Environmental volunteer activity in universities of Kazakhstan (on the example of L. Gumilev Eurasian National University)

One of the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the development of modern youth is socionatural interaction in the system “man – society – nature”, which includes a change in the image of nature that has developed in society and the construction of a new paradigm in which the regulator of relations between man and nature is ecological volunteer activity. While examining psychological and pedagogical literature on environmental volunteering, the authors discuss the origins of the term “volunteering” and its key characteristics. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the concepts of “volunteer”, “volunteering”, “volunteer activity”, “environmental volunteering” based on Kazakhstan, Russian and foreign theoretical experience. After reviewing the literature, it was found that “volunteering” and “volunteerism” are essentially the same, so the authors of this study choose to use the term “volunteering” because it is more widely recognized internationally. By examining different perspectives on volunteering, the study was able to define and emphasize the main qualities of a volunteer as someone who participates in volunteer activities. Environmental volunteering is considered by the authors in the same way as a method of educational work with students of a higher educational institution, during the development of which social activity is formed, such qualities as justice, tolerance, kindness, friendliness and diligence are brought up. In turn, cultural and moral education develops, a certain civic position, working capacity, etc. Thus, in this paper, the essential foundations of environmental volunteering, as well as the signs of eco-volunteering as certain integral characteristics of it, which, according to the authors, are fundamental, are highlighted.

volunteer, volunteering, environmental volunteering, volunteer activity, eco-volunteer, ecological culture, environmental education, university