“We have a fantastic association culture and a strong tradition of volunteering in Denmark. But I want to challenge the idea that only this type of organized, scheduled volunteering has value. We shouldn’t look down on informal volunteering just because people aren’t active week after week. They stand ready when it counts, and that matters greatly,” she says.

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