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The COVID-19 pandemic that started at the beginning of 2020 has put great constraints and significant challenges in organization of social and economic life. This paper analyses the civil society response to the COVID-19 pandemic and presents specific adaptations and opportuni)ties to contribute to the society in the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories that civil society organizations published on the webpage ZADobroBIT.hr have been analysed by the means of a qualitative research. Thematic analysis in different scopes of activities shows that civil society organizations were more focused on the general population and various vulnerable groups. Vulnerable groups were recognized as those needing particular additional support in the course of this period. The activities aiming at general population focused on newly emerged needs related to civil protection. Civil society also worked on keeping the everyday routines in communities by conducting various types of activities. Informing and educating aimed at creating new and maintaining existing information and educational practices that adapted to pandemic circumstances. The results of the research show also that organizations have significantly changed, and quickly adapted their work with the help of technology and by using volunteer work. The results of the analysis suggest that civil society has proved flexible and able to respond quickly to emerging social needs, but also emphasized the contextual limitations of the ac)tions. Thus, the paper discusses the position and role of civil society in the “new normal“, and the impact it has on its further development in the Croatian social and political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteering is the activity of people who freely give their time in order to bring new contents and values into the lives of others, without expecting any financial gain in return, i.e. without being paid. The question arises what motivates individuals to being, but also persevere in volunteer work, and particularly what determines the motivation of young persons to decide on voluntary unpaid work. Namely, as volunteering is one of the key determinants of a developed civil society, young persons should be encouraged to volunteer work from the earliest age. Consequently the basic aim of the paper is to analyse the reasons to volunteer, particularly the reasons of young persons in the final years of their study programmes. Additionally, the paper researches the connection of selected personal characteristics of young persons (gender, personality and the area of study) with the primary reason to volunteer. On the sample of 255 students of the graduate study programmes at the University of Zagreb with its seven constituent parts (Faculty of Economics and Business, Faculty of Kinesiology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Social Work at the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Teacher Education) it has been established that the primary motivation to volunteer of the largest number of respondents is their own beliefs, and not any material gain, in other words they truly identify with the idea of volunteering (the motive of „worth“). The research has also shown that the incentives to participate in volunteer work depend on specific characteristics of an individual Specifically, the reasons to volunteer depend on the area of study/work of the individual (the third hypothesis on statistically significant different motivation for volunteering with regard to the area of study of the respondent is accepted), and to a lesser extent on the gender and personality traits of the individual (a large number of descriptive and some findings of the inferential statistics point to the differences in motives to volunteer with regard to gender and personality traits, but the first and the second hypotheses relevant to these relations have been rejected). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]