FAQs
- What is a workcamp ?
- How long last the workcamps for ?
- Where can I go for a workcamp ?
- Which kind of projects Seeds’s offers ?
- Does Seeds offer something special in its workcamps ?
- When can I join a workcamp ?
- How can I join a workcamp ?
- Is there a range of age to be participant in Seeds’ workcamps ?
- How many hours will I work ?
- Do I need medical insurance during my stay in a workcamp ?
- Which is the language used during the workcamps ?
- Do I have to pay a participation fee to Seeds ?
- How is the accommodation in the workcamps ?
- How do the campers spend their free time ?
- How to get to the workcamp ?
- What happens if I get lost or have some problems to get to the workcamp ?
- What should I bring ?
What is a workcamp ?
Workcamps are the most common form of short-term volunteering and are projects where a group of unskilled volunteers work and live together on a project which has been identified by a local community or a project working with that community.
International workcamps bring together volunteers from different nationalities and backgrounds aiming at building up international understanding and therefore encouraging peace while working for an identified need of the local community. They are a multicultural, voluntary-workforce Groups’ sizes vary between 5 and 20 participants.
Where can I go for a workcamp ?
Seeds, SEE BeyonD borderS, organises workcamps mainly in Iceland and Colombia, but also sends volunteers to Western & Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and North, Central & South America, to take part in volunteering projects in more than 70 countries all over the globe.
Which kind of projects Seeds’s offers ?
The types of the projects developed by SEEDS, SEE beyonD borderS, are mainly nature or environmental oriented, and they can be for instance ecological research, removing invasive growth (luppina), building of walking paths or hiking trails, cleaning of the coastline, reforestation and erosion control works, construction or renovation of a community building (such as a school or medical block), monument or community centre, etc…
There are some social, cultural, study, agricultural, archeological, maintenance projects and others depending basically on the identified need of the local community.
Does Seeds offer something special in its workcamps ?
Yes, all of our workcamps will have an educational/awareness-raising approach on environmental, nature-protection and sustainable development topics. We will have, apart from the leader(s), a person fully dedicated to organize and develop activities for both the international volunteers and the local communities we work with. This person called the "Environmental messenger" (HEI 2006-ISL-2) will be in charge of activities aiming at raising awareness about environmental issues both within Icelanders, being hosts of SEEDS workcamps, and among the International volunteers taking part in them. Furthermore than the raising awareness content, Environmental messengers will be a source of knowledge on specific topics of significant relevance about environment, nature protection and sustainable development but also will encourage the actors in those projects to undertake simple but easy-to-implement actions which will affect the way we use our resources and we deal with the environment and the world we live in.
When can I join a workcamp ?
Most of the workcamps organised by Seeds take place during summer or between May and September. But there are also hundreds of projects abroad between October and May.
How can I join a workcamp ?
Please contact us and the registration forms (information about contact of the sending organization in your own country) will be send to you by email, post or fax.
Placements are made on a first-come, first-served basis and usually made within five business days after receipt of your registration form and fee/s.
Once you have been notified of acceptance into a program/s you may go ahead and make your travel arrangements. Please try to book your tickets arriving at least one day before the workcamp start and a day after the workcamps finished.
Before your departure, Seeds will send an "Information Sheet" about your workcamp, including detailed directions to reach the workcamp site and Iceland.
Is there a range of age to be participant in Seeds’ workcamps ?
We at the moment are able to receive volunteers aged 18 or over, but hopefully in the future we will receive also teenage participants in our projects. We do not have any upper age limit.
How many hours will I work ?
Usually you will work about 30 to 35 hours a week (six to seven hours a day and five days a weeks, usually having Saturday and Sunday off)
Do I need medical insurance during my stay in a workcamp ?
Volunteers are asked to obtain health and accident insurance for the whole duration of their travel, prior to the arrival to Iceland and bring with them all needed documents, contact numbers, etc.
European volunteers are advised to take with them the European Health Insurance Card. For information on the European Health Insurance Card, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/healthcard/situation_en.htm
The model for the European health insurance card is identical in all the Member States. This enables health care providers in every Member State to identify the card immediately. The insured person can then benefit from a simplified procedure for receiving any medical assistance that might become necessary during a temporary stay.
SEEDS itself does not provide any type of insurance for international volunteers, therefore volunteers without insurance will not be allowed to participate in our projects.
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