Environmental commitment in transition

On January 12, 2011, the continuation of the workshop series “2020 – The Future of Environmental Associations”, which began in 2010, took place in the Kuppelsäle of the Neue Mälzerei in Berlin on the topic of “Environmental Commitment in Transition”. The environmental associations are working intensively on the question of how the future of voluntary and honorary commitment can be shaped. The large associations and strong regional associations invest considerable resources in promoting volunteer work. After all, decentralized structures and the claim to be represented nationwide are at stake. The workshop provided a forum for an exchange on volunteer management in the associations and helped to set new priorities for this debate. Topics included the structural challenges facing associations in the face of a persistent shortage of young talent, the necessary cultural change in the associations to become more attractive to new target groups, the concrete exchange of experiences with promoting young talent and the opportunities and stumbling blocks of new mobilization methods. After a brief welcome to the participants by the moderators Michael Zschiesche and Almuth Tharan from UfU and Dr. Jutta Emig from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the workshop began with two thematic presentations. First, Eva-Maria Antz, trainer for volunteer management at Stiftung Mitarbeit, presented the status quo of volunteer management in environmental associations and highlighted the challenges that associations face in their daily work. In the presentation on “Fewer young people, less long-term? Volunteering in nature conservation and environmental protection” by Prof. Dr. Thomas Olk from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the participants were given an overview and at the same time a differentiated view of the figures and trends mentioned in numerous studies. In a “marketplace”, eight institutions then presented their experiences on the topic of “Attracting and retaining new volunteers” with poster presentations set up around the room. This exchange was rated as very intensive and profitable by the participants. The lunch break and the improvisational theater group “Gorillas” provided a short breather and ensured an entertaining transition from the lunch break to the second block of content in the afternoon. Dr. Kathrin Voss (University of Hamburg and freelance consultant) then gave a talk on “Grassroot Campaigning, Cyber-Activism & Co. – the answer to the decline in activism?”. At the end of the workshop, the participants were able to enter into an in-depth discussion on questions of association culture and the future of volunteering in small groups in a “World Café”. In this way, the workshop also offered the opportunity for an intensive exchange of ideas. The main points of discussion of the individual small groups were then presented in the plenary session.