What's Digital Volunteering?
During COVID, digital volunteering began to take hold in Italy as well, though it became a somewhat more established reality mainly in the post-COVID period. However, it remains a rather fragmented field, little recognized and, unfortunately, not widely known, even among those working in non-profits and social advocacy. Many people don’t even know it exists as a specific area! Additionally, there are various interpretations of digital volunteering, which adds to the sense of confusion.
Digital volunteering, which Close in the Distance has embraced as a significant part of its mission, brings the practices of "traditional" volunteering into the digital world, supporting people in their virtual spaces and leveraging new technologies to provide assistance, foster personal growth, enhance well-being, inclusion, and active citizenship. It’s not just about "trying to do online what would be done in real life," but about using the potential of digital tools to create new opportunities for volunteering and connection between people, engaging them and, above all, "reaching" them in unexpected ways and places! ;D
During COVID, digital volunteering began to take hold in Italy as well, though it became a somewhat more established reality mainly in the post-COVID period. However, it remains a rather fragmented field, little recognized and, unfortunately, not widely known, even among those working in non-profits and social advocacy. Many people don’t even know it exists as a specific area! Additionally, there are various interpretations of digital volunteering, which adds to the sense of confusion.
Digital volunteering, which Close in the Distance has embraced as a significant part of its mission, brings the practices of "traditional" volunteering into the digital world, supporting people in their virtual spaces and leveraging new technologies to provide assistance, foster personal growth, enhance well-being, inclusion, and active citizenship. It’s not just about "trying to do online what would be done in real life," but about using the potential of digital tools to create new opportunities for volunteering and connection between people, engaging them and, above all, "reaching" them in unexpected ways and places! ;D
What about Digital Social Work?
Our commitment, however, is not limited only to volunteering and supporting networks and individuals; we also work on designing and developing empowerment programs and, so to speak, more specialized services, even through campaigns and projects that always have a social promotion goal. This is where Digital Social Work comes into play—an approach even less known and, unfortunately, less widespread than virtual volunteering.
While digital volunteering applies the methodologies and practices of "traditional" volunteering to the online world (or simply carries them out virtually, using the web as a tool), Digital Social Work is, in the same way, the extension of social practices, and for us especially, of ongoing training education into the digital realm, supporting adults, trained or not, well-integrated or not, within virtual contexts. In this case as well, it’s not just about “bringing social work, training and education online,” but rather about using digital tools to expand access to support networks and growth opportunities, often helping to bridge the gap that many people encounter when accessing, so to speak, traditional services.
Our commitment, however, is not limited only to volunteering and supporting networks and individuals; we also work on designing and developing empowerment programs and, so to speak, more specialized services, even through campaigns and projects that always have a social promotion goal. This is where Digital Social Work comes into play—an approach even less known and, unfortunately, less widespread than virtual volunteering.
While digital volunteering applies the methodologies and practices of "traditional" volunteering to the online world (or simply carries them out virtually, using the web as a tool), Digital Social Work is, in the same way, the extension of social practices, and for us especially, of ongoing training education into the digital realm, supporting adults, trained or not, well-integrated or not, within virtual contexts. In this case as well, it’s not just about “bringing social work, training and education online,” but rather about using digital tools to expand access to support networks and growth opportunities, often helping to bridge the gap that many people encounter when accessing, so to speak, traditional services.
Let’s delve a bit deeper. Digital volunteering has started to take shape in recent years, but it is not yet fully defined. It is certainly volunteering… when it occurs online, using virtual methods and new technologies. This type of volunteering, however, seems to have primarily defined itself in two ways: as remote volunteer work to collaborate with and support organizations (handling “typically online” tasks for these entities, such as communication, web design, or content creation), or as voluntary activities directly aimed at individuals. This includes, for example, developing educational and facilitation activities online, offering virtual, free, and accessible services (from peer counseling to access to public services, to educational, training, or guidance activities), and so on. Close in the Distance aligns more with the second form of digital volunteering, as it best reflects the key principles that represent us.
And just as volunteering becomes digital and unfolds in “places” that often didn’t even exist a few years ago, the same happens for social work, which for us primarily involves continuous, cross-cutting education for people of various profile. For instance, parents can participate in online sessions on how to protect loved ones online or explore interactive platforms together to improve family communication. They can also access specific services and growth opportunities, including training that may be more accessible, closer, and more aligned with their needs. In one way or another, digital practices, both in volunteering and in social work and activities, are primarily a means to reach anyone in need of support in an accessible way, fully using the web to create connections, break down barriers, and build networks and communities that would otherwise remain distant… and disconnected.
