News
02.06.2008 : SEEDS 01. Bíldudalur & Langibotn. First Project of the season!
Last week 16 SEEDS volunteers have started its very first project of the summer 2008 in the Icelandic Western Fjords; our volunteers have been involved in a number of projects in Bíldudalur: helping the excavation of a nearby archeology site, clearing out the monster museum, finishing the construction of a pond, and also making sculptures out of recycled materials with the local children, for our UNESCO "The Beauty & The Beast" contest.
There was a ceremony for the local students at the school on Thursday at the church, followed by an exhibition at the school. Afterwards the community enjoyed a play in the Gallerie Dynjandi in which two men from Reykyavík displayed their talents.
On Friday the SEEDS volunteers were treated to a very special day helping to shoot a film to promote tourism in Bíldudalur. Jón took the group out to see some of the local sites and recounted some old stories about the early settlers. In the afternoon the volunteers made a trip by boat to the stunning Langibotn at Geirþjófsfjörður.
Seaman’s Day was celebrated on Sunday with many games for the children, mothers and SEEDS volunteers. Some people ended up in the freezing cold sea! In the evening, seventy people from Bíldudalur travelled by boat to Sperðlahlíð for a barbeque. Everyone enjoyed the food, music and the beautiful view. Also the new Gallerie Dynjandi was formally opened. It is currently exhibiting many paintings by local artist Óskar Magnùsson.
This week the SEEDS volunteers have been building a hiking trail in an area of incredible natural beauty, painting a sign for a new art gallery, editing a film to promote tourism in the area (www.bildudalur.is) and constructing a waterfall in the village. The voluneers have been also spending their evenings preparing for an environmental evening to help share some green tips to the community.
11.05.2008 : EVS Training in Reykjavík
A new season of the workcamps and the European Voluntary Service (EVS) has begun. Volunteers began arriving on Sunday 4th May and had all arrived by Wednesday 7th when we began training.
We have 6 workcamp leaders and 6 environmental messengers to join Juste -the Lithuanian EVS volunteer who has been working in the Green hostels projects since February. The workcamp leaders are: Henry from England, Edward from Scotland, Sabrina and Julien from France, Christos from Greece, and Enrique from Spain.
The environmental messengers consist of: Stella from Italy, Denise from Portugal, Veronica from Spain, Giedre from Lithuania, Magnus from England, and Mathias from France. This is a good mix of nationalities and personalities and they will all surely have great fun during the coming months.
The training had been run by Chiara Davico, Christophe Joset, Oscar Uscategui, and as well as Lara Marx and Matthew Williams, who have returned from last year’s EVS and Tracy MacDonald who is a sustainable development lecturer from California. During the first week important areas of climate change, inter-cultural understanding and important background information were successfully integrated into the detailed daily schedule. There has also been time for icebreakers, energisers and activities to enable the EVS volunteers to get to know each other better.
As well as the important work there have also been fun activities which have included a daily newspaper created by the volunteers, a night out in Reykjavík and an excursion to the Golden Circle. The volunteers have enjoyed plenty of exercise such as swimming, football, basketball and a table tennis tournament at the hostel. The food has also been good has integrated international evenings, which have so far included a French, Icelandic and Lithuanian evening!
For pictures of the activities, please visit our galleries section at:
27.04.2008 : Umhverfisstofnun & SEEDS - EVS On - Arrival Training & Introduction Seminar.
Starting next week we will have the on-arrival training and introduction seminar for 17 long-term EVS volunteers. They will be hosted by Umhverfisstofnun and SEEDS in Iceland for periods between 4 and 8 months.
The group of EVS volunteers, will be a very international one as they will come from very different countries as Belgium, England, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Scotland and Spain!
Spending this time among different personalities with different ages, backgrounds and cultures will be for sure very exciting!
The training will be held in the Reykjavík City Hostel that is a certified Swan Ecolabelled Hostel (a label which is given to associations and enterprises that meet strict environmental requirements) and that has been awarded the HI Quality Certificate.
During this on-arrival training, the volunteers will learn how to coordinate and participate actively in our summer projects and they will receive training, information, knowledge and skills about Iceland, environmental issues, leadership and work on multicultural groups.
We hope that this summer 2008 will be full of learning experiences, environmental awareness and action, new discoveries, adventure and also... that it will be sunny in the country of fire and ice!!
For more details on the Youth in Action programme, the main funder and supporter of the EVS programme, please go to http://ec.europa.eu/youth.
If you want to learn more about the Icelandic National Agency for the Youth in Action Programme, please go to http://www.euf.is
Information on Umhverfisstofnun (The Environment Agency of Iceland) can be found at their website http://www.ust.is
For details on the Reykjavík City Hostel, you can visit http://www.hostel.is
18.04.2008 : EVS Volunteers coming soon to SEEDS Iceland
The spring has arrived to Iceland and the EVS volunteers will arrive very soon! With the co-funding of the Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission, SEEDS will host this year 13 long-term volunteers coming from different corners of the European map!
This year we are very glad to receive volunteers from England, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Scotland and Spain! As in the last years they will be part of 3 different projects hosted and/or coordinated by SEEDS: International Workcamps' leaders, environmental messengers, and the Green Hostels.
Youth in Action is the Programme the European Union has set up for young people. It aims to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the Union's future. It promotes mobility within and beyond the EU's borders, non-formal learning and intercultural dialogue, and encourages the inclusion of all young people, regardless of their educational, social and cultural background: Youth in Action is a Programme for all!
For more information on the Youth in Action Programme, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/youth
For details on the Icelandic National Agency for the Youth in Action Programme, please go to http://www.euf.is
08.04.2008 : Al Gore & SEEDS Iceland
Earlier today, 4 members of SEEDS attended a lecture given by Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice-President of the United States ("former next president of the US" as he introduced himself). The main issues discussed during his short visit to Iceland were related to the human impact on Climate change and the possible future scenarios.
Chiara Davico, Juste Cimermanaite, Christophe Joset and Oscar-Mauricio Uscategui from SEEDS Iceland, had the privilege to attend the lecture and be part of a selected group of individuals and organisations that participated.
Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice-President of the United States, addressed an Icelandic audience on environmental issues while visiting Iceland as a guest of President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
Mr. Gore is the author of An Inconvenient Truth, a best-selling book on the threat of and solutions to global warming, and the subject of the movie of the same title, which has already become one of the top documentary films in history. In 2007, An Inconvenient Truth was awarded two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song.
Mr. Gore also introduced and promoted his new campaign WE, which is a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by him. Its ultimate aim is to halt global warming; specifically educating people in the US and around the world that the climate crisis is both urgent and solvable.
Great to listen in person to someone who managed to reinforce our convictions !
To learn more about the movie An Inconvenient Truth go to http://www.climatecrisis.net/
For more information on The We Campaign visit http://www.wecansolveit.org
10.03.2008 : SEEDS continue growing!! Chiara Davico joins our team!!
We have the pleasure to announce that a lively intercultural team is now working together at SEEDS office. Chiara Davico from Italy joined SEEDS team in recent days; we would like to welcome her and wish her all the best for the Icelandic experience!
Chiara comes from Alba in the North-western Italian province of Cuneo in the Piemonte region. Her subjects are Political sciences and International studies at the University of Turin and she also attended the Faculty of Human Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon in Portugal.
Additionally she has gained practical experience in the field in few different projects abroad in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Chiara brings all her knowledge, experience and skills to SEEDS and will be in charge of our short-term voluntary service projects or work-camps.
We are able to have Chiara thanks to the kind support of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme of the European Commission and the project TravelStage Plus, organised by our partner organisation IAL PIEMONTE.
Chiara is part of a transnational vocational training project hosting interns following training programmes and work experiences overseas.
For more details, please visit the following sites:
On IAL Piemonte, http://www.ialpiemonte.it/
On the Leonardo da Vinci / Erasmus Programme,
http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/
On SEEDS Iceland past activities:
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2007.pdf
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2006.pdf
Enjoy the reading!
04.03.2008 : Útþrá 2008 í Hinu húsinu - SEEDS Adventure seek!
SEEDS Iceland took part this year once again in Útþrá 2008, an event organised by Hitt húsið, the information- and culture centre for young people of Reykjavík city. SEEDS along few other organisations working in the youth field were represented in the fair, which aims at promoting opportunities and activities abroad for Icelancic youngsters.
SEEDS introduced the different types of voluntary service and practical training that we have available and presented its Annual report for the year 2007.
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2007.pdf
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2006.pdf
Many youngsters living in Reykjavík and its surroundings attended Útþrá and inform themselves about SEEDS and other organisations.
Hitt Húsið, was founded in 1991 to satisfy the need that had arisen for leisure accommodation for young people aged between 16 and 25. Hitt Húsið has gradually developed into a center for youth culture and information, a place where young people can get advice on varied topics and assistance in putting their ideas into practice.
The main goals of Hitt Húsið are:
- Offer young people facilities and assistance with turning their ideas into reality
- Counsel and give information to young people, in cooperation with professionals and associations that specialize in that field
- Reflect what's going on in the creative art life of young people at any given moment
The house has proved to be a great place for all the activities and offers many possibilities for the on-going development of the work.
The activities in Hitt húsið are constantly evolving because trends and directions of young people lead the way.
For more information please visit: http://www.hitthusid.is
18.02.2008 : SEEDS at SCI TEM - Palermo, Sicilia.
SEEDS, SEE beyonD borderS, will send two representatives to the Annual Technical European Meeting -TEM- of Service Civil International (SCI), which will take place between February 21 and 25, in Palermo on the southern Italian island of Sicilia.
Lilja Rún Tumadóttir and Oscar-Mauricio Uscategui will represent SEEDS Iceland in the meeting, which is organised in the beginning of March every year; it deals with the technical aspects of the exchanges and participants come from SCI branches, groups and partner organisations.
SEEDS started working with SCI in the year 2007 and the first year of exchange witnessed a large amount of international volunteers attending SEEDS volunteer projects in Iceland being sent by SCI branches, groups and partners.
Last year SEEDS participated in the SCI North-South Incoming Programme and jointly with SCI-D (SCI Germany) co-hosted a Mexican volunteer, engaged in a possible future Mexican branch of SCI. This experience was a very positive one for SEEDS and we hope we will be able to continue supporting the exchange of volunteers between North and South in both directions.
The TEM will be a good opportunity to evaluate the exchange between SEEDS and SCI and also to plan the future of possible alternative actions as the North-South Incoming Programme.
Service Civil International (SCI) is a peace organisation that co-ordinates international voluntary projects for people of all ages, cultures, religious and economic backgrounds.
SCI's work is based in the belief that all people are capable of living together and co-operating with mutual respect and without recourse to violence to solve conflict.
Through international voluntary work SCI aims to give people the chance to experience this way of living whilst contributing in a useful manner to the community.
For more information on SCI, please visit http://www.sciint.org/
The meeting will be hosted by the Sicilian regional group of SCI Italia and organized together with the TEM Preparation Team and SCI International Secretariat.
For more information on SCI go to http://www.sciint.org and on SCI Italy http://www.sci-italia.it/
10.02.2008 : SEEDS - Annual Report 2007
SEEDS Iceland has released an annual descriptive report on our voluntary service activities with International volunteers for the year 2007.
SEEDS has just turned 2 years old and at the same time has successfully completed its second season of projects all around Iceland. The year 2007 was a very successful and fulfilling one for us; while the level of our activities increased significantly from the year before, roughly by twofold.
By developing a diverse array of projects and bringing together people from dissimilar backgrounds, creating more alternatives and opportunities; we continue pursuing our vision and building on our fundaments trying to promote intercultural understanding, respect for cultural diversity and environment protection.
Last year we strengthened our work on the environmental field with varied nature protection and conservation projects, while simultaneously raised the number of those related to culture, cultural activities, festivals and sports gatherings.
By December 31st, 2007, volunteers, interns, participants in our projects and staff of SEEDS accomplished nearly 46000 hours of service, of work all around Iceland in a variety of projects where the actions were individually or in groups undertaken; the projects developed by SEEDS lasted from as short as 12 days to as long as 7 months. This figure roughly represents what more than 26 people would work full time on a yearly basis!!
Compared to the year 2006, when we had 14 short-term voluntary service projects with 160 participants, this 2007 we organised and carried out 24 workcamps with 335 volunteers (from 31 different countries) taking actively part of them!
SEEDS continues working with local communities, their administration or authorities and with other Icelandic associations. Jointly we develop projects aimed at fulfilling an identified need or to help in the development of particular actions that are already being undertaken.
Our projects continue to be highly supported by the local hosts and the volunteers participating; additionally we received strong support for our long term projects from the Youth, Youth in Action and Leonardo da Vinci Programmes of the European Commission.
In 2007, our expectations were outmatched by the positive response from local communities and associations in the country, as by the feedback received from the volunteers and interns hosted; we developed new partnerships and carry on building up our relationship with them.
On behalf of SEEDS, I would like to thank all of those individuals, groups, associations, communities, supporters and sponsors that back us and that constantly encourage us to continue working hard and commit ourselves to deliver the best while using our resources in the most efficient and effective way.
Special thanks go once again for all the volunteers that joined our activities during the year and that supported greatly our association, taking aside precious time of their lives, to contribute with their energy and efforts to our cause and ideals; all of them play a very important role in the evolution of SEEDS and our appreciation goes far beyond these words.
For the year 2008 we will maintain our North and carry on pushing forward this initiative, shaping it and trying to ensure that the SEEDS spread continue growing up!
Oscar-Mauricio Uscategui - Chairman & Executive Officer.
For more information on our past projects feel free to download our Annual reports for the years 2006 and 2007 at:
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2006.pdf
http://www.seedsiceland.org/annual-report-2007.pdf
We hope you enjoy the reading!
25.01.2008 : Sjálfboðavinna í útlöndum - SEEDS - A world of opportunities!
Íslenskum ungmennum stendur nú til boða að taka þátt í sjálfboðavinnu í yfir 80 löndum víðsvegar um heiminn árið 2008. Þetta eru verkefni sem tengjast t.d. umhverfismálum, uppbyggingu svæða, fornleifarannsóknum, undirbúningi menningarviðburða eða tungumálanámi og vara í tvær til fjórar vikur. Í vinnubúðunum starfa átta til tuttugu manns frá mismunandi löndum en auk þeirra eru einn til tveir hópstjórar sem skipuleggja verkefnin og halda utan um þau. Gert er ráð fyrir því að þátttakendur hafi einhverja enskukunnáttu.
Verkefnin eru margs konar og sem dæmi má nefna gerð göngustíga í þjóðgarði á Ítalíu, byggingu skóla fyrir börn á hálendi Kenýa, skipulagningu listahátíðar í Englandi eða aðstoð við viðhald á regnskógum í Brasilíu. Þetta eru aðeins örfá dæmi um hvað er í boði en hjá SEEDS má finna upplýsingar um frekari verkefni, ráðstefnur og ungmennaskipti sem fara fram sumarið 2008. Frekari upplýsingar má finna á vefsíðu SEEDS
http://www.seedsiceland.org/contact-seeds-iceland-is.html
Áhugasamir hafið samband við skrifstofu SEEDS í síma 8456178.
Icelanders have now the possibility to take part in voluntary service projects in more than 80 countries all around the world during this 2008! There are different types of projects related to environmental protection, renovation or construction works, archaeological research, organisation of cultural events or festivals, as language learning. The projects usually last for 2 up to 4 weeks and groups of 8 up to 20 International volunteers from several nations take part, with the coordination of one or two project leaders. Basic knowledge of English is usually needed.
There are different types of projects and works as maintaining and marking hiking trails in an Italian National park, building class rooms for children in Kenya, helping in the organisation of a music festival in England or giving a hand saving the rainforest in Brazil. They are few examples of hundreds of projects all over the globe offered by SEEDS in Iceland. For more information on the projects, other Seminars or Youth Exchanges during this summer, please visit us at
http://www.seedsiceland.org/contact-seeds-iceland-en.html
Additional questions, interest in particular countries or projects, please call us at 8456178.
