From supporting unaccompanied minors and trafficking survivors in an Italian care community and running cargo-bike food logistics between Budapest and a nearby village, to organic farming as recovery inside a psychiatric hospital in Thessaloniki, a women's centre serving more than 500 refugee and migrant women from over 50 countries, disaster-preparedness training in Türkiye, and a creative hub in a former tram depot in Germany — this batch of 15 fully funded ESC placements spans 9 countries, with a strong thread of social inclusion running through almost all of them.
Every ESC placement is fully funded — flight, accommodation, food, monthly pocket money and insurance. Three placements are open "as soon as possible," and the rest close between 17 July and 31 August 2026, so the earliest movers have the edge.
What's in this batch:
15 ESC Volunteering Placements · 9 Countries · Deadlines from Now to 31 August 2026
🌱 ESC Volunteering Opportunities
🇮🇹 Italy — Supporting Minors in a Care Community 💙
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Support a cooperative working for the social integration of people facing marginalisation, with special attention to minors in vulnerable situations. In a residential care house, you will support educators working with unaccompanied minors, victims of trafficking and vulnerable young people, helping build an environment of respect, sharing and legality, joining domestic activities, supporting the path to autonomy, accompanying beneficiaries to services, and organising workshops and orientation. A deeply meaningful placement. Open to applicants from 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 and 24 more — steady, protective work in some of the hardest young lives.
🇱🇹 Lithuania — Inspiring Students at a Secondary School (Kaunas) ✨
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Become a positive role model for students at one of Lithuania's leading secondary schools in Kaunas. Support creative learning activities, lead cultural or language workshops, and help organise school events. A great opportunity to share your knowledge, develop new skills and experience the Lithuanian education system while inspiring young people every day. Ideal for motivated, open-minded volunteers who enjoy working with teenagers. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 32 more — be the international face a whole school looks up to.
🇭🇺 Hungary — Cargo-Bikes and Community Sustainability 🚲
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Join a community-based sustainability project connecting urban and rural initiatives between Budapest and a nearby village, working on agroecology, eco-construction and food processing. Depending on the season and your interests, you might take part in cargo-bike logistics and local food distribution, support community events and workshops, help with gardening and food preservation, contribute to communication, and run educational activities on sustainability. A hands-on experience in a network built on solidarity and ecological transition. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇹 and 22 more — deliver the food transition, one cargo-bike load at a time.
📋 New to ESC volunteering? Everything you need to know — how it works, who can apply, what costs are covered — is in one place. Read the complete guide →
🇮🇹 Italy — Animal Welfare at a Sanctuary and Shelter 🐖
📅 Deadline: 17 July 2026
Give rescued animals a fresh start at an animal welfare project in northern Italy with two sides: a sanctuary for farm animals saved from exploitation and suffering, and a shelter for dogs living with chronic health needs. Care for the animals, get to know each one's personality and special needs, keep their spaces clean and help share their stories on social media. A hands-on placement for devoted animal lovers ready for early starts and physical outdoor work in a remote setting. Open to applicants from 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 and 24 more — a second chance, given by your own two hands.
🇮🇹 Italy — Eco Education at a Mountain Hostel ♻️
📅 Deadline: 17 July 2026
Live and work at a mountain hostel in a beautiful natural park, immersed in environmental education and sustainable living. Help with hostel maintenance, guest check-in and room preparation, get creative recycling and upcycling materials for decoration, and share hiking and local tips with visitors. Design and run didactic workshops on art, environmental education and creative recycling for schoolchildren, and help tell the story on social media. Perfect for nature lovers happy in an isolated, community setting. Open to applicants from 🇦🇹 🇧🇬 🇭🇷 🇫🇮 🇸🇪 and 24 more — your commute is a mountain trail.
✍️ Last-minute motivation letter? Here's how to write one that actually gets read — and remembered. Read the guide →
🇷🇴 Romania — Real Youth Work and EU Projects ✊
📅 Deadline: 19 July 2026
Forget feeling like a guest, here you're in the team from day one: brainstorming, planning and running events. Work rotates across two teams, three months each: online (social media, content creation, digital campaigns) and offline (events, workshops, logistics, partner relations). The work is real: awareness campaigns on discrimination, active citizenship and youth rights, humanitarian aid in Bucharest, and Erasmus+ projects. You leave with practical, inside knowledge of how EU-funded projects actually work. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 24 more — treated as team, not a guest, from the first morning.
🇩🇪 Germany — A Multigenerational Community House 🏡
📅 Deadline: 19 July 2026
Bring your energy to a multigenerational house, a welcoming meeting place supporting people of all generations in a small German community. Support the staff across varied projects: an open drop-in space, senior citizen get-togethers, crèche, nursery and primary school activities, and the library. From looking after children to helping people return to work and supporting active retirees, you'll help respond to the community's real needs. Ideal for active people who love working with all kinds of people. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇵🇱 🇵🇹 and 13 more — every generation under one roof, all in a day's work.
🇹🇷 Türkiye — Youth Work, Sport and Environment ⚽
📅 Deadline: 20 July 2026
A one-month volunteering experience supporting a local youth organisation across youth work, culture, environment and community engagement. Help organise workshops, intercultural activities, language clubs, sports events and awareness campaigns, contribute to social media, photography and videography, and take part in environmental, healthy-lifestyle and disaster-preparedness activities with local partners. Work in an international team and grow your communication, digital and organisational skills. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 🇬🇪 and 31 more — a packed month with a genuinely international team.
💡 What do organisations actually look for in an ESC volunteer? Skills, values, attitude — what makes a strong profile. Read the guide →
🇬🇷 Greece — Organic Farming for Social Inclusion (Thessaloniki) 🌱
📅 Deadline: 24 July 2026
Support an organisation using organic farming as a tool for recovery and social inclusion within a psychiatric hospital in Thessaloniki. Help a reintegration programme that employs people recovering from addiction and dealing with mental health issues, promoting their wellbeing, environmental skills and identity as workers. Contribute to the organic farm, maintain green spaces, and organise events and workshops that promote social inclusion and healthy habits. A deeply meaningful placement. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 20 more — where a vegetable garden becomes a path back to life.
🇬🇷 Greece — Creative Activities at a Women's Centre (Thessaloniki) 💜
📅 Deadline: 24 July 2026
Support a women's centre in Thessaloniki serving refugee, migrant and local women, a community of over 500 members from more than 50 countries. As the creative activities focal point, you will facilitate recreational sessions for members from all backgrounds, from drawing, painting and crafts to knitting and dancing, act as the go-to person for community-led activities, and communicate activity supply needs to the coordinator. A meaningful placement in a warm, multicultural, safe space. ⚠️ Open to female volunteers only. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 20 more — the creative heart of a 50-nation community of women.
🗺️ Not sure if your country is eligible? The full list of ESC and Erasmus+ programme and partner countries — including many outside the EU. Check eligibility →
🇫🇷 France — Supporting People in Social Shelters (Marseille) 🏠
📅 Deadline: 26 July 2026
Support an organisation helping people facing social difficulties, especially around access to housing, across two shelters in Marseille. In a women-only house, work with the team to break isolation and build group dynamics through collective activities. In a social centre hosting young people under 18 with migration backgrounds, support the collective life of the centre and organise activities. A meaningful placement fostering inclusion and social connection for vulnerable residents. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇬🇷 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 and 8 more — presence and patience, for people the system often overlooks.
🇹🇷 Türkiye — Disaster Awareness and Youth Action 🚨
📅 Deadline: 30 July 2026
Join a 30-day team volunteering programme in Türkiye dedicated to building a more disaster-prepared society. Receive training on disaster preparedness, climate change, post-disaster recovery, first aid, search and rescue and community resilience, supported by workshops, seminars, field visits and simulations. Then put it into practice by organising educational sessions, awareness campaigns and interactive activities for local children, young people and adults, promoting safety and active citizenship. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 🇬🇪 and 34 more — skills that stay with you for life, far beyond the placement.
🚫 "I'm not qualified enough." "I don't speak the language." Four common ESC myths — and the facts that prove them wrong. Read the facts →
🇮🇹 Italy — Inclusive Sport for People with Disabilities (Milan) ♿
📅 Deadline: 31 July 2026
Join a local volunteering organisation in Milan using sport to build a more inclusive community. Support sport activities for marginalised people and people with special needs, both in a day centre and outdoors, and take part in activities with local volunteer groups, from community events to fundraising. There's also room to develop your own projects depending on your interests. A rewarding placement for empathetic, patient people with a genuine interest in working with people with disabilities. Open to applicants from 🇪🇸 🇬🇷 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 🇮🇪 and 21 more — sport as the great leveller, for everyone.
🇵🇹 Portugal — Cultural Heritage at a Museum (Portimão) 🏛️
📅 Deadline: 10 August 2026
Join a museum and cultural mediation centre in Portimão dedicated to investigating, preserving and sharing the history, heritage, memory and identity of the local community. Your volunteering focuses on regenerating the city's industrial and cultural heritage, strengthening the bond between the city and its river, improving the interpretation of local history, and attracting new audiences through quality cultural offerings. The ultimate goal: meaningful, sustainable youth engagement in local decision-making. Open to residents of Italy — help a city tell its own story better.
🇩🇪 Germany — Arts, Culture and Community at a Creative Hub 🎭
📅 Deadline: 31 August 2026
Join a dynamic creative centre in a former tram depot, bringing together artists, cultural organisations and audiences under one roof. With a diverse programme of exhibitions, markets, festivals, open studios, educational programmes and artist talks, you will be mainly involved in event and community management, and are very welcome to bring your own project ideas. Develop skills in organisation, administration, communication, event technology and marketing in an inspiring, diverse environment. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 and 17 more — a former tram depot, now a home for art.
Fifteen fully funded ESC placements across 9 countries — and social inclusion runs through nearly all of them. Supporting unaccompanied minors in Italy, cargo-bike food logistics in Hungary, organic farming as recovery inside a Thessaloniki psychiatric hospital, a women's centre for 50-plus nationalities, disaster-preparedness in Türkiye, and a creative hub in a former German tram depot — these are not opportunities you'll see grouped together again.
Italy leads with four placements — the minors' care community, an animal sanctuary, a mountain eco-hostel and inclusive sport in Milan — while Germany, Türkiye and Greece each offer two, spanning a multigenerational house and a creative hub, youth-and-sport and disaster action, and organic farming and a women's centre. The three "as soon as possible" placements — Italy's care community, the Lithuanian school and Hungary's cargo-bike project — reward the fastest applicants; then the two Italian roles close on 17 July, and the calendar runs through the Marseille shelters and Milan sport project to the German creative hub on 31 August. Choose yours before the early ones fill.
