Effi and Neele, the ESC programme volunteers, arrive at Marimurtra
The Marimurtra Botanical Garden has welcomed Effi and Neele. Having arrived in October, they are the new participants in the “Volunteers for a Green Future” project. The project is coordinated by the German organisation NaturKultur e.V. and hosted at the Botanical Garden within the broader framework of the European European Solidarity Corps (ESC) programme, co-funded by the European Union.
The ESC is a European Union funding initiative that creates opportunities for young people aged between 18 and 30 to participate in volunteering projects and solidarity activities that benefit communities across Europe. This programme allows young people to collaborate in areas as diverse as social inclusion, the environment, culture and humanitarian aid, either in their own country or abroad, with the main expenses covered by the EU.
The Marimurtra Botanical Garden is responsible for welcoming the volunteers and assigning them tasks related to education and scientific outreach, the conservation of the Garden and research. The Consortium for Linguistic Normalisation also collaborates by providing a basic-level Catalan course to facilitate their integration.
Their help will be available from October until June, for a period of 9 months, during which they will be able to learn, through different departments, about all the work involved in maintaining a botanical garden.
The volunteers, very grateful, share the following:
“My name is Effi, I am nineteen years old and I am from Bremen, Germany. At the beginning of October, I started my nine-month volunteering placement at Marimurtra. I have been passionate about nature since I was a child and have been involved in issues such as nature conservation and the fight against climate change from a very young age. I love working with my hands and being outdoors. I am really looking forward to spending this time here, learning many new things, gaining experience and cultivating my interest in the world of plants.”
— Effi Blekker
“My name is Neele, I am twenty years old and I am from Germany. I completed my higher education entrance examinations last summer and decided to do a year of volunteering. I chose the Marimurtra Botanical Garden because I am very interested in nature and the environment. What I find most fascinating are the different ways in which plants and animals adapt to environmental influences and their habitats. For this reason, I am really looking forward to exploring the different areas of the Garden, having new experiences and learning a new language.”
— Neele Bems
Marimurtra and the ESC programme
Since 2019, Marimurtra has participated in the ESC programme, welcoming international volunteers to its facilities so that they can experience the tasks carried out in this field and helping them acquire different skills that will allow them to grow, mature and develop both personally and professionally.
