Civic engagement and social capital in ship-preservation work in Norway: The scope, impact, and demographics of formal volunteering and publicly funded engagements

The Role of Civic Engagement for Men’s Health and Well Being in Norway—A Contribution to Public Health

“…These connections were varied and often woven into the individual’s life narratives [6]. The particular vessel was experienced as a “touchable part” of history, helping bridge both the individual’s own, as well as the larger social, present and past.…”

“…Representing the field of volunteering on historic vessels the 14 informants were male, age 18 to 74, representing an age distribution common in the field of volunteer work on historic ships [6]. Two were in the age group 18–30, one in the group 31–50, ten in the group 51–70, and one informant in the group 71 and more.…”

“…Whatever its structure or motivation, volunteers’ efforts on the ships receiving state funding in Norway was estimated for 2009 to have a value of approximately 5.5 million euros in unpaid work [6]. …”

“…Seafaring has from time immemorial required the tightly integrated labor of isolated groups of males together facing enormous risks, usually for the good of their communities, and demanding high levels of bonding, coordination, and sacrifice over long periods, so it is a locus classicus of many of these dimensions of the pro-social. Especially in the Norwegian context, with its maritime traditions so culturally fundamental, working together in a voluntary association aiming to restore or maintain historic ships is an example of civic engagement that serves broad interests of cultural stability, collective identity [ 6 ], and social cohesion [ 7 ]. An aspect of this self-reinforcing virtuous circle is how civic engagement promotes the health of volunteers by increasing their social capital [ 8 ], which is linked in turn to broad societal measures of communal health [ 9 ] as shown in epidemiological studies by Berkman and Glass [ 10 ].…”

“…Restoration of historic ships by volunteers has a long tradition in Norway [ 6 , 11 ]. Most historic ships in Norway are privately owned, however their restoration is often funded by the state, but only insofar as covering cost of equipment, parts, materials, and specially-commissioned work, with no reimbursement for labor [ 6 ]. Despite public funding, the work of restoring and maintaining these ships is directed and handled by crews of volunteers [ 6 ].…”