This study maps the state of voluntarism in the City of Oslo. It is examined using surveys of Oslo’s residents, surveys of voluntary organizations, and register data from the Register of Voluntary Organizations.
The City of Oslo wishes to map the voluntary sector in Oslo. This was last done in 2019, before the pandemic, and there is therefore reason to update knowledge about the city’s voluntary sector.
The project uses three types of data. First, a representative survey of Oslo’s residents is conducted, providing knowledge about residents’ voluntary work (measured in hours and number of organizations), the number of memberships in the city, and the distribution of these by borough and by immigration background. Second, data from a survey of associations are used to examine the organizations’ finances and to analyze what organizations report regarding the use and rental of premises. Finally, register data from a Register of Voluntary Organizations and the Register for Legal Entities are used to map the number of organizations and the proportion by type at both national and local levels, as well as to examine the number of employees in different types of organizations.
The findings from the report show a stable civil society. Overall changes are small, and civil society appears to function well. Although the extent of voluntary activity measured in hours is stable, there are signs that voluntarism is being carried out by fewer people than before. It is possible that this makes voluntary activity more vulnerable to core volunteers leaving or becoming burned out.
Publications
Solheim, Øyvind Bugge (2026) Volunteerism in Oslo. Report 2026:1. Centre for Research on Civil Society and the Voluntary Sector. Read full-text in our archive.
