The relationship among the authorities and the volunteers is described as being good. Especially the authorities think so: nine of the ten agreed with this. However, although eight out of the ten volunteer organisation leaders think that their relationship is either good or very good, there seems to be room for improvement in the relationship. One of the ten thought that the relationship is either good or bad, but there were also people who considered the relationship as bad or even very bad. When asked how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected cooperation, the answers varied. The most usual answer given by the authorities was, however, that COVID-19 had not had any effect on cooperation. One third of the volunteer organisation leaders replied that their cooperation had increased, which is almost as many as those who said that it had not had any effect on cooperation.
2.3.2 Volunteer tasks are diverse Volunteers participate in a wide range of tasks in the region, the most common being firefighting and rescue tasks. When the authorities were asked, support services are the most common task for volunteers in the region. Volunteers have also participated in COVID-19 related tasks like logistical support such as distributing personal protective equipment and disinfectants during the pandemic and answering questions at COVID-19 call-centres. In addition volunteers have participated in tasks related to climate change and oil spill response.
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