We are very happy to present you the workcamps that will take place in Switzerland and abroad this summer. Participate in a volunteer project and contribute to social justice, peace and society!
There are more than 300 workcamps around the world. Here is a selection of some volunteer projects available at the moment. If you want to check out all the workcamps taking place abroad, have a look at the Workcamps search engine. You can filter by date, country and topic. If you would like to participate in a Workcamp in Switzerland, you will find all volunteer projects in this list.
If you want to read more information about the Workcamps you can find here the conditions, costs and the registration process. In addition, we organise monthly online information events about the Workcamps – sign up for one!
If you have any questions you can write to placement@scich.org or call us on 031 381 46 20.
WORKCAMPS ABROAD
AUSTRIA: „Invasive Aliens Action Days“ – International Workcamp in the Nationalpark Gesäuse [28 Jul – 04 Aug 2024]
Description: Biodiversity-rich places like the Gesäuse are under threat. Get your hands dirty and support the nature protection work in the Gesäuse National Park. Experience the wilderness of Gesäuse National Park and contribute to the battle against invasive alien species at the same time! If this sounds like a perfect match for you, join our international workcamp in the Gesäuse National Park!
Type of Work: We will remove invasive plants to prevent irreversible anthropogenic effects on sensitive ecosystems. We will also have time to get to know each other and enjoy the summer in the mountains.
BELGIUM: Summer activities with children at the Don Bosco Youth Center in Brussel [07 – 20 Jul 2024]
Description: “Don Bosco Télé Services” is a youth center located in a working-class district in Brussels, which organizes different types of activities throughout the year (creative workshops, school support, sport activities…) for children and youngsters coming from this district, mostly from immigrant origins. The children/youngsters that participate in this center’s activities are between 6 and 12 years old.
Type of Work: Your working days will start at 09:30 with a briefing meeting for preparation with the Don Bosco animation team. Then, depending on the day, you will do animation activities (creative activities, sports, cooking) or day trips with the children. The activities end at 17:00. Be aware that the activities can be very busy and quite tiring. The activities with the children are part of a pre-established program, in which volunteers play a supporting role to the animation team. There will be one or two open activities for volunteers to plan and carry out.
CATALONIA (SPAIN): Festival La iMAGInada [05 – 16 Aug 2024]
Description: The iMAGInada is a self-sustaining festival promoted by a cultural association formed by young people with a concern: to offer an alternative to the current economic, social and cultural model through the creation of spaces for exchange, empowerment, participation, dynamic and self-sustainability in the framework of the annual festivities of the city. For four days, the iMAGInada is a community initiative that offers cultural and artistic programes. The festival becomes a critical and creative space around: the dissemination of artists and local associative movements, exchange of knowledge, social inclusion, reflection and individual growth,& intercultural contact. More info on: www.laimaginada.cat
Type of Work: Volunteers will help in tasks related to preparations and logistics for the festival: assembling and dismantling of the spaces and infrastructure, setting of space, activities for the children, preparing the social activities (such as forums, world dinners, etc), supporting the kitchen and the bar of the festival and other tasks helping the organization.
DENMARK: International Table Tennis Camp 2024 [07 – 30 Jul 2024]
Description: The Work Camp will be a part of our annual International Table Tennis Summer Camp. The exciting Summer Camp has existed for 17 years and is arranged by B75, which is a value-based table tennis club with professional trainers and players. During the Summer Camp, 200 trainers and players from all over the world will gather for three weeks of learning, fun, friends-making, and sharing of their common passion for badminton. This year, they come from 43 countries. It creates a great party in the town and the atmosphere is amazing, which we would love you to become a part of.
Type of Work: The camp is especially good for you if you like to engage with people in a very international environment, and if you are interested in improving your teamwork and problem-solving skills because the work requires that you adapt to changes quickly. When it comes to the specific tasks, there will be a rotation between them to make the days vary for all volunteers. These different tasks include assisting in the kitchen, with all practicalities such as cooking and serving the food to the other camp participants. Similar tasks include helping with cleaning assistance or driving shuttle buses to and from the airport, train station, and ferry terminals. Other tasks could be overseeing activities with the camp participants and the smallest children and finally helping in the administration with check-in, check-out, and room preparations. It will also be possible to be a sparring partner in the Table Tennis Camp and interact with the camp participants.
FRANCE: Sustainable Project in a Eco Castle [09 – 22 Sep 2024]
Description: Château Langenberg is located in Wissembourg a French small village very close to the German border. It is an area including a Manor where a community is living. The community owns a 20 hectares area with the castle that is surrounded by forest and nature. They are trying to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability therefore this criterions lead the way they develop their community. In order to achieve that, they are building small eco-friendly houses, developing permaculture garden, renovating the castle to make it energy-efficient. They are developing many other projects such as a pedagogic farm, an eco-camping or a natural water treatment plant. Beside that, the community is also taking care of horses and developing a “paradise paddock” for them.
Type of Work: Volunteers will be responsible for renovating the castle and its surroundings. They will help build a hut and dry toilets, install straw bales, renovate wooden ceiling beams, build a wooden shelter and consolidate stable foundations.
GERMANY: Solar-Power (Lellwangen near Lake Constance) [17 – 27 Jun 2024]
Description: Das Ziel unseres Vereins Zukunftsweise e.V. ist es, ein gemeinnütziges Lernzentrum aufzubauen, in dem alternative Lebens- und Wirtschaftsweisen erforscht und praktiziert werden und ein konstruktives Miteinander gelernt und gelebt werden soll. Der Fokus liegt nun auf dem Aufbau & der Wirkung von energieautarken Mikrosolarnetzen, die für eine nachhaltige Energiewirtschaft derzeit notwendig sind. Diese Methode stellt einen innovativen Ansatz dar – als Alternative zu fossilem oder nuklearem Strom aus dem öffentlichen Netz. Jede Einheit hat ihren eigenen Energiespeicher und Wechselrichter.
Type of Work: In diesem Workcamp bauen wir ein autarkes Solarenergiesystem mit Energiespeicher auf. Dieses System ist ein möglicher Weg, um dezentral eine belastbare Energieversorgung zu schaffen und die private Energieversorgung in Eigenverantwortung zu halten, im Gegensatz zu einem zentralisierten Energienetz, das von großen Unternehmen betrieben wird. Darüber hinaus tragen naturnahe gärtnerische Aufgaben zu einer abwechslungsreichen Arbeitserfahrung mit vielen Lernfeldern bei.
NETHERLANDS: Steam Train Railway Line [14 – 28 Jul 2024]
Description: TheI Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein MaatschappijI (South Limburg Steam Train Company) orI ZLSMI is aI heritage railwayI operating from its main station of Simpelveld toI Schin op GeulI and Kerkrade in the south of the Netherlands. It also runs across the border from Simpelveld to Aachen-Vetschau and has an extensive collection of stock. The construction of the original Miljnenlijn, as a part of the total railway trajectory in the south of Limburg, started in 1925 and was carried out by the Spoorwegbouwbedrijf from Utrecht, a subsidiary of the NS. Construction was difficult and expensive. For example, there is a constant threat of subsidence due to mining. To keep the height differences as small as possible, a lot of earth is moved in the hilly area. While the railway embankment in the Anselerbeek valley in Kerkrade will be raised 32 meters, the railway line between Kerkrade and Simpelveld will be 18 meters below ground level – so as not to have to rise and fall too much. To this day, the Miljnenlijn is a railway monument of great cultural-historical value that still appeals to the imagination. For old and young Everyone is always amazed.
Type of Work: The conservation of the heritage railway and its steam trains requires proper maintenance. Foreseen activities are conservation of the nature and green environment along the railway trajectory, cleaning and painting railway bridges and maintenance of historic railway stations.
PORTUGAL: United by Donkeys II [22 Jul – 02 Aug 2024]
Description: The main goals of this workcamp are the recovery of rural heritage, enhancing the biodiversity of our Center, and promoting the animal welfare of donkeys and their quality of life. We want to o enable the discovery of the Miranda Plateau, a unique rural region, rich in natural beauty, biodiversity, culture and traditions. With so aging population in these villages, one of the goals is bringing together the young participants and the local community, therefore promoting intercultural (urban/rural, international/national) and intergenerational (youngsters/ elderly) encounters and exchanges.
Type of Work: Promote the animal welfare of donkeys – feed the animals and help with their basic care tasks; Maintenance and improvement of the infrastructure of the donkey shelter; Dry stone wall rebuilding; Support autochthonous biodiversity; Building and placing nest boxes for birds; Activities to support local community.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Rebuild the history of Sudeten school [08 – 18 Jul 2024]
Description: This workcamp is organized in cooperation with the association Skola na hranici (School on the border) which operates the former school in the village of Pisecne located on the southern border with Austria. Until WWII the village of Pisecne was inhabited by Jews, Germans and Czechs. The school was built 120 years ago by the local German community to teach children German. Nevertheless, in the last decades, the school was empty. The association aims to sensitively renovate the school building and organize cultural, sporting and other leisure events for adults and children regardless of nationality, mother language or age. The aim of the workcamp is to help with the renovation. At this workcamp, you will actively contribute to the achievement of UN SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Type of Work: The work will be mostly manual such as sanding old window frames, painting windows and doors, painting interior walls using traditional methods, restoring of garden gazebo, relocating construction debris and cleaning the tomb of the Collalto family. Please bring suitable shoes and clothes that can get dirty or damaged. No previous experience is required; the work will be adjusted to the individual abilities of each volunteer.
SWITZERLAND: Wikipedia for Peace: Not Your Soldier (St. Imier BE) [28 Jun – 05 Jul 2024]
Description: In many countries it is obligatory to do military service, usually only for young men (or what the government perceives to be “men”). Other countries are debating whether they should reintroduce obligatory military service in the context of a global militarization and an increase of wars. But will more militarization of young people really ever bring us peace? In this camp, we will discuss and research military conscription, its history and present, with a special focus on people who refuse(d) to do military service (= conscientious objectors).
Type of Work: Doing research for Wikipedia articles online about military service and conscientious objectors, writing new articles and improving/translating existing ones. SCI will prepare a list of articles around people and topics that are related to the camp topic. For beginners, there will be a training about technical and content aspects of editing Wikipedia. You don’t have to have knowledge on Wikipedia already.
