Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "cultural project" projects in Finland

Old Power 2015

The camp host is the local 4H club. The work will be to assist in organising a local event called National OldPowerdays 2015. There will be about 20 000 people visiting the happening during three days. The volunteers will assist in practical tasks in arranging the event, e.g. arranging a café, selling refreshments and tidying up the area afterwards. The volunteers must be prepared to do different kind of work in various weather conditions. There will be hard work, but also lots of fun with locals and other volunteers. The aim of the camp is to give the volunteers a chance to experience Finnish nature and culture and enable the local young people to meet youngsters from other countries. Various summer activities such as swimming, playing games, excursions to nearby sights and fishing are possible.

The accommodation is mainly in local host families.

Oulainen is a small town, about 7800 inhabitants. It’s about 100 km south from Oulu and about 550km north from Helsinki.

Oulainen

€30

The volunteers need travel insurance for the duration of their stay.

Niva Village

The host of this camp is Niva Village Association. Volunteers will assist in organizing small local events and do some tidying and renovation tasks in Niva village area together with local people. The aim of this camp is cross-cultural learning and to bring multicultural atmosphere to Niva Village. During leisure time, various summer activities such as sports and playing games with locals are possible and there will also be some sightseeing. The volunteers will have the chance to learn about local cultural heritage and traditions in Northern Karelia region.

The accommodation is arranged in a Hunters Hut or in tents. Cooking will be done by the volunteers themselves, ingredients will be provided by the host.

Niva is a small village, located 30km from a bigger town called Joensuu and it belongs to North Karelia region in eastern Finland. The distance to Helsinki is about 440 kilometers.

Joensuu

€30

The volunteers need travel insurance for the duration of their stay.

WHV Suomenlinna

Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) is a sea fortress, built gradually from 1748 onwards on a group of islands belonging to the district of Helsinki. This very first World Heritage Volunteer project in Suomenlinna aims : Maintaining the most ecologically vulnerable parts of the fortress landscape, speeding up of the most labour intensive restoration works, raising awareness of Suomenlinna’s sustainability issues among the visitors and local Helsinki residents and promoting voluntary work and participation for the protection and development of the fortress. Under supervision of the experts of the Governing Body of Suomenlinna the World Heritage volunteers will remove harmful vegetation and thereby prevent - especially on the ramparts – the expansion of harmful species, repair window frames, paint, construct steps on the ramparts, collect seeds and perform visitor information duties, social media activities and film documentation of the WHV-experience. There is also reserved time for the exchange of World Heritage knowledge (presentations, workshops etc.). The volunteers will also be provided with a video camera so that they can document their own work. The results will be used to promote Suomenlinna’s World Heritage status and the continuing need to protect and develop it.

The volunteers will stay in a hostel, the meals will be provided
L: Suomenlinna is covering an area of 80 ha and consisting of 200 buildings and 6 km of defensive walls, the fortress stretches over six separate islands. The original fortress was built using local rock and fortified with a system of bastions over varied terrain.

Helsinki

Helsinki. There is a 15 minutes ferryride from the centre of Helsinki.

€30

The volunteers need to have interest towards World Heritage and prepare themselves before the camp in order to tell about the World Heritage projects in their home countries. The applicants need to write a motivation letter explaining why they would like to join the project, if they have any previous experience in WHvolunteering and what could be their contribution to the project.
The volunteers need travel insurance for the duration of their stay.

The host organization Ikko is a modern, non-political and non-religious folk high school offering both general and vocational education for Finnish and international students and groups throughout the year. The school surroundings need maintaining so the volunteers will work with various tasks including garden work and berry picking. They can also attend Finnish language and culture courses as well as join excursions to local sights such as art centre, forest museum and other attractions nearby.

Accommodation will be in dormitory, meals provided. There are possibilities for various sport and creative activities. A gym and sport hall are situated within a walking distance. Sauna facilities are also available.

Punkaharju is located in eastern Finland near Savonlinna and it takes about 3-4 hours by train from Helsinki. The school is situated in a location of superb natural beauty, right on the magnificent Punkaharju ridge. One of the best known natural sights in the country, Punkaharju ridge is a natural formation dating from the Ice Age. It is surrounded on both sides by lakes and magnificent scenery. The area offers excellent opportunities for a variety of outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing and horseback riding.

Punkaharju

The volunteers need travel insurance for the duration of their stay

150 Euros due to extensive program of the camp. To be paid upon arrival.