Empowering volunteer work

Björn ObmannBUNDjugend

(Young Friends of the Earth Germany)Contact: bjoern.obmann@bundjugend.de

Structure of BUNDjugend

• Independent youth organisation of Friends of the Earth Germany

• ~ 43.000 members below 28 years• Offices in 13 of 16 federal states• National office in Berlin• ~50 local groups• Part of Friends of the Earth

International

Volunteer situation

• Harder to get people to engage• Limited time (school, studies, recreational activities, ...)• a lot of interesting alternatives• Less interest in binding to one organisation (rather

interested in specific actions/campaigns)• But also a lot of interest in environmental issues (climate,

nuclear power, food, ...)• Issues are underrepresented in school

Basics for motivation

• Pick up the people where they are – Local (school, university)– Experience (offering different stages of

involvment)• Offering different levels (from low level activities

for beginners to high level campaigns for experienced people)

• Friendship and personal contacts

Projects for children

• Children groups– Regional– Once a week– Going outside to explore and

experience nature

(e.g. Wood rallye, animal tracks in the snow but also showing the meaning of energy)

Projects for children

• Contest for children

• observing nature and writing a diary– Trees waking up in spring– Development from egg to bird– Animal behavior– ...

Projects for children

relation to nature and environment is build from the beginning on

Kids know the organisationPossibility to offer further activities

Projects for older „children“

• Vacation trips– Mixing leisure activities with little workshops

and actions (e.g. Shooting a movie)– Living differently (vegetarian food,

sustainable products, energy saving, ...)

Projects in school

• School workshops– Different subjects (energy & climate, food)– Informal learning (group work, developing positions

and knowledge themselves, discussions, NO classical teaching from the front)

– Testing alternatives e.g. One week without meat)– Mostly peer-to-peer

(young people going into the

school to do the workshops)

Projects in school

• Training people to do the workshops– Training on the subjects– Creating material and methods– Show how to approach schools to offer the

woorkshops

Youth projects

• Natur protection & biodiversity– Especially in local groups– Practical field work

• Renaturation

of natural habitats• Waste collection• Monitoring biodiversity

Youth projects

• Globalised city tours– Youth doing city tours for school classes to talk

about globalisation, consume behavior and fair trade

– Training seminars– Different material and methods, volunteers develop

new methods, topics, stations for the tour– Groups are self organized (advertisement, who is

doing what, ...)– Regular meetings to ensure experience exchange

and support personal relations between groups

Youth projects

• Climate change & energy future– Mostly students – Climate team meetings for training– Steering group for strategic decisions– Work on positions (e.g. climate justice)

Youth projects

• Climate change & energy future– Planning actions and campaigns

to raise awareness and

put pressure on decision makers

Youth projects

• Climate change & energy future– Attend international conferences (e.g. UN climate

negotiations) and panel discussions– Meeting and lobbying politicians– International networking

Administrative work for BUNDjugend

• Steering group– 8 spokespersons elected for 2 years– Budget control– decides on the strategy and projects– meetings every 6-8 weeks– Employment decisions– Working with the project

leaders (paid staff)

BUNDjugend delegation meeting

• Annual delegation meeting – Most important body of BUNDjugend– 5 delegates per federal state– Decides on key positions – Decides on the budget– Elects the steering group

Empowering

Main focus of our work

is to empower young people

Empowering through participation and responsibility

• Youth led

• Space for their ideas, opinions and creativity

• They organize demonstrations, seminars, congresses, design banners and flyers

• Volunteers lead the groups

Empowering through information

• Training seminars

• Meetings with experts

• Working on position papers

• Project leader develop methods and prepare information

• Paid staff for counseling and the project implementation

Empowering through method training

• Seminars on– Project management– Public relations– Moderation techniques, How to lead group

work– Volunteer management

Empowering through method training

• „Youth group leader card“– 16-27 years– 40 hours seminar– Project management, group dynamics,

games, legal training, …– Card proves that they

are able to lead children

groups and youth trips

Empowering through action

• Small and big actions are organised to raise awareness and attract new people

• Organising demonstrations and actions of civil disobedience

• Gaining experience how demonstrations can be organised and get a success

Empowering through acknowledgement

• Certificates for training seminars

• Feedback and critic on their work

• Volunteers claim successful

project results for themselves

(e.g. media work)

• Public rewards

Empowering through fun

• Regular meetings to support personal contact (e.g. summer camps)

• Socializing as important as work• Little energizer games between

agenda points• „hippie“ elements