Exploring Sustainability Transitions in E-Volunteer Tourism: Unpacking the Resilience-Sustainability Nexus

Abstract

E-volunteer tourism (E-VT), i.e. using VoIP technology to reach host volunteer projects at destinations for skills development and cultural exchanges, offers a valuable opportunity for volunteers unable or unwilling to travel. This recent phenomenon gained traction due to the travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. E-VT is reshaping the boundaries of volunteer tourism (VT) while highlighting dimensions of sustainability transitions. However, applying digital geographies in reconstructing space, mobilities, and empowerment in travel is not fully understood. This study integrates resilience theory in a realistic evaluation framework to determine how the processes in E-volunteering during the COVID-19 travel bans were shaped by VT organisations' resourcefulness and adaptiveness, resulting in resilience and transformational change relevant in managing the polycrisis. Methodologically, it contributes to evidencing how to evaluate processes and resilience capabilities at an organisational level and to examine the relationship between resilience and sustainability transitions.