Research Events

The Research team hosts the annual  Researching the
Voluntary Sector Conference  (in partnership with  VSSN ) for practitioners and academics as well as seminars on specific themes throughout the year.  

Forthcoming events will be posted here where you can also read details of our past events.

Forthcoming Events

November 2008

Bridging the learning divide

Date: 24 November 2008
Venue: The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, County Hall, London

This seminar, the fifth in a series on 'bridging' social capital jointly organised with Carnegie UK Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, will explore how education institutions can promote, along with other partners, community cohesion and social inclusion.

• More information on the ‘Bridging’ Social Capital Seminar Series
• More details or book a place   

Past Events

• Social capital and dimensions of equality seminar  
• Collaboration without borders seminar
• Building bridges seminar  
• Third Sector Foresight seminar: The impact of migration on the VCS
• Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference  
• Engaging citizens seminar series
• Third Sector Foresight past and future events  

October 2008

Intergenerational connections

Date: 20 October 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This seminar, the fourth in a series on 'bridging' social capital jointly organised with Carnegie UK Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, explored how intergenerational practice can promote inclusiveness, collaboration and better understanding across generations.

Changing governance structures and processes

Date: 9 October 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This seminar, jointly organised by NCVO and the ESRC NGPA research programme at the Centre for Civil Society (LSE), looked at how civil society organisations in the UK and other countries are experiencing the shift from government to governance.

• Download Marilyn Taylor and Joanna Howard's presentation (PPT 67KB) 
• Download Heather Blakey's presentation (PPT 143KB)
• Download Karin Gavelin's presentation (PPT 886KB)

September 2008

Diversity and social cohesion

Date: 29 September 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This seminar, the third in a series on 'bridging' social capital jointly organised with Carnegie UK Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, explored the link between diversity, social capital and social cohesion.

• Download Nick Johnson's presentation (PPT 2.29MB)
• Download Nick Acheson's presentation (PPT 296KB)
• More information on the seminar series  
  
  

2008 NCVO/VSSN Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference

Date: 9-10 September 2008
Venue: University of Warwick

The conference this year discussed a broad range of topics from rural issues to measuring performance and effectiveness, and was interesting and informative.

Read more about the 2008 conference 

July 2008

Social capital and dimensions of equality

Date: 31 July 2008
Venue: Carnegie UK, London

This seminar, the second in a series on 'bridging' social capital jointly organised with Carnegie UK Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, looked at the relevance and limitations of the social capital concept around issues of equality and diversity.

• Download Sughra Ahmed's presentation (PPT 211KB)
• Download Zohraa Moosa's presentation (PPT 367KB)
• More information on the seminar series 

June 2008

Collaboration without borders

Date: 4 June 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This seminar explored the implications of working collaboratively and engaging with a range of partners and stakeholders at local, national and global levels. It was jointly organised by NCVO and the ESRC NGPA programme at the Centre for Civil Society.

• Download Dr Brian Doherty's presentation (PPT 931KB)
• Download Professor Richard Crook's presentation (PPT 52KB)
• Download Chris Stalker's presentation (PPT 428KB)

Building Bridges

Date: 12 June 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This seminar, the first in a series on 'bridging' social capital jointly organised with Carnegie UK Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, explored how civil society organisations can successfully build bridges between different communities.

• Download the seminar report (PDF 5.2MB)
• Download Professor Margaret Harris' presentation (PPT 161KB)
• Download Catherine Howarth's presentation (PPT 5.8MB)
• More information on the seminar series

April 2008

The impact of migration on the VCS

Date: 8 April 2008
Venue: NCVO, London

This NCVO Third Sector Foresight event explored how migration into the UK may impact on your organisation in the future and the ways you could respond. It featured presentations from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. A report on this seminar will be available shortly.

2007 Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference

NCVO and VSSN annual Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference, 5-6 September 2007, University of Warwick

The thirteenth Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference attracted a number of delegates from throughout the UK as well as from Ireland, Poland, USA and Italy.

Plenary sessions were presented by Stella Creasy, Head of Research and Development at Involve and Helmut Anheier, Director of the Center for Civil Society, and Professor of Public Policy and Social Welfare at UCLA and incoming Chair, CSI, Heidelberg University, Germany. The Campbell Adamson Memorial Prize was presented to Tracey Coule of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research, Sheffield Hallam University, by Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector who also made an after dinner speech. Listen to Phil Hope .

For full details of the conference including papers from each session, audio downloads of plenary sessions, and photos of the day visit our events archive.

Previous Researching the Voluntary Sector Conferences

• Read more about the 2006 conference

New Researchers

Since 2006, the annual research conference has included a session for ‘new’ researchers.  This is aimed at those who are relatively new to the field of voluntary sector research.  It provides an opportunity to meet other researchers, discuss research and share ideas.

Campbell Adamson Prize

Each year at the conference a competition is held for the best paper with a prize of £500. This year's winner was

• Andri Soteri-Proctor Making use of qualitative tools: a fuller understanding of the voluntary sector's engagement with public service delivery Download the PDF  (114 KB)

Read previous year's winning papers

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Engaging citizens seminar series

NCVO organised a series of 6 seminars on civil renewal and active citizenship with ESRC.  The seminars provided an opportunity to share insights into how active citizens contribute to an inclusive and cohesive society.  They also looked at possible implications for both government and the VCS.  

1. Faith-based voluntary action
2. ICT, social capital and voluntary action
3. Individual pathways in participation
4. Localism and local governance
5. From local to global
6. Human rights, a tool for change

To mark the end of the seminar series a report was written to highlight the key messages, findings and recommendations of each seminar. The report also summarises the key issues for policy, practice and research across the series.

• Download the report (PDF 510KB) 

1. Faith-based voluntary action

15 June 2006

This seminar looked at how faith shapes voluntary action and influences the type of voluntary activity people choose to take part in.  It explored the challenges and issues of the current policy agenda for faith-based organisations, statutory agencies and government bodies. 

• Download the seminar report (PDF 1.91MB)
• Download Professor Vivien Lowndes' presentation (PPT 70.5KB)
• Download Greg Smith's presentation (PPT 4.27MB)

2. ICT, social capital and voluntary action

05 October 2006

This seminar explored different views on whether ICT is strengthening or diminishing social capital.  It looked specifically at virtual voluntary action and examined how this may differ from traditional forms of face-to-face voluntary action, in terms of social capital.

• Download the seminar report (PDF 1.53MB)
• Download Dr Ben Anderson's presentation (PPT 433KB)
• Download  Jayne Cravens' presentation (PPT 358KB) 

(Return to Engaging Citizen Seminar Series)

3. Individual pathways in participation

24 January 2007  

This seminar looked at people's pathways to and from participation.  It explored whether involvement in community activities as a volunteer, member or beneficiary can lead to involvement in decision-making structures and processes within and outside the VCS.  

• Download the seminar report (PDF 491KB)
• Download Professor John Annette's presentation (PPT 156KB)
• Download Dr Stella Creasey's presentation (PPT 115KB)

4. Localism and local governance

20 March 2007 

The seminar on local government looked at the emphasis on community involvement in governance.  It asked whether policy is effectively contributing to positive changes and explored the impact on the design and delivery of public services.  It also considered the impact of community governance on social capital and community cohesion.  

• Download the seminar report (PDF 327KB)
• Download Professor Marilyn Taylor's presentation (PPT 111KB)
• Download Dr Stuart Wilke-Heegs' presentation (1.93MB)

(Return to Engaging Citizens Seminar Series)

5. From local to global

28 June 2007  

International social movements are not new but new technologies have accelerated global mobilisation.  This seminar explored how the link between local and global is developing in social movements, campaigns and giving.  It also examined how participation of individuals across national boundaries is strengthening the idea of global citizenship. 

• Download the seminar report  (PDF 735KB)
• Download John Gaventa's presentation (PPT 123KB)
• Download Christopher Rootes' presentation (PPT 83.5)

6. Human rights, a tool for change

31 October 2007  

This seminar looked at how human rights based approaches can contribute to improving service delivery and empowering people to participate fully in society.

• Download the seminar report (PDF 585KB)
  

(Return to Engaging Citizens Seminar Series)

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Third Sector Foresight past and future events

NCVO Third Sector Foresight is part of the NCVO research team.  They run a series of events to allow network members to meet and share knowledge and experiences. 

• For full details visit the Third Sector Foresight events
  pages.

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