Workshop - Power Dynamics in Volunteering: Rethinking Support Work Together

2-Day Workshop for People Involved or Interested in Volunteering and Solidarity Work with Refugees and Migrants

Have you volunteered before? Are you currently involved in support structures for Refugees and Migrants or thinking about getting started? Have you experienced, witnessed, or questioned the power dynamics, assumptions, and narratives in this field?
During this two-day workshop, we will critically examine how support, humanitarian and activist work, despite good intentions can unintentionally reinforce systems of oppression and inequality. Together, we’ll explore how Eurocentric thinking, White Saviourism, Racism, and paternalism show up in volunteering spaces, and how gender and dominant “helping” narratives shape relationships with marginalized communities.
This workshop offers an open, reflective space to connect, share experiences, and rethink how we engage in volunteering and solidarity work. Through self-critical dialogue, we aim to explore ways of shifting toward more conscious, collaborative, and empowering forms of engagement. Whether you bring lived experience or fresh curiosity, you’re warmly invited to join us!

The program of the workshops:

Day 1 – Sat, 10 May, 10-13:00 : White Saviourism, Eurocentrism, Racism

Day 2 – Sun, 11 May, 10-13:00 : The “Aid” Narrative, Gender Aspects, Paternalism

The Workshop will take place in English