Join the Ecovillage Gathering Dream Team!

ESC opportunity during the European Ecovillage Gathering of the Global Ecovillage Network

“Dream Team”

In July 2023, Germany will host the European Ecovillage Gathering organised by the Global Ecovillage Network of Europe at Nature Community, Bavaria. 25 volunteers from all over Europe will arrive 5 weeks earlier through the European Solidarity Corps programme, to help with preparation of the Gathering, as well as to learn by doing things hands-on and gaining a rich experience in international event management and sustainable development.

This is an exciting chance to immerse yourself in the world of ecovillages, by living and working in community and co-creating Europe’s biggest ecovillage event with a diverse international team. A mix of practical work and team-building create a great sense of achievement and bonds for life between the volunteers, many of whom go on to form lasting connections with the ecovillage movement.

Requirements:

• 18-30 years old
• Legal residency in an EU country

Participant Profile

You are enthusiastic, hands-on, have lots of initiative and are happy working on a diverse range of tasks – which might range from answering emails to building a compost toilet! You’re good at working in a team and enjoy challenges and bringing your creative ideas to life. 

What

The ESC volunteers will be involved at the GEN Europe Gathering preparation, implementation and wrap-up. You will work in different work areas from marketing, sub-event creation, participant management to catering and site organisation tasks. The volunteers may have different tasks during the different phases of the Gathering. For instance, before the Gathering, one may be in the communications team but during the Gathering in the welcoming team supporting participant management.  In general, you will be working together with different teams and be work lead by those team members – i.e communications tasks will be coordinated and supervised by communications team leader, sub-event creation will be coordinated by Gathering programme coordinator, catering activities will be organised by catering team leader etc. The whole group is also coordinated by a Volunteers’ Coordinator who will offer task-related support and will guide the learning and self-development processes. 

The Dream Team will be divided into the following teams:

Office Team

• Supporting emails and registrations
• Creating daily programme boards
• Potentially graphic design

Communications Team

• Social media – creating posts and reels!
• Potentially photography and videography

Programme Team

• Programme support
• Venue overview

Support Team

• Support with tasks that arise

When

The ESC project will take place from 11th of June 2023 to 23rd of July 2023 (6 weeks in total).  Travel days will be 10-11th of June (arrival) and 23rd-24th of July (departure).

Where

The group of volunteers together with the Coordinator will be hosted in the ecovillage and Gathering host Nature Community, Germany, where they will carry out the activities. The living conditions will be simple with the focus on low ecological footprint. You may expect shared rooms and common facilities, natural rural environment and diverse social activities together with the group. 

What is Esc?

The European Solidarity Corps is a European Union initiative which creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe.  It provides an opportunity to join meaningful work and experiential learning while your food, accommodation, traveling, pocket money, insurance and mentorship are fully covered. A person can only do one short term (less than 59 days) and one long-term ESC. You can register for the European Solidarity Corps when you are 17 years old, but you cannot start a project until you are over 18. European Solidarity Corps projects will be available to people up to the age of 30 years old.

How to apply

If you are interested, please complete the registration process by sending your CV and motivational letter including an indication of which team you would prefer to be connected to to our project coordinator listed below no later than the 30th March. 

Project Contacts and Responsibilities 

Gathering Coordinator | Dicte Frost | dicte(at)gen-europe.org

Lead Partner & Project Administration:

GEN Germany   | https://gen-deutschland.de  | 

GEN Europe  | www.gen-europe.org | 

Nature Community | https://nature.community |