CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGES:
EVALUATION:
International exchange and mutual learning from and with one another can be devised relatively easily; the non-profit volunteering and local community integration aspects are, however, very challenging. Various approaches and experiments were trialled in response to this: » Integration into the project location: In one virtual workcamp – linked to Aach (near Trier) – which was only open to former participants, various activities were undertaken together with stakeholders from the village community, such as the translation of the guide to “Jewish walking routes through Aach”, the design of an interactive map, and a communal cooking event where anecdotes from village life were exchanged. The participants did enjoy the virtual workcamp, but at the same time it was no substitute for a real workcamp – it only intensified their longing for a real meeting. » Non-profit volunteering: A home gardening project by the South African organisation SAVWA interpret- ed the volunteering aspect as the participants’ task to initiate home gardening projects in their home towns and at least implement them in their local communities.
Between May and July 2020, a total of 1,138 young peo - ple from 72 countries took part in 86 different virtual projects organised by organisations all over the world. 65 % had participated for the first time in an interna - tional project, 35 % were repeat participants. 94 % of participants would now like to participate in a real international workcamp. These figures illustrate that there is demand for virtual international projects. The high number of participating countries underscores that virtual workcamps successfully avoid various barriers (travel costs, visas). Everything supports the assumption that virtual camps can be a low-threshold way of reaching out to new target groups and introduc- ing young people to international exchange projects. While virtual workcamps can be a worthwhile addi- tional activity for organisations, they are no substitute for face-to-face exchanges. A lot of conceptual work still has to be done to establish the format in the long term. In the coming months, concerted efforts shall be made to test a combination of virtual workcamps with the presence of facilitators in the project locations. Internationally designed elements could thereby be integrated into children’s holiday activities, which are prepared by facilitators on site together with the children and turned into a genuine dialogue.
LINK: » https://ibg-workcamps.org/en/virtual-camps
25
Contributions from practitioners
v v TABLE OF CONTENTS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs