Collaborative governance of ageing: Challenges for local government in partnering with the seniors' sector

This paper considers the role local government plays in the formation and effectiveness of local collaborative partnerships in ageing well. Collaborative processes are central to emerging models of local governance and have received considerable practical and theoretical consideration with respect to many policy domains. Such collaborations require local organisations and actors from various sectors to work together in partnerships and networks to achieve policy goals. This paper reports research from two collaborations in southeast Queensland municipalities, and shows that joint efforts between local government and community organisations pose challenges. These relate to the political context and specifically to the tensions between flexibility and coordination; and tensions between harnessing community resources and investing resources. We highlight the value of a framing role for local government to ensure that such governance models for local action on ageing realise a collaborative advantage. In particular, the findings highlight the need for local government to invest in these processes and build social infrastructure and assets in order to develop improved ways of facilitating collaborative governance

Volunteers :what we need to find out(and why we need to do it)

Public interest in volunteering in Australia has markedly escalated over the past five years, reflected in a number of publications in the popular, professional and academic press. This interest is welcome, and in many ways, is long overdue. Volunteers, or employing a term we find more useful, voluntarism is important for a number of reasons, not least of which is its structural role in the social institutions we have developed to support people, manage dependencies and facilitate a range of developmental activities across the life span. Voluntarism is an extremely complex social phenomenon. Conceptually, it transcends the sum of its parts, in that it is more than a simple aggregation of instances of individual behaviours. Our core argument here is that this complexity is such that equally intricate and multi-faceted perspectives and models need to be employed to further our understanding. In academic speak, this means that we need to develop analytical frameworks that draw on the breadth and depth of the social sciences..

Stewardship volunteering by older Australians: the generative response

The aim of this paper is to use Erikson's approach to human development, and specifically generativity, as a framework by which to explore older people's experiences of environmental stewardship activities. Using data from a large qualitative study of environmental volunteers resident in the coastal fringes of Queensland, Australia, the paper provides important, illustrative, empirical support for Erikson's theory of generativity in later life. Findings suggest that older people are much more likely to connect their environmental actions with the longer-term future, and express a need to leave a lasting legacy for future generations. According to respondents, the later years are a time to contribute to the environment as part of a broader cycle of life. The environment is also an important site for intergenerational activities. Whilst the work presented here is only a small, localized study, use of Erikson's theory of human development as a framework helps demonstrate the importance of a generative response in later life

Are we too busy to volunteer? The relationship between time and volunteering using the 1997 ABS Time Use Data

Time availability is a key concept in relation to volunteering, leading to organisations and governments targeting those outside paid work as a potential source of volunteers. It may be that factors such as a growth in female participation in the labour market and an increase in work hours will lead to more people saying they are simply too busy to volunteer This paper discusses how social and economic change, such as changing work patterns, are impacting on time availability. Using the 1997 ABS Time Use data, it identifies a predictive model of spare time by looking at demographic, life stage and employment related variables. Results confirm that those outside paid work, particularly the young, males and those without partners or children, are the groups most likely to have time to spare. These groups do not currently report high rates of volunteering. The paper concludes by questioning the premise that people will volunteer simply because they have time to spare. This is just one component of a range of motivations and factors that influence the decision to volunteer

Handing down from generation to generation: the involvement of older people in the community

This paper examines the diverse ways that older people contribute to community, and specifically how older people care for and guide the next generation. Erikson's psychosocial model of development (1968) is used as a framework for understanding these behaviours. Specifically, generativity, as Erikson's seventh stage, is useful in understanding our innate need to produce a legacy to influence future generations. This paper examines the many activities that can be considered generative, using qualitative data from focus groups of older people across Queensland. These groups include Indigenous Australians and those from a culturally and linguistically diverse background permitting an exploration of the cultural dimension of generative acts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance and implications of using this concept to explain how and why older people actively contribute to their families and to their communities

Building and managing resilience in community-based NRM groups: An Australian case study

The purpose of most community-based natural resource management (NRM) groups in Australia is to improve and restore local environments, yet increasingly they face a range of challenges that impact on their capacity to do this effectively. How groups meet these challenges is thus of critical importance. This article explores these issues using a conceptual framework derived from recent theoretical work relating to resilience to change in socioecological systems (Walker et al. 2006). Using three properties said to determine system dynamics - resilience, adaptability, and transformability - this study explores the attributes of individuals and groups that help community-based NRM groups adapt and respond proactively to change. Data utilized are from a large qualitative study of volunteers in community-based NRM groups in Queensland, Australia. Using these data, we begin to develop factors that act to enhance or erode a group's adaptive capacity, and highlight issues of importance to group resilience in the contemporary context

The Role of Volunteering in an Era of Cultural Transition: Can It Provide a Role Identity for Older People from Asian Cultures?

In western countries, one of the challenges facing ageing populations is an absence of social roles. One response to this is to volunteer, with evidence suggesting that this assigns meaning to the lives of older people and enhances health and well-being. This holds potential significance for older people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and particularly those from Asian cultures, where there is evidence that cultural erosion is diminishing older people’s traditional roles. However, while volunteering can create role identities for older people, it may also further challenge existing cultural values. This paper debates these issues, drawing on a growing body of evidence relating to volunteering within Asian cultures

Doing it from your heart: The role of older women as informal volunteers

This paper explores the contributions made by older women to the Community as informal volunteers. It argues that ageing policy is not gender neutral and tends to ignore the contributions made by Women Outside paid work. As well as being ignored in policy, women's unpaid roles have been denigrated by some feminist commentators, who suggest that these roles Subordinate the position of women. The aim of the present paper is to explore the lived experiences of older women in relation to their informal volunteer roles, using role identity theory as a framework. The study utilizes data from a qualitative study Using focus group methodology. Findings demonstrate. that informal volunteering contributes to the women's identity and gives their lives meaning. These findings suggest that a more positive policy framework around ageing is needed to ensure that the worth of these contributions is recognised

Information-related constraints on the effectiveness of environmental volunteers: a case study

Through their involvement in stewardship groups, volunteers play an important role in environmental protection and rehabilitation. However, they depend upon a flow of information, much of it specialised and technical, from government agencies and other sources. An interview-based case study of a Brisbane stewardship group indicated that group effectiveness was limited by difficulties in accessing specialised information, information overload, comprehension of information and a reliance on the group coordinator to disseminate information. Implications of these constraints are discussed