TCPA Ongoing Study Presented at 2015 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference
2 min readUNITED KINGDOM – From September 8-9, 2015, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis (TCPA) attended the 2015 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference and presented its ongoing study on developing civic activism in Armenia. TCPA Research Associate Valentina Gevorgyan presented the topic at the “Civil Society and Democracy: New Challenges and Opportunities” session of the conference, where it was very well received.
The conference brought together academics, policymakers, and practitioners from the United Kingdom and abroad to meet at Leeds Beckett University to share and discuss researching ideas and issues related to voluntary organizations and volunteering in the context of contemporary challenges. This is the second year that TCPA has presented its study at the conference, introducing research from Armenia.
Gevorgyan presented the topic based on the preliminary results of the primary data collection. The presentation included the analysis of civic campaigns, examining the dynamics of their development, factors affecting their positive resolution, and the type of actors involved in such campaigns.
Gevorgyan remarked, “The main purpose of this year’s conference was to demonstrate the need of connective research, the importance of linking knowledge to policy. Most speakers presented work that has somehow shaped policy in a certain field. I am glad to have had an opportunity to present an empirical evidence from another country, which sparked discussion and contributed to other participants’ knowledge about Armenia and our region.”
The Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference is an annual event organized by the National Council for Voluntary Organizations (https://www.ncvo.org.uk/), Voluntary Sector Studies Network (http://www.vssn.org.uk/) and Institute for Volunteering Research (http://www.ivr.org.uk/). The TCPA ongoing study is supported by the Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (http://ascn.ch/en.html).
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.
