The Role of Voluntary Recreational Activities in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) addressed the problems of communities and identified the global problems for development under 17 goals within the “Sustainable Development Goals”. The UN member states are expected to take steps to achieve these goals in academic and applied fields each year in order to overcome these problems and achieve their goals until 2030. In this respect, the willingness of individuals to voluntary participation in efforts towards development goals guarantees social participation, deepens solidarity, and strengthens ownership of social and economic development goals. The presence of the volunteer projects is allowed the volunteers can take part in content creation and organization. In addition to that, the purpose of the voluntary projects that individuals participate in during their leisure time was to provide social benefits and to create voluntary recreational activities for the goals of acquiring intangible gains. In this study, the role of voluntary recreational activities within the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals was determined by revealing the importance and place of these activities in the context of these goals. This study is based on content analysis from qualitative research methods. The research data were collected through a review of the literature and analyzing the content of international voluntary projects. According to the results of the study, it was found out that international voluntary projects contribute directly to sustainable development goals and that the participation of individuals in voluntary recreational activities through voluntary projects has an important role in achieving the goals.