This program focuses on environmental education, environmental activities, and sustainability. The main tasks are beach cleanups, seed collection, and renovation work.
This volunteer program is especially suitable for:
Worldwide Friends Iceland is opening an environmental and sustainable center near the crossroads to the West, South, and North of Iceland. The center called BRÚ is in the area of Hrutafjordur, a 36 km long fjord in Hunathing vestra. In the neighborhood, you can find a lot of pure and unspoiled nature, beaches full of driftwood, Snæfellsnes peninsula, glaciers in the highlands, waterfalls, strong rivers, canyons, and craters. The purpose of the center is to protect nature in the area, to raise awareness of sustainability among the locals, and the visitors that are coming to the area.
The house is more than 1.000 m², it has double rooms, triple rooms, quadruple rooms, two kitchens, several bathrooms, common areas, rooms for workshops, and galleries. We do not have gender-separated rooms and you may have to share a room with a male or female. Our long-term plan is to equip the center with its own hydropower plant to produce electricity for heating and daily use. This will make Brú completely sustainable from the energetic point of view and will contribute to the production of clean energy for the region.
This work camp is a way to enjoy an amazing time in Iceland with other international volunteers and to have an incredible experience where participants share their knowledge with each other while they are exploring creativity, environmental issues, and intercultural learning.
There are always one or more leaders for each camp, depending on the size of the group. Leaders represent the link between the hosting community, WF, and a group of volunteers. They coordinate the work, organize leisure activities, plan excursions, shopping, and cooking sessions. Apart from these additional responsibilities, they are equal to other volunteers. Most of our camp leaders are from other countries, as we are very open-minded in hosting international leaders from other organizations. All our leaders start their program with one week of training.
Worldwide Friends volunteers stay in the Worldwide Friends sustainable center that offers good facilities.
Volunteers need to bring their own sleeping bags and towels, but beds and bed sheets are provided. Wireless internet access is provided free of charge. The rooms are for two up to five participants.
Food is included for the duration of the camp; however, everyone is expected to do their fair share of the cooking and cleaning. Since it is always nice to try new and different dishes, volunteers are encouraged to bring along their favorite recipes, ingredients, and spices from home!
Icelandic weather can be unpredictable, so you need to be prepared for anything. You will need:
- Hiking boots that are waterproof
- Warm sleeping bag (we only provide bedsheets)
- Swimsuits and towels (to take advantage of the traditional swimming pools and hot springs)
- Warm and waterproof clothes/shoes (you will spend time outside)
- Slippers/shoes for indoors, we don’t bring the shoes inside the houses!
- Raincoat
- Pillow
- Medication
- Food, photos, or anything interesting related to your country for intercultural nights
- Hairdryer (optional)
- Cash (ISK or EUR) for extra excursions
Arrival and Departure:
Volunteers can arrive in Iceland in the morning or in the afternoon of the starting date. We can pick up the volunteer from the BSI station between 10:00 - 20:00. The departure from the project location happens in the afternoon of the last day of the program, Tuesday. Volunteers can not have flights that are earlier than Tuesday late afternoon.
WF Iceland will organize reasonably-priced weekend excursions to some of the most popular, beautiful areas and natural wonders that Iceland has to offer. Excursions include unique Icelandic sights, such as waterfalls, volcanic and geothermal areas, glaciers, lava forests, hot springs, rhyolite, mountain ranges, steam vents, and even icebergs. Extra activities that volunteers can book are whale watching, scuba diving, fishing, horseback riding, glacier excursions, and more. The extra activities have an extra cost, they have to be paid in cash.