That’s something Victoria University’s Karen Smith hopes to
change. The Tourism Management associate professor is teaming up with academics
in Australia and the United Kingdom to research the legacy of volunteering
after large events.
The joint research project took its first major step forward
earlier this month when the International Olympic Committee granted the team
funding of more than $28,000.
Karen is thrilled their year-long project was chosen, out of
41 applicant’s world-wide, to receive funding from the IOC Advanced Olympic
Research Grant Programme. She believes their study will benefit both host
countries of the Olympic Games and others who run major international events.
“Countries invest a lot of money and resources bidding for,
and hosting, big global events. And there are a lot of benefits they hope to
get from them like exposure to boost tourism and business, and greater social
engagement. But we see there’s also a big desire to use events to develop
volunteering and leverage longer-term benefits,” Karen says.
“The Sydney and London Olympics really harnessed the power
of volunteers, and that had an impact on the cities and nationally. Harnessing
the passion of volunteers for mega events is a good idea, but we’re less clear
about how host countries can maximise the long-term effects.”
She says the results will prove helpful to community
organisations, national sporting bodies and volunteering agencies, by
illustrating how existing volunteer infrastructure can be optimised to ensure
the positive effects of volunteering extend well beyond the one-off event.