Democracy in a Green Oasis

CODE: ijgd 76121

Work:

If you want to spend your summer in a very special place surrounded by nature, come to Alte Ziegelei Gahlen: This is where the integrative environmental education center Interforum e.V. is located. It is a meeting place and action space for a wide range of target groups. Your task will be to take care of this special place. Depending on needs and interests, there is a variety of tasks. For example, you can help with construction projects to beautify the grounds in the area of garden and landscape art (LandArt) or with renovation work, as well as nature-related tasks such as maintaining and harvesting the many gardens.
This year, we plan to create replicas of garden bed edgings, salvage and prepare demolition bricks, advance permaculture and shoreline stabilization, and protect wooden walls with old linseed oil.
In addition, the camp becomes a laboratory for democracy: Through workshops, such as on political education, creative writing or theater, you explore what democracy means and how it looks in your home countries. Together, you experiment—who can come up with the funniest rule? How do you find compromises and share the cake fairly? Here, democracy isn’t just talked about; it’s lived and shaped by all of you.
What makes this project special is its openness to the development of new ideas, the joint exploration of democracy and the flexibility of the work. The project therefore aims to foster creativity and self-organization in diverse ways, making different aspects of democracy visible and tangible.

Accomodation and food

You cook together. Money for the food shopping is provided to you. Vegetarian or vegan meals are possible. Please indicate any allergies when registering.
You sleep in small, very simple bungalows on the premises. In the main house there are sanitary rooms with toilets and showers. The kitchen is in a separate small house.

Location and leisure

You will spend your work camp in the middle of nature on the grounds of the old brickyard that feel like a little paradise. You are invited to try out everything you can do outdoors: swimming in the lake or in the small pool, biking, playing soccer and table tennis, and in the evening sitting around the campfire and looking at the stars.
By bike you can quickly reach a swimming lake. In addition, there are sheep, cats and dogs with which you can possibly even go for a walk! And of course you can also bike to the nearby small towns of Calau or Gahlen or go on weekend trips to Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig or even Poland and the Czech Republic.

Location of the camp: Gahlen, 32km to Cottbus, Brandenburg

Project hosted by

Alte Ziegelei Gahlen: https://spreewaldverein.de/projekt/umweltbildungsstaette-alte-ziegelei/
The ijgd has been organising volunteer service programmes since 1949. We are an independent, non-profit association for international youth work, a recognised independent youth welfare organisation, and one of the largest and oldest workcamp organisations in Germany. Each year, we assist around 5,000 young people into volunteer work in Germany and abroad. We give them the opportunity to be creative, act in solidarity, take responsibility for themselves, and discover their own true potential and strengths. Our principles: Ecological learning, voluntary contribution, self-organisation, social development, intercultural learning, gender equality, anti-racism/anti-discrimination and political education.
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Directions to meeting point

Train station Calau. From there you will be picked up and taken to the camp site.
Time: in the afternoon – more details will be provided for you later
From Berlin you can take the the RB22 train to Königs Wusterhausen station. There you change into the RE7 train to Senftenberg and stop at Calau (Niederlausitz) station.

More Information about train and bus connections: www.bahn.com.

Additional comments

Please note: There is a special Teenage Fee of 150€ for international volunteers who applied under 18 in this camp.
You will receive more detailed information with the specific information sheet for your camp after your enrolment has been confirmed.