During the terrorist attacks in Norway 22th of July 2011, 77 persons was killed and many more injured. The attacks led to massive, multifaceted efforts of civil society, especially concerning the attacks at Utøya, for example - nearby civilians took part in dangerous rescue missions in private boats and more than 250 youths was taken care of in an ad hoc rescue center at a nearby camping. Most of the post-catastrophic research and investigations on the terror attacks have focused on the efforts of the official first responders and their respective authorities, and to a lesser degree highlighting the role of response from community and bystanders. As part of the ENGAGE project, we conduct a document study to shed light on civil society contributions to societal resilience during the terror attacks at Utøya. Based on academic literature investigation reports, newspaper articles and autobiographical books, we represent the Utøya terror attacks from what is known regarding helpers. We emphasize four domains of analysis, where we identify and discuss i) characteristics of the academic literature on the Utøya attacks, ii) a typology of actors, ii) volunteer coping actions, and iii) contextual factors. The findings show a dynamic and autonomous nature of spontaneous volunteering, influenced by contextual factors like degree of trust in formal response organizations, spatial proximity, professional and local knowledge
