A volunteering boost for NSW national parks
UTS Business students have helped streamline the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) volunteer program.
The NPWS manage 889 protected areas in NSW, covering over 7 million hectares, including national parks, nature reserves, flora reserves, World Heritage areas, rainforests, beaches, alpine areas and sites of great cultural and historic significance.
Through the Shopfront Community Coursework Program, students were tasked with finding a solution to NPWS’ high volunteer turnover.
The high turnover of volunteers – whose average age is 60 – has created staff resource restraints, and hindered NPWS’ ability to effectively carry out its mission.
UTS Business students who worked with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The students identified three areas they believed were contributing to this issue:
- Young people are underaware of volunteering opportunities offered by NPWS.
- The application process is time-consuming and not user friendly.
- There for no incentives for volunteers to continue volunteering.
The students proposed the following solutions to tackle these areas of concern:
- Approaching university clubs and societies to communicate their volunteer needs throughout the year. This would allow young people interested in nature and environmental conservation to participate in volunteering opportunities.
- Re-work the application process, making it less tedious.
- Incentivise the program i.e. through certificates to authenticate volunteering hours, or having volunteering count as credit hours for relevant subjects for students.
The students working on the project said it was an excellent opportunity for learning and networking.
“Participating in the Shopfront Program has exceeded my expectations. I did not expect this level of connection and interaction with the higher-ups of such an influential organisation. It was truly exciting to present our ideas to people who have a say in a large organisation. Being able to present to them was also an incredible opportunity.”
Shopfront links the community sector to university expertise through pro bono projects completed by students as part of their studies, supervised by academic experts in their field. We aim to create mutual value, supporting community organisations while engaging students in important social justice issues. Find out more.
