🇩🇪 ESC Volunteering in Germany 🌱 Eco Social Entrepreneurship Living Laboratory 💡

Description

Join a unique three-week Living Laboratory at Gut Herzershof in Brandenburg, Germany, focused on eco-social entrepreneurship, personal development and community living. The Living Laboratory offers space for self-discovery and personal development.

The programme is designed for young people who are interested in developing their own eco-social entrepreneurial ideas and concepts. It combines learning, reflection and practical experience. Participants will:

explore topics such as intentional living, synergetic, sociocracy, collaborative decision-making, mindfulness, conflict management, shared responsibility and balancing individual and collective needs;

explore how entrepreneurial activities can create value for themselves, their communities, other people and nature;

work on their entrepreneurial ideas, develop concepts and prototypes, and receive support through peer learning, facilitated dialogues and direct exchange with other participants.

Accommodation, food and transport arrangements

Participants will stay together at Gut Herzershof, a remote learning and experimental location surrounded by nature, about 90 km east of Berlin.

Community living is an important part of the project: participants will cook, eat, organise daily life and take responsibility for shared spaces together.

The programme combines facilitated learning with practical work on participants’ entrepreneurial ideas, including discussions, workshops, creative activities and project work.

Travel costs will be reimbursed according to ESC rules.

Training during the activity

The team will be supported throughout the programme by a facilitator. The learning process will follow a peer-to-peer approach, where participants learn from each other, exchange experiences and ideas, give feedback and support the development of each other’s entrepreneurial concepts. The facilitator will guide the process, provide learning tools and create space for reflection, experimentation and collaborative learning.

Participant profile

We are looking for participants who are strongly motivated to develop an eco-social entrepreneurship idea or concept and are ready to actively engage in an intensive learning and community-living experience.

You should be interested in topics such as:

eco-social entrepreneurship and sustainability;

personal development and self-reflection;

community living and collaborative decision-making;

creativity and experimentation;

developing an entrepreneurial idea, concept or prototype;

learning from and with other participants';

able to communicate in English/ German.

An important part of the programme is active participation in community life. Participants should be ready to contribute to shared responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning, organising activities and supporting the group.

For more information, check HERE: Synergetic Entrepreneurship Living Laboratory EVS version - Google Docs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EA6tqe-IhYN-0UtWIC6z_TzWZ5hCspPboy9djmlJ4eE/edit?invite=COrMyPkM&tab=t.0

Activity details

Activity type

Volunteering teams

Activity dates

From 14/11/2026 to 08/12/2026

Location

Gut Herzershof, Küstriner Vorland, Brandenburg area, Germany

Deadline

02/11/2026

Project code

2025-1-DE04-ESC51-VTJ-000346414

Topics

Looking for participants from

39 countries can apply. The activity takes place in 🇩🇪 Germany.