Would you like to have the opportunity to have a positive impact on a local community in Germany, and learn how you can make an impact in your own community? Have you ever wanted to learn practical skills which can help you lead a sustainable lifestyle? If yes, then ESC this volunteering teams project could be perfect for you!
Dates: 18th May – 2nd June 2025
Location: Bremen, Germany
Hosting Organisation: NaturKultur Bremen e.V. and KulturHaus
We are looking for a total of 25 young people from EU countries or partner countries who can enter the Schengen zone without a visa.
About your hosting organization and the tasks
We are a youth organisation that is focused on international youth work. In 2023 we organized 15 Youth Exchanges and training courses, and we are sending young people on many international projects abroad. Above that we are provider of the On-Arrival and Midterm-Seminars for volunteers in Germany, we host 7-8 of these trainings per year. Our office is located in Bremen, but we organize our projects in our KulturHaus in Garlstedt, which is close to Osterholz-Scharmbeck and 30 min by car from Bremen. The volunteering team will be hosted at this venue.
We are also organizing local events in Bremen and extending our network in the area by cooperating with other organizations and institutions. Part of your tasks as a volunteer would be to join at of our local partners and help them with their ongoing projects. The partner for this project is an urban farm called Erlebnisfarm.
Another part of your tasks would be helping in the local community of Garlstedt, something that our long-term volunteers are often doing. Garlstedt is a small village with a tight knit community. This community often has the desire to improve their village somehow, but due to the small size of the population sometimes lacks the resources to do so. This is why we help out, so that we are included as part of this tight knit community, and so that we can make a positive impact on the lives of our neighbours.
Finally, you would also be volunteering in KulturHaus. Our KulturHaus opens its doors to more than 400 participants of youth exchanges and trainings per year. Through the hard work of a number of long-term volunteers over the past few years, we have a developed a community garden in KulturHaus, which we use to feed some of these many participants that pass through our doors, but also as an educational space where participants can learn how to garden and be more sustainable in terms of their food habits. KulturHaus also has a composting station, which is crucial to our commitment to sustainability, as it allows us to responsibly dispose of the food waste which is generated when feeding our hundreds of participants.
Tasks:
As a volunteer, Your tasks will include:
In KulturHaus:
- Expanding existing, and building new raised beds, so that we can increase the variety of crops which we can grow;
- Building a new garden plot, using waste wood and soil;
- Building a community sharing point, so that we are able to share our harvested crops with other members of our community;
- Helping to maintain some of our outside spaces, so that we can utilise them to a larger extent;
- Helping to organise and host an international fleamarket, which will be open to everyone in the local community. The fleamarket will be an opportunity for people from the village to sell old furniture, but also to discover about the different cultures that will be present in our volunteering team
In Garlstedt:
- Helping the local community salvage local stone from a nearby farm, which they can use to build a community pizza oven.
- Helping out around the village with maintenance tasks that they lack he resources to carry out
- Where needed, helping out at farms in the surrounding area.
- Assisting the neighbours in moving any old furniture or possessions to KulturHaus, so that they can sell them at the fleamarket.
In Bremen:
- At the urban farm, helping to build some sustainable projects that they have planned.
Who are we looking for? A person who who is passionate about nature and DIY – you do not need to have previous experience, just be open and motivated to try new things! Please be aware that this project involves spending lots of time working outdoors.
Logistics
You will be accommodated in KulturHaus. The accommodation will be simple. Participants will be sharing rooms with 2-3 people from same gender but different nationalities. Some of the rooms are with private and some with shared bathrooms.
Garlstedt, where KulturHaus is found, is a small village of only 1200 inhabitants. The village does not have bars, or a supermarket, but is situated in the middle of a beautiful forest. There is public transport to Bremen in the form of a bus that runs 4/5 times a day. Please be aware that a majority of your time will be spent at KulturHaus, and that daily trips to Bremen will not be possible. This will provide an amazing opportunity to form a strong sense of community with your fellow volunteers from different countries, and to get a closer connection to nature.
Bremen, which is 30min away from Garlstedt by car, is a city in North-West Germany (around 500.000 inhabitants), not far from Hamburg and the North Sea coast. Bremen is a vibrant, multi-cultural city with a lot of young people and both a historical centre and newer areas of town.
As an ESC volunteer, you will receive health insurance, food, and pocket money for other expenses (7€ per day). Travel costs will be reimbursed depending on the travel distance (normally between 211-395€). You will also be provided with a transport card for the local region.
You can apply, if you…
- … are between 18-30 years old (on the day you start your ESC)
- … are interested in gardening, hands-on work, and love both teamwork and doing your own thing
- … love to be creative and are passionate about making a positive change in society
- … have patience and care about helping other people grow
- … are an open-minded person, motivated to work in a team and with people from different religious, cultural and social backgrounds.
- Fluency in English is not a necessity, you just need to be motivated to try and communicate with people from other cultures, in a language which isn’t your mother tongue.
The European Solidarity Corps is financing the voluntary service. The mission of the ESC is to bring people from different backgrounds together to form a society based on mutual acceptance, solidarity and cohesion.
Sounds like your dream project?
How to apply
- Fill out the form bellow
- Application Deadline is the: 15.03.2025
- If your application is successful, we will invite you for an interview.