Hot
Topic Archive
August
2007
Is
there a crude awakening in store for volunteerism?
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
The
cry of Chicken Little proclaiming that ‘the sky is
falling’ is an easy mantra to take in today’s world
of population growth, economic uncertainty, terrorism
and environmental turbulence. Conversely, it is all
too easy for us to sit back and assume that someone
else will figure out a way to fix the problems our
world is facing (most likely volunteers!)
While
I don’t think either approach is entirely helpful,
I do think that now is a good time to spend a little
time reflecting on the likely impact that some of
these emerging issues may have, on a practical level,
in the work that we all do.
Over
recent months, I have been amongst the many going
along to see movies such as Al Gore’s film about global
warming ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and the newly released
‘A Crude Awakening’, which is a must see about what
appears to be an impending world crude oil shortage,
that has the potential to change everything about
the way we currently enjoy our lives.
Like
so many others, I am deeply concerned about just what
in the world we have done to this earth and I wonder
what the implications of these global matters might
be on the remaining years of my life and on the lives
of future generations. While there has been a lot
written about ways we can take some remedial measures
of corrective actions, especially for global warming,
I wanted this month to cast my eye across the crystal
ball and ponder (as best I can) what this may mean
for volunteerism
Let
me begin by stating that I am working from a position
here that believes global warming to be a real phenomenon
that will get worse before it gets better. I am also
taking a position that affirms there will be a world
shortage of crude oil in the coming years which will
affect many spheres of life, force us to look for
alternative power sources and have an impact on many
parts of society.
So
here goes!
These
are really just a list of random thoughts, but it
is my hope that by beginning to think these issues
through, we may be in a better position to deal with
them as they arise.
Firstly,
let’s briefly explore global warming and climate change.
Global
warming tells us that the earth’s atmosphere is heating
up, and that we all need to work hard at reversing
this. In a nutshell, if we are to be successful in
turning this trend around, it will require the concerted
effort of billions of people all over the globe, including
governments and big business, to work to this one
end. If we are not successful, we can expect continued
bizarre and extreme weather amongst other things.
I
believe we have already witnesses some of the fallout
from this. The greater number and intensity of natural
disasters over recent years has seen a giant mobilisation
of emergency relief efforts by volunteers the world
over and an increased focus on ways that volunteers
can be managed within these often episodic and short
burst emergency situations.
This
has resulted in a greater focus on the work of those
volunteers on the ‘front line’, and in some circumstances
led to greater resources being made available to this
part of the sector. What appears to have not always
been quite so evident is the increased effort by those
organisations that might be referred to as being more
‘behind the scenes’ in responding to these incidents
– providing counselling services, emergency shelter,
blankets, food and the like.
Increased
natural disasters will continue to place strain on
what are often already scarce resources, and we need
to be careful to manage these resources well in order
to keep them available.
Closely
associated with this, are the massive monetary appeals
which are launched during these times of need. The
funds raised through these pleas go towards assisting
those left in need through these disasters, but I
do wonder if that leaves less money in the pockets
of donors to give to the work of other parts of the
volunteering community?
Some
of the other possible impacts may include:
- An exodus of volunteers
from mainstream volunteer programs into environmental
causes, leaving a shortfall of available volunteers
in other areas of volunteering
- A corresponding move of
govt and corporate sponsorship for volunteer and
volunteer management training into both emergency
services and environmental volunteer projects at
the expense of other spheres of volunteer involvement
- The development of new and
exciting volunteer led solutions to some of the
environmental problems we face
- An increase of collaborative
international volunteering initiatives to find these
solutions
Secondly,
I’d like to look at the likely impact of rising world
oil prices on the work that we do.
I
have a feeling that the impending oil shortage is
still a relatively unknown (or at least unrecognised)
problem by society at large, but I am quite sure it
will continue to gain headlines over the next few
years. For those not familiar with this problem, there
is much evidence to suggest that while the demand
for crude oil around the world is growing (especially
with the industrialisation of China and India ) our
need for this finite resource is quickly outstripping
our ability to meet that demand.
You
only need to examine what happens to the price of
fuel when a new conflict arises in the Middle East
or a natural disaster hits an oil field to have an
inkling of what this future may begin to look like.
Imagine fuel being so expensive that owning a vehicle
is out of reach for most. Or a world in which air
travel is only for the elite. And it’s not just fuel
either - consider all the other items of everyday
life that use petroleum based products that would
be impacted by a lack of oil production.
If
you believe that sounds fanciful, consider that in
the US , the cost per barrel of crude oil has doubled
from $US27 a barrel in 2003 to $US53 today. Some are
predicting that by 2010 or 2011 this will rise to
$US100 a barrel for the first time. Regardless of
the accuracy of these predictions, no-one can argue
that prices are on the increase, and as a result we
are all paying more for travel, freight and many other
things.
This
is already having an impact. For instance, a
2005 survey conducted by Volunteering Australia
revealed that 84% of volunteer respondents believed
that rises in petrol prices presented a barrier to
volunteering while 52 percent of organisations surveyed
reported that an increase in travel costs had led
to volunteers within their agencies questioning or
stopping their volunteer work as a direct result of
increased travel costs.
So
as I gaze into my crystal ball, what are some of the
other likely outcomes of this trend?
- Overall increase in the
cost of living
- Increased unemployment due
to production costs putting companies out of business
(in a worse case scenario this may also in turn
lead to increased homelessness, crime and other
things)
- Increased needs for volunteers
to assist aid agencies and other volunteer organisations
to meet the needs cited above
- A society less reliant on
motor vehicles
- A society less able to travel
(or afford to travel) to participate in volunteering
- A decrease in areas of volunteering
such as voluntourism and overseas volunteer work
- More focus on local volunteering
opportunities
- More focus on ways that
volunteers can participate remotely (ie via the
internet)
Now
I am sure there are a million things I could add,
and I know there are many readers far more familiar
with these debates than I, but the point of this hot
topic is simply to raise some debate on these important
issues, and to that end I am keen to hear your thoughts
on all of the above.
So:
- Do we have a reason to be
concerned or not? Why / Why not?
- What are some of the other
likely impacts I have not mentioned?
- What are the solutions for
us in the volunteerism sector?
- Are we ready?
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