Training of voluntary association leaders

An initiative that includes the higher-education training of voluntary association leaders is being sponsored by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through the Gulbenkian Human Development Programme, which has selected voluntary work as one of its priority areas of intervention.

The project is the result of a partnership with the Portuguese Confederation of Communities for Culture, Leisure and Sport, the Higher Institute of Applied Psychology (ISPA) and the Montepio Foundation. Over the course of three academic years (including 2009-2010) it will produce a study on the social impact of the activities of these communities on Portuguese society. In addition, ISPA will enrol voluntary association leaders taking part in the study on its licentiate degree course in Community Development.

In Portugal there are a total of approximately 18 thousand communities and 270 thousand voluntary association leaders. It is estimated that these individuals carry out around 50.7 million hours of voluntary work annually, which is equivalent in economic terms to €426.2 million.

The main purpose of this project is to promote a culture of responsible, innovative voluntary work with more highly qualified leaders.

The results of the study will be published in May 2012.