WHO WE ARE?
Legambiente
is a leading environmental organisation in Italy with 20 regional committees
and more than 2000 local groups. Legambiente runs National and International
Campaigns aimed at reducing traffic and air pollution, against pesticides,
proposing new energy policy, enhancing use of renewable sources, energy
efficiency and energy conservation, etc. We have been organizing for 14 years a
Volunteer Campaign promoting summer-camps in many protected areas both in Italy
and abroad. This Campaign is aimed at enhancing public awareness on
environmental issues such as forest-fire (every year in Italy more than 50,000
hectares of forest are burned by 8,000 fires) or habitat degradation, at
collecting information on natural resources, at promoting green tourism in
order to develop a sustainable economy, at helping people be active for the
conservation of our natural and cultural heritage.
WORKCAMPS
ACCORDING TO LEGAMBIENTE
Period:
international workcamps in Italy last 10 to 20 days, but mostly 15 days. For logistic
reasons and for reasons linked to the activities and the spirit of the
workcamp, all the participants are expected to arrive on the first day and to
leave the last day of the workcamp.
Number of
participants: between 8 e 20; few wokcamps less than 5 or more than 25.
Age and
composition of the group:
Legambiente
is not only a youth organisation. Minimum age limits is 18yo (except Teenager
camps) and there is no Maximum age. More than half of the participants are
between 21yo and 35yo; 1 out of 10 is more than 40yo. In international
workcamps average age is younger; women are the majority (more than 60%), like
students among the occupations.
Participants
between 15yo and 17yo can join only Teenager workcamps; parents and children (between 4yo and 10yo) can join only Family workcamps.
People over 50 years old, can also take part to the specific project for
"senior volunteers".
Aims and
work: voluntary workcamps have 2 main
objectives:
- to permit
to different persons to meet and exchange through a common experience of
voluntary service, being a tool of removal of prejudices, cultural and social
differences. Working and living day by day together, even if for few days,
helps to create the basis of human relations necessary to build a "different
world".
- to
contribute to realize a concrete project in the fields of environment, peace,
solidarity, international cooperation.
Every work
and activity (common, manual, organized and creative) is the "glue"
in a group of persons and between them and the local hosting community.
Legambiente is mostly involved in protection, defense, recovery and valorizing
of green areas, parks, coasts, rivers etc etc.
Daily
organization: every
workcamp is structured according to the project and local necessities: work can
be organized in different ways and last more or less hours per day (4 to 8); in
some cases it can be necessary to work during the weekend or in unusual times.
Working days can be different according to local habits and program needs.
Volunteers are requested to be flexible and adaptable to situations.
Furthermore it's necessary to react positively to unexpected events or eventual
lacks, and to try to be always open-minded and constructive. Usually volunteers
are not requested special skills, but active participation, enthusiasm and good
will are welcome. During the workcamp, where and when possible, study sessions,
debates and deepening or visits and meetings on peculiar arguments linked to
the project are organized: they are useful opportunities to stimulate
participation, necessary in order not to separate theory from good practice and
to make volunteers more aware about the aims of their works and about the
choice done taking part to a workcamp.
About the
accommodation, solutions are simple: schools, public buildings, tents, hostels
etc. Beds and mattresses are usually
given by the hosts; sleeping bags and adaptability to more simple and sober
solutions are indispensable tools for a "good" volunteer! It can
happen to have separated rooms for male and female, but more often the group
decides how to share the rooms. Never happens to have single or double-bed
rooms!!! At the beginning the camp-leader and the group decide the turns for
cooking and cleaning the accommodation: usually volunteers by turns don't go to
work but prepare all the meals, make the wash-up, clean the common spaces of
the accommodation. Participation to the general managing and organization of
the workcamp is stimulated at the maximum: even if there is a camp leader who
is on charge for the whole preparation and running of the camp (including the
food shopping), every volunteer is responsible of every aspects of the life and
activities of the camp. It's not allowed to bring animals in the workcamp,
because you could meet volunteers allergic to, or scared of; sometime the
accommodation could not host them, or the animals could interfere with local
fauna. As it is not possible to verify all that before, it's compulsory to
observe this rule.
Communication: in international workcamps, all over the
World, language spoken is English (except when differently mentioned), but
don't take for granted that speaking the same language means understanding each
other!!! It's better to clarify from the beginning every doubt or problem about
the project, the relations between volunteers or between volunteers and
camp-leader, than to wait the problem to become difficult to solve.
In
international workcamp there are 2 volunteers for nationality: too many
participants speaking the same language use to isolate and don't permit the
creation of the group dynamics. Obviously language is not the only method to
communicate: a friendly and cooperative atmosphere helps a good
inclusion/involvement for everyone.
Economic
conditions: local
host/association provide to all cost for food, accommodation and transports for
camp-activities. Volunteers are provided with insurance against accidents and
third party responsibility. Legambiente is a non lucrative association: does
not have public grants, but for specific projects and campaigns. As it can be
easily understand, not all Legambiente initiatives are welcome by public
authorities or private companies, mostly because they point out polluting or
illegal behaviours; thus sometimes volunteers and members of Legambiente are
request a small contribution or donation.
Evaluation: last day of the camp participants
(volunteers, camp-leader, representative of the hosting association) meet for
the final evaluation of the workcamp.
Training and
preparation of the volunteers: Legambiente tries to
create opportunities for volunteers to get trained/prepared and to share with
the others. However, in order not to add more costs to the volunteers, it is
not required the participation to training seminars/events.
General information on
this country can be accessed via any of the following websites:
Library of Congress country studies … http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/
US Dept of State country background pages …
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/
CIA Factbooks …
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
National newspapers online via Internet
Public Library
… http://www.ipl.org/reading/news/