The city forest at Wolfsburg enjoys huge popularity amongst joggers, cyclists, hikers and people who enjoy walking. Besides this, it is a habitat for many – even rare – species of plants and animals, such as orchids, for example. The park will also become your operation site, as you'll be supporting the district forest service in many different ways, such as taking care of the forest, repairing recreational facilities, removing non-native plants (neophytes), which could displace local species. Of course, during this time you will also get a great insight into the work of a district forest service employee and into the ecosystem of a forest. Your accommodation is not so far away from the forest, so you can easily get there on foot. You will be working 4 days per week, each day for 7.5 hours. You will therefore have free time on Fridays.
Accomodation & food:
You'll be staying in rooms for young people at the Saint Stephen's Community Building in Wolfsburg. Here, there are 2 large rooms for sleeping, a large living space, a kitchen and a party room available. You will be sleeping on air beds (rather thick air mattresses). The community building is located directly next to the market in the district of Detmerode. All places to go shopping for food ingredients are easily reached on foot.Meals will be prepared and cooked in small groups.
Location & leisure:
The best known attractions in Wolfsburg are the castle, the art museum, the "Autostadt" (car city) and the Volkswagen Musem, the VfL Wolfsburg football team and the "Phaeno" experiment landscape. The VW-Pool is the most beautiful outdoor swimming pool in the region. In the Saint Stephen's Community Building, there is a youth club every Thursday.For more information, visit: www.wolfsburg.de
Requirements:
You have to be fit enough for physically demanding work – you will work 7.5h on 4 days, Fridays are off.
Forest and nature conservation works in the forestry of Oldendorf, Lower Saxony. You will help to clear space for newly planted trees, to help them get the light and room they need to grow. You will help with caring for young parts of the forest and help to build and repair recreational facilities, cultivation gates, high seats and as well help with various small jobs that come up. You will work in small groups and will have the opportunity to explore nature with the forestry workers and gain new background knowledge about the forest.
Accomodation & food:
You will stay in the community center of the protestant church in Fischbeck. The group will be cooking together.
Location & leisure:
The small village of Fischbeck is located between the two towns Hameln and Hessisch Oldendorf. The „Pied Piper Town" Hameln has a lot to offer: a historic center, a glass blowing workshop, the Pied Piper Games and several museums. There is an open-air swimming pool in Hessisch Oldendorf, a barbecue place in Fischbeck and if you want you can visit the Schillat Cave. Weekend trips to Hanover.www.hameln.dewww.hessisch-oldendorf.dewww.schillathoehle.dewww.hannover.de
The Märkische Schweiz wildlife park, 40km to the east of Berlin, offers not only unique natural and cultural landscapes, but also the backdrop to our project. In co-operation with the wildlife park, the "Drei Eichen" environmental education centre and the Märkische lakes LAG, we will not only get to know the park together, but we will also be actively involved in designing it. Young people from the local area will also be invited to help with this task. We will be completing various landscape projects in different natural areas at a number of locations in the Märkische Schweiz wildlife park. On the one hand, we will eliminate the Indian/glandular balsam, especially in particularly sensitive areas (such as embankments, or near the water). The employees of the park's nature watch will be supporting us with this task. Together with the state forestry company, we will remove conifers from the moor in order to have a positive influence on the water balance, as part of a moorland conservation projects. Besides this, we plan to shred dry grass in order to preserve this particularly sensitive habitat for protected species. By mowing an orchid meadow, we will familiarise ourselves with its historical uses and also get to know this particular habitat. We will also be renewing and repairing sections fn the walking trail around the Klobichsee lake. Together with a local timberman, we will spend several days on this particular task. This area is also home to beavers, so we will be able to admire their own handiwork. We will help on the grounds of the "Drei Eichen" environmental education centre by cleaning up some "wild corners" and reshaping them as habitats for endangered species, such as a cairn for lizards and amphibians, wild bee houses and bat boxes. We will renovate an old trailer as a living space for ourselves and the guests of the environmental centre by plastering a room with clay, which will make it very comfortable. The handicraft and creative work will predominantly take place outdoors. There is an addition registration fee of 50€ for participants who are not from Germany.
Accomodation & food:
You will be staying in simple rooms with several beds in the "Drei Eichen" environmental education centre, located in the middle of the forest 4km from Buckow (www.dreichen.de).The group will prepare and cook meals together.
Location & leisure:
GPS tour(s) of the park, guided hikes to Biological Diversity, bat museum, lakes, cinema in Buckow, campfire.
Important:
Please bring waterproof clothing with long sleeves and waterproof trousers with you, since you will be working outside.
Requirements:
Please bring waterproof clothing with long sleeves and waterproof trousers with you, since you will be working outside.
It will be your task to remove mistletoe from fruit trees in various orchards in and around the town of Filderstadt. Mistletoe, with its round berries, is particularly visible in the trees though the winter, but its appearance is deceptive. It is a so-called ‘parasitic plant' which steals important nutrients and water from the trees in which it grows. We need your help to ensure that the trees don't die out due to a mistletoe infestation! By removing the mistletoe, you will be working in the name of nature conservation and will ensure the survival of the orchard. Tbe orchard is one of the most important habitats for animals and plants, such as bats, little owls and typical orchard plants. Alongside the expert pruning and excursions with ecological themes, you will also learn a lot during this camp. The integration commission from the town of Filderstadt will organise workshops on anti-discrimination with you, since the motto for the whole camp is "together in diversity for conservation". Through working together on conversation projects, prejudices will be challenged, diversity will be fully experienced, and you will build on your intercultural skills. You could be the foundations of a very diverse future! The surrounding area offers many different activities for you during your free time. The capital city of the Baden-Württemberg region, Stuttgart, is easily reachable with the S-Bahn train. This project is supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration with funds from the region of Baden-Württemberg.
Accomodation & food:
You will be sleeping in the common room of the "Uhlberghalle", an events hall in Filderstadt. The group will prepare and cook meals together.
Location & leisure:
Filderstadt is a town due south of Stuttgart. From Filderstadt train station, you only need around 30 minutes to get there. Therefore, all gates and doors to the beautiful Baden-Württemberg region are open for you to explore. But there are also many things in Filderstadt you could do during your free time. There is a swimming pool, which you can use for free (https://www.fildorado.de/). Besides this, the project partner can organise several excursions for you, if you like, such as a tour through the scenic Sibenmühlentall (valley of the seven hills), a bike ride, visiting the "Ritter Sport" chocolate museum (https://www.ritter-sport.de/de/besuchen), the House of Forests (http://www.hausdeswaldes.de/haus-des-waldes/), a drum party with Halyna Burt or an environmental tour at the airport. Great emphasis is placed on exchange and communication. https://www.filderstadt.de/start
Requirements:
Age of participants: 16 – 17. You should be able to ride a bike. There is an additional registration fee of 50€ for participants who are not from Germany.
The Centre wants to realize a new Adventure Path, called "Zahlenwald". You will help preparing the path, setting up signs to guide the way, and create interactive elements, mostly made of wooden materials of all kind, that help children and adults learn more about the forest. Be prepared for different kinds of manual work and look forward to learning more about trees and wood!
Accomodation & food:
You will be accommodated in a close-by school in Rimpar that offers lots of space, a well-equipped kitchen and showers.
Location & leisure:
Rimpar is a small town with around 7.500 inhabitants. Its centre is characterized by Castle Grumbach, a palace built in 14th century that is nowadays home to various museums. Rimpar is located in Franconia and just 10 km from Wuerzburg, one of Bavaria's biggest cities that is famous for its wine, its fortress and the Residence which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
You will help with the maintenance of the Vita Parcours fitness trail. Your task will mainly be to clear the trail of over-grown plants. Besides, you will set up gardening spaces in the Naturlehrgarten , a park that includes several stations which explain environmental issues to the visitors. In this park you might plant herbs and trees as well as set up new paths. Last but not least, there will be plenty of cleaning work to do for you along the famous St. James Way.
Accomodation & food:
You will be accommodated in the local youth club called JUZ . The building includes a kitchen and all necessary facilities. Please bring a sleeping bag The local youth who normally visit the club are looking forward to welcoming you and getting to know the international volunteers.
Location & leisure:
Heilsbronn with its 9300 inhabitants is located in the idyllic Bavarian region called Franken (Franconia). The town lies along a path known as the Way to St. James or Camino de Santiago . For this reason, the town is frequently visited by tourists as well as pilgrims. Apart from the traditional, half-timbered houses the town offers a few unique sites, such as the Romanesque monastery and the local cathedral. A guided tour might be organised for you. Besides, the town arranges free entrance to the outdoor swimming pool for the group. Nature-lovers can find several hiking trails in the beautiful surrounding landscape. The worth-seeing cities of Nuremberg, Bamberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber are not too far away either and might be visited on weekends.
Landscape and village care are what to expect from this camp in the north of Germany. You work 5 hours a day, from Monday to Friday. In the first week you work together with your international group in the Nordoer Heide, a nature reserve with inland dunes, heaths, dry grasslands and adjacent forest and green areas. Parts of the area are grazed with robust animals such as Galloways and Highlands as well as wild horses and Boer goats to prevent bush encroachment and to suppress existing trees. The work you will be doing has the same purpose. You remove plants in order to ensure light and air for special plants and animals whose home the dunes and heaths are. You will, for example, remove black berries, which overgrow the rare healing plant arnica or the foreign North American bird cherry, which shade the habitat of butterflies. You will learn much about the protection of rare habitats, such as inland dunes and heather, in theory and practice. In the 2nd week you will perform various work in the community Kremperheide. You will maintain green areas, collect garbage, maintain playgrounds and, if necessary, assist the local sports club, in whose premises you live, with the care and maintenance of its club grounds.
Free Time:
The sport home Kremperheide is located in the village with the same name, which has 2350 residents, right next to the beautiful nature preservation area, where you will work. You will have bikes at your disposal, which enables you to take trips into the surrounding area. On top if that, there are plenty of sports facilities: a beach volleyball field, soccer fields, tennis fields and Boule places. The nearby city of Itzehoe has plenty to offer, too and is only 6km (about 20-30min by bike). You can also take a train from the train station, which is only 500m away; the train takes you into town in only 6 minutes. On the long weekend (Friday – Sunday), it is worth your while to take a trip to the North Sea and/or Hamburg (both about 50km away).
Location:
Schleswig-Holstein, Kremperheide close to Itzehoe, 50km from Hamburg.
Age:
16 – 26
Food:
The group will prepare and cook meals together.
Accommodation:
You will sleep on air mattresses in a shared room of a sport home.
Train/Bus:
Hamburg Main Station → Kremperheide
Airport:
Hamburg
Special Requirements:
You have to be able to cycle. You have to be fit, the work is physically demanding.
Forest preservation and habitat care in a beautiful environment and relaxing at the beach! That's what you get in this camp in the North of Germany. You will work in the forest and nature reservation surrounding the hostel where you stay, together with volunteers from all over the world. You will cut and remove grass and unwanted plants (in reforested windmill areas), eradicate erosion damage, maintain biotopes, clean out water ditches, remove the harmful bird cherry from the forest areas, build path demarcation, free hiking paths from overgrown plants and attach information boards.Through all this, you will learn a lot about forest protection and protecting rare habitats, in theory and practice. You will also get to know, how nature conservation areas can be made accessible for tourism without damaging them, in order to enable people to use the beautiful nature in an informed and more careful manner. Additional information (unfortunately, only in German so far) about the forest youth hostel Süderlügum can be found here: https://www.forst-sh.de/abenteuer/jugendwaldheim-suederluegum/?L=0
Accomodation & food:
You will stay in shared rooms with 2 – 4 beds in the forest youth hostel in the middle of the forest. The group will prepare and cook meals together
Location & leisure:
The forest youth hostel Süderlügum is in the middle of the forest and surrounded by beautiful landscape. The outside area has a volleyball field, a barbecue hut and a DiscGolf Parcour. There is also a big communal area, table tennis and table soccer. You will have bikes at your disposal, so you can explore the surrounding area. On the weekends, you can take trips to the North Sea island close by (Sylt, Föhr, Amrum).
Requirements:
You should have a good level of fitness as some of the work could be physically demanding. You should also be able to ride a bike.
« I would recommend participating in a workcamp, especially with VAP, who ensured that I found a project to suit me and provided essential training for me in preparation for my trip. Being part of a workcamp really is a life-changing experience, oh, and it looks great on your CV! »
