For the youth which knows that there is future only within a local, sustainable and socially fair environment for all based on learning and experience!
The project Are you interested to learn about local sustainability, self-sufficiency and organic farming in practice and theory? Do you like to spend your days doing meaningful work supporting interesting and innovative ideas and local projects in the field of organic farming?
Then be a part of our team of the "Društvo EkoPot" (Association OrganicWay)! The association is a non-government, non-profit organization with the aim to assist and help to develop, evolve in all kinds on farm projects which include everything from day-to-day on a farm in the frame of locally sustainable projects like CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), crowdfunding in agriculture. You also gain insight into the running of a very active farm with self-sufficiency in seasonal fruits, vegetables and grain. The farm is certified organic and biodynamic with vegetable (more than 60 different vegetable varieties), fruit (apples, berries, nut fruits) and field crop production (spelt, einkorn, emmer, millet, buckwheat, maize, etc.), processing of more than 100 products (baking bread, processed fruits into jams, spreads or canned vegetables for the winter, processing and packaging of flour, cereals, porridge, etc.).
Volunteers The volunteers can be from all kinds of backgrounds (cultural and social-economic) with a clear focus in gaining knowledge of a sustainable daily life, which promotes the local environment and development. Our aim is to introduce motivated youth to sustainable life skills and inter-cultural exchange through the help of the ESC.
We are looking for three volunteers for the time frame of 8 months (1st of March till 9th of November 2024). You can be female or male from 18 to 30 years old. The ESC project is financially supporting living costs (accommodation, food, monthly allowance for covering personal needs within the budget).
The aim of the project is - within the farm project to empower volunteers with the knowledge and skills which promote life skills on the personal agricultural level (in vegetable, fruit, field crop production, processing and marketing of more than 100 products);
- to enable young people to see and experience how initiatives like CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), crowd funding (the first in Slovenia in the field of agriculture) and direct marketing work from the idea to the execution;
- to provide other skills as sustainable building, water conservation, working with wood, co-living (in a community with a family and other volunteers);
in a safe and structured environment.
One of the pillars of the activities is the personal growth of the volunteers with the own personal project.
Practical information of the location and schedule The NGO is located in the Jarenina vilage (the Podravje region) which is connected by public transportation (bus stop is 200 m from the NGO) to all the main cities of Slovenia. Jarenina is a village of 1.200 inhabitants and is close to (15 km) to the second biggest city of Slovenia called Maribor (with 90.000 inhabitants) with a hospital, theaters, music festivals in the summer (Lent festival), cinemas and enables to be connected by bus or train to all parts of Slovenia and neighboring countries. Maribor has a strong base of different NGO's from arts to seed conservation.
During the project two accomodation oppurtunities will be provided: - living in Maribor a vibrant university city with all the opportunities (from March to May and from September to December) in a hostel type accomodation (individual room with bathroom, shared kitchen and common space); - building a community on the farm in Jarenina (from May to September) within a farm project near the village Jarenina. The accomodation will be in RV's and a room. As the space reflects a lot the group which is using it the basic necessary structures are available (kitchen, toilet, compost toilet, water access etc.).
We have public (bus, train) and personal (bike, car) transportation options.
The activities are structured through the week and depend a lot on the seasonal and climate conditions. A week is structured in five days of in practice farm experience. The afternoons and weekends are always free for personal activities. From Monday to Friday the day starts at 8 a.m.. At 12 a.m. we have a small lunch until 1 p.m. and we finish the day at 4 p.m..
The day-to-day on-farm activities are focused on:
- vegetable, fruit and field crop production;
- the on-farm processing of more than 100 products (flour, cereals, bread, marmelades, processed vegetables);
- direct marketing strategies of the farm CSA (community supported agriculture) and crowdfunding.
The NGO promotes theoretical and practical skills important in the efficient organic farming, bio-dynamic agriculture, production, processing and marketing through lectures, seminars, workshops and excursions. We hosted more that 6 events (excursions, lectures, workshops, open gate days etc.) every year which are visited by more than 250 individuals. The events are normally held in Slovene with some events in English and/or German.
Application and deadline - all aplicants have to fill out an online questionaire (as a CV and motivation document) till the 15.12.2023; - in the second step the interviews will be held till the end of December 2023; - we will inform everyone on the 27th of December 2023 of our final decision;
Please share the news and if you have any questions please write us at [email protected] or call us 00 386 31 368 162 (Maja) or 00 386 41 960 972 (Matjaž).
We look forward to build a sustainable model in the field of agriculture, environment and social development with YOU!
