EVS w Hiszpanii to propozycja Fundacji Rozwoju Społeczeństwa Przedsiębiorczego i hiszpańskiej organizacji The Gaia Tasiri Association poszukującej wolontariuszy na EVS w mieście Garafía. Zgłoszenia (CV i list motywacyjny w języku angielskim) prosimy przesyłać na adres natalia.podbielska@frsp.eu. Należy również wypełnić formularz online: application form. Projekt został zaakceptowany przez hiszpańską Narodową Agencję i otrzymał już dofinansowanie
Termin nadsyłania zgłoszeń: 3 sierpnia 2016 r.
Propozycja projektu ekologicznego w Hiszpanii na wyspach kanaryjskich. Wolontariusz będą mieli okazję zaznajomić się z techniką i zasadami PermaCulture, stworzonej przez organizację The Gaia Tasiri Association z Garafía na Teneryfie. Podstawową ideą jest tu naśladowanie Matki Natury w jej poczynaniach dotyczących wzrostu i pielęgnacji świata roślin i zwierząt. Wolontariusze będą pracować na ecofarmach.
Coordinating/Receiving organisation: The Gaia Tasiri Association
Location: Garafía, La Tricias, Spain
Deadline: 03/08/2016
Duration: 1st of September – 31st of August 2017 ( 12 months)
Length: Long term project
Placements: 1 volunteers
THE RECEIVING ORGANIZATION
The Gaia Tasiri Association, www.GaiaTasiri.org , exists in order to advance the creation of a Sustainable Human Society, or PermaCulture (Permanent Culture). It is the Spanish equivalent and continuation of Green Adventure (19941999), a UK Charity which worked with 12 staff and up to 200 volunteers over 6 years to develop pioneering ‘urban permaculture’ projects in the poorest areas of London. In the first 3 years it gained 3 achievement awards at national level for its work in community regeneration, one of them being the national “Regeneration Oscar”, or BURA Award. In 2000 some of this work relocated to the Canary Islands, where we started a farm and (by popular request) some permaculture actionlearning pilot projects (with about 50 volunteers over 3 years), later giving rise to the Gaia Tasiri association in 2009.
The Objectives of Gaia Tasiri are:
1) Promote the protection and improvement of the environment, for the benefit of the general public,according to the principles of permaculture.
2) Reducing poverty, disease and suffering.
3) to promote the education of people on sustainable development practices, as defined by the World Summit of the United Nations on Environment and Development.
THE PROJECT
The main topics addressed by our project are:
– Environment and climate change.
– Labour market issues including career guidance / youth unemployment
– Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurial education
The context from which we work is that “We believe that stopping the destruction, working to build soil, restore ecosystems, heal our addictions, change organizational structures of the global economy & learn to live in community, starting locally … are the most important & urgent jobs to do now.” That is the mission statement of the 8thLife ecovillage project, and an increasing number of young people are also discovering that the multiple crisis (climatic, environmental, economic and social) are being realistically tackled by people who are dedicated to do those jobs, and they are very keen to learn how to join us in this important work. They very much want and need to help, in order to have hope for their future.
The context of a whole ecovillage project which they can actively participate in shaping, under the guidance of experienced practitioners in the field, offers an optimal environment and motivation to learn the wide range of knowhow and practical skills they are seeking and which we need more people to have So we are seeking EVS support in order to better advance an exciting socioeconomic and ecological project (creating an EcoVillage and a wider sustainable island design) by giving more young people the opportunity to help with this work as volunteers and interns, whilst they learn the wide variety of skills and aptitudes this work entails.
This EVS funding will provide us with the opportunity to extend our existing mentoring work and proven benefits to 4 young adults from different countries (Poland, Spain, Sweden and Slovakia)who wish to work with us as interns but aren’t able to because they can’t afford the financial burden and associated costs (transport, accommodation, food and personal mentorship and coaching). It will also enable us to experiment with expanding this programme to 12 months which may also serve as an informal pilot for the Masters’ Programme we are preparing.
The primary objective is to provide the volunteers with the opportunity to learn basic entrepreneurial skills, inclusion and participation, as well as acquire knowledge of design, science and all aspects of working on ecosystem restoration at the same time as contributing to an ethical and sustainable bioregional economy, while also learning about living and working in community as part of an eco-village project. The planned activities include studying the science of sustainability and working to develop their design projects and the associated infrastructures of the ecovillage project, helping the organisation with the daily tasks of living in a farm and administrative tasks (like accounting, team coordination, budgeting, mentoring and support of others, etc.) which will help them develop the necessary skills for launching any business, and contributing their skills and produce grown in the farm to various exchange networks to enrich the local economy, while also collaborating with and supporting other local projects, NGOs and charities so they can have a wider range of experiences and enrich the local collaboration networks, and working to disseminate information and results on some critical aspects of how to integrate social and environmental restoration to the local public.
The proposed tasks and activities
The main objective of the project is to train and empower more young adults to be effective change agents in the world by helping them to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills. You will be guided through some online training before your arrival, & EVS volunteers then have weekly evaluation meetings on site where they document their own progress and plans towards achieving these training goals:
1) Ethical & Entrepreneurial Development
a) clarifying personal vision and mission (through personal mentoring and suggested class exercises in the course)
b) using relationship-building and community-building tools (applying models from the People Care Module in the course),
c) learning to facilitate groups and practice leadership skills (studying the theory and practising it in the group & asking for feedback)
d) identifying market niches and design business plans, within a triple-bottom-line framework (for economic, environmental and social benefit)
2) Intellectual & Scientific Development
a) studying all of the 50 multimedia classes in the course, available both in Spanish and English for additional language learning
b) discussing critically with other students the contents, how they relate to the numerous good practice examples provided and how they could be applied to their own design projects
c) receiving individual coaching and mentoringin how to apply the knowledge to real practical situations and their chosen practical designs in the regular design and supervision meetings
3) Practical Skill & Project Development
a) project management (developing their own designs and learning trajectory as well as participating in the management of the wider eco-village project),
b) ecosystem restoration (reading the landscape, re-wilding, creating niches for wildlife, understanding wild foods, identifying and propagating autochthonous plants of the region, understanding the history of a place)
c) building soil fertility (stopping erosion and making swales and mini-swales on slopes to collect water and fertility, designing and maintaining the fertility cycles, learning which animal manures to use where, making compost and promoting earthworm activity and other soil life to re-balance and feed the soil food web)
d) animal husbandry (looking after different species of animals and learning what their respective contributions to the ecosystem are, and think of the design so far and plans for improvement)
e) forest gardening (propagating trees in various ways, maintaining a tree nursery, good practices in planting trees and designing forest gardens)
f) water management (water saving and water purification technologies, laying & maintaining a drip-feed watering system, specific silvicultural systems for arid landscapes, earth works to collect water, water pumps, etc.)
g) food growing (propagating food plants in different ways, managing a nursery, planting and tending gardens, seed-saving, harvesting and preserving food)
h) effective team-work and creating community (observing and working on group dynamics and applying different communication and facilitation tools taught in the course)
i) eco-building (practising basic carpentry, stone-work, metal-work, creative use of recycled materials and in particular using waste materials in imaginative ways),
j) improving good relationships with neighbors (visits, exchanges, being attentive to their needs)
k) creating mutual help connections between sustainability projects (visits, participating in island meetings, interviewing projects for their needs and offers)
l) creating participatory democracy structures (applying collective intelligence models within our groups and supporting embryonic examples in our bioregion)
m) setting up community currencies and other self-help, peer-to-peer networks (facilitating and enriching the design of the local currency for the island)
After an induction period of 2 months for acclimatizing to routine work on the farm, motivated applicants will have the opportunity to include a Permaculture Design Certificate course, or PDC, which is an internationally recognized certification for Permaculture designers. This training programme includes taking on at least 2 designs where you will be able to practice your creativity, initiative & leadership skills in improving some aspect of the project.Furthermore, we are keen to offer ongoing support for any of our interns who show aptitude and commitment and wish to continue their action-learning towards a Permaculture Diploma in Applied Design (equivalent to first degree level), which is the highest internationally recognized certification for Permaculture designers at present. If the participants show aptitude for a higher level qualification, we will be able to pilot some aspects of the Masters level programme in Integral Permaculture.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
We are particularly excited about the possibility of being able to finally extend these opportunities to young disadvantaged people, also. So this was our primary criteria: we would like to make the biggest possible positive difference in their lives, and also select young people who we could see might one day make a big positive difference to others’ lives.
Our selection criteria for the recruitment process are:
1. Motivation for participation in this project.
2. Willingness to take responsibility and learn new skills.
3. Capacity for independent and pro-active thinking, and flexibility and open-mindedness.
4. Awareness of the implications of committing to long-term voluntary service.
5. Being in a socially disadvantageous situation, so that we give this opportunity to applicants who couldn’t get the same level of training without the support of the EVS funding.
The participants will be reviewed on the base of their CV and motivation letter, followed by Skype interviews to confirm their attitude, commitment and
capacity to live in a rural environment as well as likelihood of being able to share home and work with other people for a long period of time.
Their existing understanding of biology and ecology as well as having some experience of sustainability projects and a basic ability for working with computers we will find encouraging and helpful even if not strictly required, since we have experience in helping young people to develop all the skills they need to succeed in this kind of project. A basic understanding of Spanish and a wish to become fluent in the language will be also note as positives, since we are wellplaced to help in this area, our project having been instrumental in many people improving their fluency in either English or Spanish.
Beside CV amd motivation letter we will kindly ask to take part in the on-line training about premaculture. More: Kurs dla wolontariuszy EVS
As well as:
-Please first study this document and the links provided
-Then fill out this application form
Chosen applicants will be invited for a Skype interview during July & August. Selected candidates will then start their online induction with 8thLife in Spain + an EVS programme preparation with their Country’s sending organization
