what: Oikos is a non-profit volunteer organisation founded in 1979 to study and protect the environment. Oikos works in Italy and abroad on environmental problems in big cities and on the defence and reintegration of Mediterranean forests. Oikos staff is composed of experts in various fields and volunteers participating in work camps. A large part of Oikos’ work focuses on communication, networks and cognitive features, in order to grasp a systemic vision of the ecology crisis.

work camps: since 1979, Oikos has organised work camps with the aim of protecting wide areas of Mediterranean forest in the Southwest of Rome. The organisation is involved in the European Voluntary Service pilot action as both a hosting and a sending project.
The tasks of the volunteers include gardening (weeding, watering plants, collecting vegetables for meals, etc.) following the principles of biological agriculture, and general maintenance (e.g. restoration works, painting). The volunteers participating in the camps work in cooperation with long-term Oikos volunteers.

cool for you: in order to support their activities, young people at least 18 years old can volunteer for periods of 2 weeks to several months in the association’s office situated in Spinaceto, a district in the south of Rome (approx. 40 minutes from the centre of town).
Volunteers will primarily engage in biological horticulture and general maintenance. Oikos offers board and lodging in exchange for 20 hours of work per week.