Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "arts project" projects in Germany

Professional photographers will teach you techniques of nature photography. You will visit different places where you can practice your photography skills.

Berlin and Plau am See

9 days (each 5 hours)

Accomodation Berlin:You will live in one of the heated bungalows of the VJF project and meeting center. There are six bungalows in total, each equipped with a bathroom with shower and toilet. Bed linen is provided so you do not have to bring it with you. The main buildings can also be used for cooking, sharing meals and leisure activities during the stay.

Meals are prepared in alternating cooking groups. Feel free to bring simple recipes from your home country to cook with the other participants during your stay. A grill is also available for your use at the accomodation in Berlin.

Area Berlin:You are accommodated in the "Projekt- und Begegnungsstätte" of the Vereinigung Junger Freiwilliger e.V.. The small bungalow village is located directly on the shore of the "Langer See" in Berlin. It is a quiet place with good public transport connections to the center of the capital.

At Kriminitzer Weg in Berlin, you can do sports and games (e.g. table tennis, volleyball), hiking tours and Berlin explorations. There are plenty forests around Berlin and the area is covered with beautiful lakes where you can swim. The free time activities willmainly depend on your ideas. Please inform yourself in advance what you would like to see in Berlin and bring your suggestions!

Only limited Wi-Fi available at both camp locations. Please bring a flashlight with you for when it gets dark in the forest.

18-26

Location: berlin

English

BER: Berlin - Metropolencode (Berlin, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

The communities of Betzenstein and Plech are both counting on your help to realise diverse ecological, renovation and artistic projects. A lot of different tasks will await you during these two weeks. In Betzenstein you will:

Help to make a playground for children beautiful by adding artistic elements to it;
Realise artistic design and maintenance work at the local outdoor swimming pool;
Maintaining hiking trails;
Maintaining a “natural monument” called the Schmidberg tower;
Constructing nesting boxes for animals.
In Plech, you will:
Maintain beautiful hiking trails in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way;
Help repair a historic fence, which is listed as protected monument;
Bring in your creativity to artistically enhance a nature and discovery trail – you might be working with wood and colours;
Help with woodwork on a pavilion and some wooden shelters for hikers in the nature;
Support of associations in the field of sports and local history, helping to shape and experience a cultural event, the “Franconian village church fair” (Fränkische Dorf-Kirchweih)

As you will be staying in Betzenstein, you can reach the work places by foot there. When you will be working in Plech, the local workers will pick you up with a small bus. The work will be led by a professional instructor from the municipal maintenance department, so no previous experience is needed. You will work 30 hours per week, somewhere between 8am to 4pm from Monday to Friday with a lunchbreak on site. Please bring clothing that is suitable for outdoor work (that can get dirty), as well as sturdy shoes!

You will be accommodated in Betzenstein’s primary school and sports hall. You will sleep on sports mats in one big room in the sports hall, so please bring a sleeping bag (and a pillow if you want). The building has toilets, showers and changing rooms separated by gender. To cook, you will have access to the big and very well equipped kitchen in the primary school.
Your group of volunteers will be responsible for grocery shopping and cooking together. The food will be bought with the camp budget and everybody will take turns for cooking and cleaning. In order to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, we encourage volunteers to reduce meat and try more sustainable dishes.

The Bavarian region in which Betzenstein and Plech are located in the Bavarian region of Franconia, famous for its dialect, wine and beer production and of course, for its beautiful nature and cultural landmarks. Betzenstein and Plech are specifically located in a part of Franconia called “Franconian Switzerland” (Fränkische Schweiz in German), due to its mountainous and hilly landscapes. For this reason, the region is much appreciated by hikers and nature lovers. In addition, in Betzenstein, Plech and neighbouring towns, you can find interesting museums, beautiful churches and fountains. There is also the possibility to go bouldering or climbing if you are interested. On the weekends there are busses to nearby cities like Nuremberg or Pegnitz. Your hosts are happy to show you around and to get to know you throughout the two weeks!

Betzenstein and Plech are two neighbouring small towns in the region of Franconia, about 35km from the city of Nuremberg. This year, the two municipalities will organize an international workcamp together for the third time. Various tasks await you in this project, since you will be working in Betzenstein and in Plech. The town hall workers and inhabitants are looking forward to meeting you! In the two towns there are different clubs and associations, who you will have a chance to meet and even work with during your stay. This way, you will really get to know the place and the people. Your support will help the communities maintain, renovate and artistically enhance their infrastructure (UN SDG 11 sustainable communities).

Neuhaus (Pegnitz)

Nuremberg - 35 min from Neuhaus (Pegnitz) with the train.
Next airport (if you really need to take a flight): Nuremberg (NUE), Munich (MUC), Stuttgart (STR).

Please, try to arrive at Neuhaus (Pegnitz) train station in the afternoon on August 19. There will be pick-ups organised by your camp leaders at 15:15, 17:15 and 19:15. Find the best connection on the German railway company's website: https://www.bahn.com/en

Workcamp participants are invited to work in different fields: manual, artistically, pedagogical. During the youth camps, you will communicate with kids from diverse backgrounds and join their activities as well. You will support the camp in logistic areas and support the construction and decoration of an artistic project called "the archive of dreams" connected with the World Prayer Day Project (www.weltgebetstag.de ). It would be helpful to prepare to offer your own workshop whether artistically, musically or athletically in advance and bring many new inspiring ideas. In addition, all volunteers will have the chance to introduce their countries. You should collect ideas at home and bring necessary materials for a creative presentation including pictures, food, games, or other typical things from your countries. Further information will be prepared after the placement in the workcamp. Besides the announced activities, the volunteers will also need to take responsibility by leading groups of young campers in daily works like catering and cleaning.

The study part of this workcamp will be dominated mostly by the question about life between past and future, tradition and modernity, small-town-life and global correlations. Working on the "Himmelsfels" always encourages encounters between people from different cultures and diverse background.

Spangenberg is a small German village that lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some 35 km southeast of Kassel. There will be basic and simple accommodation. You will be sleeping in caravans with some other people in one room. Please bring a sleeping bag. As some summer nights can get cold in Germany, please bring some warm clothes and raingear!

Spangenberg is a small village in the valleys in the south of Kassel. Excursions can be made to local sites of interest and to Kassel. Kassel is known by an international art festival called Documenta.

18-26

Spangenberg

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FRA: Frankfurt Main (Frankfurt, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available

The Springhornhof foundation in the Lüneburg Heath is one of the most pathbreaking landscape art projects of Europe. Since the 1970s, famous international artists from all over the word have been building an artistic landscape with over 40 installations. During the camp, your group will be helping with the restoration and maintenance of some of these installations: painting, cleaning, cutting shrubbery, repair.In the second week you will create a large mural and furniture for the dining room of your newly built accommodation under the guidance of the artist Tilmann Terbuyken. The painter and sculptor collects used materials such as cupboards, wooden stairs, plywood panels, colours and shapes. He works on the material, frees it from its original function and creates things from it that can be sculpture, piece of furniture, display and painting at the same time - depending on how they are combined, used or viewed.

In the guest studio of the Springhornhof and in the pilgrims' hostel of the parish next door.You cook together. Money for the food shopping is provided to you. Vegetarian or vegan meals are possible. Please indicate any allergies when registering.

Neuenkirchen has 5.500 residents and is located in the center of the nature park Lüneburg Heath, a unique cultural landscape and one of the most popular destinations for trips in Germany. There is an outdoor swimming pool, an ice cream parlour and you will have the opportunity to go horseback riding or visiting a sheep farm. Apart from that, you will have bikes provided, which you can use for trips into the Heath. Bigger cities like Hamburg, Hannover and Bremen can be easily reached by train. You are close to the adventure park Heidepark Soltau, a kart track, the Serengetipark (Animal Park), a bird park and a climbing park.

Lower Saxony; 85km from Hamburg, 90km from Hanover, 15km from Soltau

You have to take an obligatory Covid quick test directly upon arrival at the camp. The tests are provided by ijgd. We recommend that you do a self-quick test before your departure, so that you are not surprised by a positive quick test at the camp. Subject to changes! In case of further relaxations or even restrictions during the pandemic, the legal requirements of the respective federal state in Germany will be valid.

16-26

Neuenkirchenwhere: lower saxony; 85km from hamburg, 90km from hanover, 15km from soltau

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HAM: Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available