No one earns any money for such work. A Workcamp gives one the chance to get to know other people and cultures, to improve or immerse oneself in a foreign language both at work and in leisure time, and to educate oneself in social skills. Respect for other cultures and lifestyles is a prerequisite for participation, as well as a willingness to live for a time in a community.
The Summer Workcamps in Dürnau have a special character, because the host is the Kooperative Dürnau, a collective community. Besides the work assignments on the farm, there are also possibilities in this special social situation to learn all about other lifestyle concepts and other lines of work.
This provides the opportunity for one to consider one's own life habits, and already many departing participants have gone forth with new motivations for designing their livestyles
Our experiences from the last years have given us the impression that more and more people who register to our workcamps are predomininatly interested in tourism. We are not the right place for such people. We would like to have a learning and working atmosphere in which we can share a lively exchange with our interested guests.
With this premise, after a two-year break, we are continuing the twelve-year tradition of our Summer-Workcamps. We are happy to receive your application and would be pleased to have a short explanation of why you would want to take part of our camps.
Place
Dürnau is a small village in the heart of "Upper Swabia", sitting between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. The nearby nature reserve surrounding Federsee, the proximity to the Danube Valley and the short distance to the Alps offers a multitude of possibilities for lovely and meaningful leisure activities.
Activities
The tasks of the Workcamp provide primarily for the upkeep and care of the community grounds and the support of various ongoing projects within the Kooperative. This year we envision the following tasks:
- Continuation of the network of garden paths already underway
- Uprooting and replacing of hedges, berry-harvesting
- Dung removal and composting
- Hay harvesting
- Assistance in dishwashing and cleaning up after meals
In case of bad weather, participants can help with simple construction work.
Free time
In addition to the access to sporting activities like cayaking, biketours and mountain trekking in the Danube Valley and the Alps, we can off participants short courses in the operation of the Kooperative Dürnau, such as bookbinding, paper marbelling, as well as bread-baking,
butter-making, and canning methods. We can attend performances, produce a video, and will gladly offer advice for a theatre group or make available instruments for a band.
Climbers are welcome.
