Volunteers will support the local community in the historical center renovation efforts, carrying out various tasks such as painting, cleaning, and various kinds of construction and restoration work. Part of the renovation efforts will also be aimed at the maintenance of the paths surrounding the village, realized by the volunteers of previous workcamps.Volunteers will be able to take part in a wide range of workshop and formative activities. Workshops will focus on the manufacturing of typical local products according to traditional techniques, such as cheese, handmade pasta, bread, pizza, soap, etc. Several activities focus on movement and contact with nature: many excursions are organized (hiking, trekking, orienteering, night under the stars, etc.), in addition to the possibility of practicing several sports (climbing, low ropes, yoga, etc.). Additionally, there is the chance to learn farm animals handling and milking from the locals.Furthermore the volunteers will be direcly involved in the organization of 2 intercultural festivals with the local community, one halfway through the camp and one that will reunite the 3 concurrent workcamps in the region at the end of the camps.
Accomodation & food:
Accomodation will be in ALA's own hostel, fitted with toilets and showers. Volunteers will have access to a working kitchen and will cooperate in the preparation of meals, using available local and organic products, according to seasonality and sustainability. Volunteers will also have to share cleaning duties.
Location & leisure:
Roccantica (RI) Lazio, central Italy, on the slopes of mount Pizzuto, in the Sabina region. Sabina is part of the Apennine chain, and is approximately 40 kilometers northeast of Rome. The landscape is made up of rolling hills covered in olive trees, which rise towards steeper mountains, dotted by oak and beech woods, and small medieval villages, castles and monasteries. The landscape has remained substantially unchanged over time and almost not affected by modern building development.The volunteers will have the opportunity to spend their free time in various leisure activities, such as hikes, workshops, sports practice.The closest terminals are Fiumicino and Ciampino in Rome. Roccantica can be reached through the Cotral bus line from Poggio Mirteto, which you can in turn get to from Rome via train (FL1 Fiumicino-Orte).
Requirements:
• To be open-minded and willing to share one's own cultural background with other volunteers and the local community; • To be cooperative in all the activities and willing to live a strong group experience based on cooperation, exchange and teamwork; • To be an active person, ready to go for hikes, coming with the proper equipment (trekking shoes, working clothes, etc.); • To not be afraid of living in a small, isolated village, without shops; • A motivation letter, specific for the project, is required.
EXTRA FEE:
200€ for international volunteers, 265€ for Italian volunteers.
Work will be run in the little uninhabited island in the middle of the sea, therefore, is compulsory to be able to swim Volunteers will help in cleaning the area from trash, re-building stone paths and watering plants. Work will be done mainly in the morning and in case of wind or rain the work will be run on another day. Work can be tiring and hard due to hot temperature and Sicilian sun (hat and sunblock are compulsory).
Accomodation & food:
LIPU offers a room inside their office equipped with 3 bunk beds, the accommodation offers one bathroom and a kitchen. The bedroom is very basic with a little terrace where to dinner (too hot to be used at lunch). All the volunteers will be accommodated in one common room equipped with bunk beds and share one bathroom. Volunteers should be aware of a very basic condition and willing to live as such Volunteers will be responsible for cooking and cleaning.
Location & leisure:
Isola delle Femmine is an Italian town in North-Western Sicily, in the province of Palermo. It is next to the sea so volunteers can spend their free time at the beach, do water sports, snorkelling, etc... Isola is a coast-town close to Palermo and connected with bus/train. Palermo is a beautiful city where there are many sights and places to spend the free time.
Requirements:
Be able to swim is compulsory. Interest in environment issue, protection of sea and coast. Volunteers should be aware of a very basic condition. Motivation letter is compulsory in order to show interest in the project.
Volunteers will support the teachers and the parents of the pupils in the manual work needed before the start of the school year. Main work will be maintenance of garden and classroom, including painting, arrange the play area for kids, repair desks, etc.
Accomodation & food:
Accommodation in the school. Volunteers will sleep in inflated matresses in classroom and they will use solar shower. Lunch together with teachers and dinners self prepared by volunteers with provided food. A kitchen is available for volunteers.
Location & leisure:
The school is not far from the city centre. Volunteers can join social and cultural life of the city.
Requirements:
Willing to manual work (like reparing, painting, fixing, gardening, etc). Sense of initiative.
Volunteers will be engaged in projects aimed at preserving and restoring the natural environment of one of the most important wetlands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the San Rossore estate, part of the MSRM Regional Park. Get ready to ride the bike!
Legambiente local group:
Legambiente Pisa is an association that has been fighting since 1995 for a healthier relationship between people and the environment, to convey the importance of conscious choices, for social equity through the lens of scientific environmentalism. The activities are possible thanks to the commitment of the volunteers who organize together local and national awareness campaigns, training activities inside and outside the schools, collaborations with public and private bodies aimed at the ecological transition.
LOCATION AND LEISURE:
The San Rossore estate, in the MSRM regional park, after having been used as a hunting lodge for monarchs and presidents, has since 1989 been the central nucleus of a large coastal park that is a real gem in terms of both fauna and plant species, including several relicts and endemic species, which have found an environment here in which to survive and develop. The estate is within cycling distance of the cities of Pisa, and Lucca, two centres that need no description; from the camp it is also easy to reach other centres of interest, such as Livorno, Calci, Massaciuccoli and the Apuan Alps.
WORK:
The volunteers will use simple tools such as shears, axes and saws to remove invasive vegetation, record data to compare the present situation and check the effectiveness of the action. At the request of the Park, interventions will be possible for easy maintenance operations in areas of naturalistic interest further inland. Restoration of the paths in the naturalistic areas of the estate and biomonitoring activities within the park will also be carried out. All movements will be made by bicycles, which the volunteers will also maintain, with the help of the local bicycle workshop.
STUDY PART:
Training activity on the park with the forest manager Francesca Logli, training on Caretta Caretta with the volunteer Yuri Galletti. The training will involve the use of a drone for monitoring. Bike maintenance workshop with the FIAB association, naturalistic training with the partner Andrea Somma in the LIPU reserve of Massaciuccoli.
ACCOMODATION AND FOOD:
Flat in a farmhouse on the San Rossore Estate. We will prepare all meals in the apartment. The shopping will be done in local zero kilometre and organic shops.
TERMINAL:
International airport of Pisa Central Station or Pisa S. Rossore Station.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:
Knowing how to ride a bike (you ride a few kilometres a day).
« 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! »
