Climate change is one of the biggest, and most complex, problems of our time. What can we do to prevent it? How can we achieve systematic change instead of climate change? What can we do to contribute to global climate justice? One possible practical answer to these challengers are climate camps, which have been around in several countries since 2007. At a climate camp, environmental activists can exchange ideas, plan campaigns, and learn new things. Amongst other things, it's all about living practically within a utopia, in other wards organising daily life in the camp together – from cleaning the toilets to chopping vegetables – as well as making communal decisions through democratic processes. Would you like to see for yourself how a self-organised camp with solar energy, compost toilets and a colourful educational and cultural programme functions? Your workcamp will help with setting up, maintaining and taking down the climate camp in the area around Leipzig. At the same time, as a participant of this workcamp you will have the opportunity to learn more about the environment and climate with numerous workshops and lectures, as well as to develop your practical skills (such as how to build a solar-powered shower). As part of the programme during the climate camp, political campaigns such as protests against coal mining, will also be taking place. The climate camp in the Leipzig area takes place south of the city of Leipzig in the small picturesque village of Pödelwitz. In the past there were more than 100 people living in the village, but now there are only a few inhabitants left due to the coal company MIBRAG exerting pressure over the last few years – threatening to excavate the village for the nearby lignite mine. But with the wave of solidarity, there is still hope for the remaining Pödelwitz villagers, not least thanks to the very successful first climate camp in 2018. Both villagers and activists are determined to put an end to the dirtiest and most damaging of all fossil energies: not only so that Pödelwitz remains intact, but also so that the villages and cities in the global south can continue to prosper, since they are also massively affected by the climate crisis. The broad education programme at the camp is about how we can fight for global climate justice and how a good life for all is possible. The Degrowth Summer School, which works in close co-operation with the camp, places a large focus on so-called degrowth or the post-growth perspective. This means alternatives to the current predominantly polluting, growth-oriented and misanthropic economic and social systems. Taking place over several days, a course consisting of podium debates will look into how a solidary world without the need to grow might look like. Come and join us at the climate camp if you want to get know environmental activists from other countries, gain new theoretical knowledge and practical skills for a sustainable future and contribute to a grassroots self-organised camp! Information about the studying component: alongside the workshops and lectures at the climate camp (which you are welcome to attend), further workshops will be organised by you and for you on topics such as alternative lifestyles, social movements, climate policy in Germany etc. There is an additional administration fee of 50€ for participants who are not from Germany.
Accomodation & food:
You will be sleeping in 2-3 person tents at the climate camp, so you will be outside for the whole duration. You need to bring your own sleeping bags and thermal mats. Before travelling to the campsite, you will meet the other participants and your group leaders in Leipzig. Vegan food, fair trade, bio, seasonal. Meals will be catered for during the camp, but for the first 2 days in Leipzig you will have the opportunity to cook together and to share traditional meals from your home country.
Location & leisure:
You will have the opportunity to take part in the workshops and cultural event organised by the climate camp. There will be film screenings, podium discussions and other cultural events, such as concerts. The town of Leipzig is easily reachable with public transport and you can go on excursions there. You will also spend the first 2 days of the camp with the rest of the group in Leipzig. You can walk or cycle to the nearby United Schleenhain opencast mine, which is worth a visit to understand the dimension and impact of lignite mines. As another leisure opportunity, a trip to the nearby lake can be just the thing, since it promises the chance to cool off on hot summer days.
Requirements:
You should be interested in nature protection and conservation. City comforts such as warm showers and Wi-Fi will not always be available, since so many people will be camping together in a field. We will be living in tents during the camp.
Explore the unique landscape and habitat of the mud flats and contribute to the preservation of the native flora and fauna. Starting from 2010, every year there has been a ijgd group to contribute to the nature conservation works in the coastal heathland and you carry this on. You spates and hoes, you can help with the cultivation of smaller freshwater biotopes and protect the native vegetation against the displacement by non-native plants to grow very fast. Through your work you will learn a lot about the nature on the island and the world heritage sights of the mud flats. You will be instructed and guided by competent nature conservationists.
Accomodation & food:
Catering: Full catering in your accommodation; you will have to help with kitchen duties
Accommodation:
Youth Meeting Centre of the Oldenburgischen Jugenderholungswerks (OJE); shared rooms and your own seminar room, barbecue place, play and sports facilities on the premise. www.oje-wangerooge.de
Location & leisure:
Wangerooge is part of the national park Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer (Lower Saxony Mudflats) and has an amazing and unique flora and fauna. Cars are forbidden and so the life on the island will be quiet and ecological. In your free time you can go swimming, explore the island by bike, go on a mudflat hiking tour or just enjoy the summer feeling in the small island town. www.wangerooge.de www.waddensea-worldheritage.org
Requirements:
The work can be physically demanding. You have to be able to cycle.
If you enjoy being outside amongst nature, spending the evening around a camp-fire, discovering the forest first-hand with people from all around the world and working hands-on in the forest with real foresters, then this project at the Forestry Education Centre in Hahnhorst is exactly the one for you! The study part of this project consists of several workshops like to start a fire without equipment, recognizing edible plants and prepare meals with them, to learn how to build a place to sleep for the night and archery. These workshops will prepare you for an overnight stay in the forest at the end of the project. Besides this, you'll be working in co-operation with foresters and forest workers on conservation projects in the forest and will help to improve the quality of habitats for rare species of plants and animals. In the mornings (you'll be working up early), you'll be focusing on the work tasks. The survival workshops will take place in the afternoons.
Accomodation & food:
Shared rooms in the Forest Education centre with participating in house work. Full catering with participation in kitchen duties.
Location & leisure:
There are some free afternoons for enjoying the range of free time activities available (for example a bike tour, sitting around the camp-fire, a trip to the swimming pool). At the weekend, you could also go on a day-trip to Bremen for sightseeing and shopping. Schwaförden is a small village with 1.500 inhabitants.
Requirements:
395 € additional fee. You have to be keen on working in the forest and taking part in outdoor activities. You have to be able to ride a bike.
You will help to transfer an abandoned garden to a mini-farm for children. Last year, the workcamp group already started on this project and removed lots of overgrowing plants. This year, there are three main tasks: 1. construction of a clay house for a composting toilet, 2. construction of a wooden terrace, and 3. setting up vegetable patches and flowerbeds. Apart from that, some additional tasks might come up that help making the garden a perfect place for the kids
Accomodation & food:
Volunteers will be accommodated in a building of the Alte Seegrasspinnerei . There will be two sleeping rooms and all necessary facilities. Please bring your own sleeping bag and mat
Location & leisure:
Nuertingen is a beautiful old town with approx. 40,000 inhabitants. The town is located on the Neckar River and Stuttgart is only 19km away. Nuertingen is surrounded by beautiful nature and offers many cycling and hiking trails. From Nuertingen there are good train connections to visit places near-by. You can go to Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and Esslingen, a quaint medieval town with traditional German architecture.
Requirements:
Due to our funding, this project is only open for volunteers from one of the four regions Lombardia, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Catalonia, and Baden-Wurttemberg.
Main work will be in the forest, as maintenance of young stands, field mapping of new trees, planting of rare trees, searching and marking of habitat trees, waters care. Participants will also be doing various manual works to prepare the area around the house of the nature-friends for leisure activities of groups coming from the city. Time of work will be 5-6 hours daily, excluding Saturday and Sunday.
Accomodation & food:
Participants will live in a house with several-bed-rooms, kitchen, bathroom, showers. Cooking, cleaning, shopping etc. will be done by the group itself. Like in each workcamp, accommodation, food and travel-costs for excursions are free as well as materials/copies needed for the lectures.
Location & leisure:
Marburg is a historical and picturesque old university town, 100 km north of Frankfurt/Main. It has 82.000 inhabitants, including 25.000 students. The camp is located approx. 2 km away from the city centre.
Requirements:
As the language course is not for absolute beginners, participants must be able already to communicate in German, at least on a level which ensures simple communication (A2). Participants also must be willing to communicate with each other during the camp in German and not in English or in their own mother tongue for the whole time, not only during the lectures. This is one important part of the concept. Because of the language-course there is an extra-fee of 160,00 EUR to be paid upon arrival. A certificate for participating in the language-course will be given at the end of the camp.
This work camp is for nature lovers, since the work will be mainly outdoors. There is a lot of work around the natural reserve. Since it's not possible to use common agricultural techniques, volunteers have to do everything manually. More over every meadow around has to be cut and the grass have to be put aside. The aim of this project is to help to protect this unique reserve through your contribution. This project will be done in cooperation with environmental agency of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Accomodation & food:
The volunteers will stay in a kindergarden. Food is included, but meals have to be prepared by the volunteers.
Location & leisure:
Excursions (swimming, short trips) can be planned.
Requirements:
Please bring a sleeping bag, working clothes (gloves), a mattress pad and motivation.
Age:
18-26
Location:
Lohmen is a village between guestrow and goldberg. the region is famous for its lakes and forests. lohmen is surrounded by a natural park. there are interesting possibilities for outdoor activities like a labyrinth, sports grounds, pedestrian walkways and more. there is a lake in walking distance, where you can swim. lohmen has about 850 inhabitants and was founded approximately around the 12th century.
Language(s):
English
Airport:
SXF: Schonefeld (Berlin, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
Study part:Besides the manual work the study component will be an important part of our project. Volunteers will learn a lot about the time of National Socialism, the Holocaust and also something about the period after World War II especially the Soviet camp Sachsenhausen until 1950. Guided tours in and around the memorial site Sachsenhausen and excursions to different memorials and places of earlier German history are planned. Volunteers will have the opportunity to work in the exhibitions and in the library of the memorial site. Furthermore there will be several discussions with employees who perform guided tours and are involved in historical research. The international volunteers with their different backgrounds will inform the group about the memories and commemoration in their countries.
Work part:
The common learning at the historical site of Sachsenhausen shall be supplemented by manual work which constitutes the participant´s contribution to the maintenance of the memorial. This part will be rather small. All participants should have a very good knowledge of the English language and should be very interested in history and the present problems of neo-fascism and racism.
Accomodation & food:
Details
The place where the project/workcamp will take place:
Oranienburg Description of the partner organizing/hosting the project: Sachsenhausen was one of the earliest concentration camps in Germany, built in 1936. For example German people who were in opposition to Nazi policy, homosexuals, so-called asocials, criminals, Jews, and during the war especially people from occupied countries were imprisoned, forced to work and a lot of them were murdered. Between 1945 and 1950 a part of this area was used as a so-called Special Camp of the Soviet Secret Service.
Now it is a place for studies and to commemorate the victims:
the memorial site Gedenkstätte and Museum Sachsenhausen (Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen).
Please inform yourself before the camp on this site:
www.sachsenhausen-sbg.de Description of work:
Study part:
Besides the manual work the study component will be an important part of our project. Volunteers will learn a lot about the time of National Socialism, the Holocaust and also something about the period after World War II especially the Soviet camp Sachsenhausen until 1950. Guided tours in and around the memorial site Sachsenhausen and excursions to different memorials and places of earlier German history are planned. Volunteers will have the opportunity to work in the exhibitions and in the library of the memorial site. Furthermore there will be several discussions with employees who perform guided tours and are involved in historical research. The international volunteers with their different backgrounds will inform the group about the memories and commemoration in their countries.
Work part:
The common learning at the historical site of Sachsenhausen shall be supplemented by manual work which constitutes the participant´s contribution to the maintenance of the memorial. This part will be rather small. All participants should have a very good knowledge of the English language and should be very interested in history and the present problems of neo-fascism and racism. Description of accomodation and food: You will be accommodated in a youth hostel. The building is on the grounds of historical Sachsenhausen concentration camp complex, and was built in 1938 as the official residence of the Concentration Camp Inspector, 2 km away from the memorial centre. In the hostel there is a big kitchen for the group.
Location & leisure:
Sachsenhausen is a part of Oranienburg, ca. 33 km to the north of Berlin.
Requirements:
Important!For this project it is necessary to have good or very good English skills!!! German skills are beneficial.Please prepare at home a short presentation about your country, including the history of your home country and the view on German history.Volunteers have to be able to ride a bike, because various shorter and longer bicycle-tours are planned.
The main works will be done in the wood. The volunteers will do various environmental works as well as renovation and construction works on the island and in the forests around the island. Possible tasks are removing bushes and invasive small tree species, collecting rubbish and wood, repairing works and so on. Volunteers should be prepared to be flexible and take part in any work that will support the foresters.
Accomodation & food:
Your accommodation will be very basic. You will sleep in three large tents on camp beds. The infrastructure on the island is very basic without electricity and warm water, not even a warm shower. There is no heating in the tents and on the island you have to use compost toilets. The accommodation is quite isolated so volunteers should come with ideas about how to entertain themselves in the evenings! The foresters of the project have built a nice and comfortable block house where the group will meet and eat. A small kitchen is available and food can be cooked on a gas hob cooker. There is also a fridge in the kitchen, so do not worry about the food. Please bring recipes and spices / special ingredients from your country for your turn to cook.
Location & leisure:
The workcamp is situated 25 km north of Berlin in a landscape consisting of woods and surrounded by several lakes. Volunteers can go swimming in one of the lakes. There are lots of opportunities for outdoor sport activities like soccer, table-tennis and volleyball.Please be prepared not to be able to visit Berlin very often. This is a camp for Nature Lovers!!!!!!
« 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! »
