Frameworks for Community Sector Partnership and Engagement

Howard P¹*, Ryan M¹*, Butcher J¹*, Lyons C²*, Surrey M¹* and Bright L⁴*

1. ACU National, Strathfield, NSW, Australia
2. The Benevolent Society, Paddington, NSW, Australia
3. NSW Rural Fire Service, Homebush, NSW, Australia
4. Society of St Vincent de Paul, Lewisham, NSW, Australia

Three community organisations – the NSW Rural Fire Service, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and The Benevolent Society – and the Australian Catholic University are partners in a three-year research project called “V21- Enhancing volunteering for the 21st century.” The project was initiated to address the questions of the changing nature of volunteering, the need for new pathways into and within the different organisations and ways of enhancing the volunteer capacity of the volunteers and the organisations. The project has engaged the four organisations in understanding the organisational and social contexts in which volunteers operate, and the critical issues to be addressed in the development of new frameworks for these and other organisations aiming to effectively enhance their volunteer capacities.

Key to this project is the need to examine how the organisations develop their ability to work as partners and learn from each other in ways that enhance each other’s capacities. This has led to a form of scholarship which respects the insights and expertise of all members and challenges all four organisations to genuine engaged citizenship. The changing nature of communities and volunteering calls for new forms of communication and collaboration between the organisations themselves as well as with the community, particularly for rural and remote areas. The project is developing the capacity of each of the organisations through critique of practice, mutual learning, and skills transfer. The implications of this project for the community and higher education sectors are also presented.

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