The relevance of spontaneous volunteering management during emergencies in Italy

The relevance of spontaneous volunteering management during emergencies in Italy. In May 2023, the Emilia-Romagna Region faced its worst flood in decades, impacting 44 municipalities and displacing thousands of residents. In Cesena hundreds of families and businesses were affected. Amid this emergency, a remarkable wave of spontaneous volunteerism emerged, particularly among young people, who organized through informal channels to aid those in need. 

The phenomenon of “informal” volunteering (individual citizens not belonging to associations who become active spontaneously in emergencies) has grown exponentially in Italy in the last 10 years, becoming the prevalent form of volunteering among, in particular young people also thanks to the increased visibility on social media. 

This phenomenon represents an opportunity for the preparation of future crises at local level but also a new challenge in emergency management. On the one hand, there is an empowerment of the local community towards new forms of active citizenship, but on the other hand, there is a fear that this phenomenon could generate dangerous effects and possible conflicts with the system's operating procedures, especially in extreme situations such as civil protection emergencies. 

Numerous projects try to study this new social phenomenon. For example, the Volunteer Services Center of Padua conducted an analysis on the COVID 19 pandemic and the associated volunteering process (“Per Padova noi ci siamo” project), aiming to analyse the importance to give more structure to emerging volunteer processes in crisis situations. Meanwhile, the IMPACT project, funded by Italy's Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and led by A.N.P.AS., studies this phenomenon nationally. IMPACT aims to develop a sociological understanding and create an experimental protocol for managing spontaneous volunteer efforts. TIMES Lab collaborates with IMPACT to integrate findings into its ongoing activities. 

Framing volunteering process in Cesena 

The TIMES lab kicked off with an open public Info Day, on the 10th of October 2024, inviting citizens to share their experiences as volunteers and pinpoint key locations that were crucial during the emergency response. During the Info Day, all stakeholders participated in the co-creation of a community map to collect the local community resources activated by volunteers during the emergency (e.g. public and private physical places, including for example gardens and green areas that during the emergency provided support to the network of volunteers). The mapping was carried out with an interactive activity also through the use of post-its and postcards to also collect stories and memories of volunteer activity that will be presented during the first workshop. The output of the mapping is to georeference these meeting places for volunteers to add a layer to the Civil Protection GIS map of the city as a useful tool for future crises. 

Furthermore, as part of the TIMES process to collect key data on the phenomenon of spontaneous volunteering in Cesena, following the flood in May 2023 that severely affected the city, an on-line questionnaire was shared with the local community. The questionnaire included several sections collecting information about 1) feelings and memories of the flood, the volunteering experience during the emergency, new skills acquired, communication tools, informal network resources, the volunteering experience before and after the flood. 

The questionnaire was completed by over 140 volunteers. Key findings include: 

• Demographics: 57% were women, 40.8% men, 1.4% non-binary, and 0.7% preferred not to answer. 
• Spontaneity: Nearly 80% volunteered as individuals rather than as members of an organization. 
• Locations: About 55% worked where help was needed most, moving across the city, while others volunteered in specific locations, primarily the Don Milani School. 
• Safety concerns: Only 17% reported feeling at risk and the main reason was insufficient protective equipment and tools. 
• Communication channels: While official channels were key for updates, personal and group chats were preferred as tools for coordinating volunteer activities, alongside word-of-mouth and neighbourhood networks that were as important as the official channels. 

The Journal Article: tool for co-creation

When different stakeholders come together within an engagement process, they bring different perspectives. This is of great value for participatory and collaborative work. However, there is a risk that objectives and goals are different and difficult to combine. Creating a shared vision in the stakeholders group becomes an essential part of the process. 

On Thursday, December 5th 2024, the city of Cesena hosted the first of three thematic workshops of TIMES Lab, using an innovative tool to co-design shared visions in a creative way. The Journal Article tool (Newspaper of Tomorrow) provides the opportunity to create a shared vision on a certain challenging topic, with a positive and collaborative approach, co-designing a “desirable” future. 

To run this envisioning technique, stakeholders are asked to imagine how a newspaper, magazine or blog of their choice, would talk about a chosen topic in 10-20 years from now. Let them imagine the storyline, write down the title and subtitle, find a relevant image to communicate the news to future audiences, describe the main news item that in the desired future is a concrete sign of the positive change generated. The Journal Article tool was, therefore, proposed to Cesena's stakeholders on specific topics linked to the managing spontaneous volunteers within emergencies, in particular during a hypothetical future flood in CESENA 2050. Given the complex theme of the TIMES lab the workshop focused on the flood phenomenon as key topic for the exercise with the Newspaper. It will however then be possible to validate the co-designed solutions within other type of disasters and future crises precisely to test the strength and effectiveness of the processes/tools identified. 

Participants were divided into small groups, focusing on one of 5 key topics identified: 

1. Managing spontaneous volunteers: How to manage groups of spontaneous volunteers by enhancing their skills and promoting their perception of safety. 
2. Communication between the Municipality and the informal community network of volunteers: How to strengthen communication between the Public Administration and the network of informal community places - online and offline 
3. Communication between the Municipality and citizens and collection of requests of assistance: How to make the communication system of the Public Administration towards citizens more effective 
4. Support and logistics for spontaneous volunteers: How to organize logistics to support spontaneous volunteers during emergencies. 
5. Training to spontaneous volunteers and citizens: How to build an effective “peacetime” community training system to prepare for future crises. 

Next steps 

The insights and ideas generated using the Journal Article tool during the First Workshop will serve as the starting point for the next Workshop on 30th January, which will focus on co-designing practical solutions. Specifically, the upcoming workshop will explore how to translate the “desirable futures” envisioned in the first workshop into concrete actions.