On 5 December, Professor Matt Baillie Smith was invited by the Kings Priory School and the Geographical Association (Tyne & Wear Branch) for a public lecture on “Volunteering, humanitarian crises and development: beyond the gap year” to promote critical debates amongst A-level students in Tynemouth, UK, and help inspire the geographers of the future.

The annual conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) was organised by the Centre for African and Development Studies (CEsA), ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics and Management/University of Lisbon (Portugal) in July 2023. The central theme of the conference was  “Towards New Rhythms of Development”.

On 27 June, Professor Matt Baillie Smith, Dr Bianca Fadel and Dr Moses Okech joined the 2023 IFRC Global Innovation Summit to share experiences on the use of creative and participatory methodologies in volunteering research with practitioners from the global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

On 21 June, Professor Matt Baillie Smith joined a panel of researchers and practitioners mobilised by the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) for a policy-oriented dialogue on youth volunteering for employability and skills development.

On 24 March, Professor Matt Baillie Smith, Dr Bianca Fadel and Dr Moses Okech joined the RC3 Long Night of Research to share experiences on the use of creative and participatory methodologies in volunteering research with practitioners from the global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Dr Moses Okech was invited by the International Geographic Union (IGU) to share RYVU findings and approaches during the virtual roundtable “Mobilising Geographical Research Methods in Times of Covid-19” which took place on the 24th of January.

On 5 December, Dr Moses Okech joined the African Union’s International Volunteer Day celebrations for a panel discussion centred on the roles of volunteering to promote inter-citizen solidarity in the African Union Member States, drawing upon lessons learned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.

In 2022, the Annual conference of International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations (IVCO) took place in Saly, Senegal, from 17 to 20 October, and was co-hosted by Forum, Crossroads International and the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (IBCR). The overall conference theme was ‘A new dawn for volunteering in development’ and RYVU team members shared key findings from the research in different activities, including a photo exhibit, interactive games and a panel discussion.

In 2022, the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) took place in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (with in-person, online, and hybrid ways to participate), between 30 August and 2 September. The overall RSG-IBG Conference theme was ‘Geographies beyond recovery’ and the RYVU project was presented by team members in two different panels.

On 27 April, Professor Matt Baillie Smith joined the online “Volunteer Tourism Conversation Series” jointly hosted by the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University and the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research (ATLAS).

On 19 January, the RYVU team was invited by the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy & Learning for Social Transformation, at the university of University of East Anglia, to take part on a wider Seminar Series on Education and Development focused on ‘Learning, Social Movements and Collective Action’…

The Annual Conference of International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations (IVCO) took place online in 2021 and was co-hosted by Forum and ActionAid Hellas from 16 to 20 October. The theme of IVCO 2021 was “Inclusive Volunteering for Global Equality”, bringing together researchers and practitioners engaged with volunteer-involving organisations to foster discussions on the challenges and opportunities facing the sector…

In celebration of today’s “International Day of Peace”, the RYVU project was invited by AIESEC in Uganda to join an insightful panel discussion on the theme “Everyday peace fighters: How to contribute to everyday peace in your community”.

The Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) took place online in 2021, between 30 August and 3 September and the overall theme was about borders, borderlands and bordering. The RYVU project was presented by team members in two different panels during the 2021 RGS-IBG conference…

The ‘International Youth Day’ is commemorated every 12th August to recognise youth participation in development and youth contributions to global advancements. Several themes have been selected by the United Nations to celebrate the date since it was adopted in 1999, ranging from addressing issues that directly affect youths, or issues in which youth are key actors, such as education, peacebuilding and political inclusion…

The RYVU Team is pleased to share the recording of the webinar Volunteering, skills development and employability: reversing the narrative? which took place yesterday, 29 July 2021. Over 40 people joined an insightful discussion during which participants and speakers shared their views on volunteering, skills and employability from the perspectives of academics, practitioners and volunteers…

As a follow up to the discussions during the UNESCO Chair on Lifelong Learning, Youth and Work, Gulu University Conference in April, the Refugee Youth Volunteering Uganda (RYVU) team is now hosting a webinar on the theme: Volunteering, skills development and employability: reversing the narrative?…

On 15 July, World Youth Skills Day, the RYVU team joined the launch of the Youth and Transitions Hub of the Open University’s Centre for the Study of Global Development. The Hub hosted the panel “Post-pandemic recovery: How can marginalised youth be supported in Technical and Vocational Education and Training and the labour market?“…

The annual conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) was organised online by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in July 2021. The central theme of the conference was “Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice”…

The Centre for International Development at Northumbria University, with the support of the UK Development Studies Association (DSA), hosted in June 2021 the series of online workshops “Decolonial Chats” that was aimed at students, early-career researchers and development practitioners, interrogating how coloniality is…