Volunteer Activity as a Factor of Resiliency and Building up Social Capital in Communities (on the Example of One of the Communities of Kyiv Region

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the definition of aspects of community resilience during the war period. Since the full-scale invasion of Russian troops, volunteer activities in Ukrainian communities have increased. The growth of people’s resistance was one of the reasons for the creation of new volunteer groups, strengthening the activities of charitable structures of the informal sector. The change in motivational features of the active part of the population of communities in de-occupied territories contributed to the mass volunteering and the initiative to create and provide various volunteer services. The purpose of this article is to explore the peculiarities of the formation of social cohesion, resilience and the increase in social capital in the context of community volunteer group’s activities. Novelty is the presentation and analysis of the results of a questionnaire survey of a volunteer group of one of the communities in the Kyiv region. The results of the survey were analyzed, which became the basis for determining the resiliency and opportunities for increasing social capital in the Nemishayeve settlement territorial community. The survey was conducted in late January and early February 2023, with 63 respondents. The article uses the authors’ own experience in volunteering in this volunteer group. The reasons for the creation of the group are substantiated, and the study determines its importance for rallying the population, the formation of trust in volunteer entities through the systematic submission of transparent report filings and the presence of constant feedback from individual units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are directly assisted by the volunteers of the group. This includes, in particular, weaving camouflage nets, making instant food kits, sewing camouflage suits, making dugout candles and mini-stoves, collecting donations for the purchase of off-road vehicles, medicines and hygiene products, etc. The features of the group’s activities since its inception in June 2022 until today have been determined. Attention is focused on the use of existing and formation of new resources of community’s social capital, the importance of logistics chains, social ties between the existing entities of the informal sector both within the community and beyond. The probable reasons for the decrease in volunteer activity in the grouping have been determined and the directions for improving the activity of the volunteer group have been proposed, which will contribute to strengthening its resilience, increasing volunteer activity. Conclusions on the effectiveness of the group are drawn, new approaches and opportunities are proposed to improve the organizational component by improving the professional level of volunteer management and transition to institutional form. The intensification of volunteer activities in the community is influenced by transformational changes in terms of greater involvement of young people, which at the same time contributes to strengthening the process of their social integration. In turn, the presence of stress-resistant entities of the informal sector in communities with their powerful social capital is one of the weighty priorities in increasing the capacity of territorial communities, forming the space of public trust and rapid reconstruction of Ukraine in the post-war period.