Liechtensteiners like to offer a helping hand. Many in this country are of a solidary and philanthropic disposition. Now their voices are to be heard. The podcast series "Philanthropy Talks" by the Center for Philanthropy at the University of Liechtenstein provides an insight into the diversity of volunteering in the Principality.

For this purpose, we spoke with many volunteers. We present the results in ten podcast episodes. You can find them at www.uni.li/cph/podcast and on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

The podcast series presents voices from Liechtenstein and shows how citizens engage in informal or formal volunteering, sheds light on their motives and activities and describes the benefits of volunteering for society. In addition, hurdles are uncovered and support measures critically questioned. The interviews were conducted by Michael Nenning from the Center for Philanthropy.

"The podcasts show the diversity of the commitment of volunteers in Liechtenstein. Their commitment makes an important contribution to social cohesion in the Principality."
Prof. Dr. Marc Gottschald, Director Center for Philanthropy

The Making of Philanthropy Talks

My name is Michael Nenning and I successfully completed the Master's programme in Entrepreneurship and Management here at the University of Liechtenstein this year. I chose this Master's programme and exactly this university because it offered me what I was looking for - namely the identification, evaluation and subsequent successful implementation of innovative business ideas in theory and practice.

Moreover, I was employed by the Center for Philanthropy for almost the entire duration of my studies and still am today.

How it came to be employed by the Center for Philanthropy...

The curriculum of the Master's programme requires students to take around four cross-faculty electives. I chose the seminar Philanthropy, Patrons and the Common Good - an Introduction to the World of (Strategic) Giving in my first semester. I was taught current global knowledge of philanthropy in a lively and practice-oriented way using an exciting and varied form of teaching.

As I am a volunteer myself, volunteering and charitable work in Liechtenstein is very close to my heart. Among other things, my activities include working at the Schlösslekeller small theatre as an event technician and in the programme area and being a member of the Triesenberg carnival association "Bärger Joderteifel", and I was also an active member of the Vaduz volunteer fire brigade for a long time.

This seminar made me really aware of how important volunteer work is in Liechtenstein and how volunteer work contributes to social cohesion in the Principality.

After completing the seminar, a few months later, I became aware of a vacancy as a student assistant at the Center for Philanthropy - I was still enthusiastic about this exciting field of research and didn't have to think twice about writing an application. No sooner said than done, and I still remember the first meeting with Dr. Ann-Veruschka Jurisch and Prof. Dr. Marc Gottschald when we discussed my duties at the Center.

Volunteering as a Silent Engine of Society

During the conversation, I learned that volunteering in Liechtenstein has not been sufficiently researched. There are various sources from the DACH region that present numerous findings and positive effects on civil society - but there are hardly any figures on Liechtenstein. The research project was to better understand voluntary work in Liechtenstein and to make it more tangible, thus closing this research gap.

As an introduction to the topic, interviews with people from Liechtenstein who are engaged in voluntary work seemed to us to be the most suitable research method for collecting data. First and foremost, we wanted to find out why people volunteer.

What are the motives for volunteering?

The starting point and the goal were therefore clear: We want to know why people in Liechtenstein volunteer. We also discussed the way to achieve this goal in the team and then we came up with the idea of publishing interviews in the form of podcasts. I found this idea very exciting and motivating, especially because I am a trained audio engineer and have a lot of experience with sound recordings. In the search for suitable podcast guests, I was able to draw on my existing network and quickly found volunteers from various subject areas.

If you're interested in podcasts yourself, the inter-faculty elective Campus Radio is just right for you. Here, Andreas Krättli, a professional radio journalist, teaches you the necessary know-how for planning and implementing your own podcasts. Further information can be found in this blog post: Campus Radio: something for your ears

Liechtensteiner:innen are happy to help

After editing and mixing the audio tracks, we now had ten podcast episodes, which I published together with Dr. Christian Meyn over the last few months on www.uni.li/cph/podcast and on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

Through the insight of philanthropic Liechtenstein citizens into their voluntary engagement - in the sports club, in the fire brigade, in the meal service or in helping their neighbours, the helpfulness of the Liechtenstein population is now receiving the attention it deserves. The "Philanthropy Talks" of the Center for Philanthropy present portraits of representatives of voluntary work in the Principality in the form of impressive audio documents.

"I think it is important for everyone to contribute to society and I try to exemplify this attitude."
Irène Ospelt

Impressive portraits of helpfulness

It is impressive to see the extent to which Liechtensteiners have helped their fellow human beings. Through the podcasts, we shed a first light on this area of civil society and give a voice to the helpers. In the dialogue, the interviewees reflected on their motivation for volunteering and how their commitment benefits society. The conversations made it clear that volunteering has a very positive connotation and is perceived by those involved as enriching and rewarding.

In the podcast, the interviewees paint a differentiated picture of their activities: there are also many bureaucratic hurdles for voluntary engagement and the podcast guests do not shy away from critical words about current funding measures.

"It is difficult to find new people."
Carina Koch

Philanthropy Talks in ten episodes

The first season of the new podcasts comprises ten colourful episodes. People from Liechtenstein from various professions talk about their voluntary work, including a paramedic, a gambling expert, Franziska Hoop, a member of parliament, and Mathias Ospelt, an author. They all have one thing in common: their voluntary commitment. Just like many other Liechtensteiner:innen. Their voices should be heard.

Nine episodes can already be found at www.uni.li/cph/podcast and on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The last episode of the first season will be released in January 2023 and will draw a conclusion about the interviews conducted, classify the findings in theory and show how the results contribute to philanthropy research.