PERCEPTIONS ON RURAL VOLUNTEERISM AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA. A CASE STUDY

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals which will have to be reached by 2030, will require significant human and financial resources, including increased volunteer based participation. Over the past years, at the European Union level, increased focus was being put on the importance of developing a quantification method for the social and economic value that volunteerism brings in the society. In Romania, the percentage of people who did not get involved in volunteerism remains high, although is decreasing (from 80% in 2010 to 72% in 2016), as revealed by a recent report published by the Civil Society Development Foundation. The aim of the case study subject to the current research was to identify the social and economic values of volunteerism in a rural Romanian commune, as they are perceived by three major community leaders - mayor, school principle and priest. Data were collected using key informant interview method, and then analysed using content analysis. The findings of the research showed that the concept of volunteerism is more understood at an informal level. Additionally, no management processes and practices of volunteerism were identified. In relation with sustainable development, the social value of volunteerism was identified under the form of collective education, while lacking awareness on its economic value.