About the report
In this report we examine the short-term consequences of the corona pandemic in Norway for volunteering and for organizations’ activity and finances with a special focus on Central Norway.
Under the pandemic, there was a decline in voluntary participation. The geographical variations in voluntary participation were limited, but the extent of volunteering in Oslo and the surrounding area fell more than elsewhere in the country. Still, in Central Norway we find that the membership rate was at the same level as prior to the pandemic. This region was also among the upper percentile with regards to voluntary efforts, despite a small decline in 2022 compared to 2019.
Furthermore, the organizations in Central Norway report smaller reduction in activities, especially for sports organizations, compared to the rest of the country. The organizations in Central Norway, to some extent, also provided activities to target groups suffering from the lock downs in a greater manner than the organizations in the Oslo-region and the rest of the country. However, children and youth organizations in Central Norway had more of a decline in activities and membership than other types of organizations in the region. There are few geographical differences within the region.
The voluntary sector in Central Norway was vivid before the pandemic and has shown robustness and resilience under the pandemic. While the differences are small compared to the rest of the country, the region seems to, in sum, to have suffered less than other regions in Norway – and in particular the Oslo area
Publications
Sivesind, Karl Henrik; Hansen, Vibeke Wøien; Arnesen, Daniel; Fladmoe, Audun Tran; Enjolras, Bernard (2023). The consequences of the pandemic for the voluntary sector in Central Norway Report – Institute for Social Research. 2023:3.
