The Power Behind Good Intentions - A toolkit for critical European volunteering organisations and Global Education practitioners - Version 4 (2021)

Aug 20, 2026

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A toolkit for critical European volunteering organisations and Global Education practitioners, focusing on how “good intentions” can reproduce colonial power structures, racism, and white supremacist attitudes. It outlines motivations of volunteers, approaches for preparing volunteers through anti-colonial and anti-racist reflection, and Global Education methods to link “development” and “help” to historical and present global injustice. The guidance also covers engaging volunteers in the Global North and becoming an organisation aligned with global justice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time46 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Motivations of volunteers

Preparing volunteers

Global Education methods for preparing volunteers

Engaging volunteers in the Global North

Becoming an organisation Global Justice

Glossary

Further reading, further watching

The Power Behind Good Intentions A toolkit for critical European volunteering organisations and Global Education practitioners Version 4 (2021) EDITORS Thomas Schallhart, Sara Vaca (vers. 4), Valerie Weidinger (vers. 1-3). CONTRIBUTORS (alphabetically) Michał Adamski, KolawoleAganran, Paula Vera Arrasate, Zuhal Atlan, Lovorka Bačić, Jasna Belšak, Jaroslav Biolek, Dora Ines Blanco Ronco Ni, Ghakanyuy Fabrice Bongbarah, Aine Boyle, Michela Briffi, Eva Brychtová, Alexandra de Carvalho Mercês, Silvia Coca Córdova, David Coles, Elsa Conde, Jona Dagan, Mels Danielyan, Sara Dari, Gema Diaz Delgado, Antonella di Matteo, André Dutra, Vivian Evertse, Inés Ferrando Vidal, Kristina Fjellgren, Jana Forsthuber, Margarida Freitas, Francesca Fulgoni, Wided Ghadhoun, Francesco Godano, Florencia Godoy, Carlos Gonzalez Arcos, Hannah Greimel, Viktoriia Grivina, Emmet Griffin, Otto Härö, Julia Haimlinger, Jonathan David Healy, Shirin Hodzheva, Sebastian van Hoeck, Lucie Horáková, Wioleta Hutniczak, Samantha Nhi Huynh, David Jankč, Sabina Jaworek, Lana Jurman, Kelvin Mutinda Kaloki, Romain Kaser, Steffi Koch, Tara Koch, Niina Korpua, Viktorija Kos, Natália Kubasi, Florian van Kuijk, Saara Kytömäki, Laura Laitinen, Katarina Lazarevic, Tiago Lila, Cornelia Lindenau, Lisa Lissolo, Andrea Loddo, Carla Longares Alcoverro, Ana Lourenço, Eva Mackova, Farid Madmar, Martina Maher, Sabine Manhartsberger, Laura Martikainen, Janko Matić, Laura Matute, Deniz Memdi, Katharina Merz, Mar Millet Catalan, Elena Mitrenova, Nugzar Mosidze, Agatha Mubaiwa, Edith Ndiwa, Anja Norell, Susanne Paschke, Meri Paunonen, Júlia Pérez Lema, Alejandro Pérez Riquelme, Lasantha Pethiyagoda, Eliane Preiswerk, Hannah Radenkovic, Juan Rodriguez Hopplicher, Florian Rogger, Marco Rondini, Nicolai Rosier, Camille Rouffiange, Loretta Scherler, Jeroen Skrypnyk, Gemma Solans Rodríguez,Éva Somodi, Kristýná Sosnovcová, Matteo Testino, InésTomaz, EleneTsetskhladze, Veronika Uhlirova, Alexandra Vanoussis, Vasiliki Velkou, AnaVrhovec, Trang Hong Vu, Esther Wawerda, Dora Weber, Lisa Wievelsiep, Jo Wilkie. All seminars and the toolkit were financed by The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Published in October 2021 by Service Civil International Austria, Schottengasse 3a/1/4/59, 1010 Wien, Austria. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. TABLE OF CONTENT • Introduction • Motivations of volunteers • Preparing volunteers • Global Education methods for preparing volunteers • Engaging volunteers in the Global North • Becoming an organisation Global Justice • Glossary • Further reading, further watching INTRODUCTION European volunteers often—consciously or subconsciously—have colonial mindsets Many Europeans have good intentions when wanting to participate in volunteering projects in the Global South. They are eager to “help” where they can, they want to get to know“other” cultures and live a different kind of life than the one they are used to. Europeans usually don’t know that these motivations are rooted in centuries of colonial exploitation and oppression of societies and cultures outside of Europe. Colonial attitudes are a problem for European volunteering organisations As volunteering organisations in the Global North, we constantly get approached by people with naive, colonial mindsets and we sometimes struggle in supporting the transformation of these mindsets into ones of global justice. How can we make volunteers reflect on the colonial power structures that are behind their ideas of “development” and“help”? How can we make them lose their unconscious or even conscious imperial and white supremacist approaches, seeing countries in t

FAQs

Why does the toolkit focus on colonial mindsets in volunteering projects?

It argues that many European volunteers approach Global South initiatives with “good intentions” that are rooted in centuries of colonial exploitation and oppression. These mindsets can hinder transformation toward global justice.

What steps does the toolkit propose for volunteering organisations in Europe?

It presents four necessary steps: prioritising colonial history and global injustice in preparation, evaluating volunteer experiences from an anti-colonial perspective, speaking out in Europe through awareness-raising and advocacy, and addressing racism and neocolonialism within internal structures and partnerships.

How should organisations prepare volunteers to question power structures behind “development” and “help”?

The toolkit calls for mandatory critical and anti-colonial preparation that helps volunteers reflect on colonial power structures. It also recommends structured evaluation after sending volunteers, to create space for anti-colonial perspective taking.

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by James