Inclusive Environmental Education Path – Schiffweiler | IBG03 | 2026-07-05 - 2026-07-19 | ENVI,EDU,SOCI | Age: 16 - 20

The project is organised by IBG together with the municipality of Schiffweiler and youth office of the district of Neunkirchen and in cooperation with organisations working in the fields of nature conservation and inclusion. The project is located on an agricultural hill close to the village of Schiffweiler. In this Workcamp, the trail will be designed and expanded with the help of international and local young volunteers. This project is about way more than daily work. An essiential part of the experience is connecting with local young people. This will include cultural exchange and shared activities, learning from each other’s lifestyles and perspectives, lots of teamwork, conversations, and fun moments. You will be accompanied by experienced camp leaders from IBG and local youth workers. Enjoy your free time together, go on excursions, explore the surrounding area, and make new friends.

Work: Are you passionate about volunteering, inclusion, nature, and international exchange? Participate to create an environmental educational path accessible for people with all kinds of barriers — physical, sensory or cognitive. The new stations will focus on inclusion, so that the trail is as barrier-free as possible. You will improve accessibility of the existing environmental education path, help to expand the path with new stations and create interactive, sensory experiences that engage different senses. This educational path was originally created in 2009 by an international group of volunteers for the local community; the local volunteers continued the task and now it’s time to take the next step together.

Accomodation and food: Accommodation is provided in the sports and community hall in a district of the municipality called Stennweiler. There is sufficient space, a kitchen, showers and toilets available. Campings beds will be provided, please bring your sleeping bag. Your group of volunteers will be responsible for grocery shopping and cooking together. The food will be bought with the camp budget and everybody will take turns for cooking, washing the dishes and cleaning. In order to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, we encourage volunteers to reduce meat and try more sustainable dishes.

Location: Schiffweiler

Location and Leisure: Schiffweiler is a municipality with 16,000 inhabitants in south-western Germany (federal state: Saarland). There are supermarkets, various shops and a skate park in the town. Nature lovers will find hills, meadows and forests in the surrounding area. Young locals will show you their favorite places and activitites. You will have the chance to go on excursions and visit local festivals. The nearest large town, Neunkirchen, can be reached by bus in around 20 minutes. Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, can also be reached from Schiffweiler by train in around 20 minutes.

Airport: FRA

Train/Bus station: Ottweiler(Saar)

Requirements: This project is dedicated to young volunteers aged 16 -20 years old. You should be motivated to do physical work, spend several hours outdoors and carry out manual tasks under supervision. No special manual skills are required. A willingness to work together in an inclusive and supportive environment is desirable. Please be prepared to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. Minor volunteers have to provide a parental authorisation and a medical factsheet, you will get the forms after inscription. If you’re motivated, open-minded, and ready to contribute your energy and ideas, we’d love to have you on board!

Meeting point will be the train station from Ottweiler(Saar). There are direct connections from Saarbrücken, Frankfurt and Mainz to Ottweiler. Your campleaders will arrange a couple of pick-up times. Please arrange your journey in a way that you arrive in Ottweiler between 3pm and 7pm. You can check for connections from anywhere to Ottweiler(Saar) on: www.bahn.com/en. If you are looking for a flight, Luxembourg (LUX) would be an alternative airport to Frankfurt (FRA).

Language: eng

Extra Fee: 200 EUR