Supporting Crisis Volunteers 

A New Course from Danish Red Cross

The Danish Red Cross partnered with DCA Learning Lab to develop a new online course for volunteer crisis supporters on the Fabo platform. The course builds on expert content provided by the Red Cross and was brought to life through close collaboration with the Learning Lab. We spoke with Charlotte Høeg Andersen, Learning Consultant at the Danish Red Cross, about the motivation, process, and hopes for the course.

🧭Reaching Volunteers Across Denmark

“We need many more crisis support volunteers—and they need to be ready to provide care in moments that matter most.” 

The Danish Red Cross Emergency Preparedness team sees digital learning as a powerful way to train and connect with volunteers across the country. Their latest course focuses on equipping volunteers to offer psychosocial support during incidents such as traffic accidents, environmental disasters, or other stressful events.

This initiative is a step toward ensuring that volunteers are not only available—but also supported and prepared when crisis strikes.

🤝A Collaborative and Creative Process

“The Learning Lab never lost the overview, even when things got delayed on our side.” 

Despite a busy period and shifting deadlines, the collaboration between Danish Red Cross and the Learning Lab remained professional, flexible, and energising.

The Red Cross team highlights the creative input and targeted guidance from the Learning Lab team as essential:

“From the very beginning, the Learning Lab demonstrated a deep understanding of our goals and helped shape the content to speak directly to the audience we wanted to reach.”

🎥 A Complete and Supportive Learning Experience

“We believe volunteers will feel in good hands—both during and after the course.”

The course features engaging video content, clear narration, and carefully designed learning elements. These choices aim to make the experience feel both professional and human.

The hope is to reach a wide and diverse group of volunteers—offering them not just training, but reassurance and support.

🧰 A Practical Tool for the Field

“We hope the course becomes a go-to resource volunteers can return to when they need it.”

More than a one-off training, this course is designed as an ongoing resource. Volunteers can revisit chapters when needed, and local leaders can use it during network meetings—either in full or as bite-sized modules tailored to specific topics.

This flexible format reflects the Red Cross’s understanding that learning in humanitarian work often happens in real time, in real contexts.