Background
The Nordic countries share many historical, institutional, and economic similarities and have been described as "social democratic regimes" where volunteering plays a limited role in welfare and social services but a prominent role in culture and leisure (Salamon & Anheier, 1998). While Norway, Denmark, and Sweden have conducted similar studies of voluntary effort since the 1990s, certain methodological differences have made it difficult to compare results. The extent of voluntary work has been measured higher in Norway and Sweden than in Denmark, but it is unclear whether this is due to real differences or methodological variations. There are also no comparable studies from Finland and Iceland. The purpose of this project is to systematically compare voluntary effort and community engagement in the five Nordic countries.
Project Approach
Together with Nordic colleagues, the project will develop a new survey with identical question formulations that capture various forms of community engagement in a neutral and context-independent manner. The survey will be conducted using the same collection method through one analysis bureau, allowing for comparison of similarities and differences in voluntary effort and community engagement between the Nordic countries. The project will also repeat the survey over time to track trends in Nordic volunteering. This will provide insight into what may be unique about the Norwegian context and how different factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics and motivation, explain voluntary effort in the five countries.
Data collection will take place in 2025 and 2027, and the project will report preliminary analyses at conferences such as the Nordic Civil Society Conference and the International Society for Third Sector Research in 2026 and 2028. The main results will be published in an edited English-language scientific book in 2028/29, summarising the findings and providing a comprehensive view of volunteering and community engagement from a Nordic perspective. Funds from the Centre for Research on Civil Society and Voluntary Sector will be used for the Norwegian part of the data collection and to support Norwegian co-authors of the book.