Forest School Indelhausen

CODE: IBG 01

Work:

You want to learn how the knowledge about forests is taught to young people in Germany in a non-formal way? Then this is the perfect Workcamp for you! It is a special project for nature lovers and people interested in learning about nature protection work and how to pass on important knowledge about forests to future generations.

In the mornings you will work outside with the foresters and in the afternoons you will participate in different workshops about topics such as climate change, the forest ecosystem and economy or biodiversity conservation together with german students.

During your Workcamp, there will be a German school class (7th class, pupils around 13 years old) staying at the forest school, too. During some activities, you will be in contact with them. If you’re interested, you will have the possibility to co-organise workshops relating to forest education for your group and/or the school class.

Accomodation and food

You will be accommodated in shared rooms (2 to 4 beds) directly in the forest school. There is a dining room, a common room where you can relax or play games, bathroom facilities with shared showers, as well as a gym hall, a volleyball court, table tennis tables and two climbing walls.

Meals will be provided by the school, so you don't have to cook by yourself. The forest school tries its best to serve local and organic food. There will be vegetarian and vegan options but we need to know about your needs in advance! Please inform us of any dietary restrictions and/or allergies you may have.

Lastly, there is little phone reception in the forest school. Wifi is provided but it is quite slow – you will be able to send messages but streaming videos will most likely not work.

Location and leisure

The “Waldschulheim” is located in the small village of Indelhausen in the middle of a geopark (a single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development) and at the southern end of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Schwaebische Alb” in southern Germany. This area features diverse mountainous and cultural landscapes, protected ecosystems with rare plants and animals and notable forest, meadow and orchard habitats.

The surroundings are perfect for outdoors activities like hiking. It is very rural, and there are many great view-points and various old castle ruins that are worth visiting. Due to this, visiting bigger cities is quite complicated so the free time activities will be mainly done close-by, enjoying the beautiful surroundings

Project hosted by

This project is organised in cooperation with the Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve (Biosphärengebiet Schwäbische Alb), which was awarded UNESCO biosphere reserve status in 2009 and the forest school in Indelhausen. The forest school “Waldschulheim Indelhausen” is a pedagogical institution founded in 1977. The building used to be the village school and now serves 1,000 students and teachers every year as a non-formal learning place on the topic of forest and nature. Groups of students of the grades 7 to 9 of all school types usually stay here for two weeks and participate in different tasks of simple forest work, an educational program about the forest and excursions as well as games, fun and sports.

You can take a look at the place here: https://waldschulheim-indelhausen.forstbw.de/.

By participating in this workcamp, you are actively supporting biodiversity (UN SDG 15) and help us work against climate change (UN SDG 13).

Directions to meeting point

Riedlingen train station, from there is a bus every two hours to Indelhausen, the last bus of the day departs in Riedlingen some minutes after 6pm. So please try to arrange your journey in a way, that you are in time before 6pm. You can plan your trip by using the German Railway website: https://www.bahn.com/en

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