Volunteering in ecovillages

Want to deepen your involvement with the ecovillage movement, or get hands-on experience in an ecovillage? On this page you’ll find information about different ways of volunteering in ecovillages, special funded volunteering opportunities for youth under 30, and volunteering with GEN Europe.

How to volunteer in an ecovillage

There are several different ways to volunteer in an ecovillage: from work exchanges (offering your time and energy in exchange for food and accommodation), to more structured programmes like experience weeks. You might find yourself weeding in the veg garden, helping with an eco-building project, or preparing delicious meals in the community kitchen – be prepared to pitch in with whatever is needed! At present, there is no central database of ecovillage volunteering opportunities, so you’ll need to do some research. Here are some way to find an ecovillage volunteering opportunity near you:

  • Explore our ecovillage map to find communities near you, and visit their website or contact them to find out what volunteer opportunities they have on offer.
  • Follow ecovillages on social media or via their newsletter – that’s usually the first place they publish volunteer needs.
  • Sign up to our newsletter, where we share volunteering opportunities every quarter.
  • Join the Ecovillages and Permaculture volunteering telegram channel, an unofficial chat where volunteer opportunities are often shared
  • Search for ecovillages on platforms like WWOOF or Workaway

Looking for more details and wondering how to decide what kind of volunteering is right for you? Check out our short guide to volunteering in ecovillages.

Funded volunteering for youth: the European Solidarity Corps

If you’re aged 18-30, and resident in the EU (or selected other countries such as Turkey), good news! The European Solidarity Corps, funded by the European Union, offers fully funded volunteering and traineeship opportunities, usually for 6 months to one year. Ever more ecovillages are able to offer these experiences – including many of our members, like Arterra Bizimodu, Valdepielagos, Sieben Linden, Torri Superiore, Sunseed Desert Technology and more.

Your travel, accommodation and even pocket money is funded, so you don’t need to be out of pocket to travel abroad and discover community living. You’ll be assigned a mentor to help you get the best out of your experience, and there’s even free language training! We regularly advertise opportunities on our social media and newsletter or you can search for activities on the European Youth Portal.

Volunteering with GEN Europe

We primarily accept volunteers at our office in Arterra Bizimodu, Spain, through the European Solidarity Corps (see more below) for youth under age 30. If you’re not eligible for ESC, but have skills or expertise you would like to offer GEN Europe, please contact us via our contact form to discuss remote volunteering possibilities.

We also usually recruit groups of volunteers for the European Ecovillage Gathering, held every summer in a different European ecovillage. The call goes out via our newsletter and social media channels between January-March every year.