UVMIS unveils new report that calls for professionalising Volunteer Management in Sport
The UVMIS project releases a groundbreaking report calling for the professionalisation of Volunteer Management in sport across Europe, revealing a lack of structured education and recognition for volunteer managers and proposing a new higher-education curriculum to fill the gap.
The Upskilling Volunteer Maners in Sport (UVMIS) project had its first output produced- A State-of-the-Art report that addresses one of the most critical gaps in the European Sport environment: The professional training and recognition of Volunteer Managers.
Volunteers are often called the Lifeblood of European sport enabling local sport clubs, organisations and federations across Europe to manage and sustain their operations. Despite this central role, there remains a persistent lack of professional education and recognition or development pathways for people who either currently or wish to manage volunteers in the future.
The report lays the foundation in UVMIS mission to develop a higher-education level curriculum for sport volunteer management in Europe, transform the profession and empower existing and future volunteer managers in sport. The development of the report was led by NR Sport Volunteering Solutions and collaboratively produced by a consortium including Project Leaders Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Centre for European Volunteering, ENGSO, French Federation Sport and Leisure Profession, IGNITX, Koninklijke Nederlandse Hockey Bond, CSV Trentino and Vytautas Magnus University.
Check the project here!
The methodology to produce the State-of-the-Art report combined In-depth desk research across 12 European countries and Focus groups with approximately 100 experts, which included Volunteer Managers, National Sport federation stakeholders, event managers, volunteers and sport policy makers. Members of the consortium were tasked with conducting a comparative comprehensive analysis of both formal and non-formal education systems in their respective countries complemented by the field insights and perspectives shared by the focus group participants to discuss existing higher education and sport-sector curricula and frameworks for development.
Some of the key findings of the report suggest that no European country amongst the ones examined currently offers a dedicated comprehensive programme for sports volunteer management. The limited existing offerings are often short-term. Fragmented and of inconsistent quality. In addition, the role of Sport Volunteer Managers lacks formal status apart from those working in the major sport event sector, leaving many working in other sport settings without clear pathways for skills development, appropriate recognition and career development.
The report provides some recommendations to address these gaps, which include to create a European wide competency framework, a standalone certification and to encourage cross-sector collaboration amongst representatives of all levels of sport, policy makers, academics and others to inform the curriculum.
This comprehensive report provides some essential data around the status of Sport volunteer management in Europe. It is also a call to action to meet the growing demand for professionalised volunteer management and leadership in sport. The next steps in the project include a second project meeting in Paris on 19th and 20th of June where partners will discuss the next steps in the project. ENGSO is tasked with producing a comprehensive Sport Volunteer Management Guide for Events.
The full report and supporting materials will soon be available on the UVMIS website once it is officially released, and will feed into the development of post-experience learning tools, certification pathways, and a model curriculum for universities and federations across Europe.
Read about the kickoff and the previous actions here